Captain Curtis Bradford Wallace, a pioneer in Eastern Caribbean inter- island sea transportation, was cremated after a Funeral Service at All Saints Anglican Church on September 18, 2001, conducted by Bishop Clive Abdulah, Reverend Carl Williams and Deacon Marsha Burnett- Joseph.
Curtis, a sea Captain, and his wife Linda , who predeceased him about four years ago, with their four sons, were part of the Picton Street family to which so many of us belong. The Wallaces came to No 80 Picton Street in Newtown from St Vincent, in the early sixties, got their sons into schools and became citizens of Trinidad and Tobago in 1962 at Independence.
Born in Bequia, the Grenadines, on November 30, 1912, Curtis was raised in the seafaring Wallace family of Friendship Bay, and was schooled in the basic education system of those islands during the early part of the twentieth century. He was trained as a carpenter, boat builder and mariner and became a Captain at age 19, and between the ages of 19 and 25, carried out his marine enterprises taking risks up and down the Windward Islands in his boat "Annie Belle", and also organised and operated small craft for trading cargo in ground provision and other foods with the larger islands.
In 1938, the six foot plus, handsome Captain married Linda Bonadie of a well-known Vincentian family, a union which produced four equally tall sons, Richard, Andre, Brett and Brian, and four grandchildren, Kevin, Krysta, Mark and Bradford.
Curtis and Linda owned The Harbour Club and Hotel Resort in Kingstown, St Vincent Grenadines, which in the late 40's and 50's was the number one marine entertainment spot in the southern Caribbean for military personnel serving in the United States armed forces, based in St Lucia.
But Captain Wallace was a man of varied ventures and during the 40's and 50's, he and his four brothers in Bequia took advantage of opportunities created during and after World War II and filled the demand for cargo space to the larger islands, like Barbados, Trinidad, British Guiana and Suriname, using their small boats. Propelled by sail and wind the Wallaces' boats were in high demand in the Eastern Caribbean, and bad weather caused by hurricanes and otherwise did not deter Curtis and his brothers.
At the same time, Captain Wallace began experimenting with the Trinidad to Tobago passenger and cargo service, and by 1957/58 purchased the first roll-on roll-off ferry, the M.V. City of Port of Spain, and captained his vessel between the sister islands, on contract, for the new People's National Movement government. The brothers continued to build many boats up until the early 1960's and in 1964 launched the first motorised wooden freighter in the Caribbean "The Wallace Triumph."
In 1967, Captain Wallace went into semi-retirement from sailing the high seas and established one of the first local, small shipping agencies in Trinidad - "Triumph Shipping Service" - which he managed up to his 86th year.