By OSWALD T. BROWN
WASHINGTON, D.C., October 16, 2023 — I ran across a photo on Facebook posted by Troya Oliver-Brown that I absolutely had to share with readers of my online publication, BAHAMAS CHRONICLE, which has a huge following among the Bahamian diaspora across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom as well as in The Bahamas and the wider Caribbean.
Troya, who is the lead Clinical Physician at Doctors Hospital Health System in Nassau, and my grand-nephew Samuel R. Brown are newlyweds. They were married in June and, based on photos they posted on Facebook, their honeymoon in South Africa was adventurous and utterly enjoyable.
In the narrative that accompanied the photo she posted on Facebook this morning, Troya states, “Two newlyweds in West End, Grand Bahama!”
Sam has confirmed that he has submitted a formal application to the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) to be its candidate in the bye-election to fill West End and Bimini seat in the House of Assembly that became vacant following the recent death on Obie Wilchcombe, who represented West End from 2002 to 2017 and was again elected to represent West End and Bimini in 2021.
After paying due respect to Mr. Wilchcombe, who died on September 25, with a memorable state funeral on Thursday, October 12, following his burial on Saturday in West End, the PLP is expected to announce later this week who will be its candidate in the upcoming bye-election.
Sam, who was born and grew up in West End, is considered by many to be the ideal candidate to represent the area. Indeed, he unquestionably would be an excellent candidate to represent the area that was once represented by his uncle, noted Grand Bahama lawyer Simeon R. Brown.
Sam is the son of my niece, Carla Brown-Roker, the youngest child of my late brother Simeon “Sugar B” Brown, who was three years older than me and was my mentor as a young boy growing up at Stanyard Creek, Andros, in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
My brother Simeon was one of the very smart young men who in their teens mastered the communications skills of telegraphy in the 1950s and were conscripted by the Bahamas Telecommunications Department as telegraphers.
Telegraphy was the principal form of communicating information by coded signals before telephones revolutionized the communications industry, and some the young experts in this telegraphic system were sent to the various Out Islands of The Bahamas.
My brother Simeon was posted in West End, the capital of Grand Bahama, where he met and fell in love with a lovely Grand Bahama young lady, Ogletta Smith. They eventually got married and were blessed with three children – my nephew Simeon and his sisters Valery and Carla.
The proper education of his children was a top priority for my brother. As I previously noted, his son Simeon is a renowned lawyer; his eldest daughter, Valery Brown-Alce, has been involved in promoting tourism for The Bahamas from shortly after she graduated from college and is currently Senior Director of Marketing at the Bahama Out Islands Promotion Board; and after graduating from college, Carla started her professional career as a teacher and later transferred her talents to government service. She is currently Youth Programs Coordinator in Grand Bahama with the Bahamas Government.
So, it was inevitable that Carla would likewise place education at the top of her priority list for her son Samuel R. Brown. He was an excellent student at Grand Bahama Catholic High School, where he was a perennial debate champion.
He subsequently went to law school in England, and is currently an Associate with law firm Delaney Partners, where he practices “primarily commercial litigation, including corporate litigation, trust litigation, insolvency and corporate restructuring,” according to the firm’s website.
Prior to joining Delaney Partners as an Associate in September 2021, “Samuel’s earlier professional career included acting as an Associate at two leading Bahamian law firms where he developed a broad range of experience in civil and commercial matters, such as corporate and commercial law, banking and financial services, professional negligence and employment and labour law,” the website states.
Needless to say, I am immensely proud of my grand-nephew, and wish him every success in his quest to become the next Member of Parliament for West End and Bimini.
