Phyllis Byam Shand Allfrey (24 October 1908 – 4 February 1986) was a West Indian writer, socialist activist, newspaper editor and politician of the island of Dominica in the Caribbean. She is best known for her first novel, '' The Orchid House'' (1953), based on her own early life, which in 1991 was turned into a

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television miniseries of the same name in the United Kingdom.

Early life and family background

Born in

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 ...

, Dominica, West Indies, in 1908, she was the daughter of Francis Byam Berkeley Shand and Elfreda (daughter of

Henry Alfred Alford Nicholls Sir Henry Alfred Alford Nicholls (27 September 1851 – 9 February 1926) was a physician, disease specialist, horticulturist, zoologist and legislator in, and publicist for Dominica for over 50 years. He published on a wide variety of topics and ...

), and was baptized Phyllis Byam. Her father's settler family was long established in Roseau. With roots in the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

going back to the 17th century, Phyllis later described herself as "a West Indian of over 300 years' standing, despite my pale face." Her earliest ancestor in the West Indies was Lieutenant General William Byam, a Royalist officer who in 1644 defended Bridgwater in

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

against a parliamentary force. Imprisoned in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is sep ...

, he was permitted to migrate to the West Indies. After the Restoration of King Charles II in 1660, he was granted estates in Antigua.

Life and career

Phyllis Shand married Robert Allfrey, an English Oxford engineer, and they had five children, including their adopted sons, Robbie and David, from a Carib reservation. Their daughter Phina, another

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 th ...

graduate, was killed in a motor accident in

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalaha ...

. In politics, Allfrey founded the

Dominica Labour Party The Dominica Labour Party is a centre-left social-democratic political party in Dominica. History Founded in 1955 by Phyllis Shand Allfrey and Emmanuel Christopher Loblack, the Dominica Labour Party is the oldest political party in Dominica. N ...

. On the formation of the

West Indies Federation The West Indies Federation, also known as the West Indies, the Federation of the West Indies or the West Indian Federation, was a short-lived political union that existed from 3 January 1958 to 31 May 1962. Various islands in the Caribbean that ...

, this was affiliated to the West Indies Federal Labour Party, and in 1958 she was elected to the new

Federal Parliament of the West Indies Federation The Federal Parliament of the West Indies Federation was the bicameral legislature in West Indies Federation from 1958 to 1962. It was established as the legislative body in the intended federation of British Caribbean. One election was held, in 1 ...

, representing Dominica. Within weeks she was serving in the government of Sir Grantley Adams as Minister of Labour and Social Affairs and was the only woman minister of the new Federation. In 1941 Allfrey established a connection with ''

Tribune Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs acted as a check on th ...

'', the newspaper of the left wing of the British Labour Party, where from 1941 to 1944 her reviews, poems and short stories appeared regularly alongside those of regular contributors such as Naomi Mitchison,

Stevie Smith Florence Margaret Smith, known as Stevie Smith (20 September 1902 – 7 March 1971), was an English poet and novelist. She won the Cholmondeley Award and was awarded the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry. A play, '' Stevie'' by Hugh Whitemore, ba ...

Julian Symons Julian Gustave Symons (originally Gustave Julian Symons) (pronounced ''SIMM-ons''; 30 May 1912 – 19 November 1994) was a British crime writer and poet. He also wrote social and military history, biography and studies of literature. He was bor ...

, Elizabeth Taylor, Inez Holden and George Orwell, the latter becoming its literary editor in 1943. Phyllis Shand earned second place in an international poetry competition judged by

Vita Sackville-West Victoria Mary, Lady Nicolson, CH (née Sackville-West; 9 March 1892 – 2 June 1962), usually known as Vita Sackville-West, was an English author and garden designer. Sackville-West was a successful novelist, poet and journalist, as wel ...

. She edited the ''Dominica Herald'' and also published and wrote for another newspaper, ''The Dominica Star'', which was in being between 1965 and 1982.

Death

Allfrey died in Dominica in 1986, aged 77. A posthumous collection of her short stories, ''It Falls Into Place'', was published by

Papillote Press Polly Pattullo Hon. FRSL is a British author, journalist, editor and publisher, who co-founded in 1998 the independent publishing company Papillote Press,

Publications

*''In Circles'' (poems, 1940) *''Palm and Oak'' (poems, 1950) *''The Orchid House'' (1953, Constable); new edition Virago, 1982, * ''It Falls into Place'' (2004), Papillote Press, * ''Love for an Island: The Collected Poems of Phyllis Shand Allfrey'' (2014; edited by

Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert (born 1953) is a Puerto Rican academic who specializes in research of the Caribbean. She holds the Sarah Tod Fitz Randolph Distinguished Professor Chair at Vassar College. Early life and education Lizabeth Paravisini w ...

), Papillote Press,

Notes

External links

"O Stay and Hear"
(short story by Allfrey published in the August 2004 ''Caribbean Review of Books''
''The Dominica Star''
is freely and fully available in the

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