Queenstown is a village in the

Pomeroon-Supenaam Pomeroon-Supenaam (Region 2) is a region of Guyana. Venezuela claims the territory as part of Guayana Esequiba. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the north, the region of Essequibo Islands-West Demerara to the east, the region of Cuyuni-Mazaruni ...

Region of

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

. It is located on the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

coast. It is one of the first villages where the emancipated African slaves bought the lands. Queenstown is home to the oldest extant mosque of Guyana.

History

Queenstown started as three plantations named Mocha, West Field and Dageraad. In 1780,

Fula people The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people ( ff, Fulɓe, ; french: Peul, links=no; ha, Fulani or Hilani; pt, Fula, links=no; wo, Pël; bm, Fulaw) are one of the largest ethnic groups in the Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region. ...

from

Senegambia The Senegambia (other names: Senegambia region or Senegambian zone,Barry, Boubacar, ''Senegambia and the Atlantic Slave Trade'', (Editors: David Anderson, Carolyn Brown; trans. Ayi Kwei Armah; contributors: David Anderson, American Council of Le ...

, Africa, arrived on the plantations as slaves. The tribe set out to built a small

masjid A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, i ...

out of wattle and mud. The mosque was rebuilt three times, and is still in service for a congregation of about 50 people. In 1838, the slaves were

emancipated Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure economic and social rights, political rights or equality, often for a specifically disenfranchis ...

. The plantations at the time were owned by Mr Carberry who decided to parcel up the land, and sell the lots to the former slaves. On 25 September 1841, the village of Queenstown was officially founded and named after

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

. In 1842, the coffee shop of the village was transformed into the St Bartholomew’s Anglican Church. The church was completed in November 1843. The building is shaped like an upside-down ship, and has been declared a regional monument.

Overview

Queenstown has a primary school, health clinic, community centre and a post office. Secondary education is provided in

Anna Regina Anna Regina is the capital of the Pomeroon-Supenaam Region of Guyana. Anna Regina stands on the Atlantic coast, northwest of the mouth of the Essequibo River, 19 km north of Adventure, and was established as a town in 1970. Its population w ...

. Queenstown is one of the emancipation villages where the villagers dress up in African clothes and parade through the village accompanied by a band on

Emancipation Day Emancipation Day is observed in many former European colonies in the Caribbean and areas of the United States on various dates to commemorate the emancipation of slaves of African descent. On August 1, 1985, Trinidad and Tobago became the fir ...

(1 August).

References

{{Settlements in Guyana Pomeroon-Supenaam

History

Overview

See also

References