WELCOME TO
RITA ISLAND
Detail map of this area is not available at this time
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xFACTS & FANCY
My
name is Alida, and I am pleased to be your guide to Rita. It is the
smallest of the islands and is more a part of Wild Horse Island than not.
When Michael Blaine and his sister, Margaret, signed up to leave on the Prize
Mary, the young Blaine's mother, Rita, gave them a sack of coins on her
deathbed. She explained that her son and daughter should leave London and
make their way into the countryside to live. Instead, Michael followed his
fiancé, Carla Bowen, from Canada to Britain and got himself and his sister
booked on the Prize Mary, so he could be with Carla. It cost him and his
sister that bag of coins. As ironic as it seems, Margaret eventually
married Captain Everett Shopp. Michael took his bride, Carla, and left for
the small island that he named after his mother. After submitting the name
to the Captain and his staff, it was approved, and the island became Rita.
This name should not be confused with one of the Four Sisters Isles, part of St.
John's Isle. There are 210 permanent residents on Rita.
Michael Blaine, a barn builder by trade, and his wife, Carla, an accomplished
purveyor's clerk, formed a small building business on Rita after constructing
their own facilities. The Blaines' company grew quite prosperous until a
disastrous fire in 1888 reduced the business to ashes. Ford Blaine, a
direct descendent, left the islands with his family and settled in Cape Town,
never to return; other family members, related, but not in the business,
remained on SI until the 1920s at which time, the last of the group left.
No further word has been given. Rita still remains a construction oriented
isle with successful small boat builders and furniture manufacturers.
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Copyright 2001, Gregory St. John Taylor, All Rights Reserved
Shoppolis Islands is owned and operated by Greg Taylor Productions