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kondorong
Gambia
4380 Posts |
 Posted - 26 Oct 2006 : 01:32:57
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I would like to share the history of a few buildings in Banjul.
1. BEDFORD PLACE BUILDING
This the building which houses the ministry of education. It was a prison initially and also used as an execution place. I was told that the execution room is on the left side of the entrance from Buckle street. That is the building sharing fence with the central bank.
The prison later moved to Mile II at the current location. Later on in 1925, it became a power station which later moved to Half Die area in Banjul.
Now the buliding houses the ministry of education.
Please send in your comments on other buildings too and any thing else on Bedford Place.
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kiwi
Sweden
661 Posts |
Posted - 26 Oct 2006 : 12:04:50
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| And what is the history behind names such as Mile II and Half Die? |
kiwi |
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njucks
Gambia
1131 Posts |
Posted - 26 Oct 2006 : 17:00:29
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quote:
Originally posted by kiwi01
And what is the history behind names such as Mile II and Half Die?
Mile 2 like Mile 7, is simply a measure of the distance from banjul. perhaps where is the reference point is your question.
'Alf Die has to do with an epidemic in the 19th century. (should be half death)
another part is Sajitowun but it Soldier's town (perhaps a british garrison was there).
many other words were corrupted into wollof. Bodafel is/ should be Board of Health.
Pi-nye street should be Pignard street. Fijaral is Fitzgerald other have been completely forgotten and the local name is dominant. for example Wafi N'jaggo is actually Victoria Embarkment.
others have been changed. Wellington St. has become Liberation avenue, Hagan and Cameron are either ECOWAS and Mandela.
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serenata
Germany
1400 Posts |
Posted - 26 Oct 2006 : 18:05:03
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Nice. I like it how the colonial names are turned into 'locals'. 
What about 'The Quadrangle'? |
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kondorong
Gambia
4380 Posts |
Posted - 26 Oct 2006 : 18:34:31
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| I will come to the quadrangle soon and the buildings there. It used to be called the garrison which housed military prisoners of the crown who were jailed in the Gambia as a punishment. |
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kiwi
Sweden
661 Posts |
Posted - 26 Oct 2006 : 18:37:22
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| Njucks, thanks for excellent explanations. One corruption from French, I suppose, is Koddi Waar for Coté dAvoire. And kokumber for cucumber though it´s not a place... |
kiwi |
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serenata
Germany
1400 Posts |
Posted - 26 Oct 2006 : 18:51:23
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It seems as if the British had nothing but prisons there...
I read T.C. Boyle's 'Water Music', a brillantly written novel about Mungo Park, yet I am feeling very ambivalent about the book. Though Boyles castigates the (colonial) British class society, he is not able to overcome his (White American) racism. Anyway, it was from this book that I learned about the British prisoner garrisons; they had another one in Gorée. These garrisons must have been real 'white man's graves'... |
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njucks
Gambia
1131 Posts |
Posted - 26 Oct 2006 : 20:04:33
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Kiwi,
you are right. kodi waari is Ivory Coast, czigichor is Ziguinchor, anlgeterre is England (thats obvious i guess). Misra is Egypt, but thats from Arabic.
the examples are infinite.its not just places but several wollof words, atleast what is spoken in Banjul and coastal areas have french and portugese roots. here are a few more examples
Pannaie (basket) is from French, Panier. faringha/farine is flour is portugese/french etc. fouuurset (fork)is French ,fourchette. Martorrr (hammer) is French, marteau. Mousowarr (handkerchief) is french,mouchoir. Lopitan (hospital)is french,L'Hopital. Sukurr (sugar) is also french,sucre. boutail(bottle) is french, bouteille. ridoe (curtains) is French, rideau.
 if the Frecnch knew,......
ofcourse french and portugese are the same latin languages but i'm most are from portugese or would sound similar.
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Edited by - njucks on 26 Oct 2006 20:09:47 |
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kondorong
Gambia
4380 Posts |
Posted - 26 Oct 2006 : 21:06:27
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| Now to the quadrangle. It takes its name from the open square shape space in the middle as a result of the four building built around it. This was a common british building style. It was called the garrison for the men and officers of the Royal African Corps. There is a clock on the tower which was actually put up in 1892 by J. Bavreres Company. The building later served as the Secretariat whose name was change to Personnel Management Office. The ministry of finance was also housed there. More recently, it has become offices of the ministry of health and the National Archives. Before the expansion of the Archives into the National Records Services, it also housed The Electoral Office until 1994, when the PIEC later IEC was formed and moved to Kanifing. |
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kondorong
Gambia
4380 Posts |
Posted - 26 Oct 2006 : 21:09:55
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quote:
Originally posted by serenata
It seems as if the British had nothing but prisons there...
I read T.C. Boyle's 'Water Music', a brillantly written novel about Mungo Park, yet I am feeling very ambivalent about the book. Though Boyles castigates the (colonial) British class society, he is not able to overcome his (White American) racism. Anyway, it was from this book that I learned about the British prisoner garrisons; they had another one in Gorée. These garrisons must have been real 'white man's graves'...
Gambia was described as "hell hole" on earth by American President Roosevelt on his way to the Casablanca conference during the second world war. It was said that his distate for colonialism was further reinforced by his vist to gambia and had a hard talk with Churcill at the conference to speed up the creation of the United Nations and to end colonialism. Gambia was an important factor in the creation of the UN. It certainly was used as an example to get rid of colonialism.
He was the first sitting U.S. President to visit Gambia |
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njucks
Gambia
1131 Posts |
Posted - 26 Oct 2006 : 21:37:42
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quote:
Originally posted by kondorong
Gambia was described as "hell hole" on earth by American President Roosevelt on his way to the Casablanca conference during the second world war.
He was the first sitting U.S. President to visit Gambia
Kondorong he was the First sitting U.S President to set foot on African soil.! The Gambia was a transit point for transatlantic flights. the Germans airliner Lufthansa used it for their mailing service to South America.
here are some of Roosevlt's own words!! a bit patronising but gives you a glimpse of pre-Independence Gambia. i had to edit some of it as it might offend some people.
''Last year I went to a place called Gambia in Africa, at the mouth of the Gambia River....Disease is rampant, absolutely. It's a terrible place for disease.
And I looked it up, with a little study, and I got to the point of view that for every dollar that the British, who have been there for two hundred years, have put into Gambia, they have taken out ten. It's just plain exploitation of those people. There is no education whatsoever.''
on chritianity
''And then a very interesting thing. They had no religion except the old forms of voodooism, which were tribal and came down through the centuries. The one religion that is gaining today in Gambia and contiguous colonies is Mohammedanism''
I am taking up with Prime Minister Winston Churchill at the present time—I think he will see the point—the general thought that the United Nations ought to have an inspection committee of all these colonies that are way, way down the line, that are not ready to have anything to say yet because the owning country has given them no facilities.
And if we sent a committee from the United Nations, and I used the example of Gambia, to go down to Gambia, "If you Britishers don't come up to scratch—toe the mark-then we will let all the world know."
and Churchill's reply
"All right, the United Nations will send an inspection committee to your own South in America."
Roosevelt:
''He thought he had me''.
I said, "Winston, that's all right with me. Go ahead and do it. Tell the world. We call it freedom of the press, and you also call it 'pitiless publicity'—you can right a lot of wrongs with 'pitiless publicity.'"
It would be a grand thing. I wouldn't mind if we had a committee of the United Nations come here and make a report on us. Why not? We have got some things to be ashamed of, and other things that are not as bad as they are painted. It wouldn't hurt at all—bring it all out.
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Edited by - njucks on 26 Oct 2006 21:39:29 |
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kondorong
Gambia
4380 Posts |
Posted - 26 Oct 2006 : 21:41:04
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| There you go Njuks. This is very powerful. |
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kiwi
Sweden
661 Posts |
Posted - 26 Oct 2006 : 22:45:41
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quote:
Originally posted by njucks
Misra is Egypt, but thats from Arabic.
Has names like Misira, Missira or Misira Toben any connection with Misra as mentioned above? |
kiwi |
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Momodou
Denmark
11644 Posts |
Posted - 26 Oct 2006 : 23:09:28
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Google Earth satellite photo of 1. Bedford Place Building and 2. 'The Quadrangle' |
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kondorong
Gambia
4380 Posts |
Posted - 27 Oct 2006 : 01:11:53
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| Pictures are more powerful than words. |
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serenata
Germany
1400 Posts |
Posted - 27 Oct 2006 : 13:35:42
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Thank you, Momodou, Njucks, and Kondorong; you're a powerful triumvirate.
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