A proud Anglo-Argentine

Andrew was my mother’s cousin, I knew him since I was a child. When I became chairman of the ABCC (Argentine British Community Council) I found it very useful to have him as a reference for issues related to our community and its history, after all he was the author of The Forgotten Colony: A History of the English-speaking Communities in Argentina.

We used to meet for coffee or lunch to talk about British immigration in Argentina, community issues and so on. I remember our first meeting was at the Café Británico by Parque Lezama – how very appropriate!

Andrew was always keen to join us at different community events. In 2014, we travelled together to Ibicuy to the commemoration at the cairn that remembers the local volunteers from Entre Ríos who fell in World War I. Andrew wrote about that event for the Buenos Aires Herald. We were always very grateful when he reported on our activities in the Herald,as well as in our community magazine, The Bulletin.

In 2015, we met in London at the Anglo-Argentine Society asado. One could see how he enjoyed it as most of his family were present and also because of the opportunity for him to meet with so many acquaintances.

A trip to Entre Ríos to his home in Larroque was pending, but instead we will now organise with the local authorities a tribute to his life.

My own personal thought is that as a community, we should feel honoured to have had such an important representative, someone who was proud to say that he was an Anglo-Argentine. Proud not only for all the literature he wrote, but mainly for his well-known stance regarding free press, human rights and democracy.