pARLIAMENT FAcTs

THE RED HOuSE

foundation laid on the 15th february, 1844 the governor, Sir henry mcleod, laid the foundation stone for a new block of government buildings, on a site on the west side of Brunswick Square (now Woodford Square). The architect was mr. richard bridgens, Superintendent of Public Works. The buildings comprising two main blocks, north and south, were to be connected by a double archway, much as the red house of today, but on a smaller scale. The double archway was a feature required by the City Council to keep Prince Street open, as the building was built over it, with the stipulation that it should never be closed to the public, and through which pedestrians and wheeled traffic passed freely. Though incomplete, the southern wing, containing the law courts, was opened in 1848 and a month later the Council Chamber was formerly inaugurated with much ceremony by lord harris, after an impressive ceremony in Trinity Cathedral.

1903 fire in 1897, as Trinidad was preparing to celebrate the diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria, the buildings were given a coat of red paint, and the public promptly referred to them thereafter as the red house. This direct ancestor of our present red house was burnt to the ground on the 23rd March, 1903, during the Water Riots. On the day of the fire, while the new ordinance regarding the distribution of and payment for water in the town was being debated in the legislative Council, a protest meeting was held in brunswick Square by the ratepayer’s association, as there was much public dissatisfaction over certain clauses contained in the ordinance which increased the water rates. at the end of the meeting, the crowds became noisy and stones were thrown, and all the windows of the red house were smashed including a stained glass window in the chamber which was erected to commemorate the arrival of Christopher Columbus in Trinidad. When a woman was arrested by a policeman, the mob immediately became riotous. Stones were thrown into the Council Chamber and the members were forced to protect themselves under tables and desks and behind the pillars. Still, the governor, Sir a.C. maloney, refused to withdraw the ordinance. When it became known that the lower storey of the building was on fire, the riot act was read, following which the police opened fire on the crowd. Sixteen people were killed and forty-two injured, and the Red House was completely gutted. After the fire only the shell of the Red house remained.

Rebuilding

The work of rebuilding the red house began the following year, and the red house, as we know it today, was erected on the same site. it was opened to the public on the 4th february, 1907, by governor, Sir h m. Jackson.

The building was designed and built by d. m. hahn, Chief draughtsman of the Public Works, at an estimated cost of £7,485 and was completed in 1906.

The red house today is the second government building to be known by this name since the newly-constructed government offices were built on the same site and given the same name. The name brunswick Square was changed to Woodford Square during World War i in 1914-1918. The rubble which was removed after the fire was used as landfill for Victoria and Harris Squares; so when you stroll through these public squares you may literally be walking on the history of the red house.

1990 to Present

on friday July 27, 1990 at 6:05 p.m., armed gunmen stormed the Parliament Chamber where the house of representatives was in session, taking the then Prime minister, eight of his Cabinet ministers and six other members of Parliament hostage.

The red house suffered gravely from this invasion since the building was shot at and even shelled. in the aftermath, bullet holes were visible on walls, doors, windows and the ceiling of the Chamber. There was a gaping hole at the southern end of the building on the ground floor, made by a B-300 weapon fired on the night of July 28.

Seven people were killed in the red house as a result of the attack on the building:

1. roger george – assistant Superintendent;

2. Lorraine Caballero – Clerical Officer; many more were injured. mr. leo des Vignes, mP for diego martin Central, was shot and later removed to the hospital, where he died. a portrait now hangs in the Parliament Chamber in his memory.

Eternal flame as a temporary measure, sittings of both the lower and Upper Houses (two each) were held at the Auditorium of the Central Bank, but with the opening of the fifth Session of the Third Parliament on november 5, 1990, sittings were once again held in the red house, not at its customary place, but at the southern Chamber. it was not until July 26, 1991, that the traditional Chamber was restored to its original status, and Parliament reconvened in that Chamber with a rededication and memorial service, in which a commemorative plaque bearing the names of all those killed in and around the red house, was unveiled. An eternal flame, symbolising “the need to be evervigilant in the protection of our democracy” was also lit outside, on which is inscribed the oath of allegiance of members of Parliament, the National Anthem, the Affirmation of the People and the names of the victims of the attempted coup.