Anne Green receives her MBE Honour
Report and photos from James Glass and Fiona Kilpatrick
We are delighted to report that on Thursday 9th September 2021 a reception was held for the family of Mrs. Anne Green by the Administrator Fiona Kilpatrick and her husband, to award Anne her MBE medal, on behalf of HM the Queen for services to the community in Tristan da Cunha. We reported in December 2018 that Anne Green had been appointed an MBE in the 2019 New Year Honours List. However, the medal itself was delayed in the UK for more than two years because of the Covid pandemic.
| Anne with her brother James Glass | |
Anne Violet Green was Born on the 21st March 1952 and spent her early years on Tristan da Cunha until her parents went to the Falklands Islands in 1959. Her mother died in the Falklands on the 10th March 1962, when she was only ten years old, after which time the family return to Tristan, where she was responsible for looking after the family at 13 years of age.
Anne was the first private secretary for the Administrators, before she accompanied her husband Joe to St Helena for mechanical training.
She has been a teacher since 1975, served as Deputy Head for many years and then Head and Education Officer, retiring at the end of 2017 after teaching for 42 years. She helped introduce and taught Tristan Studies, making sure the children were reminded of their culture and history. She is also a Tristan Guide, accompanying visiting tourists on tours.
Anne has also been an Island Council member for many years, and became the first woman to be elected as Chief Islander in 1988, serving until 1991 and again from 2003-2007. Anne is a highly respected member of the community and actively helps people in the community especially the elderly and those less fortunate than herself.
Like her Grandmother Agnes Rogers (née Smith) who was the founder of the Catholic community and a strong holder of the Catholic faith, Anne has been a Lay Minister in the Island Catholic Church for over 20 years, also leading services in the absence of a serving priest. In the early eighties she helped raise funds to build the first Catholic Church and have been instrumental in a number of charitable endeavours, for churches and shelters/soup kitchens in South Africa, such as Nazareth House and the Elim Night Shelter, De Grendel Lions Club, St Joseph’s Catholic Church.
Citing Anne’s qualities, Fiona said:
“Anne’s leadership has been exemplary, particularly in driving changes to give the people of Tristan da Cunha a strong voice in their own government. In education, as a teacher and school Head, she was a role model for her colleagues and all those she taught. And her spiritual leadership has made a huge contribution to the community. I would also mention her dignity and kindness, which we all know and appreciate. Her kind and considerate manner has earned her considerable respect and the whole community owes her a great debt of gratitude for supporting the community over many years.”
