Ellis McLawrence
His name is written "Ellis MacLaerens" by Classic Sailor and "Ellis McLawrence" by the carpenters of Carriacou. McLawrence is one of the Scottish surnames of Windward, along with McFarlane and McIntosh, inherited from carpenters who came from Scotland in the nineteenth century.
A shipwright in Windward, Carriacou. The only source that names him describes him as an eighty-six-year-old man still living in the village.
Only one sloop has been attributed to him to date: Super Mac, Built in 1975 on Windward Beach, this 37-foot boat later became the pink yacht of the Palm Island resort. See its profile: Pink Lady.
His son is cited for having redone the caulking of the sloop Pink Lady during its restoration in 2010.
Urban McLawrence and his son Norman
Little is known about Urban McLawrence, other than that he is Norman's father.
Norman McLawrence participated in the construction of the large cargo ship launched in 2020. See his profile: Reality 2.
Norman McLawrence was also one of the boat's owners MV Resolution, with a partner named Roberts. The boat was destroyed by Hurricane Beryl in July 2024. See its entry: MV Resolution.
Mac McLawrence
Brother of Urban and Ellis, Mac McLawrence is the father of Anthony and Winsley.
He is said to have built the sloop Unity, In the 1980s, with the help of his then-young son Anthony, who learned the trade there. This information remains to be confirmed.
Anthony McLawrence aka «Nero»
A shipwright in Windward, Carriacou. Nero is a nickname; his first name is Anthony. He was sixty-seven years old at the end of 2016, which places his birth around 1949.
His son Hubert interviewed him in October 2026: six boats in total, four built and two bought then rebuilt.
- Unity his first boat, in the 1980s. He learned the trade there for three years, probably alongside his father Mac: you rarely build a boat alone.
- PM Grace bought then rebuilt.
- Vilite Maria bought then rebuilt.
- Monalisa built by him.
- Windward Pride built by him under the name American Eagle, launched around 2007.
- Reality 2 built by him, launched in 2020.
In the 2020 film, Anthony talks about 8 boats: so 2 are missing? Probably friends' boats, on which he would have just helped.
He used to work with Bernard Compton called «Bonsai», as shown in this video posted on the Facebook page of Tradition.
So perhaps he helped Bonsai on two of his projects: New Moon, which he built and launched in 2010, and Glacier, a 1979 sloop which he enlarged the same year on the beach. Nothing confirms this at the moment.
Source: Pure Grenada video
Most of what we know about him comes from a three-minute, fifty-eight-second film, released on September 10, 2020, by the Grenada tourism board under the title "Launching Reality 2 in Pure Carriacou." The shipwright speaks in front of his hull, and the film shows the launch. It was shot in March 2020, just before the lockdown.
Watch the film on the Pure Grenada page: Launching Reality 2 in Pure Carriacou.
What he recounts in the film
This chapter is transcribed by ear, without subtitles. Uncertain points are marked as such.
- Nero is his nickname. His real first name is Anthony.
- He has been building boats for forty years, which dates back to the early 1980s.
- His first boat, in the 1980s, was called Unity.
- He spent three years learning the trade on that first boat.
- He built eight boats in total. His son Hubert specifies that two of them are boats for friends that he helped to build, without being in charge of them.
- The last one took him two and a half years to complete.
- The wood for the keel comes from Guyana. The rest comes from Grenada.
Winsley McLawrence
Anthony's brother, Winsley McLawrence, was the owner of the sloop. American Eagle. Winsley McLawrence then sold it to Hubert McLawrence.
Hubert McLawrence
Anthony's son, Hubert McLawrence, is one of the owners of the sloop Windward Pride, the former American Eagle. See his profile: Windward Pride.
In September 2026, Hubert McLawrence provided the association with the information that allowed this family tree to be reconstructed.
Sources
- Hubert McLawrence — information provided to the association, September and October 2026
- Tradition Sailing Anguilla, Facebook post from September 17, 2025 (filming date unknown): Carriacou Shipbuilding Legends Working on Tradition
- Pure Grenada, September 10, 2020 — Launching Reality 2 in Pure Carriacou
- Cruising World, December 30, 2016, Tor Pinney — Boatbuilding in Windward
- All At Sea, May 14, 2020, Jan Hein — It Took a Village
- All At Sea, August 15, 2018, Jan Hein — Windward, Carriacou: a glimpse into traditional boat building
- Classic Sailor, April 19, 2018, Kirsty Morrison — When Antigua was in the pink
- Island Trees — Boat Building on Carriacou
- Caribbean Compass, October 9, 2023, S. Brian Samuel — Pride Returns to Windward (and Pennsylvania?)
Contact — McLawrence Family
No website, page, or public address is known for this family.
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