The exports from Essequibo and Demerary employed six ships, and consisted of 26064hhds. of sugar, one bag of coffee, and one bale of cotton. 1753. The 24th of December, 1753, the French general and intendant issued regulations, by which, art. 34, "all procedures and judgments against slaves in criminal matters gratis, unless the master undertake the cause." The inhabitants of Kingston, in Jamaica, petitioned the King, that Kingston might be the seat of government, and that the courts of justice and the records might be moved there, from St. Jago de la Vega- the inhabitants of which town presented a counter-petition against it. The reasons given by the governor, Rear-Admiral Knowles, for changing the seat of government from Spanish Town to Kingston, were, that "three of the enemy's frigates, with 500 soldiers, might at any time anchor in the evening in Old Harbour, and by a coup-de main take the governor out of his bed at Spanish Town, burn the chancery and archives, and then return safe, by forced marches, to Blue Fields, where, if the frigates had sailed immediately on their landing, they might reimbark." In 1756, the seat of government was again removed to Spanish Town. The Assembly, in a money bill, thought fit to appoint another officer, instead of the receiver-general appointed by the crown, to receive and issue the money; and in some other bills the Assembly omitted the clause, " for suspending the execution of them till his Majesty's pleasure could be known." These bills the governor refused to pass-upon which the Assembly resolved, the 29th of October, 1753, "1. That they had an undoubted right to raise and apply money for the service of the state, and to appoint whom they pleased to receive and issue it. 2. That by letters patent, granted by King Charles the Second to Sir Thomas Lynch, then governor of Jamaica, and all subsequent letters patent, all laws and ordinances made by the Assembly, and assented to by the governor, were immediately in full force and effect, and continued to be so till they were annulled' by the crown. Bolinbroke's Voyage to Demerary, Appendix. Long's Jamaica, vol. i. p. 555. dis Parliamentary "Further Papers," 1826, p. 48. Gentleman's Magazine, 1754, p. 350. Memoirs of Sir Charles Knowles, Naval Chronicle, vol. i. p. 119. 3. That no clause hath ever been inserted in any act, by which the execution of it was suspended till his Majesty's pleasure could be known. 4. That if it had, the island could not have been preserved till now against its foreign and intestine enemies. 5. That, therefore, if such clause should be now inserted, his Majesty would be in danger of losing his colony and his subjects, not their property only, but their lives, because they could not legally exert themselves in defence of either. 6. That if such clause were inserted, the island would in a short time be totally without laws for its government, as the bills might lie many years without being offered to his Majesty for his approbation, as many heretofore passed have done, and many now do. 7. That as the insertion of such clause would be a great alteration in the known and established constitution of this island, and contrary to the undoubted right of the subject, it could not be consented to, without giving up that liberty which has been enjoyed under his present Majesty, and his royal predecessors, above seventy years. Three hundred Spaniards attacked the Bay-men in the bay of Honduras. The Spaniards were repulsed with great loss, by very inferior numbers. The Board of Trade reported to the House of Commons, that several acts of Assembly had been passed in Jamaica, for introducing white people, and that this had cost the island 17,300 15s. 4d. since 1739. In Barbadoes there were 69,870 Negroes this year. The population of Cayenne was estimated at 500 Whites, 1500 Negroes, and 1200 native Indians. The produce at 260,000 lbs. of arnotto, 80,000 lbs. of sugar, 18,000 lbs. of cotton, 27,000 lbs. of coffee, and 92,000 of cacao. Baron Spoke succeeded to the governorship of Surinam. The exports from Essequibo and Demerary employed one ship, and consisted of 4474 hhds. of sugar. The population of Grenada consisted of 1263 Whites, 175 free people of colour, and 11,991 slaves. It contained 2298 horses and mules, 2456 horned cattle, 3278 sheep, 902 goats, and 331 hogs. The cultivation rose to eighty-three sugar plantations, 2,725,600 coffee-trees, 150,300 cocoa-trees, and 800 cotton Gentleman's Magazine, 1754, p. 434. Report of the Lords of the Committee, 1789, Supplement, No. 15. Colquhoun's British Empire, p. 350. Appendix. trees. Their stock of common vegetable provision consisted of 5,740,450 trenches of cassada, 953,596 banana-trees, and 143 squares of potatoes and yams. 1754. By an account kept in Barbadoes, it appeared that 7 feet 3 inches perpendicular of rain fell in the course of this year. In September, a hurricane did great damage, in St. Domingo, to the sugar and indigo plantations. Twelve ships were driven on shore, and 1700 hhds. of sugar were lost. The Spaniards began to erect fortifications in the bay of Honduras-200 sail of small vessels were employed to bring the materials, and three men-of-war to protect them. The whole of the Danish West India trade employed only seven ships, of from 80 to 120 tons burthen each. The exports from Essequibo and Demerary employed two ships, and consisted of 285 hhds. of sugar and one bale of cotton. Governor Trelawney stated, that in 1752 and 1754, 15,601 Negroes were imported into Jamaica, of whom 2336 were exported. An act was passed in Jamaica, for removing the records, books, and papers belonging to the several offices, from St. Jago de la Vega to the town of Kingston. 1755. Some Spanish guarda costas having given disturbance to the British trade in the West Indies, Sir B. Keene, the British ambassador at Madrid, complained of it, and received for answer, that the names of all the guarda costas acting by legal authority, together with those of their captains, should be sent to the admiral commanding the British squadron in the West Indies, and that the guarda costas should have orders not to interfere with any British ships but such as were carrying on a contraband trade. Edwards, vol. i. p. 12. Annual Register, 1759, p. 57. Gentleman's Magazine, 1754, pp. 577, 578. This year, an organ which cost £440 sterling was set up in the church at St. Jago, in Jamaica. Governor Knowles stated the population of Jamaica to have been this year 12,000 Whites, and 130,000 slaves. The militia, 3000. Some Barcelona merchants were incorporated, by charter, with the liberty of trading to St. Domingo, Puerto Rico, and Marguerite; but the restrictions imposed were so heavy, that no use was ever made of the privilege. The abuses of the Danish West India Company excited so much discontent, both in the colonies and among the merchants of the mother country, that the King of Denmark purchased the whole rights of the exportation for a sum not exceeding half a million of rix dollars, and laid open the trade to all his subjects, under conditions which varied from time to time. The exports from Essequibo and Demerary were suspended this year. The population of Guadaloupe consisted of 9643 Whites and 41,140 slaves. Her saleable commodities were, the produce of 334 sugar plantations; fifteen plots of indigo; 46,840 stems of cocoa; 11,700 of tobacco; 2,257,725 of coffee; 12,028,520 banana-trees; and 32,577,950 trenches of cassava. The cattle consisted of 4924 horses; 2924 mules; 125 asses; 13,716 head of horned cattle; 11,162 sheep or goats, and 2444 hogs. The number of inhabitants upon the Bahamas, Whites and Blacks, were said to have been 2522. In July, the English issued orders for making general reprisals upon the French; and that all French ships, whether outward or homeward bound, should be brought into British ports. This was done in consequence of their encroachments in America. Before the end of the year, 300 merchant ships, many of which, from St. Domingo and Martinico, were extremely rich, and 8000 sailors, were brought into English ports. This year, only four small vessels were sent from Martinico to Canada, instead of twenty, and sometimes thirty, which were wont to go. In September, the governor of Martinico sent to the governor of Barbadoes to state, that as a British squadron, under the command of Admiral Boscawen, had taken two of his master's ships, and might attack his master's islands also, he had ordered, by way of reprisals for those ships, that the island of St. Lucia Long's Jamaica, vol. ii. p. 5. Report of the Lords of the Committee, 1789, Supplement, No. 15. Bolinbroke's Voyage to Demerary, Appendix. Smollett, vol. xii. p. 250. Coke's West Indies, vol. ii. pp. 313. 388. Gentleman's Magazine, Nov. 1755, p. 522. should be taken and fortified in his master's name, and that he should endeavour to protect all his subjects in the best manner he could. The French exports from Martinico, Guadaloupe, La Granda, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent were, 26,400 hhds. of white or first clayed sugar; 11,200 second; 8900 "tates," or thirds; 16,370 brown; 3,600,000 lbs. of coffee; 573,000 lbs. cotton; 82,000 lbs. ginger. From St. Domingo, 106,200 hhds. of which 105,000 were white sugars; 22,000 lbs. coffee; 184,000 lbs. cotton; 900,000 hhds. indigo; 230,000 lbs. ginger; 184,000 pimento. 1756. In May, war was declared between England and France. The French not evacuating the four neutral islands in the West Indies, is assigned as one of the causes of the war. The population of the Virgin Islands amounted, this year, to 1263 Whites, and 6121 Blacks. They petitioned government to be placed upon the same footing as the other islands, by the establishment of a civil governor and courts of justice. Henry Moore, Esquire, was appointed lieutenant-governor of Jamaica. Charles Pilford, Esquire, was appointed governor of Barbadoes, in room of Henry Grenville, Esquire. Sunday, February the 8th, a fire broke out at Barbadoes, in a store-house belonging to Joseph Blackman, Esquire, which spreading to the adjacent premises, 160 houses were destroyed before it could be extinguished. His Majesty's ship Warwick, of sixty guns, Captain, afterwards Lord Shuldham, was taken off Martinico, March the 11th, by the Chevalier d'Aubigny, in the Prudent, seventy-four, in company with the Atalanta and Zephyr, of thirty guns each. The official returns of the population in the following islands were as follows: Gent. Mag. Jan. 1756, p.44.-Feb. p.92.-April, p. 205.-June, p.311.-July, p.360. Smollett, vol. xii. P. 342. Colquhoun's British Empire, p. 355. |