In a lengthy exchange
of memos between the two men a clear picture
emerges of their contrasting personalities.
Hart could be described as paranoid and
vindictive. Broadway, young, ambitious,
willing to comply with his seniors to secure
and promote his career, was not prepared
to sacrifice his free time entirely to the
garden when he could be out collecting plants
and insects.
Tension between the two men mounted as
Hart's conniving to portray Broadway as
incompetent became unbearable. The conflict
reached the Colonial Secretary, Henry
Fowler, who councilled the men to settle
their differences. This early confrontation
with the authorities may well have sullied
Broadway's career in the Colonial Service,
for he never achieved the positions to
which he aspired thereafter. Instead he
directed his energies to becoming the
assiduous collector for which he is best
remembered.
The absorbing interest Broadway took
in the natural history of Trinidad sought
expression and support from other nature
enthusiasts and together with Henry Caracciolo,
T.I. Potter, R.R. Mole, P.L. Guppy and
F.W. Urich he founded the Trinidad Field
Naturalists' Club (renamed The Trinidad
and Tobago Field Naturalists Club in 1974).
One of their early objectives was the
production of a journal with the first
issue appearing in April 1892. Broadway's
contribution surprisingly was not on plants
but "Classification of Insects"
[J.Trin. Field Naturalists' Club 1(1):5-7,1892],
followed by "The Mole Cricket"
[J.Trin. Field Naturalists' Club 1(2):36-38,1892].
Later on he wrote on "The natural
Order of Compositae" [J.Trin. Field
Naturalists' Club 1(8):190-198,1893 and
Part 2, 1(9):208-216,1893].
Although the Club continued to function
until 1907, the journal was discontinued
in 1896. It is interesting to note that
the club was dormant from 1907 to 1924
a period which approximates Broadway's
departure from Trinidad in 1894 until
his return in 1914 and retirement in 1923.
The Club was revitalized in 1924 and Broadway,
relieved of his administrative duties,
devoted much time to the organization.
Exploring New Ground
In 1894 Broadway arrived in Grenada to
take up the post of curator of the Botanic
Gardens. Left to his own devices, the
collection of the flora commenced. By
1896 his plant collecting went commercial.
Several herbaria in the United States
and Europe were approached to purchase
unmounted plant specimens with freight
charge extra. This was not a very lucrative
business although customers included herbaria
in Berlin, The Paris Institute, The New
York Botanic Gardens, The Gray Herbarium
at Harvard and The British Museum; yet
it was enough to keep him solvent for
long periods of time. Latterly his performance
in Grenada did not live up to expectations
and he was forced to retire in 1904 "having
given way to drink" (Morris 1904).
Broadway was offered a transfer to St.
Vincent to take charge of the Agricultural
School but he refused, preferring to remain
in Grenada supplying dried specimens to
overseas herbaria and running his own
nursery. He departed from Grenada in 1906
and returned to Trinidad where for one
year he employed himself by selling dried
specimens to botanical institutions whenever
he got orders.
Back Again
The year 1908 was a turning point for
Agriculture in Trinidad. Hart was required
to retire two years and four months before
his time in July 1908, Broadway was reinstated
in the Colonial Service and posted to
the Botanic Station in Tobago as Acting
Curator, and the Botanical Department
was subsumed into a larger new Department
of Agriculture with Professor P. Carmody
as its first Director. Stationed in Tobago,
the opportunities to collect extensively
a hitherto underexploited flora was a
great advantage to Broadway and distribution
of plant material to herbaria abroad resumed.
His supplies now included mosses to Elizabeth
Britton, a specialist in mosses of South
America & The West Indies, who was
attached to The New York Botanic Garden.
While stationed in Tobago the Plant Protection
Ordinance came into effect in December
1911 and the following diseases and pests
were singled out for eradication - bud
rot, stem bleeding disease of coconut
and bird vine. A chief inspector was appointed
along with four inspectors, among them
Broadway, who tackled the problem in Tobago
with great success. The Tobago era ended
in 1915 and he was transferred back to
Trinidad and given the additional post
of Horticulturalist and Assistant Botanist
to W.G. Freeman, then government botanist
and Assistant Director of Agriculture.
Wearing all these 'hats' Broadway was
engaged fulltime in the field. Not only
was he expected to control pests and diseases
but to collect living plants such as ferns
and orchids for the Botanic Garden as
well as specimens for the herbaria. There
is no doubt those duties served his interests
well and allowed numerous forays into
remote parts of the island with no corner
left unexplored.
An ambitious project involving the United
States National Herbarium, the Gray Herbarium
and The New York Botanical Garden in a
study of the flora and plant products
of northern South America and adjacent
islands brought Dr. N.L. Britton, Director-in-Chief
of The New York Botanical Gardens and
his colleagues to Trinidad in the winters
of 1920 and 1921. Among the local guides
lending valuable assistance to the team
was Broadway. Following Dr. Britton's
visit, Broadway was jointly sponsored
by the above-mentioned institutions to
collect plant specimens in French Guyana
(1921) and Venezuela (1922 - 1923) for
their respective herbaria. An account
of the French Guiana expedition was published
(Journal of The New York Botancial Gardens
Vol.XXII, No 262, Oct. 1921) but no account
of the Venezuelan trip has been located.
The Last Years
Broadway retired from the Colonial Service
in September 1923 and continued to reside
in Trinidad. His involvement in the fields
of natural history, horticulture, and
agriculture never flagged. In 1924 he
became secretary of the Horticulture Society
and The Beekeepers' Association while
still maintaining the sale of plants to
overseas herbaria as a source of income
which kept him on the alert for new plants.
His expertise in horticulture extended
to individuals and teachers in the care
and management of school gardens and he
was a judge for the annual award of The
Agricutural Society Medal for the best
school garden. Today, the W.E. Broadway
Memorial Trophy is awarded for the best
foliage plant exhibit at the annual flower
show of The Trindad & Tobago Horticultural
Society. (This Society was founded in
1915 with Broadway being one of the founding
members).
Undoubtedly Broadway's botanical collections
remain unmatched even today and "in
terms of quality, quantity and range of
specimens, Broadway was perhaps the most
important collector of Trinidad and Tobago
plants to date. Replicates of his specimens
are lodged in quantity in more than twenty
five foreign herbaria with especially
long sets in large South American institutes,
the British Museum and Kew, but Trinidad's
herbarium (unfortunately) lacks much Broadway
material" (Adams 1980).
Numerous new species of plants and a
few animals which he collected bear his
name, for example, Gonolobus broadwayae
a vine endemic to Trinidad that belongs
in the family Asclepiadaceae, Tocoa
Broadwayi, a shrub endemic to Tobago
(Melastomiaceae), Vriesia broadwayi,
a bromeliad endemic to Trinidad and Tobago,
Marptusa broadwayi (a spider) and
Napata broadwayi, a ctenucid moth
(pers.comm. M.J.W. Cock).
Although not a prolific writer he did
write a few articles throughout his career
on various subjects - bromeliads, palms,
cacti - and was a regular contributor
to The Orchid Review on local orchids.
Ironically, he never participated in the
compilation of the local Flora published
in 1928 in which a majority of records
cited were based on his collections.
Much is recorded about his civic-mindedness
and dedication to duty for which he was
honoured by King George V in 1934 as a
Member of the Most Excellent Order of
the British Empire (MBE) but his private
life remains an enigma. A.T. Carr describes
him as "an exceptionally fine man.
Entirely unselfish in spirit, he was always
ready to share his vast knowledge of the
botany of the island with other interested
persons. I shall never forget his joy
at discovering a new species of moss in
a drain in Oxford Street. He was regarded,
and justifiably so, as a walking encyclopedia
on the botany of these parts..."
His sudden death on 1 Janaury, 1935 came
as a shock to his friends and associates
here and abroad. Society members met to
pay tribute to his outstanding achievements
and deliberated on a suitable memorial.
Members of the Trinidad Field Naturalists'
Club decided on a tombstone while "Mr.
Williams at the Botanic Gardens was willing
to acquire a collection of Broadway plants
to be grown in some part of town where
Mr. Broadway liked to frequent" (Trinidad
Guardian 1935). Whether these plans materialized
is uncertain. He was interred in the Lapeyrouse
Cemetery predeceased by his wife a year
earlier. Elsie, his only daughter, a sister
residing in England (Mrs. Theiz) and a
nephew residing in England (Mr. Fogarty)
were the only family members recorded
as attending the funeral and to date no
extant relatives have been traced. His
botanical legacy, however, lives on in
many modern revisions and monographic
works published for this region.
Acknowledgements
The author wishes to thank The British
Museum (Nat. Hist.), The Royal Botanic
Garden, Kew, The Gray Herbarium and The
New York Botanical Garden for providing
copies of W.E. Broadway's letters from
their archives, also Mrs. Sandra Barnes
of the U.W.I. Library for the "Trinidad
Guardian" news clipping on W.E.B.'s
death and Dr. C.D. Adams for his continuous
assistance and support in gathering data
throughout the preparation of this biography,
finally Paul Comeau for proof reading
the final manuscript.
References
