A Brief Biography of
Albert Cavendish Shillingford
May 11, 1882 – March 7, 1938
Albert Cavendish Shillingford was one of the most significant figures in the commercial life of
the island of Dominica, West Indies, in the mid twentieth century [1]. He was a dynamic,
visionary entrepreneur, and a courageous and resourceful leader. He early saw the importance
of limejuice to the British Navy. Thus, he developed, and was the dynamic force in the firm of
A.C. Shillingford, which built two large limejuice factories in Dominica, and one each in Grenada
and Trinidad. His firm also produced rum. Under Albert’s management, his firm prospered and
became the main import/export house in Dominica at that time, exporting limejuice, bananas
and other agricultural products, and importing groceries, dry goods, autos and medicines,
among other commodities. Just as Howell Shillingford, his cousin, was a major force in
Dominican politics and agriculture, Albert Cavendish was pre-eminent in Dominican
manufacturing and commerce, complimenting the activities of Howell and other Shillingfords in
agriculture and business.
Early years
Albert Cavendish Shillingford (ACS) was born in St Joseph, Dominica on May 11, 1882, the son
of Albert Charles Shillingford and Anne Eglais Pinard. Albert Charles was of English, French and
Carib ancestry, and lived on his estate at Snug Corner near Loubiere. Albert Cavendish was
educated at the Dominica Grammar School in Roseau. As a young man, he first worked at the
Roseau hospital, interning in pharmacology under Mr. Mendes, the hospital’s pharmacist. Also
interning in pharmacology at about the same time was Sydney Green, with whom Albert
became friends. Albert and Sydney left government service in 1905 to set up their own
pharmacy. With their savings, and loans from their parents of #50 pounds each, they
established the Dominica Dispensary, located where Jolly’s Pharmacy is today. Five years later,
the Green/Shillingford partnership was dissolved. Sydney stayed at the old location and Albert
opened his pharmacy and grocery on Old Street [1, 2]. As Albert’s business expanded, he
recognized the significant potential of the import/export business, and concluded that he
needed a larger location. He then acquired the George V Street property, built a larger facility
and moved his business to this new location [2]. He called it the Phoenix, with obvious Greek
mythology connotations.
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The Import/Export Business
Apart from importing and dispensing drugs and retailing groceries, Albert saw and grasped the
opportunity to import and sell cosmetics and other consumer goods and export agricultural
products. In 1912, Albert’s cousin, Newton Shillingford, joined the management of the firm.
The groceries imported included rice, sugar, cooking oil, kerosene (for lamps), salted meats and
fish, tinned goods; cosmetics included soaps, perfumes and other beauty products, all for retail
at the Phoenix or for wholesale to village retailers. Albert also imported dry goods such as
cloth, shoes and hats, for retail at his three other downtown outlets, the Fancy Store, the New
Store and the Peoples Store (1); and for wholesale to the newly arriving immigrant Lebanese
merchants. In addition, with his Vauxhall and Bedford dealerships, Albert was one of the first
importers of cars and trucks to the island. He provided vehicle service at the City Garage.
On the export side, there was limejuice, cocoa, vanilla and bay oil, among other products,
coming from his and other Shillingford estates, plus production from small farmers and other
estate owners. These Shillingford estates included Snug Corner, River Estate, San Sauvier,
Layou Park, Bayac , Batalie, Providence, Belle Valley, Macoucherie, Hobbs Hole, Hatton Garden,
Bagatelle and Soufriere. However, it was the result of Albert’s dynamic and astute
management and his vision and hard work that made the firm of A.C. Shillingford the dominant
force in Dominica’s commercial fortunes in the mid twentieth century, and Albert himself, one
of the most significant figures in the business life of the island [1, 3]. To do this, Albert
cultivated and mobilized the cooperation of other Shillingfords, especially Howell, Edward and
Newton, to work together for the greater effectiveness of Shillingfords, and Dominica in
general. As a result, “by the 1930’s, the network of Shillingfords headed by those such as
[Howell and Albert] had virtually controlled every aspect of Dominican society” [4], including
the import/export trade.
Limes and Bananas
On several of these Shillingford estates, there were small, inefficient, agricultural processing
facilities. The sugarcane mills for rum production at Macoucherie, River Estate and Bagatelle,
and the limejuice mills at Reigate and Soufriere, were ancient and inefficient. Recognizing
these inefficiencies, and with the support of the other Shillingfords, Albert decided to take
advantage of the greater efficiencies and economies of scale of larger, modern factories. He
therefore built two large central limejuice factories, one at Newtown and the other at
Soufriere. This was a courageous move for a local entrepreneur in those days. It required
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significant capital investment, and the effective mobilization and organization of hundreds of
workers and suppliers. The only other lime factory of similar capacity and efficiency was the
English-owned L. Rose & Co lime factory at Bath Estate outside Roseau. So significant was this
development, it was noted that, “The Shillingford entrance into the limejuice market, which
resulted in the breaking of the monopoly on yellow limes, will probably never be forgotten by
peasants and planters alike, who, after many years of low prices were enabled to obtain a fair
price for their yellow limes” [3]. Apart from a stable market and fair prices, these Shillingford
factories provided hundreds of jobs for the people of Newtown, Loubiere and Soufriere.
Following the success of these factories in Dominica, Albert expanded, building lime factories in
two other islands, one in Grenada managed by Albert’s son Heskeith, and the other in Trinidad
managed by Howell’s brother Stafford.
From his various properties, Albert also produced a large amount of bananas for export, and
was a member of the Board of Directors of the Banana Growers Association. There, “his keen
business sense and foresight” was a decided asset to the Board [3]. Further, because there
were no motorable roads then, Albert acquired several tugboats and launches to transport his
bananas and limes from his properties along the length of the west coast to the factories at
Newtown and Soufriere. These launches also provided transportation to and from Roseau, the
capital, for the people of the more distant communities along the coast.
Community, Children and Sudden Death
Albert Cavendish was a founding member and one of the main developers of the Union Club in
Roseau. This was a social club where members played tennis and billiards, and could entertain
their out of town guests. The Club was a community institution for decades, and one of the
most popular venues in Roseau for Christmas Eve celebrations. Albert also made the second
floor of his Phoenix business available for community festivities such as New Years Eve and
Carnival celebrations. In this capacity, the upper floor of the Phoenix was called Albert Hall.
Albert Cavendish was also one of the founders and an ardent supporter of the Dominica
Tribune newspaper. The Tribune provided another vehicle for public opinion in addition to the
Catholic Church run Dominica Chronicle.
Albert was very conscious of the importance of education in general, and he was a trustee of
the Dominica Grammar School. He took particular interest in the education of his children.
Some of the girls went to boarding school in Grenada, then to university in the US and Canada.
Some of his boys first went to the Dominica Grammar School, finished high school in Trinidad,
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then went on to University in the US. He encouraged his boys in sports, and he himself, apart
from being “a keen footballer and a good cricketer, [was] a fond patron” of sport [3].
Albert Cavendish was a visionary entrepreneur, a charismatic leader, and an excellent manager;
and to top it all, he was courageous and very hard working. The Tribune newspaper reported
that, “his business house may be regarded as the very backbone of the island” [3]. He was one
of the most successful business men in the island. He built four limejuice factories, a large
pharmacy and grocery, three dry goods stores, and one of the few auto dealerships of his time;
he acquired a number of estates, and built a successful import/export business, among a
myriad of other businesses he developed. He was truly a captain of industry in his era.
Sadly, he died suddenly at the early age of 56 in a drowning accident in the sea off the Hatton
Garden beach on March 7, 1938. Unfortunately, it was at this time that the business needed
the management and leadership of Albert Cavendish most. From the early 1920s, wither tip
and red root diseases had been slowly decimating the lime trees on which his factories
depended. In addition, making conditions even worse, were the World Recession of the early
1930s and WWII, which would severely curtail business in Dominica, the UK and the US, his
main markets. His death was a major blow to the firm, the business community and the island
as a whole.
Albert Cavendish was mourned by the entire community. His funeral was attended by “an
immense crowd, …. an unusually large number of persons of all walks of life,” including the
leading citizens of the land [3, 5]. All stores and shops closed that morning, and the two major
banks flew their flags at half-mast [5]. All of this was a tribute to the respect and high esteem in
which Albert Cavendish was held, the friendships he had inspired, and the great loss the
community felt.
Epilogue
After Albert’s death in 1938, Newton Shillingford his cousin, who had been the firm’s Attorney
and Manager for several years [1], and who owned 25% of the shares [6], took control of the
firm. This was at the time of the disease-induced decline in lime production, upon which the
company’s large lime factories depended. There was also the decline in consumer demand due
to the worldwide economic depression of the early 1930s, and the onset of WWII soon after
Albert’s death. Increasing limejuice output from India did not help. With these adverse market
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conditions, the firm began to falter, and debt began to mount. To raise cash, A.C. Shillingford &
Co had to sell some of its prized assets such as Soufriere Estate.
Despite this, bankruptcy appeared inevitable. However, in the mid 1960s a white knight came
in the form of Ingledew & Nutting, a UK firm. It bought a majority, 51%, of A.C. Shillingford &
Co, and took control of the firm. Ingledew & Nutting injected some needed capital and sent out
an English manager, Francis Brown, to run the company. Despite the injection of new capital
and new management, the firm continued to decline. The new management was just not up to
the task. Eventually, Ingledew & Nutting decided to get out of the business, sell its shares and
cut its losses. It put A.C. Shillingford & Co Ltd into receivership. The receiver was Ian Mascoll of
Coopers & Lybrand, and the accountant was a Dominican, Julius Timothy. Timothy quickly
raised the needed capital, bought out Ingledew & Nutting’s majority share, and took control of
A.C. Shillingford & Co Ltd.
References
[1] Editorial. Orbituary: Albert Cavendish Shillingford. The Dominica Chronicle, Roseau,
Dominica, March 12, 1938
[2] These are the essentials in the story of the founding of A.C. Shillingford & Co and the
Phoenix. They were confirmed by Damian Shillingford, Albert Cavendish’s grandson, and Dr
W.E.V. Green, Sidney Green’s son [6/23/2013].
[3] Editorial. The Late A.C. Shillingford. The Dominica Tribune, Roseau, Dominica, March 12,
1938
[4] Honychurch, Lennox. A to Z of Dominica’s Heritage: Shillingford.
lennoxhonychurch.com/heritage.cfm?Id=221, July 2013
[5] Benny. Around Town. The Dominica Tribune, Roseau, Dominica, March 12, 1938
[6] A.C. Shillingford & Co Ltd. Returns to Registrar of Joint Stock Companies. Government
Registry, Roseau, Dominica, 1964
by
Davison Shillingford & Clayton Shillingford
August 2013
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