THE FRENCH AT VIEUX FORT
It would seem that the French settlement was effected in the 1650's. In the year 1650, Governor Parquet of Martinique bought St. Lucia together with Martinique, Grenada and the Grenadines from the French Company of which he was a member.
The following year, 1651 du Parquet sent over to St. Lucia a group of about 40 men to establish settlement here. This settlement is believed to have been situated in the neighbourhood of the present city of Castries. However, du Parquet must have come to the conclusion that the presence of the French had better be also felt at the Southern tip of the island. One thing is certain; Pere du Tertre, the French missionary-historian has left on record the existence of a fort at the south of the island in 1656. He said that du Parquet had it constructed on a bay that constituted a "very beautiful and very good harbour". Pere du Tertre said that du Parquet only left a small garrison there-20 men at the most. The reason for the fort was to keep out the English who also laid claim to the island.
Between the date of du Parquet's fort at Vieux Fort and the cession of St. Lucia to France in 1763, French colonist must have seen some hard times. However, two years after the cession in question, viz. on the 15th April, 1763, the first sugar establishment in St.Lucia was commenced in the quarter of Vieux Fort under the auspices of Messer. Levacher and Le Blond. Down to WWII sugar would seem to have been the staple product of the district.
One may judge of the importance of the Vieux Fort district in the early French Colonial days by the fact that it had a resident priest from 1749 onwards. The Laborie and Micoud districts appear to have been served for a time by the priest at Vieux Fort before becoming independent parishes.
The Parish Priest was Abbe Gerfroy, who remained in St.Lucia for 37 years though he did not live in Vieux Fort all the time. There was a church there and several people were buried in front of it, alongside it and even inside it. It was probably built on the same site as the present church. The Abbe Gerfroy, was buried there on March 15th, 1756.
In fact from 1750 onwards, Vieux Fort was one of the three main districts of St. Lucia.
In his booklet, "Birth of St. Lucia's towns and villages," Bishop Gachet cites the facts given above an goes on to quote from a memoire by M.de Rochmore the following description of Vieux Fort in 1763: "All the plain of this district is fine and cultivated. There are many sugar fields on the estate of M. Le Blond. It will be here that the first sugar mill (sucrerie) will be able to work. There are many inhabitatants who appear to be well off and who desire the establishment of a trading centre (branche de commerce) here which would easily become the most important of the whole island". Further on in the memoire we read: "It is essential that these two towns (Soufriere and Vieux Fort) should not develop too much and compete with Carenage (later Castries)".
"Registers prove " said Bishop Gachet, "that most of the British families were established in the Vieux Fort district. In 1769, there were 100 colonists at Vieux Fort against 126 at Carenage and 151 at Soufriere".
It is perhaps permissible to wonder whether history will repeat itself. With the developments taking place in the Vieux Fort today, will it again become a rival to Castries? Will it claim to be a city and excite the envey of the city of the north?
NOTE: The old style Catholic Church at Vieux Fort has a stone tower which was built by one of St.Lucia's folk societies - the "La Rose"- which still survives.
