The UWI’s Link to the Bermuda Triangle Phenomenon
 

When the Star Ariel, a British South American Airways Corporation airliner vanished on January 17, 1949, the original Royal Charter incorporating the University College of the West Indies was also lost. The terms of what was the first official document of the forerunner to The University of the West Indies would later be incorporated in Letters Patent which were sealed and sent as an official replacement, received in November 1949.

This replacement was reported to have been hand delivered by Professor J.H.Parry, when he arrived to commence his appointment to head the Modern History Department on November 14, 1949. Notably, Professor Parry and family arrived on the ship Empress of Australia.

The disappearance of the Star Ariel, on January 17, 1949, is one of the best known mysteries associated with the Bermuda Triangle phenomenon. A routine flight, originating in Bermuda, had the four engine plane, of a model type known as the Tudor IV, heading for Santiago, Chile, with a stop due in Kingston, Jamaica. The flight, commanded by Captain J.C. McPhee, failed to terminate as scheduled, being presumed lost somewhere between the Bahamas and Bermuda, with its thirteen passengers and seven crew members. Interestingly, this occurrence came almost a year to the date of the earlier disappearance of a sister plane, called the Star Tiger. Although the Tudor IV plane model was successfully operated during the years of the Berlin Airlift (June 24, 1948-May 12, 1949), these aircraft were never again used to carry passengers commercially, after the loss of the Star Ariel.

The significance of a Royal Charter

A Royal Charter is a rare and unique document, and its reissue is even rarer. The Principal, Dr. T.W.J. Taylor, in his report to the College Council meeting held on February 17, 1950 informed that, “…it was only through the personal intervention of the chancellor… [HRH The Princess Alice]…that the technical difficulties arising out of the loss of the Charter had been overcome and the Letters Patent issued under the Great Seal”.

A Royal Charter is a document granted by a monarch (especially in Great Britain) that incorporates an institution and specifies its rights. The British monarchy is purported to have issued over 980 Royal Charters, throughout its many centuries of existence, and only around 750 of these documents have survived.

 
With the granting of the original Royal Charter, the University College of the West Indies became an established and properly constituted entity. Comprised of the articles of incorporation and certificate of incorporation, this document gave the College full legal status as an incorporated body.

Subsequent Royal Charters have been issued to The UWI; firstly, to facilitate changes in its degree granting status (1962) and secondly to introduce operational systems more accommodating of its multi-campus nature (1972).

Contributed by The UWI Mona Main Library http://myspot.mona.uwi.edu/library/