[11] In 1923, she married fellow Trinidadian Dr Roland Cumberbatch,[12] and after he accepted a post through the Colonial Medical Service in 1926 the couple eventually settled in The Bahamas,[13] helping to build the country and becoming part of the black professional opposition to racism.
[14] 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.
"[9] She taught piano, drama and dance (her protégés included Winston Saunders, Hubert Farrington, and Clement Bethel),[15][16] and encouraged and promoted indigenous crafts using local materials.
[3][9][17][18][19] 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.
[20] In 1966, she was appointed a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) "for public services in the Bahamas",[21] and the award was presented by Queen Elizabeth II during her visit to the Caribbean in February that year.