Seychelles – 70 years ago….1952 |16 July 2022
Sir Frederick Crawford (1906 – 1978)
As we arrive half-way through the twenty-second year of the 21st century Tony Mathiot takes us back in time to visit the country that Seychelles was seven decades ago…
So, like it happened at the dawn of this year when a nun of the Sisters of St Joseph de Cluny, Sister Cecile Hoareau passed away on January 3 at 86 years old, on January 17, 1952, Father Exupère Morard, the parish priest of Grand Anse Praslin passed away at the age of 49 years old. Indeed, 1952 was a year of great tragic moments and triumphant achievements.
It can be said that the decade of the 50s was a continuum of time, consisting of months that segued into one another like a long season.
In 1952, Seychelles was a British colony with a population of some 34,000 inhabitants who were united with other territories of the British Empire by common obedience to the House of Hanover which was ruled by King George VI (1895-1952) until February 6, 1952 when upon his death, he was succeeded by his daughter Elisabeth II.
The Governor was 46-year-old Frederick Crawford (1906-1978) who had assumed the administration of the colony on May 14, 1951.
It was a time when the momentum of post-war pent-up development in all sectors was gaining acceleration.
More than a few social amenities that we are enjoying today originated from that time.
The National Budget for 1952 was R4,997,241 (This year’s budget was R10.9 billion) with the largest allocation – R828,240 – going to Public Works Non-Recurrent, whereas this year’s largest allocation of R1 billion and 444,865 went to Benefits and Approved Programmes of Agency for Social Protection.
The revenue for 1952 which was mainly from export duties on agricultural produce was R4,757,267 against an expenditure of R5,101,957.
Clearly, our revenue was then almost the same as our national budget.
An amazing fact is the production of copra alone which was 6,210 tonnes, was valued at R4,890,335! – even if that was lower than for the preceding year which had been 6,574 tonnes for R7,435,954.
Here are some figures of our agricultural economy, then: 143 tonnes of cinnamon bark for R61,327.69; 127 kilos of cinnamon leaf oil for R1,201,298; 2,718 kilos of patchouli oil for R187,318.5; 927 kilos of vanilla for R79,550.
However, copra was the lifeblood of the colony. In 1952, the Copra Association was formed with the express purpose of getting the best market for Seychelles’ copra.
The association called for tenders for the year’s production.
Once a tender was accepted, the sale was carried through by one or other of the local shippers (Temooljee & Co, Adam Moosa & Co…).
The local selling price of copra in 1952 ranged from R442 to R676 per tonne.
A biological method of controlling the melitomma beetle which had been causing havoc to coconut estates since the 1930s was resumed with the importation of scolia wasps from Kenya. Cape Barn owls were also introduced to control rats.
The copra trade was conducted in accordance with the Copra Price Stabilization Ordinance of 1949.
There was a fund which was sustained by an export levy. This was used for stabilising the price of copra by paying export subsidies.
The fund was administered by a board with a majority elected by the producers.
The amount of subsidy was limited to approximately 20% of the fund in any one year.
The bulk of our copra was sold to East Africa and India.
By the way, back then coconuts were sold by the 1,000, which was R50. One coconut was 8 cents.
In 1952, there were 5 government schools, 6 Church of England schools, 20 Roman Catholic schools, 1 Adventist School and 5 private nursery schools with a total of 2,431 boys and 2,583 girls attending.
In March of 1952, a boarding house with accommodation for 30 pupils was opened at Seychelles College, a government school staffed by the Ploermel Brothers of Christian Instruction from Canada.
Quite a few goals on the colony’s building programme were achieved. These were the completion of Princess Elizabeth, Nursing Home (it was demolished this year), La Salle D’Oeuvres (the Deepam Cinema building), the Tobruk building which served as the ex-serviceman club while others like the new mental hospital at Anse Royale and Queen’s Building (Liberty House) were being completed.
The Le Niole reservoir and Victoria water supply scheme was completed to supply pure filtered piped water to the town where some households were able to enjoy this luxury…
Elsewhere on Mahé, water had to be fetched from rivers or obtained from public fountains which had been installed in all districts in the early 1900s.
Many households had bamboo troughs that carried water from nearby rivers.
Meals were cooked in cast-iron pots on open fires or in a kitchen which was separated from the main house.
Firewood sold for R5.62cts per 20 pieces and charcoal was R3.90cts for 2 bags.
Pork was R1 per Ib, fresh turtle meat was 50cts per Ib, kitouz was 65cts per Ib. Rice was 50cts per Ib. Mind boggling, isn’t it? Considering that presently 1 kg of long grain rice is R12.44cts. Well, back then, our folks could afford the usual basic food commodities with the little that they earned.
As of March 1, 1952, the statutory minimum wage for the agricultural labourer was raised. A male labourer earned R22 per week for 33½ hours of work (from R18.5cts in 1950). A female labourer earned R11 (from R9.50cts in 1950) for the same hours of work per week. Gender inequality was evidently the order of the day!
In accordance with the Income Tax ordinance of 1948, income tax was charged on all incomes arising in the colony. Every worker whose annual salary exceeded R1,000 was liable to pay a personal Income Tax. Any person who wilfully made a false return or failed to complete the Income Tax form rendered himself liable to the penalties prescribed by the income tax (consolidation) ordinance.
Landowners had to pay a Land Tax which was 40cts per acre.
The first Income Tax laws was introduced in Seychelles in 1919.
During the 1950s the chief Inland Revenue Officer was P.G. Harris, a very much dreaded name, as one can imagine!
In 1952, Mahé had some 69 miles of road, a small proportion of which was macadamised. Vehicles using the roads were 226 motor cars, 22 taxis, 41 motorcycles, 16 private trucks, 50 rickshaws, 36 public and commercial vehicles and 1,008 bicycles and… less we forget, most workers commuting to work were pedestrians, many were even barefeet pedestrians!
Seychelles was kept in contact with the outside world by mainly ships of the British India Navigation Company which provided a service of one ship per month east bound and 8 calls a year west-bound.
An inter-island service with Praslin and La Digue was kept three times a week by the motor launch ‘Alouette’ ‘Jeanette’ or ‘Aroha’ while ‘Paulette’ was the mail boat. Those journeys took 3 to 4 hours. The fare was R3.50cts.
In 1952, Seychelles was sick, even then. 35 persons died of pulmonary tuberculosis, 27 died of malignant tumors, 26 of gastro-enteritis, 17 of a form of syphilis and many more of other diseases that have now disappeared from our clinics, thanks to the marvel of 20th century medical science.
On Curieuse Island, a leper colony which had been established since 1829, was still functioning as a hospital and sanctuary to those afflicted with that biblical disease.
In 1952, there were 22 male and 13 female patients in the leper colony. They were under the care of a nurse, Rose Furneau.
But the scourge in our country was venereal disease, with 927 cases of gonorrhea and 221 cases of syphilis. This was so grotesquely alarming that the government was compelled to introduce the Venereal Ordinance 1952 which came into implementation on November 1, 1952. It contained 16 articles. This law made provisions for penalties of fines (up to R2,000) and imprisonment (up to one year) for the violation of various sections of the law. The heaviest penalty was imposed on a person who was guilty of knowingly infecting another person with a venereal disease. Sexually-transmitted diseases were attributed to the many squalid brothels that had opened in Victoria (Hangard Street, Belonie…) where women of easy virtues offered comfort to sailors of visiting vessels. Contact tracing, like we did for Covid-19, helped to curb the spread of the disease. For example from August 1 to December 31, 1952, medical practitioners notified 491 new cases of venereal disease. Investigations into contacts resulted ultimately in the discovery of 327 persons who were infected and who were promptly treated.
Helminthic diseases, of which there were 1,302 cases, was a national concern for health authorities. The lack of water-borne sewerage in most houses was found to be the cause of nation-wide intestinal infestation. It was proposed that the building of aqua privies should replace pit latrines but the general poverty of the majority of the inhabitants precluded this remedy from being implemented.
Health education and general hygienic instruction (like the washing of hands) in schools and at clinics helped inhabitants to learn how to prevent the contamination of water and food. Hawkers of cakes had to comply with regulations that required that cakes and other eatables should be covered with a clean cloth to avoid contamination with the flies and dust.
Like in the 1930s, helminthic diseases such as hookworm, was treated with ‘latizann kendrik’ a nasty but very effective concoction of oil of chenopodium followed by castor oil which was recommended by an American doctor, J.Ford Kendrick who visited Seychelles in 1919 when there was a hookworm epidemic.
Seventy years ago, the crosier of the Catholic Church was held by Mgr Olivier Maradan (1899-1975) assisted by a clergy of 20 capuchin priests and 7 capuchin brothers who administrated 12 parishes (today we have 17 parishes). At that time, the parishioners of Plaisance worshipped in the little Chapel of Ste Thérèse, next to the Fiennes Institute and the Parish of Takamaka was actually at Takamaka before it was re-built at Quatre Bornes in 1955. It was on June 1, 1952, on Pentecostal Day that the new Anse Aux Pins school (which have since then been rebuilt) was blessed by Mgr Marcel Olivier Maradan.
The Archdeaconry of Seychelles was part of the Diocese of Mauritius (until 1973 when the new Diocese of Seychelles came into existence). Archdeacon Charles Alan Roach (1908-2003) administered the Anglican Church with the assistance of a Mauritian priest and some layreaders. Bishop Hugh Otter-Barry (1887-1971) visited every Anglican Chapel and school in the colony. In 1952, the small community of Seventh Day Adventist in Seychelles (est 1930) received the long-awaited albeit brief visit of Pastor Rene Mauch.
It was a year when like the preceding years, some inhabitants who lived on the coast of Mahé made applications to fill in the foreshore adjacent to their properties. There were nine applications for the reclamation of land: Mrs Fock Heng at Plaisance, Mrs Antoine Hoareau at Anse Des Genets, Mrs Antonio Pillieron at Union Vale, Mr Edouard Green at Anse à la Mouche, Mr. L.M. Michaud at Mont Fleuri, Messrs Temooljee and co at Mont Fleuri, Mr Low Tee at Pointe Larue, Mr. F. Dingwall at Cascade and Mr. F.M Hoareau at Pointe Conan.
The Government also acquired land (in accordance with sect 32 of the Road Consolidating Ordinance 1902) at Mont Fleuri for the purpose of widening the Riverside Bridge and the Mont Fleuri road.
In 1952, our country possessed the most numerous and most confusing scales of measurement of any colonial territory. The standards of length, weight and liquid volume were mindboggling! There was league, mile, furlong, perch, fathom, ell, yard, foot, inch, toise, pouce, pied, ligne and aune. Coconut oil was measured by toque or bottle, sugar by demi-livre or huitieme. And what was our currency like? There were currency notes of R50, R10, R5, and 50 cents. Coinage consisted of silver (R1.50 cent, 25 cents): nickel (10 cents) and copper (5 cents, 2 cents and 1 cent).
What kind of administration was in place? Let’s see. Seychelles was administered by Governor Frederick Crawford (1906-1978) as of May 14, 1951 with the advice of an Executive Council which was composed of the governor as president, three ex officio members and four official members of whom one was a nominated and three were elected unofficial members of the Legislative Council. The Legislative Council included the governor as president, six ex officio members of whom four were elected and two nominated by the governor. The four ‘honorables’ were Marcel Lemarchand for central district, Dr Hilda Stevenson Delhomme for north Mahé, Mr Alexandre Deltel for south Mahé and Mr Arthur Savy for Praslin and La Digue districts. They were all members of the Landowners and Taxpayers Association (est 1930). Legislation was enacted by the governor with the advice and consent of the Legislative council. In 1952, 25 ordinances were enacted. The administrative functions of the government were carried out by the departments of Treasury, Health, Education, Agriculture, Police, Port and Public works under the general direction of the governor through the Secretary to the Government (as of July 1952, G.M Hector). There were two District Councils; the Victoria District Council and the Praslin District Council. There were then 41 boards or committees in Seychelles. The Governor was Chairman of Grand Anse Estates Board of Directors and Chairman of the Agricultural Board.
Let us look through the mists of history, at the names of some members of the civil establishment then, who exercised their profession with dedication and integrity: Miss Rose Furneau was superintendent of Curieuse Leper Settlement, Miss Germaine Lavigne was a nurse at Fiennes Institute, and Mr Philip Loustau-Lalanne was forest ranger in the Agricultural Department. Mr Fernand Morel was superintendent of prisons at Union Vale, Mr Ludovic Payet was cook at Ste Anne Juvenile center, and Mrs Diana Westergreen was supervisor of school meals, Mr Lewis Souyave was Customs Officer…
In 1952, shops had to be closed on Sundays, in accordance with Act 21 of 1918, save on special occasions proclaimed by the governor. The Police Force had an establishment of 115 men. Major A.E Burt was the superintendent of Police. The total number of cases reported in 1952 was 4,139 with wounding and assault being the greater offences (848 cases) followed by larcenies, including possession of stolen articles (480 cases). In 1952, there was the death penalty for murder, the last execution having taken place in 1948.
The total number of livestock in our country represented a reasonable percentage of our food security. We had 2,112 cattle, 2,328 pigs, 1,200 goats and 40,000 poultry. So, not counting the profusion of fish in our waters and the widespread and cultivation of local grub (cassava, sweet potatoes and breadfruit) the spectre of famine must have hovered far away from our shores.
Like with all the years of Mgr Olivier Maradan’s episcopacy, during 1952, the renovation and construction of churches and schools continued. On June 1, 1952, on Pentecostal Day, Mgr Maradan blessed the Anse Aux Pins School. It was a new one that replaced the one which Father Theophane Salamin (1896-1974) had built in 1930, a structure of stone and timber which had succumbed to the vagaries of time and termites. The Catholic Church was also commemorating the centennial anniversary of the Catholic Mission in Seychelles (1852-1952). The Cathedral was renovated and restored to its ecclesiastical splendor. The dedication of the Cathedral was on October 28, 1952.
Now, just imagine that once upon a time we did not have microwave ovens or water dispensers. We did not have televisions or telephones or refrigerators. Would you have been happy in a society where there was no Coca Cola, no sliced bread and no takeaways? No internet, no facebook? Those who were children then are now very much conversant or even adept in the use of digital technology. They have adapted eminently well with our 21st century innovations. They would have tender childhood memories when Seychelles was a little younger, seventy years ago.