{{Short description|Bahamian activist, musician and poet (1900–1978)}} {{about|the pianist|the women who allegedly inspired the Beatle's "Lovely Rita"|Lovely Rita}} {{Infobox person | name = Meta Davis Cumberbatch | honorific_suffix = MBE | image = | alt = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software --> | caption = | birth_name = Meta Davis | birth_date = {{Birth date|1900|05|04|df=y}} | birth_place = San Fernando, Trinidad | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|1978|12|29|1900|05|04}} | death_place = The Bahamas | nationality = | other_names = | occupation = Pianist, composer, poet, playwright and cultural activist | education = Trinity Girls School<br />Bishop Anstey High School | alma_mater = Royal Academy of Music | children = Zoë Maynard | relatives = Kathleen Davis (sister)<br />Allyson Maynard Gibson (granddaughter) | years_active = | known_for = | notable_works = }} '''Meta Davis Cumberbatch''' MBE (4 May 1900 – 29 December 1978)<ref>Peter D. Maynard, ''Great Awakening: Meta Davis Cumberbatch, "Mother of the Arts"'', 2010, pp. 146, 153.</ref> was a Trinidad-born pianist, composer, poet, playwright and cultural activist, who spent the majority of her life in The Bahamas, where she used her talents to enhance the country's cultural development,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://bahamaspress.com/tributes-pour-in-following-the-passing-of-zoe-lady-maynard-this-morning/|title=Tributes pour in following the passing of Zoe, Lady Maynard this morning…|work=Bahamas Press|date=10 December 2018}}</ref> becoming known as the "Mother of the Arts".<ref name=Warriors>[https://www.ourculturewarriors.com/meta "Meta Davis Cumberbatch – Pioneer of The Arts"], Our Culture Warriors.</ref> At the 2014 Independence anniversary celebrations in Nassau she was honoured as a Bahamian "Cultural Warrior".<ref>[http://bahamaspress.com/2014/07/02/great-cultural-icons-to-be-celebrated-at-the-41st-independence/ "Great Cultural Icons to be Celebrated at the 41st Independence!"], ''Bahamas Press'', 2 July 2014.</ref>
==Biography==
Meta Davis was born in San Fernando, Trinidad, on 4 May 1900, to James Augustus Davis and Ruth O'Neill Davis, who were both originally from St. Vincent and the Grenadines.<ref>Maynard, ''Great Awakening'' (2010), pp. 150, 153, 159.</ref> Meta's musical talent manifested itself early and she could pick out a tune on the piano before she could write her own name.<ref name=Courier>"Meta Davis, artist of Bahamas", ''The New Courier'', 18 March 1972, p. 13.</ref> After attending Trinity Girls School and Bishop Anstey High School in Port of Spain,<ref>Maynard, ''Great Awakening'' (2010), p. 155.</ref> Meta and her younger sisters Beryl and Kathleen were sent by their parents to England in 1919 with the intention that they study medicine at Bristol University.<ref>Maynard, ''Great Awakening'' (2010), p. 160.</ref><ref name=Tribune>Jeffarah Gibson, [http://www.tribune242.com/news/2013/jun/18/meta-davis-cumberbatchs-legacy-lives-on/ "Meta-Davis Cumberbatch's Legacy Lives On"], ''Tribune 242'', 18 June 2013.</ref>
However, as she stated in a 1972 interview, her ambitions lay elsewhere: "I couldn't even stand the sight of blood.... I begged my father not to send me because everyone knew me as 'Meta the Musician', and I loved music."<ref name=Courier /> She nevertheless did spend a short time at the university, though often so engrossed at the piano that she forgot to attend lectures.<ref name=Courier /> So from medical studies she transferred to the Royal Academy of Music, where she trained as a concert pianist, and would eventually win acclaim playing on the stages of Wigmore Hall, London, and Carnegie Hall in New York,<ref>[https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/complete-works-of-meta-davis-cumberbatch Synopsis], ''Complete Works of Meta Davis Cumberbatch'', by Peter Maynard.</ref> as well as throughout Europe and the Caribbean.<ref>[http://www.bahamas.gov.bs/wps/portal/public/The%20Performing%20Arts/The%20E%20Clement%20Bethel%20National%20Arts%20Festival/A%20History%20of%20The%20Performing%20Arts%20in%20The%20Bahamas/!ut/p/b1/vZTJsps4GIWfJQ9ALGaxZDJgM4-GDQUGYzCjwRh4-nZSN91JOsMmudJKpfPrk86RtIt2p13UJnNZJFPZtUn9aRxRscUBy1EZnAUUCYHiUoQtmTiAOLkLdqfUo2ihU557E_MfG-_4hcSJYdUV_b0rukdPWgoKDip2HZ14j-9RY0TOshy1GVX3XU_78hAbZKI9m5p3Fybg_YfJD3Of5OZSkLfATPD0LjpkF2C63LuzoqrN5RFm5VOC8nmwcm4rDt4tUcMcZcuQ9lQ2MSOc86puYQqsvW7Ls5uzgaQ0r5P3E-IOqsD1-MAch1tSl0yCaflaCmACtzF22YNSMf1zsudurg7KQlWOkI3uno44LMwbbvzwMiV8mQJ-0ljw2TMcSBrLElCDe4oFiofvcfLI4pKFvtX_K5BIQL0EpsqatIwZxFu9ZGgW_5oGvscBRdaOAuQhDmT6-_r_A36bWfTtFn-wg8-CXx3xlyscsS8CySA08SUwSLgHCuqSqkkxKOTALnwJ6K9WcH3wEgDWdlALQJreubsTIGKnWntlu212tVmYJniL7voKqDxMq0627t02jdF1V-wAKgTAETtME1FdFw6KM5lm5tsex3KAEC_F90ADc5kXkEepo0cCR8L_NlAijVcQHu2aLIm9TKTeG0j-LeCXq2q43CdLcVlmKRU3RPS9gX8-w8MuKtPm4_PcfAQfSQIlSQbFGAqjMRqld_49JJZ0tApRDGatQGtBbKjMqDdWylNe00PFEKOFXdXL5VGgNlHYyT1mlDluUXzK0OMkwzDSYRTCNhwLK662wbCk_Tm1EaP0KeZk5xp_W4_97OKFr45JFgsIRFZ93bSUcOwLf2WNIustjusCRlBasb1wC-_x7dXrowfQrdNAE09_pmcvM7k9zl-v18fKlajlExx5MwLXkscTssn368HNqiZCgmYetzGAzRV5hOaYXgY9RW_Y1DzilfPpGrnMCD0IR-LDTpe7Jn-L5GffjfCDS2er2nZ-Om6IATdYNTEO9FR86lOAOoK0oCJYdA-ur9ieLsDAK6i3SAS3EdLfAV3ivYHUewPxdwbi720p_uct_eYdE5CmMIwiKBrHGADRnV-HME7hgRW0IC6vuUkG9GM_HByuKe6TpxeWRz7z8pKZDEbyp4W27soKtNbcAIMgQy3J4aLkt0DPr5tcBzgzdGPOnAPa2_OtrCHdtlo3FDrdYynFgqoqladKaXLpDWL9qd28rO9IeHSxKwIT5jSe-wk3pyUWoBaQFdOmkJ38-n4MU5Sl5yYrtkANn1Z-qEL53CqivqdFwcgsP5UwuzlCK8erp9CsIe16Eaxd74wX1bR60XbVL2XdPuy8mbM0Umvtdsq8540cA8kc7o2V16U5NkUzw_Uh7U-4xXbgwqi7vpmPR5WyxYv-dScS5L8esh8-_AMaeIiu/dl4/d5/L2dBISEvZ0FBIS9nQSEh/ "A History of The Performing Arts in The Bahamas"], Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, The Government of the Bahamas.</ref>
In 1923, she married fellow Trinidadian Dr Roland Cumberbatch,<ref>Maynard, ''Great Awakening'' (2010), p. 163.</ref> and after he accepted a post through the Colonial Medical Service in 1926 the couple eventually settled in The Bahamas,<ref>Maynard, ''Great Awakening'' (2010), p. 167.</ref> helping to build the country and becoming part of the black professional opposition to racism.<ref>Maynard, ''Great Awakening'' (2010), pp. 42–43, 181.</ref> According to her grandson Dr Peter Maynard, author of the biography ''Great Awakening: Meta Davis Cumberbatch, "Mother of the Arts"'' (2010): "There were so many artistic and cultural forms that were not being widely expressed. ...She saw her purpose as developing the arts in the Bahamas."<ref name=Tribune />
She taught piano, drama and dance (her protégés included Winston Saunders, Hubert Farrington, and Clement Bethel),<ref>Craton and Saunders (2000), p. 479.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thenassaumusicsociety.org/copy-of-about|title=Who We Are – Our Founder – Edward Clement Bethel|publisher=The Nassau Music Society|access-date=11 December 2020}}</ref> and encouraged and promoted indigenous crafts using local materials. In the early 1960s, she originated and ran an annual national Festival of Arts and Crafts, as well as initiating the Dundas Centre for the Performing Arts.<ref name=Warriors /><ref name=Tribune /><ref>[https://nag-bahamas.squarespace.com/mixedmediablog/?offset=1445095140000 "A mutually beneficial performance"], National Art Gallery of the Bahamas, 5 September 2015.</ref><ref>Alan West Durán, [https://books.google.com/books?id=EH8ESDc9FAUC&q=%22Meta+davis%22+&pg=PA23 ''African Caribbeans: A Reference Guide''], Greenwood Publishing Group, 2003, p. 23.</ref><ref>Michael Craton and Gail Saunders, [https://books.google.com/books?id=UIbRHcz2ZysC&q=%22Meta+davis%22&pg=PA551 ''Islanders in the Stream: A History of the Bahamian People – Volume Two: From the Ending of Slavery to the Twenty-First Century''], University of Georgia Press, 2000, p. 476.</ref> In addition to composing music, she wrote poetry, plays and essays – collected in ''Complete Works of Meta Davis Cumberbatch: Poems, Plays, Music and Essays'', edited by Peter Maynard – and also helped to form the Council of Women and supported the women's suffrage movement.<ref>Maynard, ''Great Awakening'' (2010), p. 205.</ref>
In 1966, she was appointed a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) "for public services in the Bahamas",<ref>[https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/43854/supplement/25/data.pdf '"M.B.E."], ''Supplement to The London Gazette'', 1 January 1966, p. 25.</ref> and the award was presented by Queen Elizabeth II during her visit to the Caribbean in February that year.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=e7kDAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22Meta+davis%22++%22royal+academy+of+music%22&pg=PA4 "Queen Elizabeth to make award to Bahamian Artist"], ''Jet'', 10 February 1966, p. 4.</ref>
Davis Cumberbatch died at home in the Bahamas on 29 December 1978, aged 78.<ref>Maynard, ''Great Awakening'' (2010), p. 146.</ref>
==Legacy== In 2014, at the 41st Independence anniversary celebrations under the theme "Celebrating our Culture: A Commitment to Peace", Meta Davis Cumberbatch was one of 41 "Cultural Warriors" honoured by the Bahamian government for dedicating their lives to cultural development.<ref>Pam Burnside, [http://creativenassau.com/news/2014/7/5/jackson-burnside-to-also-be-honoured-for-his-contribution-to-junkanoo-in-the-visual-arts "Jackson Burnside to Also Be Honoured For His Contribution To Junkanoo In The Visual Arts"], Creative Nassau, 5 July 2014.</ref><ref>Jones Bahamas, [http://jonesbahamas.com/41-cultural-warriors-honoured/ "41 Cultural Warriors Honoured"], ''The Bahama Journal'', 9 July 2014.</ref><ref>[http://www.bahamasnational.com/?q=node/3518 "41 Bahamian Cultural Legends Honoured"], ''Bahamas National''.</ref>
Her work is included in the 2019 anthology ''New Daughters of Africa'', edited by Margaret Busby.<ref>Paul Burke, [https://nbmagazine.co.uk/new-daughters-of-africa-an-international-anthology-of-writing-by-women-of-african-descent-edited-by-margaret-busby/ "New Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Writing by Women of African Descent edited by Margaret Busby"], ''NB'', 28 March 2019.</ref><ref>Selwyn R. Cudjoe, [http://www.trinicenter.com/Cudjoe/2019/0804.htm "New Daughters of Africa"], trinicenter.com, 8 April 2019.</ref>
==Further reading== * [https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/complete-works-of-meta-davis-cumberbatch ''Complete Works of Meta Davis Cumberbatch: Poems, Plays, Music and Essays''], edited by Peter D. Maynard, with a foreword by Nicolette Bethel, Rakuten Kobo, 2010, {{ISBN|9789769526204}}. * Peter D. Maynard, [https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/great-awakening-meta-davis-cumberbatch-mother-of-the-arts ''Great Awakening: Meta Davis Cumberbatch, "Mother of the Arts"''] (Foreword by Nicki Kelly), Rakuten Kobo, 2010, {{ISBN|9789769526211}}.
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== * [http://cumberbatch.one-name.net/getperson.php?personID=I4793&tree=001 "Meta Davis"] at Cumberbatch Family History.
{{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis Cumberbatch, Meta}} Category:1900 births Category:1978 deaths Category:20th-century women pianists Category:Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music Category:Bahamian composers Category:Women composers Category:Bahamian musicians Category:Bahamian women writers Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire Category:Trinidad and Tobago composers Category:Trinidad and Tobago women composers Category:Immigrants to the Bahamas Category:Trinidad and Tobago emigrants Category:Trinidad and Tobago poets Category:20th-century Trinidad and Tobago women writers Category:20th-century Trinidad and Tobago writers Category:Trinidad and Tobago women poets Category:20th-century women poets