Excerpt from Turks Islands Landfall, A History of the Turks and Caicos Islands by H.E.Sadler
PIRATE CAYS
Off the western shores of North Caicos lie a cluster of small cays comprising Water, Pine, Fort St. George, Dellis, Grouper and Parrot Cay. These cays were the reputed sanctuaries of Anne Bonny and Mary Read, the famous lady pirates, and Parrot Cay is thought to be corruption of Pirate Cay or even Pilot Cay. (You can read more about these famous pirates in the Turks Islands Landfall).
Little Fort St. George Cay divides the passage between Pine and Dellis Cay, which was aptly described by Columbus as "a harbour with two mouths", when that famous navigator stopped here to water his ships.282 The port Fort St. George was extensively used by the Loyalist settlers in the 1790s and during the Haitian Revolution of the same period, several French refugee sloops were intercepted and taken to the anchorage near the Fort.
Mr. G.L.P. Taylor of Salt Cay, who later sold it to Mr. C.R. Hinson, owned Parrot Cay for many years. During Mr. Hinson’s ownership, the Cay was occupied by Mr. John Lockhart and later by his sons. The Lockhart’s planted out a large number of orange, lemon and other fruit trees.
In 1895, the local firm of Whitney Brothers planted out Parrot Cay with lemons, oranges and coconuts. Encouraged by Bermuda’s traditional success in the export of onions and famous Japanese lies, the Whitneys also procured these plants from their native island for propagation at Parrot Cay. Unfortunately, this enterprise was short lived, as soon after this the family was involved in a bitter lawsuit over certain personal affairs.
In 1920, an American company sowed 250 acres of cotton on Parrot Cay, but partly because of two years of severe drought, this enterprise folded in only five years.
This large humpbacked island with its miles of lonely beaches was for many years tenanted by "Uncle Ugly" Rigby, an ex-serviceman of the West Indies Regiment living in Kew. Each Monday morning, he walked to Sandy Point and paddled himself to the island, where he grew cassava, sweet potato, beans, peas, papaws, okra, etc., returning to Kew on Friday. Hurricane Donna wiped out all his hard work in 1960, and by 1964 he had become too aged and infirm to continue in his tenancy. The old Negro solider had blood-curdling tales to tell of the exposure his contingent of volunteers suffered in wintry Halifax, Nova Scotia, en route to Europe in the First World War.
The late Count Ferdinand Czernin284 had been looking for a suitably secluded place where he and his friends could escape the stresses of life on the east coast of the States and was originally introduced to Pine Cay and the other nearby islands in the mid-1950s by former Governor Sir Huge Foot. He was the first to foresee the possibilities of the cays as isolated private resorts and entered into an agreement with Government. Sadly, the Count died in 1965 before he could see these plans realized. However, his widow, Countess Helen Czernin, decided to continue with the original plans. Now the results of that pioneering decision are seen on Pine Cay with the formation of the company that eventually developed the island.
On Pine Cay, Cays Development Company Limited beginning in early 1971 developed a planned community of 850-acres. Douglas Russell, the original investor in the company, and Huge B. Hamilton, was joined by C.W. "Liam" Maguire, David Barrett, Baron George Streer von Steeruwitz and George Nipancih. The development included individuals’ privately owned houses as well as the Meridian Club, which occupies the southern half of the island. The Meridian Club facilities and members’ villas remain strictly private. The natural channel provides a safe haven for yachts complete with dockage facilities.285
In 1970, Countess Helen Czernin had a small cottage built on Parrot Cay with a fine sweeping view of the beaches protected by the great north reef. Proposals for an extensive development on Parrot Cay were submitted on behalf of the Countess and her associate, Fritz Ludington. The plans called for construction of a marina and resort hotel. One of the benefits of the plan was to have been the construction of a ten-foot deep channel to provide access to North Caicos. Kuwaiti investors later acquired the cay and an impressive luxury resort nearly completed. However, the project languished for years thereafter, embroiled in legal problems and, recently again, changed ownership.
Baron von Streeruwitz, principal of United Investment Limited, owns land on Water Cay. The attraction of Water Cay lies in immaculate lee beaches, the protected reef harbour, comparatively high elevation, lush vegetation and the existence, as on Pine Cay, of plenty of fresh water. Little Water Cay was declared a sanctuary for the largest remaining population of Rock Iguana, a species said to be facing extinction.
Dellis Cay owes its name to an enterprising Greek, John Dellis, who became a naturalized citizen of the Turks and Caicos Islands and developed a thriving sponge trading center at the cay towards the end of the 19th century. This promoter built himself a residence on the island, which, for several years, served as the headquarters for this operation.
Excerpt from Turks Islands Landfall, A History of the Turks and Caicos Islands by H.E.Sadler
RETURN TO NORTH CAICOS RETURN TO TURKS AND CAICOS
TURKS CAICOS
MAPS 
