Historian Gerard Besson

Yesterday was a true test of my determination and ability to rise to the occasion. I called Gerard Besson to confirm a date and time to be interviewed and his capricious response was " today!" I was wide eyed in disbelief but my response to him was 'yes!' There was no way I was passing up on this opportunity since his contribution to this documentary adds credibility and validity to this documentary.

He decided to accommodate me by providing camera equipment due to the impromptu nature of the interview; so I spent four hours at work preparing interview questions . When I arrived at his office in Cascade, I set up the camera and started the interview. One of the problems I faced was that Mr. Besson was giving to me one word answers which showed that he was uncomfortable. So I had to stop the interview and tell him what the interview was all about again and how much I need his valuable contribution to a topic. it was only then that he became quite verbose.

In the middle of the interview, I discovered that Besson is a descendant of John Boissière through this great, great, great, great, great, great grandmother Zuzule, a slave and John Boissièr's lover, who bore to him four children. He frequented the Boissière House, as they were his relatives; which made him an authority on the internal and external design of the house and the Boissière ancestry. This discovery saved me the hassle of begging the present owner of the mansion, Greta Elliot, the grand daughter of Alice; the original owner of the Boissière Mansion for an interview. Note: Alice was married to Charles Boissière and Charles built the Boissière mansion to his wife as a wedding gift. 

Nevertheless the overall interview was informative; Besson said that the sword of Henry Peschier can be seen in the National Museum on Frederick Street. Besson will know this because he was a director of the National Museum.  With that knowledge, I 

called the National Museum today to seek permission to 

video tape the sword among other useful effigy or vestige. Although, they seem clueless about the sword #SMH#. The incompetence of my people. 

Also, I contacted Dr Michael Anthony, another historian to get a balance or different perspective on the Pecheirs, Stollmeyers, Boissièrs and the Rada Community. He advised me to call him back in 30 minutes; it is about that time.

Sly!