GRENADA LEDGER OF ACCOUNTS OF PERSONAL AND ESTATE EXPENSES, 1852-1854
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ABSTRACT
The Grenada Ledger of Accounts of Personal and Estate Expenses is very useful for researchers interested in the study of capital expenditure of sections of the Grenadian population in the mid-nineteenth century. The Ledger gives an idea of prices, cost of living, monies paid in and out and the balance remaining. Additionally, the Grenada Ledger of Accounts of Personal and Estate Expenses reveals the consumerism and purchasing power of a portion of the Grenadian populace. As such, the Ledger of Accounts and Personal Expenses will prove especially useful for persons studying Grenada’s economic and social history.
This document is listed on the Caribbean Memory Register: Grenada modeled on UNESCO's MOW. LOCATION OF DOCUMENT
IDENTITY AND DESCRIPTION OF THE DOCUMENTARY HERITAGE
Description and inventory: There is only one volume Grenada Ledger of Accounts of Personal and Estate Expenses and it contains 164 pages. It includes the accounts of Revolution Hall Estate, Dougaldston Estate and Gouyave Estate. Each entry in the Ledger gives the date, nature/who/why of payment and the total expenditure further down. The top of the page, which is the title section, gives the name of the owner, attorney or overseer. Essentially, the Ledger is organised like any other account book.
The Ledger of Accounts of Personal and Estate Expenses enumerates the things purchased by individuals for their comfort and routine estate items. Personal items include silk stockings, sherry wine, lace and shirts. Estate items include nails, bricks, powder and cane hoes.
Bibliographic details:
The bibliographic details of the Grenada Ledger of Accounts of Personal and Estate Expenses are housed within the card catalogue at the Special Collections and Conservation Dept. of the National Library. The Ledger is filed under MS 129.
Visual documentation if appropriate:
Currently, there are no visual representations of the Grenada Ledger of Accounts.
History of the document (Provenance):
The history of the Ledger of Accounts and Personal Estate Expenses is presently unknown. However, the document held in trust for the Grenada National Archives and its people. JUSTIFICATION FOR SUBMISSION
Influence
The Grenada Ledger of Accounts of Personal and Estate Expenses is quite useful for person studying estate expenses. Agriculture was important to Grenada’s economy during the mid-nineteenth century. Estates were owned by the mainly white ruling class who exerted great influence over Grenada’s political and economic development. The main crops included sugar, coffee and spices such as pimento. The Ledger contains the personal expenses of these whites and the expenditure of their estates. A study of the Ledger would give insight into their lifestyle and plantation management.
Time
The Ledger of Accounts of Personal and Estate Expenses spans 1852-1854 and covers a section of the colonial era of Grenada’s history. Additionally, the date coincides with the maturity of the Sugar Duties Equalisation Act which came into being in 1846. By 1854, the effects of the Sugar Duties Equalisation Act were felt all over the Caribbean and Grenada was no exception. As such, the Ledger would allow for a useful study of the cost of living and the profit/loss of the estates in Grenada during this period.
Place
The Ledger of Accounts of Personal and Estate Expenses covers the island of Grenada.
People
The Ledger of Accounts of Personal and Estate Expenses deals mostly with the white and wealthy persons of Grenada in the mid-nineteenth century. These persons were the ones who controlled the wealth and society of Grenada and as such were very influential. The Ledger reveals their purchasing habits and power.
Subject and Theme
Persons interested in the social, economic and political histories of Grenada will find the Ledger of Accounts of Personal and Estate Expenses useful. Additionally, those interested the evolution of consumerism and popular culture/taste will likewise utilise the Ledger.
Form and Style
The layout of the Ledger is useful for paleographers interested in comparing account styles throughout history and the world. LEGAL INFORMATION
Accessibility The Ledger of Accounts of Personal and Estate Expenses is available to members of the public for consultation, in particular, researchers and academics. Sadly there seems little chance of ever seeing this document online as there are no plans to protect this asset by digitising its contents and making it available to all electronically.
Copyright Status
Public Domain ASSESSMENT OF RISK
The Grenada Ledger of Accounts of Personal and Estate Expenses is in good condition.
The National Library of Jamaica are the current custodians of this document which is held in trust for the Grenada National Archives and its people. CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT PLAN
The Special Collections and Conservation Dept.
has undertaken the task of rebinding and de-acidifying the Ledger.
Additionally, patrons are required to use gloves provided by the
National Library when examining the Ledger.
DETAILS OF PERSON/ENTITY MAKING SUBMISSION
FURTHER REFERENCES In 1989 a dealer, Charles Apfelbaum, made an aquisition of Grenada Plantation Records dating from 1737-1845 for the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture on behalf of the Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library. These documents are in the repository of Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division. Location Sc MG 383. Happily for the National Grenada Archives and the Grenadian People and Caribbeans world wide the entire collection of 517 images has now been digitized and is available online at Digitalcollections.nypl.org. |
10 May 2013
7 May 2013
At last a Patron to Protect our Built Heritage!
Governor General, Dr. Cecile La Grenade – Source:Written by Norris Mitchell – The Willie Redhead Foundation
It was like a breath of fresh air, hearing Her Excellency – Dr. Cecile La Grenade, our new Governor General, in her inaugural address on Tuesday 7 May 2013 declaring her commitment to the protection of our built heritage with special reference to the restoration of the Governor General’s residence and York House, which were severely damaged by hurricanes Ivan in September 2004 and Emily July 2005, and remain derelict up to this day.
In this regard it is appropriate that The Sentinel bring to the fore the declaration by the United Nations on world heritage, as follows:
“In a society where living standards are changing at an accelerated pace, it is essential for man’s equilibrium and development to preserve for him a fitting setting in which to live, where he will remain in contact with nature and the evidence of civilization bequeathed by past generations; and that to this end, it is appropriate to give the cultural and natural heritage an active function in community life, and to integrate into an overall policy, the achievements of our time, the values of the past and the beauty of nature” UNESCO preamble to Heritage Protection 1972.
Of course, there are several other heritage buildings and sites in our Capital City that have been neglected/ abandoned over the years. A few which come to mind are the St. George’s Market Square, which is undergoing some very insensitive changes, the Anglican and Presbyterian Churches, Edinburgh House on Young Street, the Georgian House on Church Street with an authentic Sedan Chair porch, which is in an advanced stage of decay, the reclaiming of Fort George, and within recent times the abandonment of our Public Library building (the National Archives and Library) on the Carenage.
Talk is cheap. In Grenada and in the Caribbean as a whole, there is a culture, where once the matter has been thoroughly verbalized, it becomes a substitute for action (achievement). The end result is that there is little or no improvement in the matter at hand, until it is completely forgotten, and stagnation becomes the order of the day.
It is imperative therefore, that the Grenada Government (G.G.) select her advisors carefully, as the naysayers would want to dissuade her into accepting that York House and the G.G's historic residence and site should be replaced by so-called modern buildings. Unfortunately this mindset is the result of a deficit in the knowledge and appreciation of our history and cultural assets which are essential ingredients in our evolving Caribbean identity.
In conclusion, the Sentinel would like to think that this is an appropriate occasion to remind the powers that be, that there is no PUBLIC ACCESS to the Louis La Grenade mausoleum at Morne Jaloux. The mausoleum is the site of the remains of one of Grenada's outstanding sons and heroes during the FEDON revolutionary period, and a deceased relative of our Governor General. The Sentinel is therefore looking forward to the day when public access to the site would be restored in order to reinforce the meaning and appreciation of our heritage for both Grenadians and visitors alike.
Finally, we all take this opportunity to wish her Excellency, "All speed," in the tremendous task of nation building which lies ahead.
14 Mar 2013
Strengthen Protection of Grenada's National Parks and Protected Areas
The Forestry and National Parks Department (FNPD) in the Ministry of Agriculture has collaborated with the Grenada Dove Conservation Programme (GDCP) on an initiative to further strengthen the protection of two of Grenada’s Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) – the Mt. Hartman National Park KBA and the recently cabinet approved Beausejour/Grenville Vale KBA.
These KBAs are home to the critically endangered Grenada Dove, and have received international recognition by Bird Life International as Important Bird Areas.
The Forestry Department and GDCP will be implementing several activities in these KBAs that will enable the conservation of Grenada’s ecosystems and biodiversity particularly the Grenada Dove.
Additionally, this initiative will create livelihood opportunities for neighbouring communities and assist Grenada in meeting its obligations to international conventions.
Some of the planned activities include the implementation of an awareness plan which comprises a song competition and school presentations; the erection of billboards and boundary signs at these sites and the construction of a birding trail at the Beausejour/Grenville Vale KBA.
Presently, community meetings are being held and are continuing to identify livelihood opportunities for residents and the establishment of a stakeholder management team.
Funding for this Project was received from the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) and was started in November 2012 and is intended to continue until April 2014.
The Project is titled “Strengthening the Legal Protection of Mt. Hartman National Park KBA and Beausejour/Grenville Vale KBA in Grenada” and is facilitated by Ms. Bonnie Rusk, Founding Director of GDCP since 1991.
Bonnie Rusk, Director of Grenada Dove Conservation Programme and National Park Ranger Peter Plenty on a round checking and rebaiting the tracking tunnels at Mt. Hartman.
Bonnie Rusk is a Conservation Biologist who has dedicated her life to saving the critically-endangered Grenada dove.
“This is my life’s work, this is what I do. It has been all-consuming for the last 18 years,” says the 46-year-old.
Rusk, a Canadian conservation biologist, fascinated by endangered species on islands, began graduate research on the dove in 1991.
Conservation efforts, initiated largely by Rusk (in collaboration with Grenada’s Forestry and National Parks) were succeeding, with the dove’s population rising from around 90 in 1990, to 182 in 2003, when Hurricane Ivan struck in 2004. “The devastation wrought by Ivan was unbelievable, it wiped out at least a third of the dove’s population,” she says.
The dove faced another threat in 2006 when plans to build a holiday resort on one of its last remaining strongholds were unveiled. Rusk, who lives high in the Colorado Mountains but spends up to five months a year in Grenada, mediated a solution between the interests of the dove and the developers. That resulted in international exposure.
“That made a difference,” she says. “Local people saw this was a big deal and that foreign visitors would come just to see the dove. The dove is unique to Grenada.”
Rusk’s work includes monitoring population levels; ecological studies on the dove’s dry forest habitat; collaborating with government; community work; awareness campaigns (including television), and school education programmes. She was instrumental in the establishment of two national parks for the dove, and having a dedicated visitor centre built at the Mt Harman Estate. 2007 population estimates suggest 136 doves remain, concentrated in two pockets on the Grenadian south-west and west coasts
“The species cannot decline any further,” says Bonnie, or else extinction looms. “The key is habitat protection. Many other things will come from that but first and foremost we must protect its remaining habitat.”
• Visit www.birdlife.org or contact Bonnie Rusk at bonnie@GrenadaDove.org
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