Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

A Princess Cays Mystery!

caribbean2000

By caribbean2000,
in Princess Cruises

 Share

Recommended Posts

nomarfan5

nomarfan5

Posted
Posted

As an amateur genealogist and a person who doesn't like to sit still, I am so very excited to have found this thread. I love poking around in cemeteries and have since I was a child. My father was a caretaker in a cemetery and my sister and I would go with him every Saturday to help him and also give my mother a break. :) Thank you everyone for the directions and the pictures. I'll be there next month and can't wait to find this area. No one has mentioned feeling unsafe while walking out there which is reassuring since I'll be lucky if I can get anyone from our group to join me. Can't believe I didn't know about this the first time I went to Princess Cays!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Redwing55

Redwing55

Posted
Posted
As an amateur genealogist and a person who doesn't like to sit still, I am so very excited to have found this thread. I love poking around in cemeteries and have since I was a child. My father was a caretaker in a cemetery and my sister and I would go with him every Saturday to help him and also give my mother a break. :) Thank you everyone for the directions and the pictures. I'll be there next month and can't wait to find this area. No one has mentioned feeling unsafe while walking out there which is reassuring since I'll be lucky if I can get anyone from our group to join me. Can't believe I didn't know about this the first time I went to Princess Cays!

 

I had to go by myself as I couldn't find the rest of our crowd until later. I didn't see a soul after I got a few hundred yards away. I felt pretty secure though. I did wish someone was there to share things, but it was still worth the walk to see a bit of a secret on this island. I didn't look for the "bunker" though. I think it's a bit further. Might be worth checking that out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
mytime53

mytime53

Posted
Posted
No one has mentioned feeling unsafe while walking out there which is reassuring !

 

Crime rate on Eleuthera is very low (when we first visited a few years ago, they had a bank robbery--businesses closed because the were afraid of the robbers coming in--the robbers were from someplace else and thought it would be an easy place to rob. One problem...the idiots didn't have an escape plan! They were found cowering in the shrub brush and counting their "booty" the next day) and there are no wild animals. So you're safe.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
nomarfan5

nomarfan5

Posted
Posted
Crime rate on Eleuthera is very low (when we first visited a few years ago, they had a bank robbery--businesses closed because the were afraid of the robbers coming in--the robbers were from someplace else and thought it would be an easy place to rob. One problem...the idiots didn't have an escape plan! They were found cowering in the shrub brush and counting their "booty" the next day) and there are no wild animals. So you're safe.

 

Glad to hear the worst I'll have to deal with is not so intelligent criminals. :) I plan on going all the way out to Lighthouse Point which looks so incredible. If you haven't checked out the pictures that were posted on Google Earth, do so - it's worth it!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Jumbo70

Jumbo70

Posted
Posted
Glad to hear the worst I'll have to deal with is not so intelligent criminals. :) I plan on going all the way out to Lighthouse Point which looks so incredible. If you haven't checked out the pictures that were posted on Google Earth, do so - it's worth it!

 

I've seen pictures that show a pink sand beach on the other side of lighthouse point. I'm not sure if I'll make it out that far, but definitely making it to the graves.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Jumbo70

Jumbo70

Posted
Posted
The lighthouse is on the opposite side of the graves, right? How far to the lighthouse from the dock? I know that we are going to trek to the graves but the lighthouse also looks good.

 

Linda

 

Both are to the right as you look from the ocean to the beach. The lighthouse is just further down the beach at the bottom of the island.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
halfvass

halfvass

Posted
Posted

I just came across this fascinating thread as I was preparing for a trip on the Emerald soon. I couldn't resist doing some sleuthing. There seems to have been many Gibsons on Eleuthera. Below is what I found on a Bahamas Gen. Forum:

 

 

My family stems from the Gibsons of Eleuthera. A gentleman by the name of Richard Alfred Gibson is my great grand father. He was the son of an English medical doctor who settled there in Eleuthera also with his brother who was also a medical doctor. It is my understanding that the brothers came to Eleuthera, practiced medicine there and married women there. My great grand father was Richard Alfred Gibson. He had brothers whose names were, O.C., Maliki, Silvanis, and a sister named Beatrice. Beatrice married a sands. I was in contact with someone at the Registry of the Bahamas who told me that there was a Richard Alfred Gibson who was married in 1894 and that they had a son named Alexander. I know that my great grand father was married to or also married to at some point Maggie Grant.

 

Civil birth record :

 

Dist. of St. Patrick East End Eleuthera

born 1 Nov 1857 - Octavious

pts: Alfred GIBSON & Pagy MITCHEL - Planter

 

Suspect father is Richard Alfred GIBSON born 1828

manumitted son of James Robert GIBSON & Rachael.

 

1831 Bahamas Slave Register

James Robert GIBSON of Isl. of Eleuthera, Planter

Rachael 24y 6m Black Creole

Richard Alfred mulatto Creole born 13 Feb 1828 manum. 27 Mar 1828

 

 

Maybe this will help someone else in their research. I am still looking to place the McPhees there. I am also getting my walking shoes ready for PC!

 

Happy cruising and sleuthing!

 

Deb

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 months later...
caribbean2000

caribbean2000

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Well, this is so interesting! I'm the person who started this thread five years ago! We have returned to pay our respects at the graves a few times since then, as many others have. Re: some of the responses here. There is no way these are slaves' graves, both women having been born and died in the mid 20th Century. Sadly, even in the 5 or so years we've visited the graves the scrawled lettering on the concrete (?) headstones is fading and will surely fade away in a few years. It still has the makings of a great novel though, I think! The way both women died young and within a short time of each other, the placement of the graves close together and angled and facing the same direction....

And just to clarify - yes, you need to wear something beyond flip-flops to negotiate the broken coral, and the beautiful beaches that one person posted pictures of are on the OTHER side of the island, not on the side with PC or the graves. It's still a great walk down toward the point though and you will truly feel like you're Robinson Crusoe! Just be sure to wear a hat and bring water as it's a pretty good hike and it gets HOT as you wander along. Maybe someday someone will solve this mystery, but I kind of hope no one does.... It's fun to wonder, isn't it?

Gene from Cape Cod

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 months later...
RNnNC

RNnNC

Posted
Posted

I stumbled across this thread in preparation of our visit in 68 days (who's counting right?). I cannot wait to make this trek, such an adventure.

Thank you to all those who have contributed, I certainly am anxious to make my contributions as well!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
umieesa

umieesa

Posted
Posted

wow great thread...thanks for starting it!

 

I would like to make the trek to the graves and lighthouse point but I will be with 3 kids (one of which will be almost 2)...think it's doable?? If I take the road back will I know when to stop to reach the tenders??

 

THANKS!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
friedshrimp

friedshrimp

Posted
Posted (edited)
wow great thread...thanks for starting it!

 

I would like to make the trek to the graves and lighthouse point but I will be with 3 kids (one of which will be almost 2)...think it's doable?? If I take the road back will I know when to stop to reach the tenders??

 

THANKS!!

 

The distance is not far, the walk is not hard, but I think the kids would be bored with such a walk. Half of the walk is on a little road parallel to the beach so it's not real interesting. If they are into history and have the ability to imagine how a funeral took place at the edge of the beach, it might be interesting to them. Once you make it there, it will be obvious how to get back.

 

To get a little more info, check out my post #165.

Edited by friedshrimp
Link to comment
Share on other sites
BalconyGal

BalconyGal

Posted
Posted
I stumbled across this thread in preparation of our visit in 68 days (who's counting right?). I cannot wait to make this trek, such an adventure.

Thank you to all those who have contributed, I certainly am anxious to make my contributions as well!

 

I think we're on the same cruise. :) How about a group excursion?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Travel Travel Travel

Travel Travel Travel

Posted
Posted
I don't know if any one else posted a picture of the graves. Here is a link to them. Go down to the bottom of the page.

 

http://thesledgehammer.wordpress.com/2011/04/12/wandering-off-the-beaten-path-at-princess-cays/

 

Great story/photos/directions, thanks! I can't wait to take that walk next March!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Vexorg

Vexorg

Posted
Posted
I don't know if any one else posted a picture of the graves. Here is a link to them. Go down to the bottom of the page.

 

http://thesledgehammer.wordpress.com/2011/04/12/wandering-off-the-beaten-path-at-princess-cays/

 

Thanks for the link (I made that Blog post after my cruise in April, and found out about the graves from this thread.) As noted, there are pictures a few pages back on the thread, but those ones seem to be a fair bit older. As has been noted elsewhere on the thread, the area around the graves seems to be getting increasingly buried and covered in plants, so the photos in this post seem to have much clearer pictures of the headstones.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...