Bertram Anderson Roach

About This Item

Bertram Anderson Roach was born on Bush Hill Estate on the island of Nevis. His father, Adolphus Roach came from Montserrat in the early 1900s to work as a manager at the Brown and Bush Hill Estates. From there he went to work as a manager at Lavington Estate. Adolphus would take the young Betram with him, on his travels. From Lavington Estate, Mr. Roach was transferred to Bell View Estate and Bertram went to school in Tabernacle Village.

From the labourers and other villagers, Betram heard stories of the lives of the white estate owners and other residents, both in the area and throughout St. Kitts. These stories and his own observations provided rich materials for his novel ‘Only God can make a Tree’.

Betram Roach travelled to several Caribbean islands, including Trinidad and Tobago where he lived for five years, working at then American naval base in Chagaramus during World War II. There he gained a Navy ‘E’, for efficiency. On returning in Nevis, he worked for the St. Kitts/Nevis Electrical Department before leaving for England in 1955. Here he was employed in a variety of jobs before settling with Shell Chemicals, where he worked for several years. During his years in England with his wife Sylvia and his six children, he travelled with and saw a lot of Europe.