President David Granger on Thursday paid tribute to James McFarlane Corry who was born in 1850 and is considered the ‘Father of Local Government in British Guiana’.
A Ministry of the Presidency release said that Corry was remembered at a commemoration service and wreath laying ceremony, which was held at the James McFarlane Corry Monument located at Old Road, Den Amstel, West Coast Demerara.
“James McFarlane Corry’s service has been little recognised and little valued over the years and if we went back over his life and his legacy, we will learn a lot about local government and communities,” President Granger told the event.
Granger, a historian, pledged to ensure that the monument erected in Corry’s honour comes under The National Trust of Guyana.
The President said, “James Mc Farlane Corry is the acknowledged and celebrated ‘Father of Local Government in British Guiana.’
He is remembered for his sedulous work in Den Amstel and in the villages of Guyana and for his visionary leadership in the establishment of a chain of Cooperative Credit banks.”
The release said that Corry was elected as the third Chairman of Den Amstel Village in 1895 and served until 1922. He also founded the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) branch in Den Amstel in 1888. He became a magistrate’s clerk in 1881, was appointed as a stipendiary Magistrate in 1911 and also served as a Justice of the Peace.
Referencing Norman Cameron’s book The Evolution of the Negro in which he wrote of Corry’s tenure as Chairman of the Village Conference, Granger said that in his annual addresses Corry “preserved his views on local government, the serious attitude which he took of the share of government entrusted to the villagers, his passionate appeals to his fellow Chairmen and Councillors for co-operation and to Government for fair-play and a recognition of their services”.
He added that Corry’s leadership was also demonstrated when he started the first local Co-operative Credit Bank to provide small loans at concessionary rates to farmers.
“The Co-operative Credit Bank did a lot of good work in saving the small farmers from loan sharks and assorted money-lenders. The Co-operative Credit Bank assisted them to overcome the vagaries of weather in Guyana, droughts and floods…,” the President said.
He added that Corry, who died in 1924, “bequeathed to us a rich legacy of leadership in rural communities; a rich legacy of stewardship, especially through the Congregational Church; a legacy of organisational ability, that without cell phones and transport, he was able to bring village leaders from Essequibo, Demerara and Berbice together for that Village Chairmen’s Conference every year”.
