“The altered state of society” – St Kitts in 1839

An interesting newspaper article in a September 1839 issue of the St Christopher Gazette and Charibbean Courier reported that a petition had been submitted to the House of Commons in London, by an MP named Sir Stephen Lushington. Lushington (1782-1873) was the Oxford educated son of the chairman of the East India company, who was known to advocate for issues like both the abolition of slavery and capital punishment in the United Kingdom, civil rights for Jewish citizens, and the education of British West Indians of African ancestry. He played an important role in the funding of the Mico Schools in the Caribbean that trained young men of color to become teachers. My husband’s 2nd great grandfather, Richard Johnson Marshall of Antigua, was educated in a Mico school and sent to St Kitts to work as a school master.

The petition came from a group of men from the islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, and it urged that Queen Victoria’s government should begin to “meet the altered state of society and generally to improve the condition of the inhabitants of these islands”. What was the “altered state” the group referenced? Most likely they were talking about the recent abolition of slavery in the British West Indies, which had been implemented in a somewhat gradual way, starting with the transition of enslaved people to “apprentice” status in 1834, to full freedom in 1838. More specifically, the signers of the petition were discussing the right of people of all races to vote, as well as the ability to serve as legislators in the local assembly.

The newspaper article was clearly written by an author who was opposed to the inclusion of men of color in the St Kitts and Nevis legislature, specifically men of mixed racial backgrounds with European and African ancestry. The writer accused the petitioners of submitting their demands in a secretive way:

“…in fact most sinister things are done secretly; and as we will not call this petition a sinister thing, although we cannot pronounce it a good one, we say it was got up in the most quiet way in which a thing of the kind could be done.”

In an apparent effort to discredit the qualifications of the group, the names of thirty island men are listed, followed by a number of comments on taxes paid by the individuals and their backgrounds. Members of the assembly at that time were required to have either an income of forty pounds a year, or own forty acres of land, and the implication is clear that men who didn’t contribute sufficient taxes shouldn’t be given full rights of citizenship. The notes intended to question the men’s standing included:

• R. B. Cleghorn, “a special magistrate, editor of the Advertiser – lost his seat in the house of assembly for want of a qualification, consequently no freeholder”
• Rich. Challenger, “paying on an income of £240″
• W. Phipps, “keeper of the poor house, paid no tax”
• Jos. L. P. Taylor, “no freeholder – a merchant’s clerk – paying on an income of £100″
• J. W. Penchoen, “a non-descript”
• P. Upton Oke, “a schoolmaster sent out by the Wesleyan Missionary Society – no freeholder – a dabbler in politics – pays no tax”

The writer further states that two of the signers have since died, two cannot write, one is a jail keeper, and one named J. W. Maillard was a “poor afflicted pauper, living on the charity of the community”.

Ralph Brush Cleghorn was a prominent magistrate, assembly member, and advocate for the rights of free people of color in St Kitts. The surname Challenger is one I have written about in the past. Richard Challenger was the son of of Clement Challenger, a white property owner, and his housekeeper Hester Osborne. The schoolmaster who was written off as a political dabbler was Paul Upton Oke, a Methodist missionary from England who lived and worked for a time in St Kitts.

The accuracy of these public pronouncements has to be questioned, as a later issue of the newspaper published some corrections, including one regarding J. W. Maillard – another name in my husband’s family tree. This may have been John Walwyn Maillard, a mixed race man who is believed to have been the “natural” son of John Walwyn Maillard senior and his housekeeper. The correction stated that John Walwyn was not a signer, but the Maillard who actually did sign was Michael Maillard, a clerk in the custom house. Two other men on the list denied having signed the petition, including William Phipps, who insisted that it must have been someone else with the same name.

Sources

1. The History of Parliament: The House of Commons 1820-1832, Lushington, Stephen, edited by DR Fisher 2009
2. The Mico Foundation, The Lady Mico Trust
3. The National Archives, The 1833 Abolition of Slavery Act and compensation claims
4. Slavery & Abolition, Vol. 28, Ralph Brush Cleghorn of St Kitts (1804-1842, Edward Cox, 2007
5. National Archives of St Kitts and Nevis, Historic St Kitts, Challengers 2018
6. Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery, John Walwyn Maillard biography
7. Free coloreds in the slave societies of St. Kitts and Grenada, 1763-1833, Edward Cox, University of Tennessee Press, 1984