THE first editor of this newspaper was also the proprietor, Irishman Robert George Mc. Hugh who held the position for 25 years.
Although a foreigner, McHugh had an abiding love for St Lucia so much so that his slogan as a newspaperman became “St Lucia first”. His interest in the community was reflected in the additional duties which he undertook while occupying the editor’s chair.
Mc.Hugh contributed to the existence of what was then the Castries Town Board, later the Castries City Council and now the Castries Constituency Council. Through his writings in THE VOICE OF ST LUCIA he won many battles for the Board’s development projects in Castries and its environs including the building and opening of the Castries market and the controversial siting of the Carnegie Library, now The Central Library.
With Mc.Hugh’s death in 1910, the editorship of THE VOICE OF ST LUCIA passed into the hands of one of his three daughters, Marie, who held the position for 10 years. It was an era when THE VOICE OF ST LUCIA became more of a newspaper than the “views” medium it had been, so that when the First World War broke out in 1914, it was adequately covered in the paper.
In March 1920 significant change came to THE VOICE OF ST. LUCIA when ownership of the newspaper passed into local hands. George S.E. Gordon, grandfather of the present owners Lyndell and Michael Gordon acquired the paper. An editorial announcing the change declared: “We are pleased to hand over the interests of the island to Mr. Gordon who is well-known and respected by everyone in the community. Mr. Gordon is, first of all a born St Lucian, who has at heart the welfare of his island home and the uplifting of its inhabitants.”
George Gordon was editor and proprietor of THE VOICE OF ST LUCIA for 20 years. Under his leadership the frequency of the paper grew from weekly to bi- weekly and there were significant changes both in content and presentation.
Under George Gordon St Lucia came close to having a daily paper with the VOICE publishing five days a week, except Sundays and Mondays.
Garnet H. Gordon became the fourth editor of THE VOICE OF ST LUCIA on his father’s death. Despite his preoccupation as an attorney he ran the paper until 1954. He was singled out for appointment as Trade Commissioner for the British West Indies, British Guiana (now Guyana) and British Honduras (now Belize) and left for London to take up duties.
Garnet Gordon’s star had begun to shine in the 1940s when he became an elected member of the Legislative Council. He however lost his place in parliament with the advent of universal adult suffrage in 1951. Later he would become one of the island’s most prominent legal minds and statesmen, a nominated member of the legislature, and an advocate for a Caribbean federation. He was knighted by the Queen for his services to country and region.
When Sir Garnet died in 1975, the VOICE OF ST. LUCIA eulogized him thus: “We mourn the passing of a friend, mentor, counsellor, adversary and statesman….a man whose steps spanned some seventy years, during which adult suffrage came to St. Lucia and we evolved from a totally dependent colony to an Associated State; during which most of the West Indies developed socially, from the depths of colonialism to nationhood and national identity….”
Under Gordon’s guidance THE VOICE OF ST LUCIA became the flagship of a new company, The VOICE Publishing Company, established in 1953 under the Commercial Code of St Lucia. It was the beginning of a new era in the life of the newspaper. His departure also brought new professionalism to the company when Barbadian Edward L.Cozier became Managing Director and Editor. Cozier had served in that capacity at the BARBADOS ADVOCATE and his appointment ushered in a period of reorganization which helped cement the place of THE VOICE as a leading West Indian newspaper, a position it maintains to this day.
After Gordon, THE VOICE OF ST LUCIA went through a series of Editors who stayed for varying lengths of time: Owen Mathurin (St Lucia), Frank Robinson (British Guiana), Rupert Hoyte (Barbados), Clendon Mason, Harold Simmons, Edward Rock and Dunstan St Omer (all St Lucia).
The appointment of Wilfred St Clair-Daniel as Editor in 1962 marked the beginning of another era. THE VOICE OF ST LUCIA began to present its news in a more professionally-written format and locally-generated photographs of news events, published infrequently in the previous years, became a regular feature. For the first time the paper had a team of full-time editorial staff comprising reporters and photographers.
St Clair-Daniel held the position until 1969 when he retired to take up a position as Nominated Member in the House of Assembly. The Editors since then were:
Neville Martindale (Barbados)
Ulric Rice (Barbados)
DenzilAgard (Barbados)
Christine Cox (England)
Rick Wayne (St Lucia)
Alfred Tang-Chow (Trinidad and Tobago)
Willie James (St Lucia)
Guy Ellis (St Lucia)
Harry Baptiste (Guyana)
Franklyn McDonald (St Lucia)
Victor Marquis (St Lucia)