21 Aug 2012

What's Happening to Your Library

03:00 by Chief LibrarianNo comments


Documents





Here are a collection of useful documents related to the development of the Library Services.

[Revised May 2013]



13 Apr 2012

Grenada Heritage: Our Plantation Estates - part 1

09:00 by Chief LibrarianNo comments

St John's Wood Church Memorials to Plantation Owners

In a parish church next to Lord’s Cricket Ground in north-west London (England), just to the north of Regent’s Park is the Church of St John’s Wood, built in 1808.

During the Middle Ages, St John’s Wood really was a wood, which took its name from the Knights Hospitaller of St John of Jerusalem who at that time owned the land. There was a small settlement on the 'bourne' or river that flowed to its south, with a church dedicated to St Mary from about 1400. This became known as "St Mary on the Bourne" – later shortened to St Marylebone and from there London itself began to expand northwards from what became Westminster in the 17th century as far as the New Road – now known as Marylebone Road.

In the grounds of St John's Wood Church are four discreet memorial plaques that give little indication of the intriguing histories commemorated there.  One is to Jane Farquhar of Portland Place (died 1834), another is to Patrick Bartlet of Nottingham Place (died 1830), and his second wife, Anne (died 1844).  The clues come from the West Indian islands mentioned on them – Antigua and Grenada for Mrs Farquhar, and Cariacou, just off Grenada, for the Bartlets. 

The Marylebone and the plantation owners link
On these islands were the plantations that provided the funds for a comfortable life in the newly developed area Marylebone, that attracted prosperous land owners at the beginning of the nineteenth century.  In the 1770s it was usual that younger members of the family often managed overseas properties, while the head of the family remained in Britain. Although by 1775 thirty percent of plantation owners were absentee landlords, and by 1830 this rose to 80%.  

Photo:Farquar memorial
Farquar memorial



The Farquhars - Jane Farquhar was the wife of Robert Farquhar of Renfrew, who had inherited his Antiguan and Grenadian estates after the death of his half-brother, John Rae (afterwards Harvey), who had himself acquired them from John Harvey (1721–79), after Harvey’s nephew, Charles, was drowned in Grenada. Harvey had made a handsome fortune in the West Indies, owning the plantations of Mornefendue, the Plain and Chambord both in St Patrick’s parish at the north end of the island.  Later Farquhar’s daughter, Eliza, married Michael Shaw Stewart, 6th baronet.

Photo:Beau Sejour on Carriacou
Beau Sejour on Carriacou

Carriacou - the tiny island 20 miles north-east of Granada, measuring just 5 miles from north to south, and an area of 13 square miles with its only town called Hillsborough – during the eighteenth century its population was concentrated on the plantations.  Carriacou remained uncolonised by Europeans, until 1650, when a French company established a small settlement.  The French had to cede it, with Grenada, to the British after the 7 Years War, in 1763, but recaptured it, in 1779, during the American War of Independence; there were only 90 British soldiers to guard it against 5,000 French invaders. However, it was returned to Britain after the Treaty of Paris, in 1783, and various gun batteries were built round the coast. French plantation owners, who had remained, were replaced by more English and Scottish settlers, and the larger estates expanded at the expense of smaller neighbours. By the 1790s, there were 46 estates ranging in size from 10 acres to 698 acres, but the important proprietors had interests in several plantations.


Photo:Patrick Bartlet memorial
Patrick Bartlet memorial

The Bartlets - Alexander Bartlet and George Campbell had formed a company that linked its offices in Grenada, Tobago and the Grenadines with London, and Alexander’s brother, James, was recruited to facilitate trade by persuading all the planters to consign their crops of cotton, cocoa, indigo and sugar to the company.  Gradually, planters became indebted to Glasgow business houses, which led to foreclosures, and a general decline of planter aristocracy.  Presumably, Patrick Bartlet (1731 Banff–1830) was another brother, and must have lived on the island, probably, on the 280 acre Beauséjour sugar plantation (or 'Nice Stay') in Saint George's, which belonged to him, for, in 1792, he was recommended to fill a vacancy in the Council of Grenada, and was described as a principal inhabitant and proprietor.

Patrick Bartlet’s slaves in the various censuses were, also, on Belair, Belvedere and Petit Covenage Estates.  There was about one slave to every 2.35 acres, which gives a probable slave population of 3,153 and it is unlikely the white population exceeded 400.  In the early 1790s, the Grenada Assembly passed an ordinance requiring there to be one white man to every 50 slaves.
The Will of Patrick Bartlet of [Nottingham Place] St Marylebone proved 17/08/1830. In his will he acknowledged his marriage settlement with his 'present wife' Anne, and charged the annuity of £500 p.a. to her on his estates Sinclair, Beausejour and Belair on Carriacou in the government of Grenada. He also granted an annuity of £50 each to his 'natural' sons Alexander, Patrick and John. He appointed as trustees Alexander George Milne the younger and William Bartlet, and left the produce of the estates for life, subject to the annuities, to Dorothea Milne, wife of Patrick Bartlet's nephew Alexander George Milne the elder. He aslo made a number of financial bequests to family including in a codicil an annuity of £100 p.a. to Mrs Mary Bartlet of Banff, the widow of his brother James.

Photo:Isabella Bartlet memorial

Isabella Bartlet memorial
Patrick’s first wife, Isabella, died in 1821, and is also commemorated in St John's Wood church. His second wife, Anne, (whom he married in 1824 at Warnford Surrey when she was about 47, and he was 74, or so), had long standing connections with the West Indies, as she was the  daughter of Samuel Span of Bristol, Master of the Society of Merchant Adventurers, and a ship owner.  Samuel, with his brother, had arrived on Union Isle (near St Vincent in the West Indies), in 1763, with 165 slaves and soon controlled the whole island, and, also, had property on Carriacou.

Photo:Anne Bartlet memorial
Anne Bartlet memorial
 

Slave censuses were taken regularly by the owners noting names, ages, and distinguishing marks – presumably for identification if a slave tried to escape, - plus and annual return of decreases in numbers due to deaths, and increases due to births. [These can be found in the National Archives].

Emancipation - Though the slave trade in the Caribbean was outlawed in 1807,  slavery as an institution, was not fully abolished there until 1833.  'Compensation' was then paid, but to owners not to slaves, and under the Emancipation Act the slave compensation commission allocated 40,000 separate awards, costing £20 million - this was 40% of the total government’s annual expenditure.  Only slaves under 6 years old were immediately freed, for rational reasons the rest were designated 'apprentices' and finally released in 1840.  After the emancipation of slaves and with sugar-taxes, prosperity on the islands rapidly declined - it was impossible with free labour to compete with sugar and cotton produced by slave-work-forces of Cuba and the Unites States, added to this European beet-sugar took over as a cheaper commodity.  But Mrs Farquhar and Patrick Bartlet did not live to see any of this outcome, and were buried in England at St John’s Wood, then the chapel for St Marylebone parish church, positioned as the focal point at the top of a country lane running north from the New [Marylebone] Road.


References

Oliver, Vere Lanford, "Caribbeana" Vol 3, p.131 & 178, 1914.
T71/328 pp. 29-40; PROB 11/1774/307.
Times 09/03/1839 p. 7.; National Probate Calendar 1875.

9 Mar 2012

Heritage at Risk – Parliament Building Still Derelict

02:00 by Chief LibrarianNo comments

Disgusting Shame







The Parliament Building, February 2012



In many countries, there exists some building that is a national symbol. As such, the preservation and well being of this symbol is fiercely protected. For Grenada, that building should be The Parliament Building, York House.



Yet today - eight years on, The Parliament Building languishes in a state of uncertain future. Because no steps have been taken to mitigate against continued damage due the loss of the roof in Hurricane Ivan, the building is rapidly being rendered an unsalvageable ruin.



As the entrance doors flap in wind, they open and shut to reveal extensive deterioration and destruction of the internal structures and decorative details of the building. 



The upper floor is collapsing unto the lower, with valuable materials needed for the rebuilding of the Parliament Building, including joist, studs, and carved elements, falling out of the building into the court yard.



Looking at the building from street level, it is clear that the upper floor is now a shell. But the Parliament Building was largely intact after Ivan, except for the damage to the roof, windows, and a small area of bricks that were dislodge as a result of the disturbance to rafters.



While the majority of galvanized panels were blown off and the rafter system affected, a good amount of the rafters, including the decking boards. remained in place. The significance of this is that the







Parliament Building, February 2010



remaining rafters offered the opportunity to quickly erect temporary roofing for The Parliament Building, in order to arrest any further damage to this important Grenadian Heritage site. But for some reason, this was not done. Why?



After all, this was not a difficult engineering challenge exacerbated by unstable walls – proven by the fact that the building continues to stand today, even though its internal supporting structures are allowed to rot. The simple solution would have been to collect as much of the blown-off galvanize sheets as possible, prop up the surviving rafters and build temporary rafters where none existed, and then proceed to cover the building using the collected and new galvanized sheets, and board up all broken windows.



In the long term, since Grenada lacks a skilled labor force with expertise in the restoration of 18th and 19th century architecture, it would have been, and still is, prudent that expert



consultants be brought in to assist in the restoration, and help in building a core of workers with the skills needed for the maintenance and preservation of The Parliament Building and other Grenadian heritage sites – and there are many.



Were these simple steps taken, the conversation today regarding the future of The Parliament Building would be a whole lot different. Instead, Grenadians are facing a real possibility that a national symbol, that should stand to represent the strength of the nation, will crumble to rubble. Shame!



Other steps that should and must be taken are:



  • the assessment of a $1US surcharge on all visitors to Grenada, that will go directly to a fund for the rebuilding of the capital.


  • Ongoing fund raising and appeals to large corporation and foundations, wealthy individuals.


  • Continuous involvement of the Grenadian diaspora for both cash donations and contribution of labor and knowledge.


  • Development of a foreign exchange program that send Grenadians to foreign countries with rich preservation cultures, while creating a host program that enables foreign skilled workers to come to Grenada cheaply, and train Grenadian workers.




Because of the lack of mitigating action, the cost to restore The Parliament Building has grown astronomically. Where in the immediate period after Ivan, the work would have entailed restoring the roof, repairing broken windows, replacing







View of the Destruction Through the Front Door



dislodged bricks, and addressing water damage, today, because of 7+ years of neglect, a complete gut jobs is likely needed, with a high likelihood that the historic interior of the building will be lost forever (It is rumored that Trinidad offered to rebuild The Parliament Building in the early days after Ivan, but the offer was refused).



There have been reports that the US and Australian government would assist with funding for the building of The Parliament Building. These report go back to 2007/2008, and yet to date, there are no sign of movement to begin work.



Surprisingly, the government has gone forward with two projects in the town that raises questions about their priorities and commitment to fiercely protect Grenada’s national symbols. The pavilion being constructed above Sendall Tunnel and the work being done on market square are two projects whose funds would have been better spent in repairing sites like The Parliament Building and Fort George.



While there is value in the eventual restoration of the market square, this could have waited, And the pavilion above Sendall Tunnel is silly. It will create a sitting area so tourist can gather and gaze upon all the dilapidated and falling buildings in the town – a few located immediately in front or next to it. This is clearly an example of screwed up priorities. As, one would think that first you fix the view before creating a place to see it.



St. George’s stand at the precipice of losing its historic character. The ramifications have already started to manifest themselves, as it was reported that some cruise ship operators were looking to cut the number of calls to Grenada. The neglect of national symbols, like The Parliament Building, has economic consequences. This shouldn’t be a surprise for a nation that so heavily depends on tourism.



Tourists travel to experience culture and history. National symbols like The Parliament Building are important in telling the story of a people (if walls can talk…). They define the past and help give definition to the future. National symbols are an example of a nation’s strength. What does it say about Grenada that after almost eight years, it has not devised any apparent solution for repairing one of its most important national symbols? But instead, is allowing it to fall to the ground.
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