I take full responsibility for the accuracy of everything in “The Transformation of Lady Young.”

A note on sources . . . 

I first came across the excerpt from Lady Young’s letter in an introduction to a book called “Through a Maze of Colour” by Albert Gomes (1974). It startled me to say the least. Lady Young was still alive at that point.

The introduction was written by Trinidadian historian Brinsley Samaroo and it was he who helped me find the full text of the letter in the British Archives, so my thanks go out to him.

Then I went a little bit hog wild. I arranged to copy the entire contents of the three folders relating to Lady Young and Mrs. Simpson - a total of 289 pages. It cost me £366.10. I am still trying to decide if it was worth it.

So, the bulk of “The Transformation of Lady Young” is sourced on those three folders which are on public view at the British Archives at Kew, England: CO295/621/1, CO295/621/2 and CO295/621/3. If you go to the British Archives website and search for “Ladies Shirt Guild” you can see the headings for yourself. If you would like to see individual pages from those folders, let me know.

Here are my other sources (page numbers refer to a print version) :

Page 1 - “aviatrix”, “copper miners”: Wikipedia; https://rhodesianheritage.blogspot.com/2012/07/lady-young-and-her-gypsy-moth.html

“Warm Welcome”: Manchester Guardian, June 14, 1938 pages 11 and 12

"It is a fact": Trinidad Guardian, June 21, 1938, p.6

Page 2 -“Aranguez”: http://www.classifieds.guardian.co.tt/columnist/2012-11-18/john-rapsey—creator-hops-bread-and-biscuit-cake

Page 3 - “did no housework”: Bridget Brereton, “Race Relations in Colonial Trinidad, 1870-1900”, p.59

Page 5 - "twenty- seven were white": author's informal count. See "Red Cross Committee" on this site

Page 6 - “firm, untiring and constant”: Trinidad Guardian, April 4, 1942

Page 7 - “hoped that they might return”: Trinidad Guardian, April 5, 1942, p.6

In the course of this research I became very interested in the fortunes of the Rapsey family and the Gordon family. (Mrs. Simpson was born Martha Eunice Rapsey in Port of Spain in 1893.) Both families amassed huge holdings in agricultural land which then had to be disposed of as commoditiy prices fell and British influence waned. I would like to know more about this. Are there any Rapseys living in Trinidad today?

Thanks for reading -   Kevin Burke, Cambridge, Massachusetts - kburke9@mac.com