Basseterre, St Kitts, March 12, 2025 (SKNDF): Members of the St Kitts Nevis Defence Force (SKNDF) along with Royal Navy Sailors of HMS Medway, carried out a historical handing over ceremonial parade on Sunday 09 March 2025.
The ceremony with both forces saw the handing over of the newly restored St John’s Parish Register, at the St John’s Anglican Church in Fig Tree, Nevis. The register, after extensive restoration and digitizing work by the Borthwick Institute for Archives, the 1805 Club, and the Nevis Historical and Conservation Society, was returned to the Church and the people of Nevis.
The 1805 Club was founded in 1990 to assist in the preservation of monuments and memorials relating to Vice- Admiral Horatio Nelson and seafarers of the Georgian era. To promote research into the Royal Navy of the Georgian period, and especially of Vice Admiral Nelson.
Squadron Leader Craig Pearson, the Deputy Defence Attaché to the British Army, along with Leftenant Nash of HMS Medway and a detachment of sailors, joined 2nd Leftenant Lakeem Crosse and a detachment of soldiers from the St. Kitts-Nevis Defence Force to jointly conduct the historic handover ceremony at the church.
The register includes all the names of marriages, christenings, and burials in the church archives in the 1700s. This includes the wedding of Sir Horatio Nelson, one of Britain’s greatest naval captains, and Fanny Nisbet of Nevis.
The Deputy Premier of Nevis, along with members of the Church, and members of the relevant institutions that were instrumental in the restoration process and historical society on Nevis witnessed the handing-over ceremony which will now be on display for nationals and visitors to see.
