Lennox Honychurch ( ; born 27 December 1952) is

Dominica Dominica ( or ; Kalinago: ; french: Dominique; Dominican Creole French: ), officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of the island. It is geographically ...

's most noted

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

and a politician. He is well known for writing 1975's '' The Dominica Story: A History of the Island'', the 1980s textbook series '' The Caribbean People'', and the 1991 travel book '' Dominica: Isle of Adventure''. Also an artist and a curator, he was largely responsible for compiling the exhibit information for

The Dominica Museum The Dominica Museum is the national museum of Dominica, an island nation in the Caribbean Lesser Antilles. It is located in the capital, Roseau, on a quay in front of the Old Market of Roseau, which was the centre for slave trading during colo ...

Roseau Roseau (Dominican Creole: ''Wozo'') is the capital and largest city of Dominica, with a population of 14,725 as of 2011. It is a small and compact urban settlement, in the Saint George parish and surrounded by the Caribbean Sea, the Roseau Ri ...

. Honychurch is the grandson of writer and politician

Elma Napier Elma Napier (née Gordon-Cumming; 23 March 1892 – 12 November 1973), also known as Elma Gibbs and by the pen-name Elizabeth Garner,

Biography

Born in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, Dominica, Lennox Honychurch can trace his lineage in the Caribbean back to the 1790s. Honychurch attended the St. Mary's Academy secondary school.Lisa Paravisini
"Dominica Times profiles Lennox Honychurch as he wins Sabga Award"
''Repeating Islands'', 20 April 2011. After publishing several works on the history of Dominica, he was awarded the Chevening Scholarship to study at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, where he gained a PhD at St. Hugh's College. He read for his MPhil and PhD in Anthropology and Museology in 1995. Honychurch's first job in the early 1970s was as a radio journalist, enabling him to reach out to locals about the island's history with a series of radio vignettes. Honychurch serves as a board member and founder of the Museum Association of the Caribbean. He was instrumental in setting up Dominica's national museum,

in Roseau, and has consulted at other museums and heritage sites throughout the Caribbean, including

Betty's Hope Betty's Hope was a sugarcane plantation in Antigua. It was established in 1650, shortly after the island had become an English colony, and flourished as a successful agricultural industrial enterprise during the centuries of slavery. It was t ...

plantation in Antigua, Fort Frederick in Grenada and Fort Charlotte in St Vincent. He is developing an ecology and heritage center in the history buildings around Fort Shirley, an 18th-century garrison in Dominica's

Cabrits National Park Cabrits National Park is on a peninsula at the north end of the Caribbean island of Dominica, north of Portsmouth. The park protects tropical forest, coral reefs and wetlands. There are hiking trails and an English garrison called Fort Shirley ( ...

. This work includes training tour guides and providing education on sustainable, responsible tourism for communities around heritage sites.

Political career

Honychurch served as a senator in the

House of Assembly of Dominica The House of Assembly is the legislature of Dominica. It is established by Chapter III of the Constitution of Dominica, and together with the President of Dominica constitutes Dominica's Parliament. The House is unicameral, and consists of twen ...

from 1975 to 1979, as a member of the

Dominica Freedom Party The Dominica Freedom Party (DFP) is a conservative political party in Dominica. It shares much of the same socially and economically conservative principles as the Conservative Party in the UK. The party has been led by Bernard Hurtault since 2 ...

(DFP). When the DFP formed the government in 1980, he also served as

Press Secretary A press secretary or press officer is a senior advisor who provides advice on how to deal with the news media and, using news management techniques, helps their employer to maintain a positive public image and avoid negative media coverage. Duti ...

to The Government of Dominica until 1981.

Work as historian

Honychurch's writing describes the history of Dominica and includes '' The Dominica Story: A History of the Island'', first published in 1975, ''Dominica: Isle of Adventure'', published in 1991, a three-book series entitled ''The Caribbean People'' (1995), ''Dominica's Cabrits and Prince Rupert's Bay'' (2013), and ''In the Forests of Freedom: The Fighting Maroons of Dominica'' (2017). In addition to his books, Honychurch has published several academic articles and he organized the first international conference on Dominican writer

Jean Rhys Jean Rhys, ( ; born Ella Gwendolyn Rees Williams; 24 August 1890 – 14 May 1979) was a British novelist who was born and grew up in the Caribbean island of Dominica. From the age of 16, she mainly resided in England, where she was sent for her ...

in 2004. Honychurch is an expert in the First Peoples of the Caribbean and has collected archival material related to Amerindian-African contact. His graduate theses focused on the contact and culture exchange that took place between the indigenous

Kalinago The Kalinago, also known as the Island Caribs or simply Caribs, are an indigenous people of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean. They may have been related to the Mainland Caribs (Kalina) of South America, but they spoke an unrelated language ...

people of the Lesser Antilles and the people who arrived from Europe and Africa.

Work as artist

Honychurch is a poet and painter. His murals adorn churches throughout Dominica, the main post office in Roseau, and the national museum. He is also a Carnival artist.

Awards

On 9 April 2011, Honychurch was awarded the Anthony N. Sabga Caribbean Awards for Excellence, in the category of Arts and Letters. In 2012, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the

University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 17 English-speaking countries and territories in th ...

"Lennox Honychurch to receive UWI honourary doctorate"
''Dominica News Online'', 30 July 2012. and is an Honorary Research Fellow at the university. He is a recipient of the Golden Drum Award for preservation of Dominica's cultural heritage as well as the Dominica Sisserou Medal of Honour for his contribution to historical and archaeological research.

Selected writings

* '' The Dominica Story: A History of the Island'' (1975) * ''Dominica: Isle of Adventure (1991) *''Caribbean Camera: A Journey Through the Islands'' (1992) * ''The Caribbean People'' (three-book series; 1995) * ''Dominica's Cabrits and Prince Rupert's Bay'' (2013) *''In the Forests of Freedom: The Fighting Maroons of Dominica'' (2017)

References

External links

Official site
*

Raymond Ramcharitar Raymond R. Ramcharitar is a Trinidadian poet, playwright, fiction writer, historian and media and cultural critic. Early life Ramcharitar was educated at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine, where he earned three degrees: a Bachelor ...

"Lennox Honychurch: Icon of the island"
''Caribbean Beat'', Issue 113, November/December 2011. * Lisa Paravisini
"Dominica Times profiles Lennox Honychurch as he wins Sabga Award"
''Repeating Islands'', 20 April 2011. {{DEFAULTSORT:Honychurch, Lennox 1952 births Alumni of St Hugh's College, Oxford Dominica Freedom Party politicians Dominica historians Dominica male writers Historians of the Caribbean Living people Members of the House of Assembly of Dominica People from Saint John Parish, Dominica