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Prime Min­is­ter has called on Bar­ba­di­ans to con­front their colo­nial past and shape a new fu­ture, as the  400th an­niver­sary of the land­ing of the first British ship here passed large­ly un­no­ticed by the na­tion.

On May 14, 1625, the Eng­lish mer­chant ship owned by William Cour­teen and cap­tained by John Pow­ell ar­rived, and its crew took pos­ses­sion of the is­land of King James I, who, un­be­knownst to the ship, had died two months pre­vi­ous­ly and had been suc­ceed­ed by Charles I. Al­though for­mal set­tle­ment at Jamestown – now Ho­le­town – was not un­til Feb­ru­ary 1627, the 1625 ar­rival marks the start of coloni­sa­tion of the is­land, which had ap­par­ent­ly been long aban­doned by the in­dige­nous Taino and Kali­na­go peo­ples.

In her mes­sage, Mot­t­ley urged cit­i­zens to stand strong, ho­n­our the past, and ac­tive­ly re­claim the des­tiny once de­nied to their an­ces­tors.