the sight of the white uniformed crew was a familiar one to the inhabitants of the colony. It is reckoned that the Land-ship as it is known today, started in October 1863, but it is not feasible that Moses Wood was the originator, since his records show his birth as 21 January 1860. It is more likely that Wood joined the Land-ship and started a branch of the Land-ship (which is known as a Ship) when he returned to Barbados. However, his fame may have come because the Land-ship had become low keyed (almost underground) by the time Wood returned and the then Governor Hodgson, had previously issued an edict forbidding "the wearing of quazi-military uniforms". Hence Wood was being openly defiant in starting a Ship because he wanted to continue wearing his naval uniform and the Land-ship provided that perfect opportunity. Early Land-ship The Barbados Land-ship was established in 1863. It was formed by Africans living on the plantations tenantries in Barbados after they were emancipated from slavery. The organization provided a safe haven for them to progress out of poverty. Unlike the plantation owners who were compensated for each African that was freed, our African forefathers received nothing. They were kicked off the plantation and assigned to infertile lands called tenantries. They then had to build their own huts and find work to earn money as they endeavored to start from scratch. Many went back to work on the plantation. Skilled workers and artisans became more independent. Many of the benefits which workers receive today were not available to them. There was no pension after working and toiling all their lives on a plantation. There were no welfare services which would allow them some relief. They had no health or life insurance and did not even have the money to bury their dead. It is out of these conditions that the Barbados Land-ship was born. Some say it was the benevolence of their African ancestors brought with them that they employed to support themselves. The Barbados Land-ship is therefore a system of benevolence and cooperation which is based on a small contribution from each member. When pooled together these small contributions became significant and allowed the organization to develop the resources to help each member in times of need. History The Barbados Land-ship is the oldest serving African-Barbadian organization in existence to date. The first known statistics of