In 1885 the Barbados Rifle Club was remodelled and renamed the Barbados Rifle Association
(B.R.A.). The Governor, Sir Charles Cameron Lees, was President, and the three Vice-Presidents were Major-General Sir C. K. Pearson,
K.C.M.G., C.B. of the York and Lancaster Regiment; the Hon. C.C.
Knollys, M.A., Colonial Secretary; and Colonel J. Elliot, C. B.,
Inspector-General of Police.
The Captain and Secretary of the Association was W. W. Innis, and the Council comprised Messrs C. G. Howell, Treasurer;
G.F. Franks; J.B. Howell; E. C. Jackman; and W. W. Innis.
The Council was chosen by ballot, and the Association's entrance fee was five shillings, as was also the quarterly subscription.
This Rifle Association seemingly subsisted for some years, as the Firearms Act, passed on 12 August 1896 pronounced its members exempt from the provisions requiring all Firearms to be licensed. But the Association apparently went defunct not long afterwards, as it is not listed among the various social and cultural organisations extant in the island in 1898.
For some years the British Government had been contemplating the removal of its Forces from the West Indies, and in 1894 a circular despatch had been sent to the various Colonial Governments in the region containing proposals for the disposal of
military property when no longer required. |
It was finally in January 1905 that the Barbados Government was informed that the troops would be withdrawn at an early date, and a few months later the War Department returned Charles Fort, St Ann's Fort and Gun Hill to the Government, the original owner, and offered most of the remaining military property for sale to private purchasers.
When the Garrison land running from Short Hall to Needham's point was put up for sale, the Rifle Range was excluded as it was to be given to the Government together with a shooting hut.
The Range, with firing points up to 600 yards, ran along Graves End Beach, with the
farthest bank located within the grounds now occupied by the Grand Barbados Hotel.
The butts, which accommodated three targets, were located at a point between Needham's
Point Lighthouse and Charles Fort. |
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| Barbados Rifle Association
The present Barbados Rifle Association came into existence on 27
October 1904 mainly through the initiative of Captain Radclyffe R.
Hall, with assistance from the military authorities, and the first practice shoot took place the following 12 November.
Besides placing the Rifle Range and its equipment at the use of the Association, the Army authorities supplied 100 rounds of ammunition per member and one
M.L.M. rifle for every 10 members at nominal prices.
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Some of the founding members were Captain J.B. Howell, Lieutenant
E.L. Delamere, Sergeant J,R.M. Cave and Messrs A.G. Hinkson, W.W.
Bovell and W.W. Innis. It is interesting to note that both J.B. Howell and W.W. Innis had been members of the earlier Rifle Association formed in the 1880s.
At its inception the Barbados Rifle Association was affiliated to the National Rifle Association of Great Britain, and in 1950 it became
affiliated also to the British Commonwealth Rifle Club of Bisley.
The National Rifle Association customarily presented its Silver Medal, annually, to each
affiliated Association to be awarded as the latter decided. The
first medal thus presented to the Barbados Rifle Association was won in 1905 by
C.S.M. Noble of the Worstershire Regiment with a score of 462. Colour Sergeant Crowe of the same Regiment was second with 461, and W.W. Innis of the Barbados Volunteers was third with 444.
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The Martinez Shield in one of the earliest trophies to be shot for by the
B.R.A. The competition was a postal shoot among Barbados, British Guiana, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago.
The Shield was originally presented by F.N. Martinez (now Stokes and
Bynoe) in 1902 and was won that
first year by Barbados.
Another early trophy for which the B.R.A. competed was the Swettenham Cup, presented in 1902 by Sir Alexander
Swettenham, a Governor of British Guiana, for competition among West Indian Colonies in rifle shooting. |
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