Village Administration and Local Government in British Guiana --- By the Hon. Dr.J. E. Godfrey, M.B., C.M.,(E.D.), SURGEON GENERAL

TIMEHRI:The Journal of the Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society of British Guiana ([Vol.2 Third Series - December, 1912]pages. 337 - 355) Publishers: The ARGOSY Company, Limited.)

The history of the formation of the village communities and their administration in this colony is exceedingly interesting and instructive.
The object of this paper is to trace their formation from the beginning dating from the Act of Emancipation, and their slow development through seventy years odd years to the present day.
It will be seen the many vicissitudes through which they have passed. Firstly, the utter failure of the people to successfully manage and control their own affairs; then the intervention of the government who have, from time to time, passed legislative Acts for providing the machinery necessary for efficient administration.
Prior to emancipation, the Blacks had no land of their own, but as slaves resided on the property of their masters. The late Sheriff Brumell, in his "Village Law," says that "previous to 1838 and even to a later date, a traveller might have passed from one end of the country to another, without seeind a single house or an acre of land which did not belong to the proprietor of the estate through which the highway ran."
In 1834, the system of Apprenticeship, created by the Act of the Imperial Parliament of Great Britain and Ireland, entitled " An Act for the Abolition of slavery throughout the British colonies, for promoting the industry of manumitted slaves, and for compensating the persons hitherto entitled to the services of such slaves" came into operation. This created a great change in the feudal relations of master and man; the latter were no longer slaves. This partial freedom did not, however, satisfy them. They desired to be absolutely freed, and gave much trouble to their employers.
Four years later, ie., on the 1st August, 1838 (Emancipation Day), by virtue of Ordinance No.23, entitled " An Ordinance to terminate the apprenticeship of praedial labourers of British Guiana," all praedial labourers became absolutely freed and discharged of and from the then remaining term of their apprenticeship. These freed men, who had, during their apprenticeship, and after accumulated considerable sums of money, banded themselves together and purchased abandoned plantations from their former masters. Brumell, in his "Village Law," says "the way in which these purchases were conducted showed great union among the people and great confidence in each other. The negotiations were usually carried on by two or three head men selected in some instances from two or three hundred shareholderd or persons who had subscribed money towards the general undertaking. When the terms were concluded no credit was asked, the money was paid down, some times in bags of silver, wheeled in wheel-barrows to the office of the seller. The transport of the property was then passed in the name of these men, making them legally the sole owners of the estate, and leaving the subscribers, some of whose names were not even on record, without the slightest legal claim to the property they had paid for."
In 1842, i.e., four years after emancipation, it is estimated that no less than 15,000 acres of land, for which upward of $250,000 was paid, were owned by the freed labourers, and on these lands no less than 15,000 persons were settled. It is interesting to note that one of the first estates purchased was that on which the village of Plaisance was established. It was then a cotton estate consisting of 300 acres for which $39,000 was paid.
This system of purchasing in community did not prove successful, chieftly on account of the want of proper control and supervision and there being no combination of labour to work the places, and lastly, to the fact that in purchasing the several estates which were formed into these village communities, the villagers expended the whole of their capital in effecting the purchases and denuded themselves of all their ready money, thus leaving nothing with which to improve or carry on their properties. The point of this last fact will be more readily appreciated when I state that between 1839 and 1854 the emancipated slaves purchased seventeen properties which are now the Village Districts of Plaisance, Buxton and Friendship, Beterverwagting, Victoria, Golden Grove and Nabaclis, Ann's Grove and Two Friends, Good Intent and Sisters, Bagotville, Stanleytown, Den Amstel and Fellowship, Queenstown, and Danielstown for the large amount of $332,900 cash. The smallest amounts, viz.$2,000, each were for Nabaclis and Fellowship and the highest amount $80,000 for Friendship. The late Sir A. M. Ashmore - a former Government Secretary of this colony - in his memorandum on "Village Administration" says "at the outset the inhabitants found themselves face to face with three principal difficulties - the difficulty of drainage, the difficulty of title, attendant on their having brought in common, estates which they desired to hold in severalty, and the difficulty of fulfilling the obligation which rested on owners of plantations to maintain the public road through their properties." While some of the villagers were willing to do their share, others would not, and unless the whole system of drainage was kept up, it was impossible for the villagers to successfully cultivate their lands. The consequence was, that the estates which were well drained when purchased, sufferd from neglect of the upkeep of the dams and the drainage. It was evident that the people were unable to look after themselves and exercise that control over one another essential to the establishment of prosperous and well-ordered communities.
In 1844, Mr. Joseph Hanfield, reporting on abandoned estates and villages, recommended "the establishment of an appropriate Code of Municipal Regulations by which each of the proprietors should be bound to perform certain duties and otherwise contribute to the general good under some magisterial authority and control". The roads through the villages were in a deplorable condition and in many cases, impassable. Each estate was liable for its maintenance, and their omission to repair the road created a very awkward position, as it was obviously impossible for the Government to sell off old communities. In 1845, in order to meet this difficulty, an Ordinance was passed for the maintenance of the road through Queenstown in Essequibo, by the means of an assessment of a rate to be prepared by elected Commissioners and levied upon the villagers. In 1849 an Ordinance with reference to the roads through the village of Plaisance was passed; This Ordinance provided for the appointment of proprietary Commissioners, the assessing of the proprietors "to contribue to the making up and keeping in repair the line of Public road and bridges running or passing through or over the lands of the said plantation, Plaisance, and other dams and kokers necessary for the preservation thereof." Other Ordinances of a similar nature were passed, but complaints of the state of the main road still continued, and even as late as 1872, Canon Stevenson, late Rector of St. Paul's at Plaisance, stated that the road leading to the Railway Station was so bad that the loss of a shoe was a common occurrence, and "remarks that "happy was he who had a spare pair of boots at the Railway Station, and, I think, happier was he who went barefooted." Sir A. M. Ashmore , in his memorandum, says that " the election of these commissioners was the first legislative attempt to provide a village organization." In 1850, an Ordinance was passed dealing with the establishment of a general administration for sanitary purposes throughout the colony. This appears to have been the first attempt to deal with this aspect of the question. This Ordinance established two Central Boards of Health, one for Demerara and Essequibo, and one for Berbice; also Local Boards of Health composed of the Vestries of the Parishes, and the medical men residing therein. This Ordinance was in operation for a very short time, and was repealed by Ordinance No. 10 of 1852. This was a much more elaborate measure. It established a Central Board at Georgetown in place of the two Boards in the 1850 Ordinance; the Parishes Vestries were made Local Boards of Health for the rural districts with power to establish general systems of drainage for their districts, and to make and enforce sanitary regulations. Power was also taken to declare new villages so as to bring them under the operations of the regulations.
In 1851, in order to deal with the difficulty in the matter of titles, Ordinance No.4 was passed; it was amended in the following year by Ordinance No.10. It provided for the appointment of commissioners, to divide the lands of the village among, and pass transports to, the individual proprietors.
In 1856, Ordinance No.33, entitled "An Ordinance for the better management and regulation of villages and estates held in undivided shares in this colony" was passed. This was the first general Ordinance dealing with all the villages.
The late Sir A. M. Ashmore , in his memorandum, remarks that this "is the germ out of which the existing more elaborate system has grown."
It provided:-
(a) That the Governor and the Court of Policy may, by Resolution, bring under its provisions all estates which, having been purchased in community, had been divided, or should in future be divided in severality among proprietors, and also the means of division for the future..
(b)For the election and payment of an Overseer.
(c)For the election of two Commissioners for each village.
(d)For the assessing of rates.
(e) That all moneys received were to be deposited in the local banks, and drawn out by cheque signed by the Overseer and the Commissioners.
(f)That the Overseermay require the shareholders to perform what work was necessary to be done and in default to cause the work to be done at the expense of the proprietors.
The great defect in this measure was that it did not provide for any central administration.
This measure, however, failed to carry out what it was intended for, and this failure the late Sir A. M. Ashmore attributes to the following reasons:"the lack of a system of provincial administration by means of which the Central Government could supervise its working, and influence the people to co-operate for their own good; and a reluctance on the part of the Government to use compulsion to make the recalcitrant minority, always to be found in every community, discharge their share of common obligations."
In 1862, the Combine Court voted as a loan from borrowed money the sum of $60,000 for the purpose of improving the drainage and works of a like nature in order to ameliorate the deplorable condition of many of the villages. This loan was never repaid.
In 1864, a Committe consisting of the Government Secretary(Mr. Walker), a member of the Court of Policy (Mr. Ludovico Porter), the Sheriff of Demerara (Mr. Brumell), Inspector General of Police(Mr. N.Cox), and Mr. N. J. Jeffrey, was appointed to "enquire and report, among other matters, upon the condition and deficiencies of the existing villages, and to consider whether by any improvement in the legal constitution or regulations thereof or in their management they, i.e., the legal constitution and regulations, can be adopted to improve the condition of the present villages."
The Committee sent in their report in May, 1865. They found the villages generally in a most unsatisfactory state, and, in some instances, in a deplorable condition; the house in the latter case, in ruin and disrepair; and the lands attatched to them, undrained, uncultivated, and neglected; the means of internal communication most defective, and the uttermost disregard for all sanitary considerations.
The result was that an Ordinance was passed in 1866, providing for
(a)A Central Board of Villages composed of the Governor and the Court of Policy, and such other persons as may be appointed from time to time by the Governor.
(b)Local Boards of Superintendence appointed by the Governor, one for each village, or one for a number of villages combined.
This Ordinace proved unworkable, due in a great measure, as Sir John Carrington, a former Attorney General of this colony, says, "because the Governor and the Court of Policy had got enough to do in other respects without attending to such matters of detail as village administration".
In 1872, another commission consisting of Mr. J. Brumell, the Revs F.J.Wyatt, W.J.Webber, J.Kinnison, W.G.G.Austin, J.Dalgliesh, and E.A.Wallbridge, and Messrs. H.C.Huggins, Benon Maxwell, N. Cox, P.C.Barlow, James Craigen, J.G.Gray, Andrew Hunter, and R.J.Kelly, was appointed to go into the whole question again. the result of this was the passing of Ordinance No. 10 of 1873. This Ordinance provided for:-
(a.)A Central Board of Villages.
(b.)Village Councils, composed of three persons elected in each village.
(c.)The District Commissary, or some person appointed in his stead, as superintendent of all villages in his district, and chairman of each village Council.
(d.)The appointment of an Inspector of Villages.
(e.)The borrowing of money by the Central Board on behalf of the villages.
Under this Ordinance the following 18 incorporated villages were administered:-

Ann's Grove Beterverwagting Bagotville
Two Friends Plaisance Stanleytown
Nabaclis Den Amstel Craig
Golden Grove Fellowship Queenstown
Friendship Sisters Danielstown
Buxton Good Intent Agricola

All endeavour to work the smaller un-incorporated villages was abandoned.
This Ordinance suffered the fate of its predecessors, proving unworkable, due to the want of money in carrying on the villages.
In 1878, an elaborate Ordinance No.3 was passed to provide for the sanitary administration of the colony. It divided the whole colony into :-
(a.)Town Sanitary Districts, i.e., Georgetown and New Amsterdam.
(b.)Village Sanitary Districts, i.e., the incorporated villages.
(c.)Country Sanitary Districts, i.e., those portions not included in (a.) and (b.).
Those Sanitary Districts created under (a.) and (b.) were administered by the Authorities already provided for them, and those under (c.) by the Sanitary Authorities.
This Ordinance created a Central Board of Health to supervise and direct the machinery and this Board remained in force until the passing of Ordinance No.13 of 1907, when it was called the Local Government Board.
By 1881 and 1882, the condition of most of the incorporated villages was described as lamentable owing to the restricted powers given to the chairmen of the villages under the governing Ordinance which precluded their getting any real work done; the poor rate collection; the heavy burdens for road upkeep; and several other minor causes, all of which contributed to dishearten the industrious villager, and made even more careless the thriftless property owner. This state of things culuminated in 1883, when owing to the general discontent and dissatisfaction at the administration and the deplorable conditions existing, the whole system was change by Governor Irving. Ordinance No.4 of 1883 was passed; by it the whole of the machinery for incorporated village management was swept away and the administration placed under the Public Works Department and the Inspector of Villages as the Sanitary Authority under the 1878 Ordinance;all village property vested in the Board of Villages was transfered to the Colonial Civil Engineer. Funds were provided by a two per centum rate levied on the villages, which rate was collected by the Inspector of Villages, and any deficiency made up from Public Funds voted by the Combine Court.
Under this Ordinance the affairs of 15 incorporated villages (14 in Demerara and 1 in Essequibo) passed into the hands of the Public Works Department, the number next year being increased by the addition of five newly-incorporated villages, one situated in Demerara, three in Berbice and one in Essequibo. On the Department assuming charge it found a large amount of work to be executed both of an extraordinary and recurrent character, and in the first two years of their charge we find a record of much good work accomplished and a claim put forward to mark progress having been attained in both the sanitary and drainage conditions of the villages under the Department's charge. In 1883 the population of the 15 incorporated villages was estimated at 23,142, and an expenditure of $45,058.72, or at the rate of $1.94 per head of the population, is stated to have been spent on improvements. In 1884, $43,355.01 was expended on improvement account in the 18, out of 20 incorporated villages that were dealt with by the Public Works Department during this year, this working out at the rate of $1.63 per head of the population which was estimated at 26,667. By the way of comparison it might be stated that during 1884, Georgetown with an estimated population of 48,272, expended on maintenance and improvements a sum of $213,729.74, or at the rate of $4.42 per head of its population. For the town of New Amsterdam the expenditure in the same year for maintenance and improvements was $34,560, or at the rate of $3.81 per head of the population which was estimated at 9,053.
But although the Department had to face difficulties it was not left with out means being placed at its disposal to overcome them.

Hi Sancho Researchers

I would take me a long time to reply and add my bit on the Sancho heritage. We could talk ((973) 643-5404) but here are some useful leads.

I know that the Roberts family of Mahaica are related to the Sanchos. I remember, in particular, the Sancho who was the first Coordinator of Security for LFSB. The Sanchos, his connection, also lived in David Street Kitty - Wendy and Wickham et al. were my cousins (I was told but not the history or connections) whom I visited regularly in the early 60s.

The Roberts of Mahaica - my grandfather, Walter Theophilus, was a major landowner in the village. He was the traveler, doing blasting and quarrying contract work in Nigeria, Brazil and Panama. He also owned the Seba Quarry in the Demerara River, which supplied most of the stone for the construction of the American Airbase at Atkinson Field - thereafter Timehri and now CBJ. My old aunt, Maude Braithwaite - going on 93 years of age - in Georgetown (64196), might be the best living historian. She certainly knows the Sancho and Harper and Younge (the Younges of Buxton - Weygon, Norma and Ivy) connections.

There is also a Harper connection - Monty Harper, who was Minister of Health said we were indeed cousins and the present coach of the West Indies team and I discussed our common heritage. But of course there was no follow up. I did not know of the Scotland, Denbow and other connections but they were probably part of the movement to other villages.

I also would be interested in knowing about the conditions under which the main matriarch or patriarch came to Guyana.

You are on to a worthy venture.

Desmond Roberts

English Guianese Speaks February 1956 Federation Conference in London

"In my humble opinion, if we miss this tide we shall be pursuing a selfish and reactionary policy which in years to come will recoil not only on our heads but on the heads of our descendants".>
Captain G.H. Smallie - an English Guianese February 1956 Federation conference in London

Rev D.C.J.Bobb member of the Legislative Council proposed a motion in the Legislative Council urging the colony to join the proposed federation.

rose to oppose the motion and questioned What can British Guiana gain or get from federation? Sugrim Singh March 1955

Sleeping with Strangers

Miss Guyana 1966, Umbilita Van Slytman, became the first Miss Guyana to place in the top six at the Miss world pageant. Miss Guyana 1967, Shakira Baksh, placed third at the Miss world contest. Miss Baksh, shortly, after the pageant, choose Michael Caine, for her domestic partner. In 1968, Alexis Harris made it to the finals in the Miss world pageant. Pamela Lord, in 1969 placed fourth in the Miss world pageant. Nalini Moonasar, Miss Guyana 1971, the most beautiful creature, my eyes had the pleasure to behold was given the fourth place in the 1971 Miss world pageant. Forbes Burnham then Prime Minister, did one of his few great acts as the head of State of Guyana, when he announced and banned Guyanese from participating in such contests. I agreed with Burnham then, for it was personal. I shed tears when I learnt Nalini was over looked for the number one spot. I said in 1968,Miss Moonasar the prettiest female, I ever saw, when I first saw Nalini, while we were both students at Skeldon Line Path Government Secondary School, acted in a play starring Lawrence Tappin and Nalini, yours truly as their son. I am yet to see another female who will make me, change that opinion. Again Guyana’s women have not been chosen, as the world’s most beautiful.

A number of politicians, over the last fifty years have chosen matrimonial partners from other countries, and then return to Guyana to seek and in a few cases obtain the highest office in the land, that in itself is a travesty, if ever there is such a situation. A slap in the face to not only the women of Guyana, but to the entire nation. Furthermore these domestic partners have influenced the political landscape, and in one scenario inherited leadership of the country. A dark day for Guyanese women, and again for the nation, folks even suggested, exhibit number one Janet Jagan nee Rosenbum, as the woman of the century in Guyana, another travesty. Mrs. Jagan benefited immensely from the practices of Dr. Cheddie Jagan and the inherited leadership syndrome. Janet Jagan contributed to the atmosphere, which led to the further separation of the major ethnic groups, which comprise the masses of Guyanese people.

The constitution of Guyana must be clearly designed to prevent foreign-born Guyanese, from even occupying political offices and much moreso the highest office, in the land.

The individual, must be both born and hold only Guyanese citizenship. Mia Rahaman, not chosen among the finalist at the beauty contest, only reinforced my thoughts, that Burnham did the right thing in the defense and honor of the Guyanese women, following the results of the 1971 Miss World beauty contest. I call that the Nalini Moonasar Act, long live Nalini, long live beauty, a credit to the nation and a blessing to have encountered thee. Miss Rahaman, I sympathized and again shed tears, following the outcome of the judges decisions. Umbilita, Shakira, Alexis, Pamela, Nalini, Mia and others are samplings and symbols of Guyana and indeed the world’s most beautiful women.

Guyanese women must let the politicians know in no uncertain terms, they would not stand to be overlooked and taken for granted, today as those folks did in the past. Burnham and The People’s National Congress made Cuffy, a national hero, stating Cuffy struck the first successful blow for freedom, in Guyana. History has revealed, Cuffy was no hero of the masses, for Cuffy was only too busy acting like bourgeoisie, Europeans plantocracy, and sleeping with the enemy. Cuffy chose a slave master’s wife for his domestic partner. An insult, a slap in the face to all the Black women available to him. Cuffy was no hero; his action reeked personal gain, regardless of the needs of the masses. It’s a tribute to others the revolution lasted more than a year. I conclude Cuffy was a traitor to the masses. I’m positive Cuffy’s decisions were affected by his choices; thus Cuffy betrayed the wishes of the masses.

Greetings, in the name of the Ancestor.

I never wish to be involved in this sorry epic, but it's as was the case in most of my childhood, Muriel's unrational behavior has stretched forth from beyond the land of ancestor, to drag and to humiliate me, into an unwanted situation, in defense of her morals and legacy.

Bhiaro Prashad, the New Amsterdam lawyer stole Muriel's Heathburn property. Then, there is her business transactions with Birchell Ralph, the result Muriel lost her # 68 village property.

I am neither privy to all the details of your transactions with your aunt nor am I committed to the house you built but however I'm concerned with Sancho's legacy and most particicularily Muriel's legacy.

I am committed to identifying, locating, researching and documenting, the Sancho family members. I am committed to obtaining records of the Sancho family members, from the various sources, both in Guyana and beyond her political borders.

I'm living for the sole purpose of telling the epic journey of the Sancho family and or contributing to the publication of the history of the Sancho family. I am concerned with the repetition of events and conditions, as they relate to this family; which shape, mould and now plague this family for at least three generations.

I recall being told Alexander Sancho; my grandfather experienced similar circumstances following the death of his father, Tuckness Sancho. The result a number of Tuckness Sancho's children, including and primarily, Alexander and Edith, were disinherited, what was intended to be bequest to them. Armed with that knowledge I never visited Winifred Moore, my great aunt. I am privy to second hand information, regarding the dispute between Uncle Oswald and Aunt Margaret. I do not ever recall them in the presence of each other, much less speaking as only siblings should do.

I often wonder why the extended family structure as is practiced in black life and culture prior to the European invasion of Africa, collapsed in British Guiana, and primarily among the children of Sancho. Was it family squabbling, fussing and fighting over legal documents; wills, and property, etc? Were the Denbow family, T. Anson Sancho and others correct in their actions of not associating with us?

Those factors were prominent, within my thought process, on several occasions I spoke to my mother, concerning her estate. I never wanted to be come involved in an environment of immediate family squabble over property in Guyana. My views on the meaning of life and Black life and culture in Guyana, which I term a land of sorrow heartbreak and Black holocaust - slavery, give rise to my innermost emotions that all I ever want in Guyana, is to rest in peace, in an unmarked grave, in that sacred ground, very near to Alexander Sancho, among a number of my ancestors, in the Sancho family plot.

I prefer grounding with my brothers; Sancho, than fussing and fighting against them. Who is claiming the house you built? The last information I had on that house is Carol Rodrigues was residing there. I have no knowledge, who if any one pays the taxes and or rent. I am appalled; Sancho would hide behind the legal system in any country to defraud another Sancho. A scenario, such as that would make the activities of likes, John Gladstone and others seem correct in their doings. I guess, folks will do what ever they think best suit their needs, wants and what have you.

I wish with all the Sancho in aah me, this whole sorry episode never reared it's ugly head and is implacably resolved, and all parties can rally around what we have in common, and that Sancho, is Sancho.

Peace, may the force have mercy upon us and be with us all.

M'lilwana Osanku.

Email:childrenofsancho@yahoo.com

Over Coming Obstacles and Excuses.

I can’t do what I want; I have to do what they tell me to do.

I’m too old.

I’ don’t have enough money.

I’ don’t have the credentials.

I’ don’t have enough time.

I have to do it on my own.

It’s got to be all or nothing.

Align with who ever for help and guidance.

Transform anger, shame, hatred and guilt into clarity, compassion and love.

Release negativity And Limiting beliefs.

Over come Obstacles.

Get in touch with what you really want in life

Sankofa – Search for Knowledge.

Highest Blessings!

I greet thee Sancho, in the name of the ancestor; Tuckness Sancho, All Praises and all Thanks are due to the creator of all worlds, both the seen and the unseen.

In the spirit of Muriel Sancho, I am come – come in peace – I am with oneness of heart, mind and soul – I am come to lift up the name of Ancestor; Sancho.

I reminiscent and therefore I recalled I am told three female Sanchos welcomed me into this world, on a rainy early morning hour in December of 1955 and gave me from the get go a sense of security; Muriel Sancho, my immediate ancestor, her sister Aunt Inez, and her cousin Muriel Sancho; daughter of great Uncle Christopher Sancho. This fact is a primary reason for my ‘make up’. Avril and Pricilla sharper cared for my well being while I was a very little child, thus Peter and Louis Sharper figure permanently in my childhood memories of New Amsterdam.

Dora and Barbara Sancho were regulars, visiting their Aunt Muriel in Alexander Street, in New Amsterdam. I recall I associated Georgetown with Dorothy Sancho. I would cry long eye water if Muriel did not take me to Dorothy – What’s that East La Penitence.

1961 as I recall the year I associate with accurate memories. I recall hopping along the railway tracks to Aunt Elsa'’ residence. Their'’ Uncle Edward Morris in a rocking chair with a pipe in his mouth. The room I am told I recall Cecil'’, the racing cycle. Well Cecil and Errol rode the racing bicycle I understood. Errol racing cycle, George brought to New Amsterdam and I would finally master it in the Golden Grove and Nabaclis community.

Well I loved eating it was a habit thus I preferred Golden Grove and Nabaclis community, to New Amsterdam. Going aback was fun picking up coconut was not. The food well I acquired the taste. Boya Sharper, Tee Joyce, Wok and Dead, Uncle Charlie, uncle Ossie, aunts Margaret, Elsa, and Inez, Cousins Sheila, Edmund, Louis, Peter, Gell, Sydney, Vibert, Myrvin, Anson, Ralph, Back Legg, Ralph Moore, Sue-Bow I really enjoyed going aback with them. A huge amount of me, pass into oblivion – when folks I know make the transition to ancestor.

All I am really trying to say is - Sancho is about survival, the survival of a people against overwhelming odds, and the survival of a people amid the adversities of life.

I consider and acknowledge each one of us as the extension of those Sanchos. I regret they are no longer with us for the simple reason – they would know a lot more of themselves than those of us currently alive know of them and others associated with them.

I am foremost a truth seeker. Sanchos do not need Alex Haley; Sanchos need only the truth. It is then in the interest of accuracy and knowledge of self, I ask the questions. I require the information not for personal use but to ascertain who is and who is not Sancho. The older generations it seems called every soul; relative, now it’s up to us the living to identify the blood relatives. The Black life and culture has its pros and icons.

A committed effort must be undertaken to determine who has the Sancho blood flowing in their veins.

This is no easy task for folks called each other cousins for so many years in the rural areas, it really is a painstaking to establish who and or how the relationship if any occurred in the first place.

Examining the Alexander and Rachel Sancho family and the extended family, I noticed folks, who are related to Rachel Campbell, often claim to be related to Sancho. The task therefore is to identify these relatives and place them, where they rightfully belong.

That’s the correct thing to do, as a matter of fact, the only thing to do in this situation.

Don’t snub Sony, Honor him, make Ramphal national hero

There are still to few Guyanese and others who are concerned with honest study and relating the issues of Guyana’s immediate soci-political history. A number of Guyanese suggested Shirdath Surendranath Ramphal should not be regarded as a national hero. This is indeed very sad commentary. It stamps upon Guyana the cliche "a good man is seldom honored in his own country"

Fellow Guyanese point to Sony Ramphal's ten years - 1965 to 1975 - tenure in service of the Forbes Burnham led People's National Congress government, as their paramount rationale for the rejection, of this esteemed scholar and international statesman. This led to a number of questions, including the following, Was Ramphal in wholehearted support of Burnham’s program of a social and political system organized around profit and exploitation for personal gain? Did Ramphal betray the Indian ethnic group of Guyanese by joining the Burnham Administration? Was Ramphal educating himself, with first hand knowledge, in pursuit of a crusade of international solidarity? Is the real culprit, Ramphal’s ideological differences, with the now revered Cheddie Jagan, a man neither of Ramphal’s elk nor class, a reason?

If it is the Ramphal produced Burnham dictated constitution of Guyana, which is the primary reason the practitioners of hindsight concluded indicated Ramphal's a crook and or a hypocrite, then let's turn our attention to others of the ruling class, who governed using the same constitution. What does that make them? I am curious to learn how the careers of the following are perceived by Guyanese, today; Sugrim Singh, Ayube Edun, Jai Narine Singh, Bechu, Verasammy Mudaliar, Joseph Rohomon, E.V. Luckhoo, Lionel Luckhoo, H.B. Gajraj, R. B. Gajraj, J. A. Veersawmy, Dr. Joseph P. Latchmansingh, Ramkarran, Randy Chandisingh, Brindley Benn, W.O.R ‘Rudy’ Kendall and Doc. Denbow.

Whatever their concocted rationale does not hold water. The quote - "show me your company and I’ll tell who you are" that’s a blanket statement and is not always the fact. The book of Genesis 39:41:41-57; gives an account of Joseph, son of Jacob by Rachel. The Biblical Joseph dwelled in Egypt and was employed by Pharaoh, served Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, and was made overseer in Potiphar’s house. The Pharaoh made Joseph, the greatest in the Egypt. Joseph was not contaminated, with all the evil, which surrounded him. So it is with Ramphal.

Guyana’s social and political history has to reflect the truth; thus a man such as Ramphal Guyanese cannot afford to ignore. Ramphal’s a tireless intellectual and an orator of social truths. Ramphal's a man of national, regional and international solidarity of the human race. Ramphal stands on his record as a world statesman, prior to that as a mover, shaker and shaper of the "West Indian Federation". Thus its quite obvious Sonny Ramphal is about national unity, more so regional - West Indian - and international unity.



Shirdath Surendranath Ramphal popularly known as Sony Ramphal is numbered among the best intellectuals and scholars of the twentieth century. Ramphal, born in New Amsterdam and his credentials, indicate, perhaps the best of Berbice, is most certainly a national hero.

Guyanese concerned with the thought process of those who wallow and seek to tarnish the reputation of this very fine human being, must also be committed to the revelation of truth, eradication of Mass ignorance and the promotion of solidarity among all classes and ethnicity of the peoples of Guyana. It is only fitting Ramphal be made a National hero. Unless there’s ample evidence beyond a shadow of a doubt, implying Ramphal’s a man who does not practice what he has lectured and written. I call upon all Guyanese, to make every effort to ensure, Ramphal, so honored in so many countries across the globe, be made a national hero, in the land of his birth; that’s the only fitting honor for Ramphal.

Burnham's selfishness, considered and labeled by Guyanese and others as a betrayal of the masses of Guyanese people started, without Ramphal, and continued without him. Thus a man such as Burnham would more than likely employ any able-bodied soldier to accomplish whatever Ramphal did during his tenure within the People’s National Congress. History has revealed this experience, to be the fact of the situation.

There’s neither rhyme nor reason why Ramphal is not yet made a national hero of Guyana. Are Guyana and Guyanese waiting for Ramphal’s death? Only, then to call him what he really is; a very good man. Then bestow honors upon him. Fellow Guyanese that would amount to a crying shame, for there’s ample time to do so now while Ramphal’s alive.

Make the effort, make every effort, think for your self, examine the works of Ramphal, let that be your responsibility, that will guide your conclusions rather than blindly accepting whatever you’re told by family, friends, or the cultural heritage which defined your character, your existence.



Ramphal filled a void, an immense void, and the degree to which Ramphal succeeded disclosed the great dimensions of the man. Ramphal with scholarly dedication, a devoted attacker of injustice and a defender of freedom. Ramphal’s massive contributions to Guyana, the British West Indian Federation, and the British Common Wealth of Nations and to the world as a whole can neither be buried nor silenced.

Ramphal is similar to the great traveler in many ways but the mere fact both chose to reside beyond the boundaries of the countries they call home is indeed very telling - an indictment of the political atmosphere in Guyana. A blind man can construe that fact.

Ramphal's achievements and life's work, although monumental is neither quite Imhotep nor Yuzu Asaf (Jesus Christ), but, however, certainly measure comparatively and favorably with heroes such as the following, Malcolm X of USA via Grenada, Schomburg of USA via Puerto Rico, Campos of Puerto Rico, Butler of Trinidad and Tobago via Grenada, Marryshow of Grenada, Critchlow and Rodney of Guyana, N'Krumah of Ghana, Sankara of Burkina Faso, Douglass of USA, John Locke and Dr. Samuel Johnson of Great Britain, and Gandhi and Tagore of India. Ramphal is the most widely honored Guyanese and rightly so, I might add.

The proposition that Ramphal is a crook and he betrayed the Indian Diaspora is perhaps as perplexing as it outlandish as - Jesus Christ dying upon a cross - the European Christians scenario painted, presented and willed upon millions, even billions of human beings. The illusionist conjured and circulating theory is perturbing. I evocate in plain, vivid English language, neither did Jesus Christ die upon a cross nor Ramphal betray the Indian Diaspora. The intention is not to diminish the contributions Critchlow, Kwayana and Rodney made to the Guyanese society, but to emphasize and to promote, the fact Sony Ramphal is worthy of the status of national, regional and international hero.

Global Historical Society of Sanchos

Welcome to the Global Historical Society of Sanchos!

The Global Historical Society of Sanchos, an organization primarily founded and dedicated with the express purpose,

To facilitate a forum whereby the children of Sancho, their friends, associates and acquaintances, can articulate, and communicate on the subject; Sancho.

To obtain scientific evidence, connecting Bentinck, John and Lambert Tuckness Sancho and their descendants to 'the extra ordinary talented and self educated', literary 18th century London, Black man of letters and arts, Ignatius Sancho.

To investigate all avenues, and all sources, to locate, to research and to document, all information and the sources of information, to connect, all Sanchos, primarily the descendants of Bentinck, John and Lambert Tuckness Sancho.

To honor and to promote, the lives and the works, their contributions to society, of all Sanchos, their friends and associates, preferably while the deserving is alive.

To foster meaningful relationships with groups, intellectuals, individuals, institutions, media and academic communities, across and beyond all boundaries, with vested interest in Sancho, bearing in mind, the opinions and the interests of the descendants of Sancho.



The Sancho Family Surviving Story

The information that has survived, via the Black oral traditions states, in the era of the British slave emancipation and

Apprenticeship, three Black men, born in London, biological brothers named John, Bentinck, and Lambert Tuckness Sancho, left England, and in 1838, arrived in colonial British Guiana.

The three Sancho brothers settled, for a while in the Golden Grove-Nabaclis area, on the East Coast of Demerara. The Sanchos were employed in the sugar industry, at Enmore. The three Sanchos were among a number of persons who purchased the plantations Golden Grove, Nabaclis and Belfield.

A forefather, born to enslaved parents, on a slave ship on it's way to the West Indies. The child, at a very young age, was taken from the West Indies to England and there was raised by three white women.

An atmosphere, of women related problems, led John Sancho to abandon British Guiana. It is understood, he made it to Grenada and there, lived a settled life. I'm of the opinion Sanchos of Trinidad and Grenada, are principally his descendants.

Bentinck Sancho left Demerara, and it is accepted he resided in the Canje river valley, a region, in Berbice, perhaps Cumberland. The opinion is Sanchos of Berbice and Surinam are his descendants.

How did my ancestor and his brothers in 1838 obtain the finance to necessitate their journey to British Guiana?

Perspective
It is certainly reasonable to assume given the available information that is was the only black man speaking English language, named Sancho and living in the first half of the eighteenth century in England.
Inquiring minds would like to know, can you with all the means available, or at your disposal, explain, how in 1838 some 58 years after the death of Ignatius Sancho, three black men, biological brothers, Bentick, John, and Tuckiness Sancho, could not only travel to British Guiana but on their arrival in the colony purchased vast amount of land. In the area of the East Coast of Demerara, now known as Golden Grove, Nabaclis, Haslington and Belfield?
How can three brothers Bentick, John, and Tuckiness Sancho be born and lived in London in the first half of the nineteenth century and not be related to Ignatius Sancho?
Have encountered other black people named sancho with an English history background that predates 1838,that were not related to Ignatius Sancho?

How could bits of information such as being born on a slave ship, taken to England and raised by three women be part of the Sancho family oral tradition in Guyana, if Ignatius were not their forefather?
What is the likelihood there were no other groups of black people names Sancho living in England, without a Latin or Hispanic connection?

Does Decline Make Sense?
The West Indian Economy and the Abolition of the British Slave Trade

David Beck Ryden
[Figures]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One of the most lively and long-lived historical controversies centers on the causes of British anti-slavery policies during the first years of the nineteenth century. Participants in this debate dispute whether the health of the West Indian sugar industry had any impact on the decision to abolish the slave trade in 1807. Advocates of what is commonly referred to as the "Decline Thesis" believe that slavery's faltering profitability mandated abolition, whereas the opposition tends to reject the very notion of economic hardship in the West Indies. Recent historians tend to fall into this latter camp, their research focusing on how social and cultural changes within England provided a fertile environment for reform movements to flourish. This line of thought argues that the industrialization of Britain introduced new systems of production, trade, and politics that fostered the emergence of the anti-slavery movement as the major philanthropic agenda of the day. Despite these two differing opinions regarding the fundamental cause of Britain's first major assault on slavery, both positions have relied upon economic theory and application to bolster their points of view.

New evidence presented in this article resurrects the argument that planters were facing rapid decline at the turn of the nineteenth century. Both sugar prices and estimated slave prices culled from the Jamaica Archives confirm the contemporary commentary that outlines the problem of "overproduction," which [End Page 347] led to a financial crisis among British planters on the eve of the slave trade's abolition. Previous studies have ignored both variations in transport costs and the runaway inflation of the late- eighteenth century, creating an overoptimistic portrait of planters' prospects and erroneously eliminating the role of West Indies from the abolition equation.

the rise and fall of the decline thesisIn the mid-twentieth century, the most popular explanation of the slave trade's demise came from the Manichean model of world history purveyed by Clarkson--the first chronicler of British abolition and an active participant in the fight to destroy the trade. The "Clarksonian" point of view pictured abolition as the consequence of a divinely guided confluence of Christian thinkers toward social change within the empire, as his diagram, reproduced in Figure 1, illustrates. 1

Clarkson's story of Christian progress remained the conventional interpretation of abolition a century after the publication of his history. Coupland, the pre-eminent early-twentieth-century scholar of British anti-slavery, echoed much of Clarkson's sentiment in his account of the movement, though he saw the struggle not between good and evil but between morality and national self-interest. According to Coupland, the slave system was a "necessity" for Britain after the loss of the North American colonies. Upon surveying "what was left of the old Empire," Parliament chose to follow a policy that protected the status quo of all economic arrangements, including that of West Indian black-white relations and the slave trade. Subsequently, the early anti-slave-trade campaigners became persona non grata in the eyes of the establishment. Coupland interpreted the eventual success of the movement as a tribute to the single-mindedness of the abolitionist "Saints" to raise public consciousness above the nation's economic-self interest. 2 [End Page 348]

Williams' seminal book, Capitalism and Slavery, viciously attacked Coupland and other followers of the Clarksonian tradition, claiming that they "sacrificed scholarship to sentimentality and . . . placed faith before reason and evidence." In Williams' view, Anglo researchers had neglected to investigate the possibility of more worldly and structural causes of slavery's destruction. Williams explained [End Page 349] that previous studies had artificially inflated the importance of the sugar industry in order to glorify the achievement of the abolitionists, thereby failing to recognize the underlying materialist causes behind the prohibition of slave trading. Earlier historians missed the fact that the new capitalistic economy had no need for the arcane labor system of slavery. The success of British free trade following the American Revolution, coupled with the publication of Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations (Glasgow, 1776), exposed the fact that the riches generated by the mercantilist system were actually a fiction on the empire's balance sheet. Furthermore, a decline in both the importance and profitability of the sugar industry made the slave system an outdated mode of production in a burgeoning capitalistic economy. The cessation of the British slave trade had little to do with the evangelical abolitionist movement in Britain and everything to do with the faltering profitability and political influence of West Indian sugar producers. 3

Capitalism and Slavery's narrative is a precursor of the world system model of economic development that Karl Marx inspired; the early portion of the book links Britain's wealth to the exploitation of the world's lesser-developed economies. Nevertheless, the heart of Williams' argument that connects abolition and economic decline is based on a neoclassical economic theory. Based on Ragatz's The Fall of the Planter Class, Capitalism and Slavery maintains that the first planters enjoyed tremendous profits because they were early entrants into an industry that was situated to enjoy a long-term rise in demand. The early slaveholders had not only the best soils in the British West Indies but also the protection afforded by the Navigation Acts, which guaranteed high sugar prices and exclusive trading privileges with North American suppliers. Whether by design or by good fortune, the first sugar growers in Barbados, Jamaica, and the smaller sugar islands amassed huge fortunes throughout the 100 years after 1650. 4

This trade policy, however, could not protect British sugar [End Page 350] growers from increasing competition within the empire. Ragatz suggested that the first blow came at the end of the Seven Years' War, when Britain was poised to expand its Caribbean holdings. Established planters lobbied hard against Britain's acquisition of additional sugar islands during the Peace of Paris. They were successful in keeping Guadeloupe and Martinique under French rule, but they could not prevent the cession of Grenada, the Grenadines, Dominica, St. Vincent, and Tobago to British rule. These new islands with their fresh soil helped to accelerate Britain's expanding sugar economy. McCusker estimates that between 1750 and 1775, British West Indian production more than doubled; the contribution of the ceded islands enhanced production by 20 percent. Grenada alone exported, on average, 12,000 hogsheads per year (a hogshead being roughly 1700 lb during this period) to England after 1770. 5

North American revolutionary politics intensified planters' economic pressures. The American Revolution created a short-term crisis that, in Williams' words, introduced "the first stage in the decline of the sugar colonies." During this period, planters were "entirely cut off from usual Supplies from America." Food, in particular, became scarce, and slaves suffered the worst consequences. Williams highlighted the financial crisis that ensued by noting the high mortality rate of slaves during the Revolution. In Jamaica, 15,000 of them died of famine between 1780 and 1787. This catastrophe was even greater in the Leeward Islands and in Barbados, where the majority of fields were devoted exclusively to sugar production, leaving planters unable to use locally grown provisions to feed their workers. When prices for such goods as flour, Indian corn, and salted meats doubled during the hostilities, most estate owners had to call a moratorium on slavery's century-long expansion. Planter interest in slavery waned during the Revolution, and during the first year of warfare, slave traders were forced to sail from island to island with little hope of selling their cargo, despite low prices. 6

For Williams, the importance of the Revolution lay not in its [End Page 351] short-term effect, but in how it revealed the inherent weakness of the crumbling mercantilist system and the artificiality of West Indian wealth. The Williams' thesis claims that slavery did not come to an end because of humanitarian or spiritual reform but because of its association with an arcane system of labor that encouraged sugar output to be in excess of demand. The net wealth and profits generated from the Caribbean sugar industry were no longer critical to the empire's economy. Williams accordingly advised researchers to describe facts in ways "that you can touch and see, to be measured in pounds sterling or pounds avoirdupois, in dollars and cents, yards, feet and inches," rather than in moral or spiritual terms. 7

This call for empiricism did not go unheeded. Ironically, many subsequent economic and quantitative studies were highly critical of Capitalism and Slavery. Drescher, the book's most prominent critic, attacked Williams by questioning the basis for the decline narrative. He argued that slavery was hardly a moribund institution in the years following the American Revolution. He measured the dynamism of the sugar industry by emphasizing the elasticity in the supply of African slaves and by demonstrating the ability of planters to increase sugar production during the fifty years preceding abolition. As the largest non- Continental trading partner with Britain, the British Caribbean's importance was increasing over time, as the graph in Figure 2 illustrates. Contrary to Williams, these data purport to show that the decision to end the slave trade was, in fact, economic suicide, or "Econocide," for Great Britain. 8

Since the publication of Drescher's Econocide, historiography [End Page 352] [Begin Page 354] has shifted to a neo-Clarksonian interpretation of abolition. Most historians have abandoned Williams' point entirely, eagerly drawing from Drescher's thesis that slavery was a vibrant institution that produced large financial returns to individual planters on the very eve of abolition. Their common theme is that abolition was not a policy decision to launch Britain into the new era of capitalism; it was the result of capitalism and the social changes that accompanied its development. Even economic historians tend to agree with this interpretation. They appreciate Capitalism and Slavery more for its political or radical historiographical message than for the specific content of its argument. 9

The widespread dismissal of the decline thesis may have been premature, for Drescher's economic analysis ignored a close study of sugar prices during the period of abolition. This same criticism, however, can also be directed toward those who drafted the decline thesis. Williams, like Drescher, turned to London-based prices that were first published in Ragatz's The Fall of the Planter Class (see Figure 3). Neither side in the debate paid much attention to these numbers, since no pattern was discernible in them. From the decline perspective, this price series makes little sense. The long-run increase that followed the low point just after the [End Page 354] American Revolution suggests that "overproduction" was not a problem among planters. Drescher capitalized on this omission, tersely noting that the final decade of the eighteenth century was "overwhelmingly favorable to producers." This brief reference, however, is the limit of Drescher's exploration of sugar prices. The general reticence is probably an implicit recognition of the limitations of British price data: The figures that Ragatz, Williams, and Drescher marshaled tell more about changing shipping charges than variations in sugar revenues. Contemporary writers who analyzed the financial prospects of planters, as well as the planters themselves, recognized the bias inherent in British prices [End Page 355] and typically turned to colonial "spot" prices or estimated values net of shipping costs. 10

THE FREIGHT RATE EFFECT ON SUGAR PRICES Much of the large body of literature that outlines changes in transport costs during the colonial period heralds the accomplishments and acumen of the merchants and sailors who reduced long-run costs by designing new trade routes and methods of marketing. The subsequent long-term decline in shipping charges during the seventeenth century provided a vent for surplus American crops, thereby providing the basis of economic growth in the colonies. Most important to the efficiency gains was the establishment of shipping lanes that were free from molestation by pirates, privateers, or ships of war. These gains disappeared, however, during the half-century preceding the abolition of the slave trade when the French and Indian War, the American Revolution, the French Revolution, and the Napoleonic Wars placed a frequent and heavy burden on all parties to Atlantic shipping--including consumers who faced higher prices on imported goods--for twenty-five years. 11

Naval warfare was particularly burdensome for Caribbean staple producers; it made even the smallest aspects of sugar marketing expensive. Lumber shortages during the American Revolution, for instance, caused the cost of sugar and rum casks to rise dramatically. [End Page 356] The major increase in the cost of ocean shipping was particularly acute in the Caribbean, where French and British sugar islands were in close proximity. 12

Although we know little about the exact charges for freight and insurance after 1750, there is research that clearly illustrates the effect that wars had on shipping costs. Morgan's work on the Bristol trade reveals one extra expense that merchants had to assume was the installation of deck cannon. During the Seven Years' War, the number of them that merchant vessels sailing to Jamaica had to carry more than doubled. Soon after the fighting ceased, the freight tons per gun increased nearly six times, only to fall sharply again during the American Revolution. This pattern is also reflected in crew wages, since the sailors needed to man these weapons had to increase during wartime. The burden of carrying more weapons and men was compounded by the fact that merchant vessels were also forced to move in convoys, thereby negating the century-long gains in limiting "turn-around" times in port. This safety-in-numbers approach also caused delays and created inefficiencies by eliminating the flexibility enjoyed by merchants in peacetime. 13

Warfare produced high anxiety among absentee planters, who often had to wait months to learn whether their West Indian agents had successfully secured deck space for the season's muscovado and rum output. Thomas Hall, an owner of a Jamaican estate, instructed his manager to do everything possible to ensure shipment of his crop: "I beg ye will Ship me all the Sugars you can, if no Ships belonging to Msr Holme & Co. will be ready to sail by this 1st Convoy, you are in that case to Ship on board such Ships for London as you can be assured will Sail." 14

These same tensions are expressed by those who managed the estates. The attorney for an estate in the parish of St. Andrew, Jamaica, [End Page 357] wrote to the absent owner in 1778, "it is imagined there will be at least one third of the crop left in the island," adding bitterly that "even at Kingston it is a favor to get the Captains to take your sugars on board." He, as well as other estate attorneys and managers knew that the few merchant ships plying the Caribbean Sea had the upper hand in the island markets. What he did not acknowledge, but in all likelihood knew, was that vessels sailing during wartime bore an enormous risk and extra costs that had to be offset by higher freight charges. 15

The American Revolutionary era was particularly difficult for commercial shipping. Not only were traders forced to raise rates to pay for extra armaments and crew, but wartime demands also bid up shipping rates indirectly. As was customary during wartime, the admiralty formed a board of trade responsible for securing ships from private merchants. The Crown required more than 1,500 ships to ferry nearly 70,000 troops, plus their supplies, across the Atlantic at a cost between £500,000 and £1,000,000 per year--an enormous sum given that the peak value of eighteenth-century exports from Great Britain to the thirteen colonies was less than £5,000,000. This war-induced demand meant that shipping all commodities from the Americas became more ex-pensive. 16

The heavy demand war placed on the shipping industry was exacerbated by the fact that merchants and traders faced shortages in the supply of vessels. Great Britain's merchant marine increasingly relied on colonial shipyards in New England, New York, and Philadelphia during the eighteenth century. By 1776, one- third of England's ships were built in North American yards specializing in ships that were 30 percent less expensive than vessels built in Great Britain. To make up for the deficiency in tonnage during the war, British traders had to turn to high-priced ship builders in Flanders, Portugal, and even Italy. 17

Changes in British wholesale prices of American-grown commodities, such as sugar, tended to reflect the adverse conditions [End Page 358] of trade and not the fortunes of the commodities' producers. In certain industries, producers theoretically bear the burden of transport costs; in others, consumers have to pay higher prices. If the costs of shipping were shared equally, the rising London prices noted by Ragatz, Williams, and Drescher might actually have indicated flagging prospects for planters. Likewise, a fall in British prices during times of peace might have signaled a rise in planter revenue per barrel of sugar. A solution to this problem is to turn to West Indian prices. According to efficient market theory, the price of sugar purchased in the islands should be net of the costs and the risks associated with transporting the sugars to the metropolis. If ship captains did not expect to make a fair return on sugar purchases in the Caribbean, they generally would not strike a deal. Likewise, if overseers, owners, or estate managers could make a better return by arranging for merchants in England to handle their product rather than meeting ship captains' prices, they would refuse to do business with the shippers. Thus, sale prices made in the West Indies reflect, on average, the revenue that planters expected to receive net of shipping charges. 18

THE INFLATIONARY EFFECT ON SUGAR PRICES Warfare on the high seas had an inflationary impact that was not limited to sugar. Just as hostilities with the French made seafaring more difficult in the Caribbean, it also raised the prices of all imported goods. Moreover, the huge expenditures by the British government to fund its army and navy created inflation throughout the economy. Planters, like any other manufacturers had to receive higher prices for their sugar or increase the number of sales if they were to maintain the same level of real income. Ragatz, Williams, and Drescher ignored the implication of wartime inflation during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

Schumpeter empirically described the inflationary effects that eighteenth-century warfare had on the English economy more that fifty years ago. Not only did she construct the most widely used price index for the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; her work also provides a solid analysis of price movements. She framed her discussion of prices in Keynesian terms, noting the real [End Page 359] and monetary effect that Britain's hostility with France had on the economy. The government's massive expenditures--for such things as armaments, ships, rope, canvas, clothing, and food--injected money into the pocketbooks of owners and workers, who, in turn, used it to purchase other producer and consumer goods, thereby setting in motion a multiplier effect that bid up virtually all prices and wages in the empire's economy. 19

Schumpeter also described how government borrowing was "especially important" for funding the Seven Years' War, the struggle against the American Revolution, and the first part of the Napoleonic war (1793-1802). The unfunded debt, or short-term obligations, used by various departments of government--in the form of tallies, exchequer orders, exchequer bills, navy bills, or army bills--were either circulated by recipients as credit or redeemed by the Bank of England in exchange for a bank note. In either case, as the volume of credit, or money, increased, the value of the currency declined. Labor, understanding that the nominal value of the shilling had fallen, demanded higher nominal wages. Likewise, producers, merchants, and capitalists realized that they too should raise their prices to match the decreased value of money. 20

The wars of the late-eighteenth century required increases in the public debt that pushed up nominal prices, but the final decade of that century placed the heaviest burden on the British government. Expenditures to prepare for war were nearly ten times that of expenditures on debt, though the interest and management of the public debt was at an all time high in 1797. MacCulloch, a nineteenth-century observer, commented that the crisis was due to a number of factors, including "loans to the Emperor of Germany, to bills drawn on the treasury by the British agents abroad, and partly and chiefly, perhaps, to the large advances made by the Bank of England to Government." These advances grew so large that rumors about the French preparing to invade Great Britain sparked a run, first, on small country banks and then on the Bank [End Page 360] of England. The Privy Council responded by "suspend[ing] payments in cash at the Bank" until the instability was rectified. But instead of returning to a bullion-backed Bank note, the government kept the restrictions in place. Thus, the Bank made "large advances to Government, without subjecting herself to a drain for bullion" until six months after peace with the French. 21

The runaway inflation accompanying the policies of the late eighteenth century masked the fluctuations of the real price of sugar in the series used by both Ragatz and Drescher. Planters were painfully aware of inflation's effect. One West Indian agent in the early nineteenth century reported that prices for "British produce and manufactures . . . [were] 100 per cent. more than they [were] twenty years ago." 22

British sugar prices are not the most accurate measure of planter revenues. Properly deflated prices from the West Indies, unlike the series in Figure 3 show estimates that are net of the influence of shipping costs during wartime. Furthermore, after proper deflation according to Schumpeter's index, these figures are also net of the inflationary pressures associated with Britain's preparation for warfare. These data reveal a long-run decline in prices during the eighteenth century. This fall was particularly acute during the years following the brief rise in prices during the Haitian Revolution. Nominal sugar prices could not keep up with the runaway inflation of the 1790s and the 1800s.

REAL MUSCOVADO SUGAR PRICES FROM JAMAICA There were two basic financial vehicles for exporting sugar from the West Indies. In the eighteenth century, most sugars were shipped from the islands via the consignment system. Planters typically demanded tight control over the distribution of their sugar and took financial responsibility for the shipment of their produce. Rather than selling [End Page 361] their sugar in the West Indies to a British merchant, they frequently consigned some proportion of the year's crop to an agent in Britain who would be responsible for chartering vessels, receiving the shipment, paying the duties, and warehousing any sugars that the planter wanted to hold for speculative purposes. The return for these services was a sales commission as well as additional commissions for a miscellany of services related to supplying the plantation.

Although this consignment system dominated the trade, it was not uncommon for sugars to be sold to merchants who accepted the risk of transporting and marketing the sugars "on their own Account." Most notable were the merchants from Britain's "Out-Ports [who were] wholly excluded from that lucrative" consignment commerce. Merchants outside of London typically directed their shipmasters or agents in the West Indies to purchase sugar directly from planters. Merchants in Bristol were particularly active in Jamaica's local sugar market, sending representatives to the island to direct their business or dispatching shipmasters, or supercargoes, to fill the holds of their vessels by making a series of purchases. 23

A great number of eighteenth-century Jamaican sugar sales were recorded in documents known as "crop accounts"--a compilation of thousands of plantation records that "contain all the Rents, Issues, Profits, Proceeds and Produce" from hundreds of estates. Local law mandated that these figures be collected in order to prevent "frauds and Breaches of Trust by [the owner's] attorneys or agents." If an estate owner was an absentee, a woman, a child, or an invalid, the law required that the plantation manager keep close account of the estate's production and appear before a magistrate during the cane-cutting months to declare the year's produce. The amount of detail in their reports varied greatly. Some managers swore to the accuracy of records that listed the output simply in terms of containers filled; others enumerated ships, agents, and sometimes, in the case of local sales, prices received. These documents were subsequently recorded and housed by the island government. 24 [End Page 362]

Local sales took place in every parish of Jamaica, but the crop accounts from the western parish of Westmoreland contain a significant number of "on-the-spot" transactions. Although this region may indeed have sustained a greater volume of sales than other parts of the colony, it might just have had better bookkeeping. There is some evidence that local attorneys there may have demanded unusual detail in crop accounts. The records of Westmoreland follow a consistent yearly format about how the crop was allocated.

Savanna-la-Mar, the port city for Westmoreland, was the "metropolis" of the western parishes. Sixty to seventy vessels, a total of nearly 12,000 tons, entered and cleared the port each year. The town's leeward location allowed merchant ships easy access to the harbor to purchase more sugar to fill their holds before proceeding to Britain. During times of war, Westmoreland's importance was enhanced by the proximity of Bluefields Bay, which served as a point of "constant rendezvous . . . for the homeward-bound fleets and convoys, intending to steer by the way of Florida Gulph." 25

Although carved out of St. Elizabeth in 1703, the parish is considered one of Jamaica's "early" settlements. Its heritage and its excellence in growing sugarcane help to explain the sophistication of the local traders and the importance of the region as a trade center. For a southern parish, its flat coastal land was unusually well watered, and the soil was far from depleted.

The majority of the West Indian prices collected herein come from Westmoreland, covering the period between 1760 and 1807. Data for the period 1753 to 1759 derive from miscellaneous crop accounts compiled in various parishes. Figure 3illustrates the late-eighteenth century trend of real prices in a three-year moving average. A comparison of these local figures with prices in Britain shows that during wartime, the price differential increased by 4 shillings, 8 pence per hundredweight. 26 [End Page 363]

Figure 4 shows that the long-run price of sugar, net of shipping costs and inflation, was in decline between 1750 and 1807. Contemporary qualitative reports confirm the high and low price ranges in general terms. This secular fall in the net value of sugar, however, is not, in itself, evidence of a decline in the viability of sugar estates. Nor is it a confirmation of the Williams thesis. A supply-side explanation might suggest that plantations were becoming less costly to operate during this period and that, given the competitive nature of the industry, the savings benefited consumers. During the second half of the eighteenth century, "A spirit of experiment . . . appeared, which by quitting the old beaten track, promis[ed] to strike out continual improvements." In Jamaica, the plow and new irrigation techniques contributed to higher total factor productivity. This ingenuity may explain the long-run fall, but it does not explain the intensity of the price drop after the peak during the 1790s. The 10.5-shilling fall between 1795 and 1807, more than 40 percent, cannot be explained away by a decrease in production costs. The introduction of Otheite cane--introduced to the West Indies at the end of the eighteenth century--failed to achieve proportional gains in output, and steam power had yet to be implemented to any significant extent. The steep fall in prices was the consequence of the planters' failure to recognize that their industry would no longer be propped up by mercantilist policy in an era of overproduction, under a classical free-trade regime. 27

OVERPRODUCTION AND THE INTRODUCTION OF A FREE MARKET In his attacks on the decline thesis, Drescher carefully avoided applying economic theory and data ahistorically. He steered clear of [End Page 364] epistemological entanglements by demonstrating that his trade statistics were available to, and discernible by, both the British public and the members of Parliament. His fundamental conclusion--that abolition caused the decline of the sugar industry, not vice versa--is evident in his aggregate export and import figures, [End Page 365] which show undeniably that British-West Indian trade was at its peak in 1807. However, Drescher's framework for discussing the decline thesis underestimated the sophistication of the contemporary discussion about the empire's economy. Whereas Drescher saw strength in the enormous growth in sugar production during the decade and a half before 1807, nineteenth-century critics and supporters of the sugar industry saw planters under siege by fierce international competition. 28

West Indian planters had always emphasized their industry's important contribution to the empire's wealth and prestige, claiming that their "peculiar commodity . . . helped to put in motion nearly the whole circle of [British] national industry." The bedrock on which their industry rested was the Navigation Acts, which ensured that any benefit from the manufacture, trade, or the distribution of sugar would accrue to Britons only, but also ensured that British consumers would consistently pay higher prices than their counterparts on the continent. Mercantilist theory, however, argued that the benefits enjoyed by Britain's economy outweighed any burdens. This situation persisted until the late 1790s, when British sugar producers found themselves in competition with non-British producers for the first time, and the Navigation Acts were no longer able to protect them. 29

In 1807, at least four major tracts were written about the crisis within the sugar economy. Three of the pamphlete
Journal of Interdisciplinary History 31.3 (2001) 347-374

Seven Amazing Days in the Life of Eze A. Ogueri (the second) Compiled by the league of Coloured People British Guiana ([Publishers]House of Edinboro, Boston Mass).


Dedicated to all Peoples of all Races who cherished human dignity and the brotherhood of man.

Ralph J Bunche introduced Eze to John Carter

Page 31

Officers of British Guiana League of Coloured People 27 Dec 1950

President -Dr. Denbow

Vice- President - R.B.O. Hart

Secretary - John Carter

C. M. L. John,

Louis Don Deveaux;

The consul of the Republics of Haiti and Panama.

30 December 1950 Saturday - Eze A. Ogueri visited Golden Grove East Cost Demerara The greeting follows

"Long removed from our native shores and bereft of all cultural connections. We yet have the capacity and yearning for African culture. We therefore regard you as an ambassador of good will in whose train will follow a reestablishment of those ties that have so long been severed.

Please convey to your people our greetings and good will. Tell them that though we love the land that sustains us, the judgement hour must first be high. Ere! Africa our motherland shall vanish from our souls.

Long will we cherish the memory of this visit and hold today a red-letter day? May Almighty God prosper you to conclude your studies and to return to uplift your people, that they may maintain their rightful place among the self respecting, respectable and respected people of the earth.

Headline Acting President Praises Denbows by Lennox George

Sub heading: Mrs. D 95, Shining Example

Born 30 July 1880 photographed with acting president Edward Luckhoo Guyana Chronicle Newspapers August 3, 1975, celebrated her birthdate on the prior Wednesday.

5 Children: Gwendolyn Omallo, Claude Denbow, Dental Surgeon; Frank Denbow, Public Servant; Nora Liverpool, and Phyllis Crawford; biology mistress at Christ Church Secondary School

8 Grand Children: Roderine Simmons, Chase Manhattan Bank NYC; Fairbain Liverpool, Sandhurst trained GDF Military Officer; Captain Ivor Crawford Guyana Airways Corporation; Dr. Louise Ann Liverpool, Senior Resident Harlem Hospital; Miss Sarah Crawford, Health Education Officer; Claude (jr.) Lawyer for the firm Cameroon & Sheppard, Dr. Frank (jr.) medical.

Claude and Edward Luckhoo attended Queens College in 1925. President of the league of Colored Peoples

Conversation with Cousin Derrick Roberts

I spoke with Derrick Roberts on Saturday - 5/17/2003 - I understand Limmie Sancho's legal name is Sarah Johnson. Limmie's mother had a least three daughters, the following; Sarah Johnson, Teasie Johnson, and Agnes Bastiani.

Derrick Roberts is unsure but believes Edmund Sancho fathered; Sarah, and Teasie Johnson.

Cousin Derrick Roberts does not think Agnes Bastiani is Edmund Sancho's child, but again he's not sure. Therefore the information needs to be fully investigated. Another relative - this time, Cousin Derrick Roberts suggested Leebert Sancho would know more about the Barnwell, Hughes, and Johnson connection to the Sancho family.

Teasie Johnson is the grand mother of Cecil and Megan Hughes. Teasie Johnson is also a fore-parent of Alice "Big Auntie" Barnwell, Kaneo Barnwell, and CainTop Barnwell. The Barnwell family resided in the following villages; Annadale, Beterverwagting, Buxton, and Triumph.

Sarah Johnson married Pirat Roberts - an the union issued three sons

Conversations with Louis, Venita, and Cora Sharper during the Weekend

I spoke with Louis, Venita and Cora Sharper - grand children of Edith Sancho-Sharper - during the weekend 5/17-18/2003.
Cora Sharper and I go along way back - our mothers are first cousins who acted more like sisters. It's overwhelming to just hear a Sharper's voice - I know its love - unconditional love. When they say Selwyn I love you I can not help myself - What a tear jerker - I simply let the tears fall where they may. Yes - Cora had me crying on Sunday - I miss the Sharper experience as much as I miss Muriel.
Fighting back the tears - I was told the Haywood family are part of the Luke family group - but Cora does not know how the Luke family is related to the Sancho family.
The really great news is Cora stated she's willing to do her utmost to obtain Sancho information in Guyana, but most particularly in the adopted ancestral home Golden Grove and Nabaclis. Sanchos must use this vehicle to obtain the needed data. I suggest Sancho send to Cora what's needed to be done in Guyana, immediately.