Albert Raymond Forbes Webber (1 January 1880 – 29 June 1932) was a
Tobago
Tobago () is an island and ward within the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located northeast of the larger island of Trinidad and about off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. It also lies to the southeast of Grenada. The offici ...
-born Guyanese politician, author and newspaper editor.
He was author of ''Those That Be in Bondage: A Tale of Indian Indentures and Sunlit Western Waters'' (1917), a novel described as "a strange mixture of romantic sentimentality and protest against the treatment of East Indian indentured labourers on Guyanese plantations",Anthony Boxhill, "The Beginnings to 1929", in Bruce King (ed.), ''West Indian Literature'', Macmillan, 1979, p. 42. and ''Centenary History and Handbook of British Guiana'' (1931).
Tobago
Tobago () is an island and ward within the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located northeast of the larger island of Trinidad and about off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. It also lies to the southeast of Grenada. The offici ...
, to Sarah ( Hope) and James Frances Webber and baptised in the Wesleyan-Methodist Church. Around 1890 Webber's parents separated and his father migrated to British Guiana to join his two half brothers, Ernest and Percival Forbes. In 1899 Webber migrated to British Guiana and married Beatrice Elizabeth Glassford in 1899. Between 1906 and 1910 Webber worked for several gold producers before working in advertising, first for the ''Daily Argosy'' newspaper and later for Booker Brothers, the largest conglomerate in British Guiana.
Journalism
In 1919 he became editor of another newspaper, the ''Daily Chronicle'', a position he held until 1925. Between 1925 and 1930 he was editor of the ''New Daily Chronicle''. In 1929 he helped launch the West Indian Press Association.
Political involvement
In 1921 Webber got involved in politics and was elected a Financial Representatives in the Combined Court, British Guiana's legislated body. By 1925 he was seen as a leader of the
Afro-Guyanese
Afro-Guyanese are generally descended from the enslaved people brought to Guyana from the coast of West Africa to work on sugar plantations during the era of the Atlantic slave trade. Coming from a wide array of backgrounds and enduring conditions ...
and
Indo-Guyanese
Indo-Guyanese or Indian-Guyanese, are people of Indian origin who are Guyanese nationals tracing their ancestry to India and the wider subcontinent. They are the descendants of indentured servants and settlers who migrated from India beginnin ...
people. In response to British attempts to reduce electoral involvement and transform British Guiana into a crown colony, Webber helped form the Popular Party, the first political party in the
British West Indies
The British West Indies (BWI) were colonized British territories in the West Indies: Anguilla, the Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Montserrat, the British Virgin Islands, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Gre ...
. As Webber became more involved in politics he became involved in the
British Guiana Labour Union The Guyana Labour Union is a trade union centre in Guyana, previously known as the British Guiana Labour Union.
History
The BGLU was founded in 1919, emerging as a labour union amongst black dockworkers. Led by Hubert Critchlow. It soon expanded i ...
.
Literary career
Webber wrote poetry, fiction and non-fiction. According to historian
Selwyn Cudjoe
Selwyn Cudjoe (born 1 December 1943) Encyclopedia.com. is a
Webber published his only novel, ''Those That Be in Bondage'' in 1917. This was followed by a book of poems, ''Glints from an Anvil'' in 1919 and ''An Innocent's Pilgrimage'', a
travelogue
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Genres
* Travel literature, a record of the experiences of an author travelling
* Travel documentary
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of his journey to the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
in 1926 as part of the Guyanese delegation to the
West Indian Conference
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
, which was published in 1927. His final work, the ''Centenary History and Handbook of British Guiana'', was published in 1931.
Other achievements
In 1929 Webber was elected a
Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star.
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