Via the Roundabout: The Scobie family's story of resolve and resilience from 1819 through Emancipation, the Colonial Era, and beyond - Beverly Scobie

Family histories are a genre of ethnohistory that at once educate and enthrall family and friends alike. Not all members of a clan care to know about their roots, often fearing that they'll discover phenomena and events they would rather leave buried. Yet, for those of us courageous enough to face and embrace the truth, even truth that hurts, excavating and exploring one's family tree is thrilling and fulfilling.

In Via the Roundabout, I trace my family's history from Tobago in 1819 to post-Independence Trinidad and Tobago. The fascinating story begins with Margaret the family matriarch, a 22-year-old female enslaved by Arthur Cordiner, a Scotsman. Joseph Arthur of Barbados, my great-grandfather, enters the picture post Emancipation as the island's economy collapsed, prompting an exodus of Tobagonians to Trinidad. The majority of migrants landed in northeast Trinidad, Toco to be exact, where the cocoa estates of Sans Souci were in desperate need of laborers. My forebears were among the deluge of Tobagonians who continued to flood the northeast corner of Trinidad well into the 20th century. My father, Alpheus Scobie, in escaping his roots, joined the Seventh-day Adventists in the 1930s, passing on a legacy of integrity and industry to his 8 children, who continue their contributions to society after careers of distinction and dedication.