Dr. Mitch Kent, above, gives a tour of the Old Government House Museum grounds. Above right is one of the maps on display during the Friday event at the museum. (Photo: ZARRIN TASNIM AHMED)

Historic items like a 239-year-old map of the Virgin Islands by a French cartographer were up for auction at a fundraiser for the Old Government House Museum on June 4.

The proceeds of the event will help build a monument in the museum’s garden to honour Virgin Islanders who have served in the military, organisers said.

Archaeologist Dr. Mitch Kent, a museum board member, gave a presentation of antique VI maps from his private collection during the event.

“People are fascinated by old maps,” Dr. Kent told the Beacon. “They tell such an important story. It really is the only way that mankind can visualise such a large space in something that’s understandable.”

Throughout the night, attendees bid on maps and other items in a silent auction. Along with sponsorships and entrance fees, proceeds from the auctioned items will go directly to the museum, organisers said.

Dr. Kent, who estimated that the event pulled in nearly $9,000, donated two original maps, and museum board member Jillian Dunlop donated others.

Fundraisers

In addition to offering its space for private events and weddings, the museum runs on donations and admission tickets with the help of volunteers, Dr. Kent said.

Having lost revenue from a lack of tourism, the board came up with ideas for fundraisers.

A total of 75 tickets were allocated for the socially distanced event. Of those, 20 went to sponsor law firm Carey Olsen and a handful went to the board members. Dr. Kent said the funds raised should be enough to complete the next stages of the museum’s garden.

“We want to build a service recognition monument,” he said. “This is a regular feature in every English village.”

The monument would recognise people who served in the military. Dr. Kent said there are records of Virgin Islanders serving in the military as early as 1805 in the Battle of Trafalgar.

“Military service of the Virgin Islanders in the UK military is not uncommon,” he added.

Military history

Showcasing the different roles that the governor plays in the VI, including its security, is one purpose of the museum, he explained.

“The military history is a big part of the Old Government House history since the governor has always been responsible for the military protection of the Virgin Islands,” Dr. Kent said.“What we’re trying to achieve here at the museum is to display and study the themes relevant to the governor and his position here.”

The ruins on the grounds of the museum include the remains of barracks, as well as old brick walls with windows designed for musketeers to shoot through, according to Dr. Kent.

There are six cannons at the museum, and the board hopes to add more to the collection. Dr. Kent said he has recorded 21 cannons — mostly on Tortola — but that there are more to be found.

Two of them, he said, are on the shores of Cooten Bay.

“We just can’t get the cannons here, which makes you wonder how they got them in,” he said. “We’ve had a helicopter come and look at it and they said it’s too heavy. There’s a big reef which makes it almost impossible to get it out by sea.”

An old map of Tortola showing land divisions was on display at the fundraiser. (Photo: ZARRIN TASNIM AHMED)
Collection

For decades, Dr. Kent has been collecting historical materials on the VI, including hand-written journals from the 1720s from Quakers who lived here. He said he also owns the only known page of any plantation journal from the territory.

He has concentrated heavily on maps, which he says are very useful when studying the present.

“The plantation map [showed at the fundraiser] — which is somewhere between 85 to 90 percent accurate — is accurate enough where we overlay onto modern maps and start taking the positions of historic sites,” he said. “As well as being aesthetically pleasing and interesting, they’re also useful for academic research.”

Dr. Kent said he finds such maps all over the world, including Israel, Germany and London. He has made contacts with dealers across the globe, who contact him when they find anything connected to the VI.

In addition to maps, he has collections of VI stamps, prints, letters, journals, and even original LPs cut in the 1970s. His catalogue of historical items reaches 230 pages.

Dr. Kent added that VI stamps are “highly collectable” and that one of the most expensive stamps in the world is the VI’s “missing Virgin” stamp, which has a market rate of $250,000. He doesn’t own one of those, however.

The next Old Government House fundraising event may feature stamps from the BVI Philatelic Society.