NIHERST: Caribbean Icons in STI

William Edwin Freeman was born on May 4th 1909, in Bromley, Kent, England. Young William was one of four children of William George Freeman and Agnes Freeman (née Wallis). His father was a former Director of Agriculture in Trinidad and Tobago so the Freeman children spent part of their early childhood growing up in Trinidad. William briefly attended a primary level school that was based at Queen’s Royal College, Trinidad, before the family returned to England. There, William continued his schooling at Ilkey Grammar School in Yorks England.

Growing up, William had a great love for nature. As a young man, he enjoyed camping alone on beaches, sleeping out in the open, and being one with nature. Coming from a household with parents who had science backgrounds (his mother was one of the first women in the UK to hold a Bachelor of Science degree), William naturally gravitated towards the sciences at University. He pursued his studies at the University of London and at Cambridge University, where he gained First Class Honours degrees in Botany. While at Cambridge, he was actively involved in sports as the captain of the rugby team and coxswain on the sculling team. He participated in races with rivals Oxford University and had the prestige title of a “Double Blue” at the university.

After completing his bachelor’s degree, he did one year of post-graduate training at Cambridge and another year of training at the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture (ICTA), completing a thesis based on Cocoa at the latter institution. While at the ICTA, he also played rugby.

William’s parents were perhaps his greatest motivators and he was strongly influenced by his father, patterning his life after him both consciously and unconsciously. After his graduation from University, he became a Colonial Office Probationer in Plant Breeding. This job took him away from home, stationing him in various parts of Africa where he worked on the breeding of various crops and rose through the ranks to Principal Research Officer and finally Senior Botanist in 1953. By this time, he had worked in Nigeria for 17 years.

He settled with his wife and three children in Trinidad in 1954, having accepted the post of Tutor in Crop Husbandry at the the Eastern Caribbean Farm Institute, later called the Eastern Caribbean Institute of Agriculture and Forestry. His areas of expertise were tropical crops, field experimentation, soils, botany, pests and diseases. In 1956 he then took up the post of Research Officer with the Cocoa Board in Trinidad, where he engaged in the breeding of improved cuttings and hybrid seedlings and conducted other minor experimental work. This work was done in the face of many challenges. He had no technical assistance available to him and had to also liaise directly with cocoa farmers to carry out field trials of these materials, taking this opportunity to educate them in ways to improve their agronomic practices. Many of members of staff that he worked with had not received a secondary education and his research was done with very little funding. Despite these challenges, he was dedicated to his research. He demanded very high standards from his staff but showed them (and all else) the greatest respect.

Freeman enjoyed working in the field, and was religiously clad in short pants, rather than long trousers while on the job. These, along with a plaid shirt and khaki stockings, were common features of his work gear.

In 1968, the Government terminated operations of the Cocoa Board but Mr. Freeman continued to work as a Temporary Cocoa Agronomist in the Ministry of Agriculture, Lands and Food Production until his retirement in 1978. His vast expertise on this crop and his faithful service to the Government caused him to be recalled by the Ministry to work as an Agronomist on contract. In his new role, he provided training and assistance to the younger professional staff of the Cocoa Research Division.

William Freeman’s dedication to research led to significant contributions to the breeding and development of cocoa between 1960 and 1984. Under the Colonial System, plant breeders were usually assigned to a project for a limited period of service before moving on to another crop perhaps in another country. In this respect, Freeman’s success as a plant breeder can be owed in large part to his tenacity. His work in developing one of the world’s three most successful varieties of cocoa, the Trinidad Select Hybrid (TSH) was a labour of love which spanned many decades and continued well into his retirement. Eight of the TSH cocoa varieties developed by Freeman have been commercialised (TSH 730, 919, 1076, 1095, 1102, 1104, 1188, 1220). According to the Ministry of Agriculture, these varieties “possess high yielding potential of over 1000 kg per hectare, large bean size, excellent fine flavour status and resistance to Ceratocystis wilt and Witches Broom diseases”.

The Ministry credits him for introducing high density planting systems for cocoa. The essential features of these systems are high yields of between 2000 to 4000 kg per hectare, a plant population of 3000 plants per hectare, no shade and high fertilising regimes”. Some of Freeman’s publications A possible new approach to cocoa growing and Thoughts on cocoa document some of these contributions. His work is of significance to all cocoa growing nations but mostly to Trinidad, which boasts of producing the finest quality cocoa in the world.

Outside of his work, Mr. Freeman remained close to plants. An active member of the Horticultural Society of Trinidad and Tobago, he co-initiated a second “flower show” in his hometown of Arima, while the larger annual show was held in Port of Spain. He served the Society as a judge, member entrant and organiser, always happy to lend his expert assistance and show his “green thumb”. Artistry seemed to be in Mr Freeman’s blood: his mother was a well-established painter and he too had a streak of creativity; he was happy to potter in his garden well into the evening arranging his potted plants in creative ways. Additionally, he made outstanding displays of his cut flowers in unique assemblages of plant stands made with unusual items like pieces of driftwood and stones. These creative talents were passed on to his children: one daughter has a business in creative décor and plant rentals, while another is involved in creative floral designs. To his son, a medical doctor, he passed on penchant for science.

A lover of plants and a simple family man, Mr. Freeman was honoured by the Agricultural Society of Trinidad and Tobago and the University of the West Indies, which named a street on its compound after him. He passed away in 1988 and the Government of Trinidad and Tobago bestowed the Chaconia Gold Medal, the second highest national award in Trinidad and Tobago, on him posthumously in 1991.

William Freeman
- Agronomist

Photo Gallery

William Freeman - Agronomist

Photo Gallery

William Freeman
- Agronomist