Petite Soufriere was one of those areas, which because
of the topography escaped being part of the mainstream plantation structure. It
developed as one of the “peasant
proprietor” communities producing mainly coffee, cocoa, cassava and
other root crops. It was settled mainly by “petit blanc” smallholders
from Martinique; ancestors of the present day Durand, Coipel and
Toussaint families who now occupy the area and who had mixed with their small
numbers of
