An Account of the Story of the Sancho family, 1848-2005 written of Guyana, by M’lilwana Osanku.
Tuckness Sancho and Bentick Sancho in British Guiana.
There are several versions concerning the origins of the three brothers; Bentick, John, and Lambert Tuckness Sancho. I have chosen herein to present to the best of my abilities my reminiscences of the oral accounts as told to me by my dearest ancestor; Muriel and her generation of family members, and residents of the Golden Grove and Nabaclis community, whose presence I was fortune to share on numerous occasions.
I recognize there are numerous members of our kinship who are much more qualified and capable, and worthy to pen an article of such magnitude.
Thus having stated the preliminaries, I shall now attempt to condense the known history of the Sancho family, spiced with my thoughts, observations, and speculations; concerning the future of Sancho as a people, and what must be the goals of researchers in the future.
WHO ARE THE SANCHOS?
The Sancho families, who are our kinfolks, are a people of "African Origins". It is obvious our people as a unit are a microcosm of the African experience in Africa, Europe, and the Americas, which occurred during the last four hundred years. The exact date in which our known forefathers; Bentick, John, and Tuckness Sancho arrived in British Guiana; remains unknown. The dates of birth, dates of death, ancestors, siblings, relatives, place of origin, place of residence, of Bentick, John, and Tuckness Sancho, are all unknown.
The information which has survived, by means of the oral traditions, states, in the era of the British Slave Emancipation and Apprenticeship, three Black men, biological brothers; Christopher Bentick Sancho, John Sancho, and Tuckness Sancho, were born in London. A forefather, born to enslaved parents, on a slave ship on its way to the West Indies. The child, at a very young age, was taken from the West Indies to England and there was raised by three white women.
The three brothers, left England, and arrived in colonial British Guiana, prior to January 5, 1848. The Sancho brothers were employed in the sugar industry, at Plantation Enmore, located on the East Sea Coast, in the county of Demerara, in the colony of British Guiana. Bentick Sancho, John Sancho, and Tuckness Sancho, resided, for a while in the Golden Grove -Nabaclis community, on the East Coast of Demerara.
It is documented that the plantations Golden Grove, and Nabaclis were purchased on January 5th, 1848. Bentick Sancho, and Tuckness Sancho, is among fifty shareholders who purchased two plantations; Golden Grove, and Nabaclis, on January 5, 1848. Thus, it is the earliest proven date in the Guyana phase of the Sancho experience. The following are the names of the proprietors:- Prince Grant; Jupiter Quashey; Lina Hercules; John Sumner; Bentick Sancho; Filbert Horatio; Cheesewright Josiah; Ben Conwright; Sophy David; Leah Giles; James Smith; Rowland Chester; Job Timmany; Luke Philip and Gotina Stout; Bristol Newport; Philip Daniel; Tuckness Sancho; Quashey Luke, and Prince Asan; Benjamin Solomon; Robert Europe; Wellington Rogers; Sambo Sumner and Quammy David; Andrew Lexey; Joseph Beard; Sam Sarrabo; Blackwell Simon; Frederick Hope; Billy George; Frank Seaforth; Grenville Green; Billy Billieson; Duke Cato; George Jack; Charles Christmas; Diamond Chester; Stewart Smith; Daniel Virgil and Margaret McArthur; Sam Dick and Jack Newport; Sammy Richard; Sampson Collins; Douglas Hector and James Simon and George Timmany.
A list of persons qualified as Jurors for the County of Demerara, published in October, 1873 - tells us that John Sancho of the Parish of St. Paul was employed as the Village Overseer of Golden Grove and Nabaclis district, c. January 1872. An atmosphere, of women related problems, led John Sancho to abandon British Guiana. It is understood, John Sancho migrated to Trinidad, and there, lived a settled life. It is known Catherine Elizabeth Sancho who married Mr. Thomas Arthur Archer on August 9, 1888, is one of John Sancho's children. Thomas Arthur Archer was a Second Class certificated schoolmaster at the following institutions; Golden Grove Wesleyan, ca. 1888, Anna Catharina Scots, ca. 1902, and Philadelphia Scots ca. 1917. Catherine Elizabeth Sancho is an ancestor of the academically and musically talented and renown Loncke family. Information has reached Sanchos of Guyana - relating that a Mr. John Sancho, and his wife, Elizabeth Sancho, are resting in peace in the Anglican Cemetery in Princes Town, Trinidad. It is quite possible - that John Sancho of Fifth Company Village, Moruga - is John Sancho, brother of Bentick and Tuckness Sancho. The opinion is the Afro-Sanchos of Fifth Company Village, Moruga, Princes Town, and Point Fortin in Trinidad and Grenada, are principally descendants of John Sancho.
Tuckness Sancho relocated in Buxton- Friendship district. Tuckness Sancho was a landed proprietor in Friendship Village, on the East Sea Coast of Demerara. The Colonial Registrar’s Office tells us Tuckness Sancho was a landed proprietor in Friendship, East Coast, Demerara, and he died, prior to Saturday, January 18, 1873. It is believed members of the following families; Gill, Luke, Riley, Smith, Paul, Yaw, Blair, Lewis, and Sancho of the Buxton- Friendship Village District, are numbered among the descendants of Tuckness Sancho. Tuckness Sancho’s date of death and his place of burial remain unknown.
DESCENDANTS OF BENTICK, JOHN, AND TUCKNESS SANCHO.
I have not identified any of the children of Tuckness Sancho. Sanchos of Buxton-Friendship district - who are not the descendants of Bentick Sancho, are all very likely descendants of Tuckness Sancho.
Most accounts indicate John Sancho had a very serious problem - women. Such an addiction for female companionship would be the reason for John Sancho to move from one location to another, before he finally abandoned British Guiana. John Sancho settled down, married Elizabeth and raised a family in Moruga, in Trinidad. Mrs. Catherine Elizabeth (nee Sancho) Archer whose mother is a Miss Weatherspoon - is the only child of John Sancho born in British Guiana - I have identified to date.
Bentick Sancho - it is understood married a woman named Mary. Bentick and Mary Sancho are known to issue two children; Mary Sancho and Lambert Tuckness Sancho. Mary Sancho, I am told died following the birthing of Lambert Tuckness Sancho. Mary Sancho is one of seven Sanchos entombed in the vault in Golden Grove cemetery.
Edmond Sancho left Demerara, and was never seen or heard from again in Nabaclis and Golden Grove Village District. It is believed Edmond Sancho lived a settled life, in Rose Hall Village on the Corentyne Coast, in the county of Berbice, in the colony of British Guiana. It is believed Edmond Sancho is Ed. Sancho, Member of the Local Authorities of Rose Hall Village District on the Corentyne Coast, 1918-1922. The opinion is a number of the members of the Sancho families of Berbice are descendants of Edmond Sancho.
Reverend William Hudson writing about the role of Methodists during the Angel Gabriel Riots of February, 1856 - tells of Mr. Bentick Sancho's leadership skills, and his efforts to prevent loss of life and damage to property of people of Portuguese heritage between Enmore and Belfield on the East Sea Coast, of Demerara.
The descendants of Christopher "Boss Bentick" Sancho represent a much clearer picture. Bentick Sancho's children, Mary and Lambert Tuckness Sancho, are members of the first generation of Sanchos who were born in British Guiana. It is the descendants of Catherine Elizabeth, Mary and Lambert Tuckness Sancho are most widely; known.
Mr. Tappin Johnson Elliott was born between 1853 and 1857, in Sandvoort, a little village, a farming community, on the Canje River, in the County of Berbice. Indications are Mr. Tappin Johnson Elliott, and two of his siblings; John and Thomas R. F. Elliott, emerged from humble beginnings of an Afro centric rural and communal society. They became gainfully employed in the field of education as school teachers. Mr. Elliott was knowledge enough to pass the entrance examination, being selected and attended the Bishop's College for the Training of Teachers from 1872 to 1875. Among the group of Schoolmasters who were Student Teachers trained at Bishop's College, (1872 - 1875), are the following; Mr. Joseph A. Parkinson; Tappin Elliott's closest friend, who also became a resident of the Golden Grove and Nabaclis community, Mr. Daniel E. Sharples (Head Master for 40 years at St. Thomas Scots School, beginning on July 1, 1876), Mr. Paul A. Jones (Head Master, Taymouth Manor), and Mr. F. A. R. Sutherland (Head Master, Danielstown).
Mr. Thomas Elliott was the schoolmaster at Plaisance Congregational school in 1886 and at Main Street Roman Catholic School in 1888.
Mary Sancho married Benjamin Sandy. Their daughter, Annie Sophia Sandy married Tappin Johnson Elliott, on April 17, 1884. The Elliott and Sandy union reproduced a family of the following nine known children; Henry J. Elliott, Wilfred R. Elliott, Mildred Angela Elliott, Alice Matilda Elliott, Edward S. Elliott, Sophia Annie Mizpah Elliott, Sidney B. Elliott, Annie Kathleen Elliott, and Victoria Lavina Elliott. The Elliott family were and are a family of school teachers, and Registrars of Births and Deaths, and Participants in Community Development in Golden Grove and Nabaclis, and Neighboring Communities.
Three of his daughters; Alice Matilda Elliott, Annie Kathleen Elliott, and Victoria Lavina Elliott, and two of his sons - in - law, the brothers; Prince Josephus Patterson brothers; Prince Josephus Patterson, and Cecil Orpheus Philbertus Patterson, were school teachers. The Patterson brothers also became School Masters, and their sister was also a school teacher. Mildred Angela Elliott and Annie Kathleen Elliott married two brothers, Prince Josephus Patterson, and Cecil Orpheus Philbertus Patterson. Mr. Tappin Johnson Elliott, and his two sons-in-law, was three prominent schoolmasters, who were all born in Canje river valley in Berbice, British Guiana. The marriages to Archer, Elliott, and the Patterson brothers, influenced, ushered in, and continued the era of Sancho as an educator.
Mr. Tappin Elliott was certainly a member of the working class, and actively participated in organizations which promoted the soci-economic development process in the Golden Grove and Nabaclis district. It is said Mr. Tappin Elliott employed the donkey and cart as his preferred means of transportation, when he embarked upon his many sojourns to conduct his activities. It is noted Mr. Tappin Elliott, and his son, Mr. Wilfred Elliott were participants at the same period, in organizations within the Golden Grove and Nabaclis community. There is no doubt Mr. Wilfred Elliott was influenced by his father. Mr. Ernest Elliott is continuing in such a tradition of community affairs, the legacy of his ancestors; Mr. Tappin Johnson Elliott, his grand father, and indeed, a founding father of the district, Mr. Christopher "Boss" Bentick Sancho, his great great grand father. Mr. Tappin Elliott was the Registrar of Births and Deaths, for the region which included Golden Grove and Nabaclis district, for many years. Mr. Joseph Alfred Trotman was the Deputy Registrar of Births and Deaths. Miss Victoria Lavina Elliott succeeded her father in the office, with her sister, Mrs. Mildred Angela (nee Elliott) Patterson as the Deputy. Mrs. Patterson became the Registrar of Births and Deaths, following her sister's death in February, 1945, and held the office until Miss Josephine Patterson, her daughter, followed in the footsteps of her grand father, aunt, and mother, in that capacity in the region; until the PNC Government saw it fit to reform the colonial system. The Elliotts are a family of teachers, for a noticeable amount of the members of the Elliott clan were gainfully employed in the field of Education. Keith Jeune, Josephine Patterson, Abiola Willis, Ave Willis, and Paulette Willis, I would not be at all shocked to learn that today, such a statement would still very truthful. Thus, the Elliotts, descendants of Sancho, are a family, who made an indelible mark and created a legacy as a family of Teachers, Registrars of Births and Deaths, and participants in Community Development in Golden Grove and Nabaclis, and neighboring communities.
Lambert Tuckness Sancho
Lambert Tuckness Sancho, participated, between 1893 and 1924, serving for about 25 years, as a Member of Council of the Local Authorities of the Golden Grove and Nabaclis Village District.
SOME NOTABLE SANCHOS OF GUYANA
The following are members of the Sancho family of British Guiana (now Guyana). These Sanchos are mostly the descendants of Bentick and John Sancho. I am not yet enlightened concerning the descendants of Tuckness Sancho, who died about 1872.
Bertrand Abrams, Evelyn Abrams, Brenda Abrams, Irma Abrams, Ruby Abrams, Dorothy Amanda Alleyne, Dennis Andries, Boadicea Archer, Caroline Archer, Thomas E. Archer, Dr. Colin Bradshaw, Lloyd Fawcett Bradshaw, Nora Bradshaw-Vigilance, Catherine Cole, Ernest Elliott, Wilfred Elliott, Sybil Grovesnor, Theophilus Joyce, Ivy Nelbertha Archer- Loncke (1906-1965), Dr. Joycelynne E. Loncke, Ivy Agatha Loncke, Yvonne Cecily Loncke, John Victor Loncke, Patricia Adora Theresa Loncke (1945-1983), Paul Loncke, Herman Lowe, Dr. Harold Lutchman, Sidney Marious, James Patterson, Mildred Patterson, Birchel Ralph, Dr. Michael Ralph, Derrick Roberts, Cheryl H. Ross, Captain Compton M. Ross, Mariette E. Ross, Muriel E. Sancho-Ross, Emerson A. Samuels, Alexander Sancho, Christopher (Boss) Bentick Sancho, Christopher Bentick Sancho, Clarence Sancho, Ed. Sancho, John Sancho, U. Leebert Sancho, Lorna Sancho, Mary Dorothy Inez Sancho, Michael Alwyn "Back Legg" Sancho, Oswald Sancho, Precious Sancho, Robin Sancho, Joseph Thomas Sancho, T. Anson Sancho, Lambert Tuckness Sancho, Tuckness Lambert Sancho, Theresa Meltina Sancho, Thomas Sancho, Dr. Victor Sancho, Woolford Sancho, Dr. Barton Scotland, Newborne Horatio Scotland, Madora Scotland, Newborne Lennox Scotland, Edward Scotland , Dawn Simmons, Joycelynne Valentine, Roy Valentine, Archibald Herman Wiltshire, Cyril White. M'lilwana Osanku
Sancho of Nabaclis
Researcher for Sancho Family History Golden Grove and Nabaclis Bibliography:
Colonial Registrar's Office - Counties of Demerary and Essequebo - Transports and Mortgages - Saturday, January 18, 1873
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