Musings from the Merse
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Descendants
There are17500 plus images of 'Grenada' in Flickr- add 'Slavery' into the search engine and the only relevant picture is this. Given the great slave revolt of 1796 and how the original prosperity of Grenada ( profits mostly exported by the plantation owners to the UK) was based on sugar plantations this seems somewhat surprising unless there has been a concerted effort to obscure any record of those unhappy days. I mention this only in the context of the afternoon of Dance, Drama and Music' at Paxton House given by the London Youth Group 'Descendants' influenced as the flyer says 'by their Grenadian Heritage'. We have mentioned before the suitability of this afternoon's setting given the direct connection between the original owners of Paxton House and the sugar plantations of Grenada-an earlier owner: Nivian Home was deputy governor of Grenada and was killed in a slave revolt-possibly that of 1796.
Sadly this event has been very badly advertised. A few rather uninspiring flyers at the shop, a couple of uninformative notices giving little details (and those few being wrong as it is only today and not the whole 'weekend' for the performance) Why put it on and then try to bury it? Is someone somewhere (in the Paxton House Trust?) a bit nervous about drawing attention to the early days of Scotland's Finest Palladian Mansion?' And how much of it was subsidised by the income from sugar. And so what? That's part of our history. Recognise it, deplore it if you must and move on
Huttonian will however attend (2pm onwards) and will do his best to propogate a few images of the children' show.
Thanks to knautia for the picture-go o http://www.flickr.com/blog.gne
for more details
Sadly this event has been very badly advertised. A few rather uninspiring flyers at the shop, a couple of uninformative notices giving little details (and those few being wrong as it is only today and not the whole 'weekend' for the performance) Why put it on and then try to bury it? Is someone somewhere (in the Paxton House Trust?) a bit nervous about drawing attention to the early days of Scotland's Finest Palladian Mansion?' And how much of it was subsidised by the income from sugar. And so what? That's part of our history. Recognise it, deplore it if you must and move on
Huttonian will however attend (2pm onwards) and will do his best to propogate a few images of the children' show.
Thanks to knautia for the picture-go o http://www.flickr.com/blog.gne
for more details
Comments:
You might be interested in this previously published information on the infamous Ninian!
At the age of 19, Ninian (Jnr) left to join his uncle George in Culpeper Virginia who had emigrated in 1715 and owned land and plantations in Virginia. At this time black slave labour was imported by colonists from Africa to work on their plantations. It seems that the young Ninian learned his trade there, then, after a few years in St Kitts, became a sugar plantation owner in Grenada. The British colonists in the West Indies also imported their slave labour from Africa.
He made his fortune in Grenada and bought the unfinished Paxton House in 1775 from Patrick for £15000 (equivalent now about £750,000?), for his occasional visits to Scotland, and employed the Chippendale Co to furnish it.
Ninian (Jnr) was a major landowner in Grenada and was clearly very successful and was made Lieutenant Governor in 1792. However, he is described in one paper as a “tyrannical, jingoistic zealot who was responsible for the catastrophic events of 1795/96”.
In 1795, the black slave workers of Grenada revolted against the oppression of their British masters. The revolt lasted 18 months, caused the deaths of about 100 British settlers, almost lost one of the richest British colonies and resulted in the economic ruin of Grenada. Amongst those killed was Ninian (Jnr).
At the age of 19, Ninian (Jnr) left to join his uncle George in Culpeper Virginia who had emigrated in 1715 and owned land and plantations in Virginia. At this time black slave labour was imported by colonists from Africa to work on their plantations. It seems that the young Ninian learned his trade there, then, after a few years in St Kitts, became a sugar plantation owner in Grenada. The British colonists in the West Indies also imported their slave labour from Africa.
He made his fortune in Grenada and bought the unfinished Paxton House in 1775 from Patrick for £15000 (equivalent now about £750,000?), for his occasional visits to Scotland, and employed the Chippendale Co to furnish it.
Ninian (Jnr) was a major landowner in Grenada and was clearly very successful and was made Lieutenant Governor in 1792. However, he is described in one paper as a “tyrannical, jingoistic zealot who was responsible for the catastrophic events of 1795/96”.
In 1795, the black slave workers of Grenada revolted against the oppression of their British masters. The revolt lasted 18 months, caused the deaths of about 100 British settlers, almost lost one of the richest British colonies and resulted in the economic ruin of Grenada. Amongst those killed was Ninian (Jnr).
# posted by 
: 12:00 PM
: 12:00 PM
For the sake of historical accuracy it was the bloody French who instigated the slave revolt for their own devious ends! Doubtless the slaves needed little encouragement!
Thanks to another bloggee for this interesting account:
Fedon Rebellion was one of the most serious and devastating slave revolts to have occurred in a British West Indian colony. The Caribbean island of Grenada was second only to Jamaica in terms of wealth based on export values. This revolution nearly wrested a prize colony from Britain and plunged the island of Grenada into sixteen months of bitter conflict that left the island so devastated emergency grants had to be pumped from the Metropolitan government to stave off financial ruin. The Grenada uprising was part of a pan-Caribbean revolution that exploded across the region in the latter part of the 18th century: San Domingue, Jamaica, Guadeloupe, Dominica, St. Lucia, Martinique, St. Vincent and Trinidad. Perhaps just as, if not more, serious than financial ruin was the social destruction across ethnic, colour and class lines.
The root causes of this rebellion were the incendiary ingredients of race, ethnicity, colour and class and ultimately the perpetual drive for freedom. Lieutenant-Governor Ninian Home is the central figure in this Grenadian revolution alongside the rebel leader Julien Fédon. Both represent the polemics of the political, ethnic and nationalistic antagonisms within that society at the time. Home is portrayed as a tyrannical, jingoistic zealot - a figurehead of French white and coloured opprobrium -responsible for the catastrophic events of 1795-6. Research to date appears to corroborate this view alongside a society fractured sharply on ethnic lines. But how true is this representation? Was Grenadian society so rigidly stratified in social relations? Does Governor Home deserve the mantle as the lynchpin of popular hatred or were there other people, other factors, and other explanations for the sudden explosion of social and political revolution?
Publications:
Paper as part of the Julien Fédon Memorial Lecture Series 2002 (Grenada, April 2002) under the theme: "Julien Fedon's Revolution - Ethnic Alliances and Rivalries in Grenadian Plantation Society 1763-1800"
South Caribbean Islands
Governors-in-chief (also governors of Grenada)
1762 - 1764 George Scott
1764 Robert Melville (acting) (b. 1723 - d. 1809)
1764 - 1770 Ulysses FitzMaurice (1st time)
1770 - 1771 Robert Melville (2nd time) (s.a.)
1771 Ulysses FitzMaurice (2nd time)
1771 - 1775 William Leybourne (d. 1775)
1775 - 1776 .... (acting)
1776 William Young (d. 1788)
1776 - 1779 George Macartney, Baron Macartney (b. 1737 - d. 1806)
1779 - 1784 Vacant
1784 - 1785 Edward Mathew
1785 - 1787 William Lucas (acting)
1787 - 1788 Samuel Williams (acting)
1788 - 1789 James Campell (acting) (b. 1763 - d. 1819)
1789 – 17 Nov 1792 Samuel Williams (acting)
17 Nov 1792 - 1795 Ninian Home (d. 1795)
1795 Kenneth Francis Mackenzie
1795 - 1796 Samuel Mitchell (acting)
1796 - 30 Sep 1797 Alexander Houston
30 Sep 1797 - 1801 Charles Green
1801 - 1802 Samuel Dent (acting)
Post a Comment
Fedon Rebellion was one of the most serious and devastating slave revolts to have occurred in a British West Indian colony. The Caribbean island of Grenada was second only to Jamaica in terms of wealth based on export values. This revolution nearly wrested a prize colony from Britain and plunged the island of Grenada into sixteen months of bitter conflict that left the island so devastated emergency grants had to be pumped from the Metropolitan government to stave off financial ruin. The Grenada uprising was part of a pan-Caribbean revolution that exploded across the region in the latter part of the 18th century: San Domingue, Jamaica, Guadeloupe, Dominica, St. Lucia, Martinique, St. Vincent and Trinidad. Perhaps just as, if not more, serious than financial ruin was the social destruction across ethnic, colour and class lines.
The root causes of this rebellion were the incendiary ingredients of race, ethnicity, colour and class and ultimately the perpetual drive for freedom. Lieutenant-Governor Ninian Home is the central figure in this Grenadian revolution alongside the rebel leader Julien Fédon. Both represent the polemics of the political, ethnic and nationalistic antagonisms within that society at the time. Home is portrayed as a tyrannical, jingoistic zealot - a figurehead of French white and coloured opprobrium -responsible for the catastrophic events of 1795-6. Research to date appears to corroborate this view alongside a society fractured sharply on ethnic lines. But how true is this representation? Was Grenadian society so rigidly stratified in social relations? Does Governor Home deserve the mantle as the lynchpin of popular hatred or were there other people, other factors, and other explanations for the sudden explosion of social and political revolution?
Publications:
Paper as part of the Julien Fédon Memorial Lecture Series 2002 (Grenada, April 2002) under the theme: "Julien Fedon's Revolution - Ethnic Alliances and Rivalries in Grenadian Plantation Society 1763-1800"
South Caribbean Islands
Governors-in-chief (also governors of Grenada)
1762 - 1764 George Scott
1764 Robert Melville (acting) (b. 1723 - d. 1809)
1764 - 1770 Ulysses FitzMaurice (1st time)
1770 - 1771 Robert Melville (2nd time) (s.a.)
1771 Ulysses FitzMaurice (2nd time)
1771 - 1775 William Leybourne (d. 1775)
1775 - 1776 .... (acting)
1776 William Young (d. 1788)
1776 - 1779 George Macartney, Baron Macartney (b. 1737 - d. 1806)
1779 - 1784 Vacant
1784 - 1785 Edward Mathew
1785 - 1787 William Lucas (acting)
1787 - 1788 Samuel Williams (acting)
1788 - 1789 James Campell (acting) (b. 1763 - d. 1819)
1789 – 17 Nov 1792 Samuel Williams (acting)
17 Nov 1792 - 1795 Ninian Home (d. 1795)
1795 Kenneth Francis Mackenzie
1795 - 1796 Samuel Mitchell (acting)
1796 - 30 Sep 1797 Alexander Houston
30 Sep 1797 - 1801 Charles Green
1801 - 1802 Samuel Dent (acting)
