About James Ronald Webster Day
James Ronald Webster Day is a public holiday in Anguilla on March 2nd. If March 2nd falls on a weekend, the following Monday will be observed as a public holiday.
Known as the Father of the Nation, James Ronald Webster, was born on March 2nd 1926.
One of 16 children, only eight of whom survived infancy, he left Anguilla to work in St. Martin. For 27 years he worked on a combination dairy farm and factory with such diligence that the childless owner and his wife treated him as a son and upon their deaths left him their entire estate, worth at the time one and a half million US dollars.
He returned home to Anguilla in 1960 and to find that his isolated island home remained a century behind its neighbours and its people still lived very hard lives. He was determined to use his inherited money to do something about it.
In September 1966 he contacted Robert Bradshaw in St Kitts and proposed to personally fund the development of an electricity-generating plant and road improvements in eastern Anguilla. He was granted a licence to operate a power plant but on two subsequent trips to St Kitts, Bradshaw would not see him and his visits accomplished nothing. Webster deeply resented this dismissive treatment., which drove him to play a leading role in the Anguillan revolution and the dissolution of the Federation of St. Kitts, Nevis and Anguilla.
He served as the island territory's Chief Minister from February 1976 to February 1977 and again from May 1980 to March 1984.
In 2010, Webster was awarded a public holiday on his birthday for his role in leading Anguilla's separation from the Federation of St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla.
Webster passed away at the age of 90 on December 6th 2016.
Sources: A history of St Kitts : the sweet trade by Hubbard, Vincent K
