Frank Appleton Collymore 1893 – 1980
 Frank Appleton Collymore was born on January 7, 1893 at Woodville
Cottage, Chelsea Road, where he lived all his life. He entered Combermere
School for boys in 1903 and remained there as a student until 1910 when he
was invited to join the staff . He retired from Combermere officially in
1958, having risen to the position of Deputy Headmaster. After retirement he
often returned to teach until 1963.
Frank Collymore was married twice and was the father of four daughters.
He died at the age of eighty-seven on July 17, 1980.
Frank the Actor
Collymore's interest in the stage commenced at an early age after his
father took him to the Empire Theatre. He would later seize the opportunity
to see English plays first hand by serving as an usher at the Empire Theatre
when theatre companies visited from Britiain. He also became a member of the
Combermere School's Dramatic Society.
In the 1940s he became a member of the amateur local company "The Bridgetown
Players", which was formed in 1942 under the direction of an Englishman,
Miles Wood. Collymore was described as a versatile actor who could play a
range of roles. In the 1960s he co-founded the Green Room Theatre Club with
Alfred Pragnell. His work with the stage would eventually span forty-seven
years and include some 41 plays. In his last years he left the stage and
turned his attention to television at the age of seventy-seven.
Frank the Artist
Frank Collymore produced hundreds of sketches and watercolours to
illustrate his poems and verses. He referred to them as "Collybeasts" or "Collycreatures"
and used several to decorate BIM Magazine.
Frank the Writer
It is for his work as a poet and an editor that Frank Collymore is best
known and especially for his significant contribution to the development of
West Indian Literature as the editor of BIM Magazine.
BIM was first published in 1942 with E.L. Jimmy Cozier as editor. Frank
Collymore became joint editor with W. Therold Barnes from Issue no. 3 when
Jimmy Cozier left for Trinidad. He remained editor until 1975, producing the
magazine twice a year often single-handly even in difficult times. With BIM
he provided an outlet for aspiring Caribbean writers. Contributions for this
magazine were received from across the region and some material from the
magazine was used by the BBC Overseas Services in a programme entitled
"Caribbean Voices". Collymore became known as a friend and inspiration to
writers both at home and abroad.
"… Frank Collymore's influence on West Indian literature was not only felt
through BIM, but as a teacher, his pupils included George Lamming, Austin
(Tom) Clarke and the late Timothy Callendar. He is remembered by some
students for allowing free expression in drawing, free flow of thought, for
encouraging them to write on topics drawn from their surroundings, and for
inviting special speakers for sixth formers, whom he did not teach. Among
these speakers were Bruce Hamilton and Edgar Mittleholzer…."
Extract from Frank and Collymore Hall : a documentary compiled by
Wendy Alleyne, Joan Cumberbatch, Heather Greaves, Cathy Lashley and Donna
St. Hill [Unpublished], 1986
Collymore expressed himself in a variety of art forms - including poetry,
short stories and paintings. Among his contributions to BIM were plays,
articles on literature and language, miscellaneous articles, reviews of
books, art and theatre. He also published six volumes of poetry and compiled
a small book on Barbadian dialect entitled "Notes for a Glossary of Words
and Phrases of Barbadian Dialect" (1st ed.1955 with repeated editions up to
the 4th edition 1970.).
In an unpublished work written and compiled by five students his life was
summed up in these terms "… undoubtedly, Colly was an observer of life,
aware of acts of atrocities and deeds of
kindness. But throughout his literary works there is an absence of
bitterness, an absence of the passion of anger. And maybe because his motto
in life seemed to have been "never to hurt anyone", he was able to utter
these words, " I don't think that there has ever been anyone who has been as
loved as I have been." …."
Extract from Frank and Collymore Hall : a documentary compiled by
Wendy Alleyne, Joan Cumberbatch, Heather Greaves, Cathy Lashley and Donna
St. Hill [Unpublished], 1986
This was the man Frank Appleton Collymore , Barbadian Man of the Arts.
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