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Let's review some history of Jamaica from 1833 to 1854. Remember that William Bryan Hall copied the Family Register in 1845 and his family and the Patersons left in 1854. The complete abolition of slavery in Jamaica in 1838, the crash in sugar prices in 1848, and the cholera epidemic in 1850 meant that it was a good time to leave.
The following is an extract from a 1999 web site:
JAMAICAN HISTORY
In 1833 in May, the English Colonial
Secretary stated in the House of
Commons that all appeals to the
slave-holders had been made in vain, and
that the British nation must now, on its
own initiative, suppress slavery
in all the British Dominions. The
Abolition Act was passed on August 28.
It enacted that all children under six
years of age should be set free.
There was to be a six years’ period of
‘apprenticeship’ from 1834 to 1840,
after which every slave in the British
Empire should receive full freedom.
The British Parliament voted £20,000,000
as compensation to the
slave-holders in the Empire. Of this
amount, £5,853,975 was the share that
fell to the Jamaican slave-holders.
In 1834 the Marquis of Sligo arrived as
Governor. The apprenticeship
system began under him. On the 1st of
August, 1834, all the chapels and
churches in the island, except one or two churches in Kingston,
were
opened for Divine Service. These places
of worship were attended by
thousands of the people. On the
following Monday the ‘apprentices’ turned
out to work, except in the Parish of St.
Ann. In two or three other
parishes some minor disturbances
occurred later on. On the whole, it was
soon found that the apprenticeship
system was not working well. The
planters, angry that they had been
defeated in their struggle to maintain
slavery, inflicted numerous punishments
on the apprentices. Consequently
it was determined, by the British
Parliament in 1838, that the period of
apprenticeship should cease on the 1st
August, 1838.
In 1838, on August 1, there were
demonstrations throughout the island to
celebrate the first day of complete
freedom. In Spanish Town, the capital,
a hearse containing the chains and
shackles that were sometimes put on
rebellious slaves was driven through the
streets, and these symbols of
slavery were solemnly buried. There were
bonfires and feasting
every-where. Queen Victoria, who had
lately ascended the throne, was
blessed as the author of the people's
freedom.
But the troubles which had begun during the time of the
apprenticeship,
now became much worse. Many of the free
people did not wish to work for
the men who had once owned them. There
were complaints about the small
wage that the planters offered: it was
ninepence a day in a great many
instances. The planters, on the other
hand, were stern and angry. They
began to turn the people off their
lands. They destroyed the huts the
ex-slaves had lived in; they cut down
the fruit trees their former
labourers had planted. The result of the
ill-will on both sides and of the
planters’ lack of tact and patience was
that the labourers were estranged
from the estates. The people began to
buy land of their own. They were
helped with money that was sent out by
sympathetic people in England. Many
of them also squatted on land that
belonged to absent proprietors. The
planters cried out that they could not
get labour, and the sugar estates
began to go out of cultivation.
In 1839 Sir Charles Metcalfe succeeded
Sir Lionel Smith as Governor. In
this same year a drought began; and it
lasted till the Spring of 1841,
causing a great deal of loss and
distress.
In 1848, adopted the policy of Free
Trade, allowing goods from foreign
countries to enter the English market on
the same terms as goods from the
British colonies. In former days, sugar
from Cuba had paid a far heavier
duty in the English market than Jamaican
sugar. When this advantage was
lost, Jamaica could not compete with
Cuba and other foreign
sugar-producing countries, especially as
many of those countries
cultivated their estates by means of
slave labour. A crisis occurred in
Jamaica. The Planters’ Bank which had
helped the planters in need of ready
money, closed its doors, and the people
of the colony declared loudly that
the expenses of the Government would
have to be reduced. The financial
troubles continued for some time, but a still more serious
calamity was
approaching.
In 1850 Asiatic cholera made its
appearance in Jamaica. There was little
or no sanitation in the towns of Jamaica
at that time. Dwelling houses
were crowded; the yards were kept in a filthy condition; the
streets were
neglected, and refuse of every
description was allowed to rot in them. The
water for use in the city and towns was
often very impure. Cholera
therefore found this country an easy
victim and 32,000 people died during
the epidemic.
In 1852 smallpox broke out in Jamaica.
It also claimed a large number of
victims.
In 1853 Sir Henry Barkly arrived as
Governor. He inaugurated a change in
the Constitution under which Jamaicans,
including Edward Jordan, were
appointed to an executive committee.
Population had decreased, many
estates had gone out of cultivation, the
people were poverty-stricken,
revenue could not easily be raised and
there was no money in the Treasury.
The British Government was compelled to
lend Jamaica £500,000 to pay off
the debts that had accumulated.