Free Villages
Encyclopedia
Free Villages is the term used for Caribbean
settlements, particularly in Jamaica
, founded in the 1830s and 1840s independent of the control of plantation
owners and other major estates.
, the Jamaican Baptist
congregations, deacons and ministers pioneered the Caribbean concept of Free Villages with the English Quaker abolitionist Joseph Sturge
. Many plantation owners and others in the landowning class made it clear they would never sell land to freed slaves, but provide only tied accommodation at the rents they chose. The aim of the estate owners was to prevent free labour choice such as movement between employers, and keep labour costs low or negligible upon abolition of slavery. To circumvent this, the predominantly African-Caribbean Baptist chapels approached Baptist and Quaker contacts in England to instruct land agents in London to buy Jamaican land and hold it for establishment of Free Villages not controlled by the estate owners.
For example, in 1835, using land agents and Baptist financiers in England, the African-Caribbean congregation of the Rev. James Phillippo
(a British Baptist pastor and abolitionist in Jamaica) were able to discreetly purchase land, unbeknown to the plantation owners, in the hills of Saint Catherine parish
. Under the scheme, the land became available to the freed slaves upon emancipation, by division into lots at not-for-profit rents, or for full ownership and title, where they could live free from their former masters' control. Phillippo’s success in St. Catherine further emboldened him and led to the establishment of a Free Village in Oracabessa
later that same year.
(in Saint Catherine parish and named after the Marquess of Sligo
, the Jamaican Governor at the time of abolition), ten miles north of Spanish Town
. In 2007, a plaque was erected at Witter Park, Sligoville on May 23, as a Labour Day
event - to commemorate Jamaica's first Free Village.
chapels, particularly in Jamaica. These include:
It has been noted (Contested Sites by Pickering and Tyrell, 2004), that although many of the Free Villages were named after someone of widely accepted influence or importance to a conventional British audience, which no doubt helped with raising a proportion of the funds in England, the Jamaican Baptists and Joseph Sturge were Moral Radicals and Nonconformists rather than in the political mainstream. One village was named after Anne Knight, a female Quaker abolitionist; this is seen by Pickering and Tyrell as "a brave initiative that honoured women in an active, albeit gendered role as reformers at a time when custom frowned on their participation in the public world". Sadly no Free Villages were named after these emerging African-Caribbean local leaders, although emancipated African-Caribbean men became ordained as deacons in many of the Baptist chapels, conducting the schools and public services in chapels where there was no fully English-trained minister available (as did Henry Beckford at Staceyville before and after his visit to London in 1840 - Baptist Magazine, 1841, p. 368).
, and other Christian or abolitionist circles. For those who remained on the plantation estates, conditions could sometimes be harsh; so much so that some left to live as best they could in the wilderness of the hills. An English Baptist minister, arriving in Jamaica for the first time in 1841, described his surprise at the bleakness of the situation after emancipation:
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
settlements, particularly in Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, founded in the 1830s and 1840s independent of the control of plantation
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
owners and other major estates.
Pioneering the concept
Starting in the 1830s, in anticipation of emancipation from slaveryAbolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
, the Jamaican Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
congregations, deacons and ministers pioneered the Caribbean concept of Free Villages with the English Quaker abolitionist Joseph Sturge
Joseph Sturge
Joseph Sturge , son of a farmer in Gloucestershire, was an English Quaker, abolitionist and activist. He founded the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society . He worked throughout his life in Radical political actions supporting pacifism, working-class rights, and the universal emancipation of...
. Many plantation owners and others in the landowning class made it clear they would never sell land to freed slaves, but provide only tied accommodation at the rents they chose. The aim of the estate owners was to prevent free labour choice such as movement between employers, and keep labour costs low or negligible upon abolition of slavery. To circumvent this, the predominantly African-Caribbean Baptist chapels approached Baptist and Quaker contacts in England to instruct land agents in London to buy Jamaican land and hold it for establishment of Free Villages not controlled by the estate owners.
For example, in 1835, using land agents and Baptist financiers in England, the African-Caribbean congregation of the Rev. James Phillippo
James Phillippo
James Phillippo was a Baptist missionary who campaigned for the abolition of slavery.-Early years as a missionary:...
(a British Baptist pastor and abolitionist in Jamaica) were able to discreetly purchase land, unbeknown to the plantation owners, in the hills of Saint Catherine parish
Saint Catherine Parish, Jamaica
St Catherine is a parish located in the south east of Jamaica. It is located in the county of Middlesex, and is one of the island's largest and most economically valued parish because of its many resources. It includes the first capital of Jamaica, Spanish Town, originally known as San Jago de la...
. Under the scheme, the land became available to the freed slaves upon emancipation, by division into lots at not-for-profit rents, or for full ownership and title, where they could live free from their former masters' control. Phillippo’s success in St. Catherine further emboldened him and led to the establishment of a Free Village in Oracabessa
Oracabessa
Oracabessa is a small town in St Mary, Jamaica east of Ocho Rios. Its population was 4,108 in 2009.Lit in the afternoons by an apricot light that may have inspired its Spanish name Oracabeza, or "Golden Head", it is a friendly town with a covered produce market and a few shops and bars...
later that same year.
Jamaica's first Free Village
Henry Lunan, formerly an enslaved headman at Hampstead Estate, purchased the first plot in the very first Free Village or Baptist Free Village scheme to come to fruition at SligovilleSligoville
Sligoville is a small community approximately 10 miles from Spanish Town in the parish of St. Catherine on the island of Jamaica.Sligoville is named after the Marquess of Sligo, Governor of Jamaica in 1834, the year that freedom came to the enslaved people of Jamaica. Sligoville was said to be the...
(in Saint Catherine parish and named after the Marquess of Sligo
Marquess of Sligo
Marquess of Sligo is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1800 for John Browne, 3rd Earl of Altamont. The Marquess holds the subsidiary titles of Baron Mount Eagle, of Westport in the County of Mayo , Viscount Westport, of Westport in the County of Mayo , Earl of Altamont, in the...
, the Jamaican Governor at the time of abolition), ten miles north of Spanish Town
Spanish Town
Spanish Town is the capital and the largest town in the parish of St. Catherine in the county of Middlesex, Jamaica. It was the former Spanish and English capital of Jamaica from the 16th to the 19th century...
. In 2007, a plaque was erected at Witter Park, Sligoville on May 23, as a Labour Day
Labour Day
Labour Day or Labor Day is an annual holiday to celebrate the economic and social achievements of workers. Labour Day has its origins in the labour union movement, specifically the eight-hour day movement, which advocated eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation, and eight hours for...
event - to commemorate Jamaica's first Free Village.
Other examples of Free Villages
There are many similar Free Villages in the Caribbean established through the work of NonconformistNonconformism
Nonconformity is the refusal to "conform" to, or follow, the governance and usages of the Church of England by the Protestant Christians of England and Wales.- Origins and use:...
chapels, particularly in Jamaica. These include:
- *Sandy Bay, a little seaside village on the way from Lucea to Montego BayMontego BayMontego Bay is the capital of St. James Parish and the second largest city in Jamaica by area and the fourth by population .It is a tourist destination with duty free shopping, cruise line terminal and the beaches...
. Founded as a Free Village for emancipated slaves, it was a mid-1830s initiative of the congregation of the Baptist pastor Rev. Thomas BurchellThomas BurchellThomas Burchell was a leading Baptist missionary and slavery abolitionist in Jamaica in the early nineteenth century. It is not uncommon for Jamaican parents to name their children 'Burchell'; indeed it is almost as popular a Christian name as Manley.Burchell, along with James Phillippo , William...
, whose deacon had recently been Sam SharpeSamuel SharpeSamuel 'Sam' Sharpe, or Sharp, National Hero of Jamaica was the slave leader behind the Jamaican Baptist War slave rebellion. Samuel Sharpe was born in the parish of St. James...
until he died for the cause of abolition and freedom. Today the Free Village's playing field is named 'Burchell Field' after Thomas Burchell. - *Trysee (the name is believed to derive from 'try and see'), an early Free Village in the Brown's TownBrown's TownBrown's Town is one of the principal towns in St. Ann, Jamaica. In 1991, its population was 6762. The town is a market and road center in an agricultural region.-Geography:...
area. - *Buxton (named after the abolitionist Englishman Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton) finance being raised through the process pioneered by Rev. John Clark's Baptist chapel, with the support of Joseph SturgeJoseph SturgeJoseph Sturge , son of a farmer in Gloucestershire, was an English Quaker, abolitionist and activist. He founded the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society . He worked throughout his life in Radical political actions supporting pacifism, working-class rights, and the universal emancipation of...
. - *Clarksonville (named after the abolitionist Englishman Thomas ClarksonThomas ClarksonThomas Clarkson , was an English abolitionist, and a leading campaigner against the slave trade in the British Empire. He helped found The Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade and helped achieve passage of the Slave Trade Act of 1807, which ended British trade in slaves...
); also arranged through the process pioneered by Rev. John Clark's Baptist chapel. - *Sturgeville or Sturge Town, eight miles from Brown's Town and named after the abolitionist Englishman, Joseph Sturge; also arranged as above.
- *Goodwill, on the border of Saint James parishSaint James Parish, JamaicaSt James is a suburban parish, located on the north west end of the island of Jamaica. Its capital, Montego Bay, derived from the Spanish word Manteca because many wild hogs were found there from which they made lard. It was named publicly the second city of Jamaica, behind Kingston, in 1981....
, arranged through Rev. George Blyth, a minister of the Scottish Missionary Society and funded by his congregation. Unusual, in being established subject to a raft of local rules and regulations devised by Blyth, or established with his approval. - *Granville (named after the abolitionist Englishman Granville SharpGranville SharpGranville Sharp was one of the first English campaigners for the abolition of the slave trade. He also involved himself in trying to correct other social injustices. Sharp formulated the plan to settle blacks in Sierra Leone, and founded the St. George's Bay Company, a forerunner of the Sierra...
), in Trelawny, arranged through Rev. William Knibb'sWilliam KnibbWilliam Knibb , English Baptist minister and missionary to Jamaica, is chiefly known for his work to free slaves.-Missionary in Jamaica:...
Baptist chapel. - *Kettering, (named after the birthplace of William Knibb).
- *Maidstone, arranged through Moravian missionaries where, to this day, some of the inhabitants still bear the family names of the original settlers.
It has been noted (Contested Sites by Pickering and Tyrell, 2004), that although many of the Free Villages were named after someone of widely accepted influence or importance to a conventional British audience, which no doubt helped with raising a proportion of the funds in England, the Jamaican Baptists and Joseph Sturge were Moral Radicals and Nonconformists rather than in the political mainstream. One village was named after Anne Knight, a female Quaker abolitionist; this is seen by Pickering and Tyrell as "a brave initiative that honoured women in an active, albeit gendered role as reformers at a time when custom frowned on their participation in the public world". Sadly no Free Villages were named after these emerging African-Caribbean local leaders, although emancipated African-Caribbean men became ordained as deacons in many of the Baptist chapels, conducting the schools and public services in chapels where there was no fully English-trained minister available (as did Henry Beckford at Staceyville before and after his visit to London in 1840 - Baptist Magazine, 1841, p. 368).
Conditions for those left on the estates after Abolition
Although the concept of Free Villages proved an immediate success, and many were set up, their establishment depended partly upon success in raising money in England through the Baptists, the Quaker Joseph SturgeJoseph Sturge
Joseph Sturge , son of a farmer in Gloucestershire, was an English Quaker, abolitionist and activist. He founded the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society . He worked throughout his life in Radical political actions supporting pacifism, working-class rights, and the universal emancipation of...
, and other Christian or abolitionist circles. For those who remained on the plantation estates, conditions could sometimes be harsh; so much so that some left to live as best they could in the wilderness of the hills. An English Baptist minister, arriving in Jamaica for the first time in 1841, described his surprise at the bleakness of the situation after emancipation:
- Another circumstance, my dear sir, which has occasioned much surprise, is the frequency with which the most flagrant acts of oppression are practiced by the overseers. Within the last few days the tales of cruelty to which I have listened, have been numerous indeed; for the people, knowing how much advantage is taken of their ignorance, are sure to repair to their ministers for sympathy and advice. In some cases, where the wages have been withheld for months, the people are summoned for the rent of their dwellings which are upon the very property where they have been labouring. Last week from the mere caprice of the overseer, a family on one estate were ejected from their dwelling at a moment's notice, although their rent had been paid. [Baptist Magazine, 1841, p. 364].
Further reading & sources
- The Baptist Magazine, London: 1841
- Contested Sites: Commemoration, Memorial and Popular Politics in Nineteenth Century Britain, Paul A. Pickering & Alex Tyrell (editors), Ashgate Publishing: 2004, ISBN 0754632296