The Love of a Father, a Mother and a Son

Born in Montpelier in the parish of Hanover, Jamaica, during the 1920s, Roland 'Ron' Riggan married Lize Patterson and started a family. He joined the exodus of young men going to Britain from the island during the 1950s and drifted into boozing and women. When he fathered a child with an English woman Lize decided that their life would not be thrown away so easily. She raised the passage for their oldest child, Bibs, to travel to Britain in the hope that she would find work and assist Ron to bring over the remaining children. The teenager soon found a husband and fell pregnant. Lize resorted to reach England herself without the prior knowledge of Ron. She then set about working to bring the remaining children to Britain. When Ken had a change of heart and decided to remain on the island in the ministry of the church each of the other children refused to rejoin their parents. Lize fell pregnant at age 40. Upon receiving news that teenage daughter Erva was drifting out of the control, she defied the advice of doctors to travel home by ship. She then resorted to bring Erva back home. Ron returned home to his family but after only a few months, returned to Britain alone and remained apart from his wife for the next thirteen years. The relationship was reconciled when Lize returned to Britain and persuaded Ron to return with her to the island for their retirement. Third oldest child, Vandley, was lost to the family in North Carolina, USA. Her family has continued to live closely in the ethos of care and support.