Howard Fergus

ISBN 978-1900-715799.

Sir Howard Archibald Fergus (22 July 1937 – 23 March 2023) was a Montserratian author and historian.

He was born at Long Ground in Montserrat.

Fergus served as the Speaker of the Legislative Council of Montserrat from 1975 to 2001, one of the longest terms for a presiding officer in the Commonwealth of Nations.

He subsequently returned to the post as acting speaker on several occasions, as well as periodically serving as deputy Governor of Montserrat and acting governor when the role was vacant.

He also served on several committees related to constitutional and electoral matters.

Fergus's most important work was the book Montserrat: History of a Caribbean Colony published in 1994 by The Macmillan Press, London, ISBN 978-0-333-61217-0.

This historical account was supported by copious references to primary sources, and contains chapters on settlement, sugar, slavery, emancipation, cotton, limes and The Montserrat Company, politics, education, and arts and culture.

His published works included History Of Alliougana: A Short History of Montserrat (1975), ''Montserrat the Last English Colony?

His poetry began appearing from 1976, with "Cotton Rhymes; Green Innocence" (1978) and "Stop the Carnival" (1980), and his poems were anthologised in the Penguin Book of Caribbean Verse and appeared in Artrage, Writing Ulster, Bim, The New Voices, Caribbean Quarterly, Ambit, Caribanthology and others.

He attended Bethel Primary School, Montserrat Secondary School, Erdiston Teachers College in Barbados, the University College of the West Indies (London), the Universities of Bristol and Manchester, and finally the University of the West Indies (UWI), earning a PhD in 1978.

Prospects for Independence (1978); William H. Bramble: His Life and Times (1983); Hugo Versus Montserrat (with E.A. Markham (1989)) and Montserrat: History of a Caribbean Colony'' (1994).

Fergus was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1979 Birthday Honours "for services to education and the community in Montserrat", and was upgraded to Commander of the same Order (CBE) in the 1995 New Year Honours.

Fergus was the winner of The Caribbean Writer Poetry Prize in 1992, and of the David Hough Literary Prize for an author residing in the Caribbean in 2002.

1996 – ''Eruption.

Montserrat versus Volcano'' edited by Howard Fergus, was produced in response to the Soufriere Hills volcanic eruption, containing a number of essays on the volcano; and poems and stories written by Montserratians of all ages.

This was published by the University of West Indies, School of Continuing Studies, Montserrat.

ISBN 976-8018-06-2.

In 1998, Peepal Tree published "Lara Rains & Colonial Rights".

In the 2001 Birthday Honours, he was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE).

2003 – Volcano Verses is a collection of poems in three sections: 'volcano verses', 'people' and 'occasional poems'.

Published by Peepal Tree Press.

He retired from the University in 2004 as Professor of Eastern Caribbean Studies.

Fergus wrote and edited more than 14 books, including several works on Montserratian history and society.

His scholarly works were published in a number of international journals and he was also an established poet.

2004 – Beneath The Bananas: Poems of Montserrat Celebrating the Centenary of The Birth of R.W. Griffith 1904 – 2004.

The book includes poems in the names of individual authors; reveals "a new level of maturity and creative skill; and the book benefits greatly from the presence of Archie Markham, Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and Professor of Creative Writing at Sheffield Hallam University".

The book was published with financial assistance from The Department of Education and Culture, Montserrat Moments Inn.

and R.W. Griffith Investments Ltd. Design and layout by KiMAGIC.

2007 – Love Labor Liberation in Lasana M. Sekou by Howard A. Fergus.

In this literary study, “The writings of Lasana M. Sekou were compared to the works of a range of poets, from Aimé Césaire to Oswald Mtshali, from Kamau Brathwaite to Dylan Thomas, from e.e. cummings to Linton Kwesi Johnson, but Fergus insists that ‘the voice that reaches us is sui generis, unique and Sekouesque.’” Published by House of Nehesi Publishers.

Teresina Bodkin was identified as a prospective speaker in 2009.

She was supported in getting ready for this role by six months of training by Fergus.

During that time Fergus returned to his former role replacing the previous speaker, Joseph Meade.

On 6 April 2010, Bodkin was selected as the first female Speaker of the island's Legislative Council.

Bodkin served until September 2014.

Fergus wrote the words for the national song of Montserrat, "Motherland", with the music composed and arranged by George Irish.

Fergus died on 23 March 2023, at the age of 85.

Fergus received the Order of Excellence from the Government of Montserrat in 2014.

Fergus was an historian of Montserrat and wrote extensively about the island.