Newsletter for
alumni of The Abbey School, Mt. St. Benedict, Trinidad and Tobago, W.I.
Caracas, 25 of May 2019 No. 916
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Dear Friends,
Here is an
interesting part of the history of the first oil well in Trinidad.
-------------------------------------------
Nigel
Boos <nigelboos@gmail.com>
To:
peter darwent
Jan 26 at 11:32 AM
Hello again, Peter,
Thanks
so much for your interesting email, clarifying Nigel’s address et al.
I
really do not think that he attended the Abbey School, but rather, that he was
a student at St. Peter’s in Pointe-a-Pierre. As a result, I’m going to remove
his name from the database, and I would ask other recipients of this email to
do likewise.
Since
I have you “on the line”, please help me to update your own record: Are you
still living at 7 Bayliss Rd., Wargrave, Berkshire, RG108DR? And is your phone
number still (UK) 011-89-404464?
It’s
not every day that I get to do such updates, but it helps everyone who uses the
MSB database to keep in touch with their friends and old classmates.
I’m
not sure whether you realize this, Peter, but your family holds an important
place in the history of Trinidad and Tobago. This is the fact: Although the
first well in the world was drilled in Trinidad in 1857 - 280 feet deep, in the
vicinity of the Pitch Lake by Walter Darwent, for his Merrimac Oil Company,
(beating by 2 years, the well drilled by Colonel Drake in Titusville,
Pennsylvania in 1859), it was not until 9 years later, in 1866, that the first
SUCCESSFUL oil well was drilled in the island in the Aripero area, ‘down
South”, again by your own forbear, Walter Darwent, after whom your brother was
named. Now, maybe this is old news for you, and something hardly even mentioned
within the family, but the rest of us should at least be aware of the part
played by your family in the exploration, drilling and production of oil. So
now, tell me, was the ‘original’ Walter your grandfather or perhaps a
great uncle? (I think he was your grand-dad!)
If you
should happen possess any records concerning this oil-well, or any letters from
your grandfather or great-uncle on the subject, may I ask what you’d plan to do
with them. Of course, they could be handed down to your own family (which I’d
recommend), but in the event that you “don’t know what to do with them” (???),
may I suggest that they be passed down to the Ministry of Energy and Energy
Industries in Trinidad?
I’ve
written about the Aripero well, and for your own interest, here’s what I’d
said:
1857
Trinidad’s First Oil Well
Trinidad
had the distinctive honour of being the first country in the world to drill an
oil producing well, when the Merrimac Oil Company drilled a 280' well in 1857
in the vicinity of the Pitch Lake. It was the idea of Lord Cochrane, the
Governor, who had considered the idea of obtaining soil to set up a large
bonfire atop Trinity Cathedral in Port of Spain to act as an effective
lighthouse for ships entering the harbour. Subsequently, an American expatriate
engineer named Walter Darwent in 1857 drilled a successful producer at La Brea.
In
1859, so the story goes, the world was changed forever by an event that took
place near Titusville in northwestern Pennsylvania. On August 27, Edwin L.
Drake struck oil in the first commercially successful well drilled specifically
for oil and launched the modern petroleum industry in the United States.
Drake
did not discover oil, nor was he the first to find it in North America. Native
Americans had gathered oil from wood-cribbed seeps and springs along Oil Creek
since the 1400s. By the eighteenth century, oil traded by Seneca Indians,
called "Seneca Oil," was used medicinally by settlers throughout the
region. Reports emanating from China also speak of oil seeps, which were
regularly used by the early peasants as a heating fuel.
Drake's
achievement has been marked in many ways over the years since his well struck
oil in 1859. Today, the Drake Well Museum welcomes visitors from all over the
world to the industrial buildings, historic oil machinery, educational
exhibits, and 219 acres of grounds surrounding the original well. An operating
replica of Drake's engine house, derrick, and steam engine show how crude oil
was pumped out of the ground and tell the story of the birth of the modern
petroleum industry, which began in Pennsylvania in 1859.
Two
years before Col. Drake drilled in Titusville, however, another enterprising
prospector, by the name of Walter Darwent tried his hand at drilling close to
an oil-seep near the world-famous Pitch Lake of Trinidad. In 1857, Darwent
successfully drilled and produced oil in South Trinidad, using conventional
drilling methods of the day. Eventually though, it was not until 1866 that
Darwent finally discovered oil in substantial volume to ensure the success of a
viable petroleum industry in Trinidad, a discovery for which he is rightly
remembered..
Unfortunately,
this well has since sunk into the ground, a phenomenon for which the Pitch Lake
is rightly famous, and it can no longer be pinpointed.
However,
the second well drilled in Trinidad is still standing. It was drilled at
Aripero in 1862, on lands which today (2007) are still virgin soil, and on
which no house should ever be built, not only because of the historical nature
of the site, but also because the red clayey soil, once exposed, will, within a
few days show evidence of oil seeps everywhere.
I
attended a geological expedition to this well, around 1971, which was conducted
by a retired English expatriate geologist from Texaco, whose name I no longer
remember. Benches were placed around the site, and he lectured us using a
portable loudspeaker.
I
again visited the well site around 1977, together with my wife, Jackie and her
younger brother, Brendan. He took a picture of the well, which I subsequently
enlarged and framed, and which I gave to my niece, Krysta De Lima, who was
working at British Gas, in Trinidad, as the Manager of the Legal Department of
the company.
In
1982, I was working in Forest Reserve, in the south of Trinidad, carrying out a
demulsifier testing program for Trintoc. When I happened to pass by the little
road leading to this historic well. I decided to stop by to have a look at it
again, and to my horror, I saw that someone, a land developer perhaps, had
bulldozed the entire acreage around the well-head, possibly with the hope of
building some houses for sale. The red clay soil was newly exposed, and I could
see around the area very clearly. I was extremely disappointed, because I
realized there and then how quickly this page of history could be obliterated.
It would take very little effort to erect a number of houses on that spot, and
the historical significance of the area would be lost and forgotten. I was
devastated! Could the authorities not realize the importance of this spot?
Really! I mean, surely this well could be deemed an historical landmark and
declared “Out of Bounds” for any commercial or residential development! But no!
It was going to be built up into some sort of housing complex.
Aripero
Well #1, drilled in 1862 by Walter Darwent, the second well drilled in Trinidad
I went
to work and was busy for 3 days on the job, when, on returning to my home in
Port of Spain, I again stopped by the well site to take another look at the
damage, which had been inflicted on the land.
I
drove down the little laneway and got out of the car. I looked at the bulldozed
land once again, but this time, my mouth simply fell open and I stared in awe.
Wherever I looked, the red soil had become contaminated with black oil, which
had seeped up from below. I had to be very careful to step between the little
oil rivulets that meandered back and forth across the surface of the clay.
It was
then that I rejoiced! I realized, all of a sudden, that this area was full of
oil seeps, and that these very seeps must have provided the initial inspiration
for Darwent et al to drill those first wells, back in the 1850’s and 60’s. And
I realized too, that this area was safe, safe from the threat of land
development, because no one, but no one will EVER build in the vicinity of this
wellhead. It will forever remain a historic sanctuary to recall the heady,
glorious days of early oil exploration.
Subsequently,
I worked at Farmers Valley, Pennsylvania for 3 years, between 2001 and 2004,
when I wrote Standard Operating Procedures for Honeywell’s Specialty Chemical
Wax Plant. I had been sub-contracted to write these SOP’s, since the employee
work force was then very old and most were nearing retirement. Honeywell
realized that they had no documentation to cover the operations of the various
units within the plant, and they feared that the expertise and knowledge of the
old men would be forever lost when they retired. Operating procedures had
indeed been written many years previously, and this particular plant had been
in existence since 1919, if my memory serves me correctly. However, the
refinery had been built on the curve of a river, and as later transpired, it
was subject to the occasional flooding of this river, an occurrence which had
occurred four times since it had been built. Additionally, a fire had broken
out some years beforehand, and what with water-damage and fire-loss, all of the
old operating procedures had been totally lost. New, younger workers would be
required to operate the units, but with no clear definition and protocols, they
would simply not know where to begin.
It was
during one of my bi-weekly visits to Farmer’s Valley that I took the enlarged
photograph taken by Brendan, of Trinidad’s Aripero Well #2 with me. I wanted to
hear what the old men had to say about it. Without any introduction, I placed
the photograph on the ground, leaning against a filing cabinet in the Operation
Room of the Re-Run Unit, which also doubled as a lunchroom for the 3 operators.
Eventually, when lunchtime arrived, one old fellow, sitting to his meal, said
to me, “I see you’ve got a picture of Hank’s old well there, eh?”
“No”,
I replied, “that’s not Hank’s old well at all.”
“Of
course it is.” You gonna tell me? Hey, I been huntin’ these parts longer than I
can remember. I’ve seen that well, and I know Hank’s well, and that’s Hank’s
well. Don’t tell me ‘No’”.
I then
challenged him. “Look,” said I, “why don’t you go up close and look at it
again, and then tell me if you still think that that it is really a photograph
of Hank’s well.”
Still
mumbling to himself, he sidled slowly over to the picture, bent over and stared
at it for a while. Then he said, “Shucks. You know, that sure looks like Hank’s
well. But I’ll be damned. There’s some kind of grass growing’ behind it that I
don’t know what it is. Where was this picture taken?”
“Now,
I’ll tell you”. I said. “That grass is called ‘Roseau’. That picture was taken
in Trinidad, in the West Indies, and it was drilled in 1862. It was the second
well drilled in Trinidad, and it is still standing there.”
“You
gotta be kiddin’. So, you mean there was another one before this one? So, when
was it drilled, then?”
“Our
first well was drilled in 1857, by a gentleman named Walter Darwent. He
anticipated Drake’s well in Pennsylvania by 2 years.”
“Well,
if that’s the case, then, you deserve the First Prize”, he said, and so saying,
he disappeared for a moment into a small back room where he had a personal
locker.
He
emerged a moment later, carrying a small bottle of crude oil. “Here”, he said.
“This is the First Prize. This is oil that came from Drake’s well, and I think
you should have it. Well done.”
And so
saying, he sat down to finish his sandwich.
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On Jan 26, 2019, at 6:36 AM,
peter
darwent <ppdarwent@hotmail.com> wrote:
Hi Nigel,
I have
had no contact with Nigel for very many years.
His brother's address is – c.darwent@independent.co.uk,
and his sister's address is – stuckinthemud@shaw.ca,
Again
I have had no contact with them for many years,
I do
not know if he went to the Mount but I doubt it.
Best
regards,
Peter.
-----------------------------------------------------------.
From:
Nigel Boos <nigelboos@gmail.com>
Sent:
23 January 2019 16:23
To:
ppdarwent@hotmail.com
Subject: Nigel
Darwent's email address
Hello, Peter,
I’m
coming to you to ask for help, please.
We’re
trying to update the MSB Old Boys database and we need to find a valid email
address for Nigel Darwent, if in fact he attended school at Mt. St. Benedict.
Currently,
the email address we have for him
is:
ndarwent@gmail.com but it isn’t
working
If by
chance you happen to know Nigel's email address, would you mind letting us have
it?
Thank
you in advance.
Nigel Boos
Class of 1960
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EDITED by Ladislao
Kertesz, kertesz11@yahoo.com, if you would like to be in the
circular’s mailing list, this time it is not 50 words but 52 USD for the year.
This money shall be used to cover the production of the 52 issues a year.
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Photos:
57RB0002d2,
18UN0012REUNION2018, Avalon Kalloo, Robert Oconnell,
Phillip Evans
51WD0002MONKS
19UN0001AWE, The Aripero Well
