Written by Chester Williams
The island of St. Lucia, all 238 square miles of it, has had a very interesting history.
The French were the island's first European settlers. They signed a treaty with the native Caribs in 1660. England took control of the island from 1663 to 1667. In ensuing years, England was at war with France fourteen times, and rule of the island changed frequently (it was ruled seven times each by the French and British). In 1814, the British took definitive control of the island. Because it switched so often between British and French control, St. Lucia was also known as the "Helen of the West Indies."
Located just offshore in the north of the island is one of St Lucia's most historical sites. An island until 1972, when it was joined to the mainland, Pigeon Island itself has had a very colorful past. Artifacts from the island's original people, the Arawaks and the Caribs, dating back to around 1000 A.D., have been found on the island. In the late 1550s, the French pirate François Le Clerc (known as Jambe de Bois due to his wooden leg) set up a camp on Pigeon Island, from where he attacked passing Spanish ships. Pigeon Island was later heavily fortified by Admiral Rodney between 1772 and 1782. Remnants of these fortifications heavily dot the island. In addition, in 1909 a whaling station was established at Pigeon Island. Legislation to control whaling in 1952 put an end to this operation
Into this strange, sometimes brutal tropical world, entered a most unlikely visitor who would eventually make Pigeon island her home. Agnes Pennington Legh, known simply as "Josset," was a soprano chorister and player with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company at the Savoy Hotel for the Second London Repertory Season, April 1908 to March 1909. She was described as a big-boned woman, eccentric in ways that only the Brits know how to be, with her wrinkly face, blondish hair, invariably dressed in a sunsuit, one of those strapless things with a little skirt and pants.
Her marriage to her first husband was cut short when he died as the result of wounds suffered in World War I. She visited the island colony of St. Lucia in 1937 with Dorothy D'Oyly Carte, daughter of the 2nd Earl of Cranbrook, and took up residence on the forty-acre rock called Pigeon Island, signing a 99-year lease for the property.
Josset, as she preferred to be called, quickly established herself as the "Eve" of the island. She then married Anthony Snowball and was jokingly nicknamed "Ma Snowball," a name perfectly suited to her physical attributes.
Her second marriage to Mr. Snowball ended in divorce and Josset turned all her love and attention to her island.
Life was perfect for the transplanted Australian. Her previous existence was completely different from what she created for herself on this tropical paradise. Gone were the lavish balls, dancing with impeccably dressed men and sipping the most expensive brandies with her friend Dorothy, whose husband owned the Savoy Hotel in the UK. What she had traded that life for was a tranquil location, with endless sunshine, genial banter and innocent mischief, and baskets full to overflowing with home-cooked goodies, bottles of spiced rum, creme ponche, and sorrel (fermented petals from a local plant). Josset used to run what was known at the time by the grand name of "The Club," a little house built of crooked sticks with a thatched roof, near the southern beach on Pigeon Island.
Her perfect world came to an unceremonious end soon after U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt visited the island on December 8th, 1940. The island was to be used as a Communications Station to support the Naval Air Station that being built on the mainland opposite Pigeon Island. A squadron of 18 PBY-5 Catalina amphibious aircraft was stationed there, used for patrolling the Caribbean and hunting for German submarines.
Like Eve before her, Josset was unceremonially kicked out of her beloved paradise. Her third love affair had apparently ended in tragedy.
But in 1946, with World War II ended, the American Base was deactivated, and Josset was allowed to return. She resumed her carefree life there for another 25 years. Yachts carried parties of family, friends and visitors across to spend Sundays drinking, laughing, swimming, and basking in the beauty and nature of that little island.
In 1971, a decision was made to join her island to the mainland of St. Lucia by the construction of a causeway.
But Josset was not daunted by the modern invasion of her domain. She maintained her day-to-day activities even when there was an influx of motorcars to her island rather than the customary yacht.
Nothing but old age could make Josset give up what she must have loved more than anything else in life—her island in the sun. On her first visit back to England since leaving after the war, in 1978, at the age of 90, Josset Legh died. Her ashes are commemorated by a headstone in St. Mary the Virgin's Church in Avington, Hampshire.
The ruins of Josset's house.
Photo by J. Makali Bruton, April 26, 2015, courtesy of HMdb.org
In 1980, most of her house was destroyed by the last major hurricane to hit the island. "The Goodbye Kiss" was taken in that house that Josett built for herself on her Pigeon Island. Amidst the crumbling structure, roofless and devoid of any human presence, was a wall, still upright with pale pastel remnants of colour. And on that wall was the simple image.
To me it represents an exchange of love between Josset and the only true and longest-lasting love of her life. It is a fitting symbol of an extraordinary love affair that lasted for over 40 years, between a woman and her glorious tropical island.
Even though history invariably reduces its characters to dust and ashes, the legend of Josset lives on in the memories of thousands of living people today, occupying a very special corner in their hearts. Josset Legh is the name that is most intimately tied to the history of Pigeon Island.
Chester
Original contents copyright 2019 by Chester Williams. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.
B&H Photo • Adorama
(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:
Scott: "Chester (may I call you that?), this is a lovely story! I cried here at the breakfast table at the end of it. I wasn't expecting any story at all behind this particular photo and then you gave me a love story between a woman and an island and its people! Thank you so much for giving us this gift."
Tim Wilson: "Thanks for providing the backstory for the photograph! I plan to keep a copy of the text with my copy of the photograph." Looking forward to its arrival!"
Mike replies: There will be a printed copy of this post in your package, too.
AlexV: "Chester, I have read elsewhere that photos should stand alone, without any commentary that may influence a viewer's interaction with the image. That is a valid approach to some pictures, but your tale is an eloquent counter argument. The photo is striking as it is, yet the backstory makes it all the more poignant. Thank you for sharing it."
