The Story of Virgin Islands Heroine, Pereen Georges

You’ve probably heard of the US’ Harriet Tubman, but have you heard about Perreen Georges, who was named a Heroine in the Virgin Islands?

Well, Perreen is most known for her bold testimony that that led to the hanging of Arthur Hodge — the slave master responsible for the death of Prosper; one of his slaves who met his death because he picked up a mango that fell from his master’s tree.

Georges was a free woman of mixed parentage who worked for Arthur Hodge’s wife and managed the boiling house on his estate. Having spent time in Bellevue on the estate, Perreen often witnessed the cruelty that Hodge was known for.

From the whipping and boiling of slaves, to stoning, poisoning and the pouring of hot water down their throats, Perreen had seen it all and enough was enough.

Things started to unfold when Prosper saw a mango fall from a tree and picked it up. He didn’t pick the mango off the tree; he simply saw one fall and picked it up. And since it was technically Hodge’s property, Hodge demanded that Prosper pay him for the mango. His price: six shillings which would be about $20 dollars in today’s prices.

Prosper couldn’t afford the fee and asked Perreen for assistance, and although she gave him half of what was owed, that wasn’t good enough. Long story short: within days Prosper died a painful, humiliating, and lonely death.

Following Prosper’s death, a case started to build against Hodge a few years later, and in April, 1811, Perreen was one of the witnesses who testified before 3 justices and 2 other men. And when she opened her mouth during that testimony, every story jump out from the three, or four years before.

She spoke on the deaths of the slaves who fell victim at the hands of Arthur Hodge, and when she was done, she signed her statement and held her head high.

Following deliberations of a jury of 19 men, Hodge was found guilty of murder. But because it was made up of his peers — planters and the elite of the islands, they tried to recommend mercy, but the Chief Justice decided that Arthur Hodge would be hung on the 8th of May.

Perreen was one of the thousands who were present at Hodge’s execution and stood quietly and solemnly and remembered Prosper, Margaret and the many others who had died at Arthur Hodge’s hand or at his order.

So on this Heroes and Foreparents’ day, we remember our heroine, Perreen Georges, a former slave and VI woman who worked for her own money, owned the property that she lived on, spoke truth to power and ultimately drove a nail in the coffin of the British slave economy.

Special thank you to Rochelle Smith at The Virgin Islands Studies Institute