Andrew Cummings QC – A recognition of his contribution to his childhood community and to his secondary school

It is human nature to be effusive in praise of loved ones – family, friends, and upstanding citizens, when they have passed to the Great Beyond. We, however, tend to fall short in this regard when they are alive and can hear and read deserving tributes.

I have had the privilege and distinct honour, at his invitation, to say directly to Mr Robert Andrew Cummings QC, in the presence of legal and other luminaries, how grateful the children of the New Montrose community of the 1960s –1970s were to him for his contribution to our all-round development. On that occasion, he was receiving the affirmation of excellence as a lawyer, with the bestowal of the post-nominal title of Queen’s Counsel.

I am one of the many recipients of his tutelage and leadership and I spoke then on behalf of the hundreds of persons whose upbringing he had positively influenced directly, through the tri-axial factors of development – i.e. Education – through the St Vincent Grammar School; Community – through the residential area of New Montrose and Religion – through the Methodist Church.

As we stand behind his soulmate Jackie and children, Jarand, Jadric, Anique and Bradley in mourning his passing, I share the position of the many who attest to the long-lasting influence of this magnificent Vincentian. He inspired us to pursue a path to and of excellence. He taught us about brotherhood and sisterhood. He gave us more than an insight into the concepts of self-reliance and independence.

At the Montrose Bridge, Andrew often lectured us on world affairs and on the relevance to our own socio-political circumstance, of Brezhnev and Stalin, Churchill and the Kennedys, Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, Williams, Barrow and Burnham. St Vincent and the Grenadines, despite having just attained statehood, was still wrestling with its colonial heritage and the strong desire of young progressives to pursue a path of genuine independence.

Andrew spoke to us in so many ways and on so many occasions about the societal pillars of respect, discipline and order. He instilled in us the need to focus on substance, but never to compromise on style and grace. He taught us about living virtuously, but with an allowance for non-malicious mischief. – examples of which can best be illustrated through the spoken word.

AR Cummings (Major) educated his colleagues on dealing with the challenges or vicissitudes of life and to take them in stride with the positive energy that emanated from this then young man.

The Boys Grammar School – Student, Athlete, Debater, and Teacher

I have just referred to this humble but wonderful man as AR Cummings [Major]. There was another BGS student with the same surname and initials. He was AR Cummings [Minor]. Those persons who attended the St Vincent Grammar school in the 1960s would readily make the association of this name with our alma mater. AR Cummings[Major], who was born on March 11th, 1950, ruled the roost at the BGS. He was a dominant figure in all aspects of Grammar School life. He was one of the brighter academic lights. That was known. He was a champion athlete. That too was known. He was also a skilled defender on the football field. And he was not at all a rabbit with a cricket bat or a table tennis racket in his hand.

At the annual Grammar School Sports Meets, persons came from the neighbouring schools and from the offices and stores in Kingstown primarily to witness the athletic exploits of our superstar. He excelled in both track and field, in every class, in every year, save 1968, when he was sidelined by a muscle pull. An example of his dominance was captured in the 1966 sports meet, when he broke seven records on that one day!

After graduating from the Boys Grammar School, his sporting prowess prevailed at UWI, where he was captain of the athletic and football teams. For a couple of years, Andrew was also a member of the champion Roseans team, which dominated St Vincent’s football scene during the 1970s. National players such as Guy Lowe and Dorian Phillips will attest to the sterling contribution that he made to this team of champions.

Robert Andrew Cummings was also a master debater, being one of the leading figures in the schools Literary and Debating Society. I remember going up to the Grammar School several Friday evenings in his company to attend debating sessions. He never disappointed. His skills as a great debater did not simply come from what seemed to be a profound command of the English language, but also from the reservoir of knowledge that he amassed due to his voracious appetite for reading and learning. This was complemented by an immaculate application of logic that gelded the very best efforts of the worthiest adversary.

What distinguished Mr Cummings most, was not his mastery of the English language, his dominance on the athletic track or at a post-meet house feed for the then dominant Millar House. It was his special ability to lead, and to positively impact the young fertile minds of those who looked up to him as a school senior and as a Prefect, House Captain, Head Boy and so on.

It is said that you learn as much from your peers as from your teachers. He taught us that there was nothing better in life than to position ourselves at the portals of a noble education institution and absorb all its positive offerings – cerebral and non-cerebral, curricular and extra-curricular. He was the quintessential Grammar School boy. He defined all that was good and sometimes [mischievous] about life in this 110-year old institution. He took it with him on that daily trek to the community we called New Montrose – with a stop to ingest the best mauby this side of heaven.

His contribution to the New Montrose Community

New Montrose is a special place in the hearts of those of us who were lucky to grow up there.

In the 1940s and 50s, the once pasture land on the hillside to the north-western suburbs of Kingstown was sub-divided and sold to, among others, aspiring civil servants, who saw education as a critical vessel towards upward mobility and excellence. Accompanying such aspirations were the important values of integrity, fellowship, respect and a great sense of community. Andrew Cummings was the embodiment of these values [except on an Old Year’s night, when young men were allowed to be young men]. Feel free to speak to Monty Eustace, Candy Veira, Gilbert Massell, Kingsley Layne, and others on how they rang out the old year.

Andrew was a great youth leader, who took pride in whatever he did. He motivated his peers and acolytes to strive for optimal performance. He did so with a unique and distinctive passion for excellence and quality. If he was not the best batsman, he demonstrated that the sacrifice of his wicket was not going to come easy. Besides, he always had the best-looking home-made bat. His high jump poles were made with love and an attention to precision. In fact, they were a work of art, of which Valeriy Brumel, the then world high jump record holder, to whom they were dedicated, would have been proud.

He single-handedly organized athletic sports meets in Montrose on an annual basis, the quality of which would have made a Grammar School games master proud. The adults in the community participated by donating refreshments and even turned up on occasions to witness what was an important event on the social calendar. He championed the tracks and he championed the cause of a community that wanted the best for its young boys and girls.

Everyone from McCoy to Chapman streets knew him. Not only were his parents (Saville and Ercelle Cummings) proud of him, but also his relatives and fellow Montroseans Pauline Young, Lorna Small and Oscar Allen. He was also spoken of in glowing terms by Frank and Irene, Moulton and Azubah Williams, Viola John, the Hamlett, Keizer, Eustace, Burgin, Iton, King, Nanton, Peters, Thom, Crichton, Burke, Anderson, Veira, Diaz, Johnney, Sandy, Frank, Charles, Reddock, Norris, Cato, Richards, Lynch, Cox, Daisley, Bennett, Nash, Samuel, Garraway, Swan, Francis, Porter, Providence and so many other families of the community.

By his guidance, several of his wards grew up to become victors ludorum at the Grammar School and to represent St Vincent in track and field. Some who played table tennis at his home, did likewise in ping pong at a national level. But equally of importance, is the fact that many were encouraged, and did go on, to university, to pursue careers, while holding on to the values properly inculcated in their minds and spirit by the young Cummings – on the streets of Montrose, on the playing field, at the bridge near the Russell’s cinema or seated in the pews at Methodist Church on a Sunday afternoon.

Despite his commitment to the law and the sterling work that he has done in every district and every level in both civil and criminal courts, Mr Cummings never forgot his roots and his long-standing commitment to social development.

Talk show host

This luminary hosted the short-lived Searchlight radio programme and you can say was one of the original voices on the talk show circuit. He was a social commentator of the highest order and he made his views known through newspaper columns, as well as through his participation in radio and television programmes. While struggling with his long-standing illness, he quietly imparted knowledge to young Vincentians not only about the Law, but about other disciplines as well. He emerged out of the furnace of his own crucible to pursue his passions – one of which was the unyielding desire to educate himself about the social gospel and share its teachings with those around him.

He was affectionately known by his friends as Brutus. Although I have only focused on his contribution to just two of the several areas of Vincentian life that he impacted, it is fitting that I take licence from Shakespeare’s classic work – Julius Caesar. I adapt the last words by Mark Antony to this sombre occasion. Here Antony speaks of the original Brutus who died for the cause of his beloved Rome. And I need to interject here that Brutus was a patriot and a statesman of quality. I adapt to read as follows:

“This is the noblest [Vincentian] of them all

He…, in a general honest thought

And common good to all, made one of them

His life is gentle, and the elements

So, mix’ d in him that Nature might stand up

And say to all the world “this is a man!”

To AR Cummings [ Major], New Montrose and the St Vincent Grammar School say:

We sing of [your] heights achieved

Through study or at play

By diligence maintained

Though rough or smooth the way

For those who come before us and those who follow on

We join in one great chorus

To sing this glorious song

Per aspera ad astra

Let [your] strains ring loud and long.

By Joel Providence

New Montrose,

Boys’ Grammar School

(and Queen’s Drive)