The Nor'wester Days: Issue 2, Nov/Dec 1971

Part two of our excerpts from the Nor'wester magazine, Nov/Dec 1971 issue

Dr. Roy McTaggart

Buccaneer's Cottages at Cayman Brac

Monday, January 19, 2004

COVER STORY: Dr Roy

High on the list of prominent Caymanians stands the name of Dr. R. E. McTaggart, pioneer of Caymanian business, known as 'Dr. Roy'. Dr. Roy was born in George Town in the 1890's, the son of Scotsman Frederick McTaggart, one of the first Presbyterian schoolteachers and lay preachers in Cayman. 

Frederick McTaggart married twice and had nine children of which Dr. Roy was the youngest. Dr. Roy remembers the days when his father travelled by horseback to East End to conduct church services. 

At the age of 22, after attending school in Jamaica and the United States, and college in Philadelphia and Washington, Dr Roy qualified as a Doctor of Dental Surgery. 

As the only dentist in Cayman, he was kept very busy. "Even in those days we learned to do gold inlays and bridgework, and there are Caymanians today still wearing plates I made 55 years ago, and twenty year old fillings."

In 1916 he married Rhoda Virginia Bodden, who died in 1965. To his regret, they did not have children and he now lives alone in his beautiful colonial-style house on South Church Street among the mementos of his active life. 

He had great affection for a niece, Ruth McTaggart, who taught him ceramics. The figures in the window of the McTaggart Paint Store were made by him. She died earlier this year bringing great grief to Dr. Roy.

The practice of dentistry was not enough for the energetic Dr. Roy and in 1917 he and his half-brother Malcolm, who was the Island's first pharmaceutical dispenser, bought F. N. Lambert and Company, a general store situated where the Government Warehouse now stands. 

They became interested in shipping and the McTaggart vessels Cimboco, Lady Slater, Rembro, Majestic, Caymania and Zeroma led the way in the shipping and turtling industries for the Islands until these industries declined with the advent of World War II. 

In 1928, Dr. Roy assisted in building and operating the first mail boat of the Cayman Islands. 

After Malcolm's death in 1946, Dr. Roy branched out into real estate, and in 1951 built the Sea View Hotel. He explained "Someone had to start development and I didn't feel we should leave it to others coming from abroad. So I became one of the leaders of development here." 

Dr. Roy went on to build the first houses for rental on the Island and with an American associate, built the Coral Caymanian. 

Dr. Roy has been dubbed the 'Father of Barclays Bank' in Cayman, and in 1953, he gave up his dental office to accommodate their branch. "Three years later, I built the Rembro Building for them (short for R. E. McTaggart & Bro.)" 

That part of George Town was overgrown with bush and had a mere footpath for a street! After the Rembro Building came the Paint Store, and then the building which now houses the Caymanian Weekly. Dr Roy, was one of the founders of the newspaper and is its Managing Director. 
The next giant step was the building of By-Rite Supermarket, followed by the two annexes on either side. 

In 1969 Dr. Roy tore down part of the Rembro Building to make way for the Barclays Bank Building, the first of Cayman's four-story buildings.

For 36 years, Dr Roy was a member of the Legislative Assembly. One of his first efforts there was the introduction of the Compulsory Free Education Bill, which was passed in 1921. This ensures free education even to the level of High School for all children, whether Caymanian or residents of Cayman. Up to that time, those who could not afford school just did not attend. 

For a time, Dr. Roy also served as the Chairman of the Education Committee. In 1959, Dr. Roy was one of the representatives to accompany Commissioner Rose to Jamaica for talks on whether the Cayman Islands should join the Federation of the West Indies. 

He was able to persuade the other members of his delegation to vote against it. His foresight was justified when shortly after there was a complete collapse of the Federation. 

Another equally burning issue arose a few years later, when the question of internal self-government under the rule of Jamaica, at the time Jamaica was embarking upon independence, had to be resolved. Dr. Roy opposed self-government under Jamaica for several reasons: A) Cayman would lose her identity as a part of the British Commonwealth, and freedom from taxation which is largely responsible for her present prosperity; B) Such a step would weaken Cayman's affiliation with the United States, C) Jamaica, a very young nation, was not qualified to guide another young country successfully and the economy of Cayman would have suffered.

Dr Roy took the issue to the people, and obtained over three thousand signatures on a petition, enabling him to swing the Assembly vote, making it unanimous for becoming a Crown Colony, and safeguarding the prosperity of the Islands. 

Dr Roy recently supported the need for a modern deep water harbour. He did considerable research to ascertain whether or not the North Sound would provide a safer harbour than the proposed Prospect area. When the question of cost was raised Dr Roy suggested modernising the present harbour in George Town, rather than building in an unsafe place. 

Dr Roy has a soft spot for the work of churches and has been liberal in his donations of money and building materials. He has donated electric organs to a number of churches. He is an Elder of the George Town Presbyterian Church and served as Chairman of the Board of Managers for many years. 

Dr Roy talks proudly of his grandnieces and nephews and takes a lively interest in following baseball. He loves music and plays the organ for his own pleasure.

Most assuredly, Cayman owes this somewhat solitary man a debt of gratitude and will never forget him. He has been a pillar of these Islands for many years and his long life has been based on Faith in Cayman, Hope for her future and Charity towards her people.

Hotels a success story... with no end 

From nothing to 'big thing' in twenty years went the rise of the hotel industry in the Cayman Islands. In 1949, Grand Cayman boasted one restaurant in Savannah with all of six tables! The Hotel Aids Law was passed in 1950 - the same year as the Pioneer Industries (Encouragement) Law - granting exemption from customs duties on building materials, equipment and furnishings imported for the establishment of a new hotel or guest house of ten or more rental units. 

In the early '50's the Sea View Hotel on South Church Street and the old Galleon Beach Hotel opened in George Town. The year 1958 saw three more hotels in Grand Cayman - the Pageant Beach, the Bay View and Windsor House. By then Cayman Brac had the Buccaneers' Inn. The Hotel Association was founded in 1963. 

By 1965 Little Cayman had its Southern Cross Club, and Grand Cayman added the Beach Club Colony, the Coral Caymanian, the West Indian Club and the Caribbean Club all on Seven Mile Beach. 

Sunset House opened on South Church Street, and in the outlying districts the Tortuga Club to the eastward and Cayman Kai and the Rum Point Club to the northward. All the materials for the original building of the Rum Point Club were carried by boat from George Town across eight miles of water. 

In 1966, La Fontaine Hotel opened on Grand Cayman's famous beach, and therein lies a tale of 'New Opportunities for Caymanians'. That is the 'big thing' that Billy Fennel, the forward-looking manager of this beautiful, newly remodelled hotel, would like to develop. 

Billy is 21 years old and has learned the hotel business by apprenticeship. His father, Ernest Fennel of Hagerstown, Maryland visited Cayman 14 years ago while on vacation. He returned several times before buying the land on which La Fontaine Hotel, a family business, now stands. Billy came to Cayman in January 1970 and is making the hotel his career.

He has a keen interest in his business and hopes to benefit the people of the Island as well as the tourist industry. The hotel's chef, also from Hagerstown, has lived here for six years.. The bar manager, originally from New York, has been working here for a year. Both of these men are married to a Caymanian and consider Cayman home. 

The rest of the hotel staff is Caymanian. Billy Fennel wants to offer his employees opportunities to learn and to rise in the business. A young man who was once a bellboy is now employed as a Maitre d'.

One of the chief problems is finding qualified local people. He feels there is great need for a hotel on-the-job training school and he would willingly make the facilities of his hotel available, if funds to engage an instructor could be provided by the Government, the Chamber of Commerce or the Hotel Association. This would be a major contribution to the development of tourism and the economy of the Island. 

Another problem besetting the hotel manager is the endless maintenance to the building. A recent storm broke windows, damaged the roof and caused more than $6,000 worth of destruction. Repairs have now been completed. 

The hotel has 52 rooms, a large swimming pool, dining facilities for up to 200 people and a night-club. 

La Fontaine Hotel has many facilities to offer the tourist: fishing, sailing, swimming, diving, all managed by Bob Brenton, an experienced instructor in scuba diving. Billie Lee Wattson has a branch of her Caymania duty-free shop in the hotel. The Mar-Liz beauty salon and Cico Rent-a-Car Service have an agency in the lobby. 

The greatest attraction of all is the Island's own natural attractions, its peace and quiet and its friendly people. 

The newest addition to the collection will be a 125-room Holiday Inn, now under construction on Seven Mile Beach. Keeping pace with this development is an ever-growing list of new restaurants, boutiques, beauty salons and other services which delight the tourist, give employment to the Island people and bring money into the economy. Each year a larger number of tourists flock to the Cayman Islands, and the Islands are ready to receive them.

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