bw 4

transcript |  a roebuck street tragedy | up

Roebuck Street started out as a track in 1653. A former London merchant by the name of Thomas Noel built a popular tavern called the Roebuck. In the 1800’s Roebuck street was busily trading in provisions. Carts drawn by mules and pushed by men transported goods and created a constant hum of activity on the street. As a commercial centre, Roebuck Street has a rich tradition which goes back more than two hundred years.

My paternal great-grandfather, a man by the name of P. C. Fields, owned several buildings on Roebuck Street, from numbers 23 to number 28 and 110. P. C. Fields was a wholesale and retail merchant, provision merchant and wine and spirit dealer. He used a part of his business to crush corn and other materials for cattle food. He established a business as a partnership with W. A. Hutchinson in 1907. My great-grandfather was a part of the mercantile class who worked and lived in and around the Roebuck Street area.

Sometime between 1922 and 1926, a tragedy took place on the street in front of my great- grandfather’s business. Howard Hutchinson was instructed by P.C. Fields to seal the corks of demijohns which contained spirit. While sealing the third demijohn, which contained the strongest liquor which he’d ever dealt, 66 degrees above proof, some of the burning wax fell on the demijohn’s wickerwork and caught afire. Howard Hutchinson shouted out and my great-grandfather told him to throw the demijohn outside. The demijohn burst when it hit the pavement and went ablaze.

At that time, which was about 11:30 in the morning, a sixty-six year old woman by the name of Sarah Sinckler was passing the store and the burning liquid caught her dress afire. She ran and screamed for help. Several persons licked her clothing with bags, but could not stop the flames. She became very badly burnt. Molasses was poured on her. A police ambulance took her to the General Hospital. Sarah Sinckler died as a result of the burns. A short time later, a jury delivered a verdict that Sarah Sinckler met her death by misadventure.

artist profile | annalee davis | up

Annalee Davis’ sound project is based on a story associated with her paternal great-grandfather's connection to Roebuck Street. She states, “One of my great-grandfathers, P. C. Fields, had a dairy on Nelson Street before relocating to Roebuck Street where he owned several properties. I learnt about a tragic incident which took place at my great-grandfather's business and chose to narrate the story. I gathered information from a 1998 article in the Advocate newspaper, and scripted the narration based on that article and other historical information about Roebuck Street. Once at Gray Lizard, I had great fun with Allan where he was able to embellish my story with fabulous sounds that situated the work in the early 1920's. The horse drawn carriages and the busy street with sounds of fire, an explosion and a woman's scream, all contribute to locating the work in a particular time and place.”

Annalee Davis lives and works in Barbados but has worked throughout the Caribbean as an artist, teacher, workshop organizer, curriculum developer, writer, exhibition organizer and co-founder of an artists' union. She holds a BFA from the Maryland Institute, College of Art, and an MFA from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. She has held solo exhibitions in the USA and several Caribbean countries and has exhibited regionally and internationally including at the Havana and Sao Paulo Biennials. She is currently producing a film on inter-regional migration.

The article which informed this sound script ("The Roebuck Street Tragedy", from the Advocate Newspaper, Life Section, April 26 1998) was kindly made available to the artist by Anthony Fields.