On the morning of Tuesday the 24^th of January, 2006, at 08:00, Desmond Vernon Nicholson peacefully departed this life.  Desmond throughout the past few years had been a very influential partner in the development of Antigua Nice from what was basically an information site about tourist attractions, into a useful research tool on many aspects of Antigua and Barbuda. His contributions about history and natural history are of particular note.

Photo by Peter Duce

However more than that, Desmond has been the driving force in helping Antigua record its rich history on paper for many decades. It became one of his aims in life to research and record all he knew about Antigua. As such his motto was  “Knowledge to be of any value must be communicated”.To this end he has written many publications about Antigua, and in addition to this in his late 70’s he created the website www.antiguamuseums.org and enriched its content regularly. There really is no better source of information about the history of the islands of Antigua and Barbuda than this web site.

Desmond was a truly remarkable man and his teachings will forever remain embedded in the history of Antigua. His passing was a very sad day for Antigua, and for ourselves, the loss of a mentor and friend.

To carry on his mission – “Knowledge of any value must be communicated”, the family has requested that an endowment fund be established to support the research libraries at the Museum of Antigua and Barbuda and the Dockyard Museum, both of which he founded. The fund will initially be used to publish his latest work “Heritage Treasures”, and to reprint his many previous publications. Contributions may be mailed to: The DVN Fund, Museum of Antigua & Barbuda, PO Box 2130, St. John’s, Antigua. Those wishing to make a wire transfer should email abbotth@candw.ag for account details.

To find out more about the work of Desmond please visit www.antiguamuseums.org