Read Ebook: Historic Jamaica by Cundall Frank

Font size: 10 px 15 px 20 px 25 px 30 px 35 px

Background color: BlackWhiteGrayLight GrayDark GrayDim Gray

Text color: BlackWhiteGrayLight GrayDark GrayDim Gray

Apply/Save settings

Ebook has 3292 lines and 114229 words, and 66 pages

In 1843 another great fire devastated a large portion of the city. It began shortly before 10 A.M. on August 26, in a foundry situated at the east end of Harbour street and extended diagonally across the city until it reached the old Roman Catholic chapel at the corner of Duke street. Many of the best dwellings and much valuable property were consumed, and a large number of persons were left in utter destitution. The sum of ?10,149 was distributed among the sufferers, of which ?5000 was voted by the House of Assembly. At this period a great deal of the foreign trade of Kingston had disappeared in consequence of the establishing of direct steam communication between the European and Spanish-American states; still Kingston continued an important centre of commerce.

In March 1862, another great fire occurred by which the commercial division of the city was devastated. Nineteen of the principal stores in Harbour and Port Royal streets, three wharves, and the extensive and well-built three-storied house in which the Commercial Hotel was kept, were burnt down at a loss of ?30,000. The value of the merchandise, furniture, &c., destroyed was estimated at ?60,830, making a total of ?90,830. Of this ?9400 was covered by insurances, leaving ?81,530 as the total loss to the owners of the premises and stock.

Three years afterwards representative government was abandoned in Jamaica, and Kingston ceased to be a corporate city. All the powers and immunities of the common council were transferred to a nominated municipal board created by Law 8 of 1866, the privilege of making ordinances for the regulation of the city being transferred to the Governor in Privy Council. Since 1885 its affairs have been administered by a mayor and city council, elected every three years, similar to the parochial boards of the other parishes.

For many years it had become evident that the convenience of the Government and of the general public would be best served by a transfer of the seat of government from Spanish Town, and in 1872 Sir John Grant, with the approval of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, gave effect to the change.

A calamitous fire occurred in Kingston on December 11, 1882, by which a large section of the business portion of the city was destroyed. The total number of houses entirely destroyed was five hundred and seventy-seven, whilst twelve were partially destroyed. These places were inhabited by about six thousand persons. The total loss of house property was estimated at between ?150,000 and ?220,000.

On January 14, 1907, the city suffered great damage from the disastrous earthquake of that date and from fire. Much the same area as that devastated by fire in 1882 was destroyed in the fire of 1907, in addition to the havoc caused by the earthquake. The loss of life was variously estimated as between 1000 and 1500. The value of property destroyed amounted to between ?1,000,000 and ?1,500,000. A Mansion House fund for the relief of the sufferers amounted to ?55,395, and a free Imperial grant was made by Parliament of ?150,000 and a loan of ?800,000 was authorised. The relief funds were distributed by a Relief Committee, afterwards the Assistance Committee, constituted by the Assistance Committee Law 20 of 1907. After considerable delay and much negotiations, and on the failure of an appeal in a test case to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, the insurance companies agreed to pay the claims to the extent of 85 per cent. on the face values of the policies, and the money was distributed in 1909.

The Imperial Loan was administered by a Loan Board created by law. Up to March 31, 1914, loans had been made to the value of ?326,000.

A fair number of the streets of Kingston have personal names. Those named after Governors: Beeston street, ; Beckford street ; Heywood street ; Laws street ; Elletson road ; Nugent lane ; Manchester square ; Elgin street and Lord Elgin street ; Darling street ; Musgrave avenue ; Norman road, Norman crescent and Norman range ; and Blake road .

There was a Thomas Allman, clerk to the Agent Victuallers at Jamaica, who was wanted for forgery and embezzling ?1283 in 1743: but Allman Town, which came into existence soon after Emancipation, was, so Mr. G. F. Judah stated, named after George Allman, who was either an officer in the army or the son of one.

Barry street reminds us of Colonel Samuel Barry, who was one of the first Council named in 1661, and owned the land on which Kingston was built. The land called Colonel Barry's Hog Crawle was sold to Beeston, who had it laid out in lots for the building of Kingston. Byndloss lane bears the name of a family which in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries supplied seven members to the Assembly--the earliest being Colonel Robert Byndloss, member for Cagua in 1663. Barnes gully recalls Joseph Barnes, mayor, custos and representative in the Assembly of Kingston, who died in 1829. Bowrey road reminds us of a recent island chemist, from whose property the road was formed. Hibbert street also recalls a family closely connected with Jamaica in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, one member of which built Headquarters House, formerly known as Hibbert house. Marescaux road, north of Kingston, reminds us of the late manager of the Colonial Bank. Orange and Hanover streets refer to reigning houses of England.

Wildman street is named after James Wildman, a member of the Council in 1786, and later fellow member of Parliament for Hindon with Monk Lewis, another Jamaica proprietor.

Though they omitted for two centuries to dedicate their parish church to a patron saint, the people of Kingston named five of their lanes after the Apostles.

Dr. Samuel Knight, who practised medicine in the island "magna cum laude" for thirty-four years, represented Kingston in the Assembly in 1698 and 1701; he lies buried in the church.

It is interesting to note that in 1699 a law was passed uniting the precincts of St. Andrew and Kingston for the purpose of keeping their courts and sessions. This law was repealed in 1704, by which time the new town had become more prosperous.

The first traceable documentary reference to the church occurs under date October 1701, when the land was sold to the churchwardens. In March 1702-3 it is recorded in the "Votes" in the house of Assembly, that the commissioners appointed to receive claims and make distributions of the lands, under the Act of that year, "to invest Her Majesty in land in Kingston, for the reception of the sufferers by the late dreadful fire at Port Royal, declaring Kingston to be the chief seat of trade and head port of entry, and fortifying West Chester," gave notice that they would sit in the church at Kingston. But the Act was disallowed in the following year; and West Chester, wherever it may have been , was never fortified. It is interesting to note that the only serious rival to Kingston in its claim to be made the chief seat of trade was Old Harbour. The use of the parish church for civic purposes was by no means unusual in those days in England: for instance, from 1576 till 1794 the paroise over the porch of the parish church of Hythe was used as a town hall.

There were probably in Jamaica nine churches of older foundation than Kingston--those at Spanish Town, Port Royal, Halfway-Tree, St. John's , Port Morant, Yallahs, The Alley, Old Harbour and one other. Kingston, till an earlier year can be assigned, must rest content with 1699, the date of its oldest tomb--that to William Hall, a merchant of Kingston and member of Assembly for St. Andrew from 1694 to 1699 --although it was possibly erected in or about 1695. On the other hand, if the church was standing in 1701, it is odd that it is not mentioned in the deed conveying the land given by Sir William and Lady Beeston to the churchwardens.

The following is a copy of the register:

Lib. 33. Fol. 85. Beeston, Sir William et Ux. Dated 13th October, 1701. to Enrolled October 28th, 1701. The Churchwardens of Kingston Josiah Heathcote and Peter Caillard.

All these two lotts or parcells of land with the appurtenance thereunto belonging being part and parcell of the said five hundred and thirty acres of land situate and lying and being in the said Towne of Kingston both the said lots containing one hundred foot to the High Street westward one hundred and fifty foot northward to the Parade one hundred foot East to Temple Lane and one hundred and fifty foot South to the land of the said Sir William Beeston.

It is probable that a temporary building was at first erected, and was served by the rectors of Halfway Tree and Port Royal pending the appointment of a rector; and that the permanent structure of the church was only commenced after the land had been given by Beeston.

In 1703 a sermon was "preached at King's Town in Jamaica upon June 7, being the Anniversary Fast for that Dreadful Earthquake which happened there in the year 1692, by William Corbin." This was "printed and sold by William Bradford at the Bible in New York, 1703."

James Knight, whose manuscript history of Jamaica is in the British Museum, thus describes the Kingston of his day, which he represented in the Assembly from 1722 to 1735, with intervals:

"The plan of the town is three-fourths of a mile in length, N. and S., and half a mile in breadth, E. and W. Streets are Broad and are Regularly laid out with a Parade in the centre. The South part is built from one end to the other as high as the Parade and many buildings are scattered in the North part so that there are now 1200 Houses and Storehouses, most of which are handsome Buildings, two stories high besides garrets. They are covered with shingles, sashed and glazed with Piazzas before every house so that a man may walk from one end to the other without going in the sun but in crossing streets. The church, which is a handsome building in form of a cross, is 120 feet in length and stands in the S.E. part of the Parade, the pulpit, pews and wainscote about 8 feet in height are all neatly made with cedar, and it has a very good organ in it. There is also in the town a Quakers' Meeting House and a Jews' Synagogue, no other place of Public Worship, though there are grounds to believe some Roman Catholics or disguised Papists and Priests privately assemble and meet together. There is also a very good Town Hall about 80 feet in length and 30 in breadth on the South side and fronting of King Street, with a Piazza round which is made use of as an exchange.... Kingston being the most popular parish in the island, and a great number of strangers resorting to it yearly, the Benefice is estimated at six hundred pounds per annum currency."

From this it appears that the tower had probably been erected between 1740 and 1774, for Long, whose history was published in 1774--easily pleased in matters architectural--calls it "a large elegant building, of four aisles, which has a fine organ, a tower and spire, with a large clock. The tower is well-constructed, and a very great ornament to the town." "The Rector's stipend," he adds, "as fixed by Law, is only ?250; but the surplice-fees are so large, that his income is supposed at least to be ?1000 per annum, Jamaica currency ." His "four aisles" is a very free use of the term. The church was in his time an aisleless, cruciform building, but Greek rather than Latin in shape, a not uncommon custom in Jamaica in early days.

In the "Jamaica Magazine" for 1813 we read: "An ordinance was passed in Common Council of Kingston, the same day for punishing all persons conducting themselves in a manner offensive to public decorum in the church. It enacts a punishment on all white and free persons of ?100 fine or three months imprisonment for such an offence, and on slaves thirty-nine stripes or three months imprisonment."

"Monk Lewis," who saw it in 1816, says:

The church is a large one, but it is going to be still further extended, the negroes in Kingston and neighbourhood being so anxious to obtain religious instruction, that on Sundays not only the church but the churchyard is so completely thronged with them, as to make it difficult to traverse the crowd; and those who are fortunate enough to obtain seats for the morning service, through fear of being excluded from the evening, never stir out of the church the whole day. They also flock to be baptised in great numbers, and many have lately come to be married; and their burials and christenings are performed with great pomp and solemnity.

James Hakewill, the architect, who was here in 1820, in his "Picturesque Tour," calls the church truly "a plain, convenient structure, but without any pretensions to architectural beauty."

The Rev. R. Bickell, who had been naval chaplain at Port Royal and for some time curate of Kingston, wrote in his "West Indies as they are," in 1825:

In the city and parish of Kingston, there is but one church, which will hold nearly a thousand people; it is thronged every Sunday morning, principally by free people of colour, and free blacks. Indeed, had there been two or three churches more built in this populous city, six or seven years ago, and zealous clergymen appointed to them, I feel confident in saying, they would, ere now, have been equally thronged; but, though there are eight or ten thousand slaves in the place, and a greater number of free people, with several thousand white inhabitants, an island curate has never been appointed there, and consequently a chapel of ease has never been built: on this account, seeing so good an opening, the Dissenters have been very active, and have four or five places of worship, three of them built within the last three years; the Scotch, and other Presbyterians, have a very large kirk which is not half filled; but the Wesleyans have two large chapels, capable of containing more than two thousand persons, and which are well attended morning and evening, chiefly by negroes and people of colour. The Baptists have also a large and handsome chapel well attended by Blacks and Browns, besides a smaller one occasionally opened. There is also a Catholic chapel for the French and other foreigners.

In the "Estimate of Contingencies for the City and Parish of Kingston for the year 1830" occur the following entries:

Sundry repairs and alterations for the present year 200 0 0

Amount required for the Chapel of Ease 300 0 0

?1581 0 0

This of course does not include the stipends of rector and curate, which were paid by the Government.

Of the fabric of the church wrecked by the earthquake of 1907 nothing much need be said. It was a simple brick structure with concrete pillars and round-headed arches and window openings. Cruciform in shape, in accordance with English custom it was oriented with its altar at the east end. The pulpit and reading-desk originally stood, as was the case at Halfway Tree, Port Royal and Montego Bay, at the transept, almost in the centre of the building.

The present building was erected from a design by Mr. B. A. Raves at a cost of ?6000, in reinforced concrete on the old foundations, and as nearly as possible similar in design, with the omission of the tower. The window openings differ from those of the old building; two of them being decidedly original in design. The new building was consecrated on January 17, 1911, by the Archbishop of the West Indies, assisted by the Bishops of St. Albans, North Carolina, Honduras and Antigua, the Coadjutor Bishop of Jamaica, and the Assistant Bishop of Toronto.

About the beginning of the nineteenth century, as "Monk Lewis" mentions, the church was extended in length and the renaissance baldachin, which was not replaced after the recent rebuilding, an unusual addition to an Anglican church, was, it is said, added by the then rector, the Rev. Isaac Mann. Some thought they saw in the floral device immediately beneath the crown over the centre of the baldachin, the monogram W.M., which they took to stand for William and Mary, but there are no grounds for the supposition, and the structure was probably of later date.

In Duperly's view taken in about 1844 the old sash windows appear; and the old curved lead gargoyles, most of which were removed later, are very evident.

In 1883-85, during the incumbency of Archdeacon Downer, who held the living for thirty-five years and took part in the recent consecration service, the church, which in 1873 consisted of nave and transepts without side aisles, was considerably enlarged by G. Messiter, by the addition of two side aisles on each side, giving extra accommodation for 500 persons, making the building available for 1300 in all.

The oldest dated Communion plate is of the year 1707. Two patens were the gift of Mrs. Ann Plowman; and two other pieces, a chalice and flagon, were given by Mr. Elias Nezerau in that year. Mrs. Elizabeth Sillers gave in 1721 a flagon identical with that given by Mr. Nezerau fourteen years earlier. Both flagons bear the maker's mark.

The clock dates from 1801, the organ from 1878, the lectern from 1886, the bell from 1890, the pulpit from 1891, when it was erected in memory of a former rector, Archdeacon Campbell, his brother Dr. Charles Campbell, and the doctor's partner, Dr. Bowerbank.

The rose window in the north transept, representing the Good Samaritan, with medallions of St. John, St. Peter, St. Stephen, St. Andrew as deacon, and St. Stephen as martyr, was put up in 1888 to the memory of the Hon. H. F. Colthirst, a churchwarden, and his children. The corresponding window, of 1887, in the south transept, representing, in the centre, the Angel at the Sepulchre, surrounded by cherubs, is a memorial to Mr. C. A. Robinson and children. These two windows gave a good illustration of the manner in which concrete, even before the earthquake of 1907, was made to do duty for stone in Jamaica. Portions of the glass from these windows have, in the recent reconstruction, been scattered throughout various window openings. The window at the east end of the north aisle, heraldic and geometric in character, was erected to the Hon. Dr. Hamilton, District Grand Master of the Freemasons in Jamaica. The east window was erected in 1914 in memory of Archdeacon Downer.

The vestry was built in 1895, and in that year the old brick wall which formerly surrounded the churchyard was replaced by the present railing. The City Council contributed ?50 towards the cost of the bell on the condition that it should be rung at nine o'clock every evening--a reminiscence of the English curfew which is still continued.

The following is as perfect a list of the rectors of the parish as it has been found possible to compile:

It is difficult to understand how Lambe came to be rector during May's tenure of office. It may have been an acting appointment during the incumbent's illness. The authority for including Lambe in the list of rectors is the following entry in Foster's "Alumni Oxonienses":

Lambe, Charles. S. John . Ch. Ch. Matric. 1697, aged 18 ; B.A. 1701, M.A. from King's Coll., Cambridge, 1709. D.D. Lambeth, 1722.... Chaplain to the Duke of Portland when Governor of Jamaica, Rector of Kingston, Jamaica, 1729.

Joseph Fennell Brookbank, the son of Mary Fennell, a free mulatto woman, by George Brookbank, was born April 12, 1779, Bapt. Jany. 1, 1785.

Those who were baptized are described as black, or negro; mulatto; sambo; quadroon; mestee, or mustee; brown; of colour; Indian ; and slave, or property of; and free. The old African names of Quashie, Quasheba and the like were replaced by ordinary Christian names, with a partiality for Biblical ones, with here and there a classic designation. The names on one page, taken at random, of the register for 1797 are: John, Sarah, Richard, Lucretia, Susanna, Margaret, Hannah, Jeremiah, James, William, Edward, Cilly , Juno, Mary, Eleanor, Joseph. These, in the main, simple names are preferable to the Thomasina, Justina, Rosina, and so on, affected to-day.

The following particulars of the baptisms solemnised in the parish church in the year 1828 may be of interest:

From its position of principal church in the chief town of the island, Kingston parish church is frequently chosen for the holding of state and other important services rather than the cathedral of Spanish Town, which now finds itself left by the stream of time in a civic backwater.

Share on: WhatsApp @Hash Facebook Tweet