RIVER ANTOINE ESTATE Print E-mail
Written by Michael Jessamy   
It is believed that the name Antoine, originated from the French who gave this name to the Carib Chief of this area during the1650s. It is said that they felt that he was as stubborn and difficult to dealt with as a feudal lord in the south of France. Hence, the estate, the area comprising the lake, farmland, river and later the rum distillery got their name Antoine.  However, we are still in the process on pursuing information on an Antoine who had owned lands in the St. Patrick's area.

The River Antoine Rum Distillery is the oldest known functioning water-powered sugar mill in the entire Western Hemisphere. Although a plaque over the door of the boiling house dates the mill 1785, historical data shows the mill existed during the French period of occupation of Grenada until cession to the British in 1763.

At the time of the cession it was owned by the Heritiers Cousins and produced sugar. At the beginning of the period of British rule, ownership of the 480 acres estate changed into the hands of  the Grant Family, Mr. Andrew Grant, Esq. And Cpt. Gordon Grant expanding the estate by the 1770s to 800 acres, with a compliment of 325 slaves, one new  and one old works.  Records also show that from 1805 - 1824, the estate was still in the hands of the hands of the Grant Family.

By the mid 1800s, it appeared that the smaller estates around, such as Observatory were bought over. In this regard, an even bigger River Antoine Estate was bought over for 200 pounds by Mr. Thomas De Gale who, also owned the nearby Chambord Estate. The estate was afterwards inherited by Thomas' children and later divided among shareholders, all of whom were relatives of Thomas De Gale.

In 1980, the Peoples Revolutionary Government acquired River Antoine estate. It was returned to private ownership in late 1983 and is now owned by three partners who formed the company RDF Enterprises Ltd.