Jamaican Family Search Genealogy Research Library
CARIBBEANA VOLUME III Extracts
JAMAICA
The 2 Acts relating to the Church in Jamaica are at large in Wood's Laws of Jamaica, p. 77 et 362. No Surplice Fees. Testimonials of being in Orders to be exhibited and recorded in the Secretary's Office. No Ecclesiastical Law to establish Penal Mulcts.
Settlements, some of £150, others of £100 per annum and £50 more if the Justices and Vestry think fit. No salary to any incumbent longer than he officiates, except in case of sickness.
No Visitation since Mr. May was Commissary. Little Power left. Some Parishes distant 150 Miles. None to take care of Cures in Absence. Qy. whether any power to convene.
Governor requires not the Bp. of London's Licence, but presents any one lawfully ordained.
No provision for Service during Vacancies.
Beef, Mutton, Pork 7 1/2d pound. Veal and Lamb 12d per pound. Fowls from a Crown to 7s 6d ye pair.
Salt Beef, Butter, Fish, etc., Wearing apparel, Furniture, and all other things from Old and New England as dear again as in the places they come from.
Madeira Wine, which is mixt with Water, is the Common drink, from £18 to £34 per pipe. Ale and Cyder 2s 6d a bottle, by the dozen 12s or 15s.
As decent a figure for £100 in England as for £300 a year here.
I am but too sensible of the looseness of Men's Morals here, and of the growth of Irreligion and Profaneness.
I shall endeavour to discountenance all I can either its Increase or continuance, and give them no occasion of Stumbling by treading in any unguarded irregular
Tracts of my own.
Several of the Clergy appear to me very well qualified for the Strict Discharge of their Duties, and the exercise of all Religious Services. I have recommended to 'em all a due care of their Parishes, and a conscientious conducting of their Flocks, like good Shepherds, and, as there are some Vacancies of Incumbents at present, so I have recommended to the Bishop of London, from whom I had the Honour of receiving a Letter, inclos'd in your last, the providing such able men, as he shall find best qualified to supply those cures. His Lordship has my Answer by the same Ship that carries this.
The Governor or Capt. Genl. presents and inducts by Letters Patent, under the Broad Seal, to all Livings (Vide. State of Jamaica in the Preface to ye Laws, edition 1st), and by the Laws of Jamaica should present none to Benefices but such as are recommended by my Lord Bishop of London.
The Act of Council (23rd Feby. 1684) ratifying these Laws is to be seen in the preface to the Laws of Jamaica, Edition 1st, and is recorded in the Secretary's Office in Jamaica. But frequently the Governors have done otherwise, without the Bishop's recommendation. For instance, Mr. Wright was presented to St. Andrew's, when Minister of the Crown, Man-of-War, by Colonel Handasyde. Nay, one Mitchel, who had no orders at all, but counterfeit Letters, as from the Arch-Bishop of Dublin, was made Minister of Port Royal by Colonel Handasyde. Mr. Dun, likewise, was made Minister of Port Royal, who had fled from Virginia, for having three wives at one time. He was cast away, anno 1722, on Cape Corantes in a Man-of-War. His death was accompanied with the most exquisite torments, for, as the Purser of the Ship (who with several others was saved) told, one of the great guns in the Storm run across him, and crushed his legs and belly before the Ship struck. These and many other instances shew the necessity of the Bishop's recommendation, Letters Demissory, &c.
St.Catharin's. - Here is a very magnificent Church, rebuilt in my Lord Hamilton's Government, who contributed one hundred pounds towards it, and prevailed with the Council to give £50 each. It cost in all about £5000. Mr. Tabor the Minister of it was at much pains to see it elegantly built & furnished with fine ornaments & decoration. But the Statues of Moses and Aaron on each side of the Altar gave great offence, for several weak but well-meaning people would not approach the Altar for fear of bowing to those Images. The last Hurricane, August 28, 1722, flung them down, & broke their Noses and Arms; so they were removed into the Vestry Room, where it is wisht they may continue, for they were so gaudy that they occasioned a great avocation of the mind and desecration of thought in the time of Divine Worship, and great animosities among the people.
This Parish has a good Glebe with 4 or 5 Negroes belonging to it, and has been farmed out at £80 per annum.
The Mansion house is a very good one, built by the Spaniards. On our taking of the Island it was bestowed on one of Oliver's soldiers, who, finding that it formerly belonged to the Prior, in his last Will devised it to the Minister of the Church & his Successors. The house has a line Garden joining to it, mostly at Mr. Tabor's charge. It has in it a good number of exotick Plants, besides the most curious vegetables that grow upon the Island, & fig trees & Vines of the best sorts.
The Salary by Law is £200 per annum certain, & £50 more at the discretion of the Justices and Vestry, besides the perquisites for Christenings & Burials within the Chancel, at the rate of 10 for each person buried there.
The Minister at present is Mr. Scott, educated at Edinburgh in Scotland, a man of an unexceptionable character, thro'ly in the interest of the present Government, but unacceptable to the Duke of Portland and most of the people there on the account of his disagreeable voice and broad Scotch pronunciation.
Kingston. --Here is a good Church, pew'd with cedar, and a fine Altar piece with ornaments & several pieces of Plate. Here is no Glebe nor Mansion House. But, when they like their Minister, they allow him £40 per annum in lieu of a house, besides his yearly salary of £150 or £200, on the same proviso. The Minister at present is Mr. May, of an unexceptionable character, &c., Commissary to the late Bishop of London. The Sacrament here is administered 3 times a year, and there are about 50 or 60 that communicate. The burial Fees here are said to amount to £200 a year, or more.
St. Andrew's, Liguanea.-Here was a very fine small Church before the Hurricane, but much shattered then, and not yet repaired. It has a small organ, & an Organist to whom the Parish allows £50 a year. The Glebe land is 600 acres, by a Patent from King Charles the 2nd, and, provided the weather was seasonable, would turn to great account. But, these 7 or 8 years past, the weather has been so dry that most of the Tenants have delivered up their leases & gone into the mountains & other parts of the Island that are more seasonable. There is no Mansion House, but the Parish, when they like their Minister, allow him £40 per annum to provide him one. The salary is £100 per annum, and the perquisites about £50 more. Here was a School considerably endowed by the Gentlemen of the Parish about the year 1700, and, by Letters Patent under the Broad Seal, my Lord Bishop of London was one of the Governors, and had the nomination and appointment of the Masters. Mr. Moodie, Minister of Liguanea, was appointed School Master, and had two Ushers under him for two years. But the Parishioners not paying in their quota Mr. Moodie desisted, and, in fine, that pious and charitable endowment sunk. Colonel Handasyde turned the School into a Barracks for his soldiers, and soon after it was blown up with gunpowder. The School House, with two acres of land and one Negro, were given by Colonel Nicholas Laws, the late Governor. The Minister at present is Mr. Johnston, educated at Edinburgh in Scotland. He was at first Minister of Vere, where he lived 10 years & a half; afterwards was removed to Liguanea by my Lord Hamilton. While Mr. Johnston was Minister of Vere one Father Warren set up a Mass House there and a School. Mr. Johnston vigorously opposed him; and by application to my Lord Hamilton had him turned out of the Parish. But, by so doing, became obnoxious to the wrath of the papists and other disaffected persons in that Island, whom they traduced as a hot litigious man; and afterwards, at Liguanea, was maligned by others for maintaining the rights of his Church there against some great men that endeavoured to escheat it, & who actually had employ'd Mr. Arcedeckne, the King's Attorney, and five Lawyers more to oppose the Church's Right to the Glebe. Dr. Charles Lambe supplies the Cure for the space of 7 years, as per agreement approved of and signed by the Duke of Portland.
Port Royal.
Joshua Peat, Sept. 22, 1746.
Patrick McCullock, June 7, 1748.
George Evans, Jan. 12, 1749.
Joseph Stoney, Nov. 22, 1750.
Henry Taaffe, Sept. 22, 1751.
Colin Campbell, Sept. 22, 1751.
Robert Harris, Jan. 28, 1752.
Robert Atkins, July 5, 1753.
John McAuley, Sept. 22, 1754.
Isaac Teale, May 13, 1755.
Anthony Davis, Sept. 25, 1757.
John Ramsay, Sept. 23, 1759.
John Perney, Nov. 26, 1761.
Michael Smith, June 19, 1764.
Haddon Smith, Dec. 21, 1766.
William Clarke, Dec. 22, 1767.
John Wolcot, June 25, 1769. ? Peter Pindar.
Inglis Turing, June 25, 1769.
John Usher Tyrrell, Dec. 24, 1769.
Thomas Pool, Aug. 1, 1773. St. George's Parish.
William Morgan, Sept. 24, 1773.
Alexander Robertson, March 1, 1775. Clarendon Parish.
Middleton Howard. Oct. 1, 1775.
Richard Johnson. Oct. 1, 1775.
Philip Anglin, Oct. 28, 1776.
Peter Miller. Sept. 28, 1777. Kingston Parish. Gone home.
Thomas Bradshaw, March 26, 1778.
James Steele, April 8, 1782.
Thomas Simcokes, Sept. 13, 1784. Westmoreland Parish.
Francis Dawney, March 14, 1785.
Alexander Cumine, July 30, 1785
John West, Nov.10, 1785.
Timothy Clark, Dec. 29, 1785. St. Ann's Parish.
Robert Stanton Woodham, Dec. 27, 1786.
John Macdonald, Jan. 8, 1792. St. Thomas in the Vale.
James Dimocke, May 13, 1792.
Thomas Stewart, Aug. 19, 1792.
William William-son, 1793. St. Thomas in the-Vale.
John Caulfleld, Aug. 17, 1768.
Thomas Robertson, March 29, 1786
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*Name doubtful. ?Eleutheria.
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[This assessment must have been written shortly after 1723. JFS]
St. Andrew.-(Church shattered in Hurricane, and not yet repaired). Mr. Johnston, 1st of Vere, for 10 years. He is in England, and the Cure supplied by Mr. Lambe. Income £100 currency, Perquisites £50. Glebe, 600 acres, worth little in dry weather. Organist £50.
St. Ann's.-Roger Price, 1st Chaplain on the Coast of Guinea, then Chaplain to the Duke of Portland, here 15 months. Income £75 sterling, £35 voluntary. 60 acres glebe and 5 Negroes.
St. Elizabeth.-John Kelly.
St. George.-A Parish, never any Church. No Minister.
St. James. - A. Parish. Never any Church. No Minister. Very poor.
Hanover.-Lately made a Parish. No Church. No Minister.
St. John.-Richard Marsden, 1707. Curate to Dr. Lamb. Rector of St. Michael, Maryland, of St. Philip's, South Carolina. Curate of St. Michael's, Barbados. Preferred in Lestr. and Warwickr. and now in Yorkr. Chaplain to the Duke of Portland 5 years. Income £l10 sterling.
St. Katharin (Spanish Town).-John Scot, May 2, 1716. 1st to St. John's. Here 1720.
Kingston. - (50 Jewish families). William May, Jan. 21, 1719. 1st Clarendon. Income £110 sterling, £90 Voluntary. £40 for a house. No Glebe.
St. Mary.-James Spence, 16 years. Had St. Anne's. Here about 17 years. Income £70 sterling. Glebe 100 acres.
Port Royal (Church blown down in late Hurricane and not rebuilt).-Calvin Galpin, 27, July 21. Minister of St. John's and of St. Thomas in the Vale before. Here about 2 years. Income £110 sterling. Perquisites £100.
St. Thomas in the Vale. --Edward Reading, 1722. Income £110 sterling.
St. Thomas in the East-Nicholas MacCalmay, 1712. Had St. Elizabeth, then St. David's. To this 7 years since. Income £100 by Law, £50 Voluntary.
Vere.-Church much shattered in storms of 1711, 1722. Repaired. James White. Income £110 sterling by Law. Perquisites £30.
Westmoreland.-John Dickson, 1715. Income £75 sterling, Voluntary £37.10s.
St. Thomas-in-the-Vale.-Here is a church a-building, and last year they finished a house for the Minister. The salary is from £150 to £200 as per Act, but the perquisites are very small, most of the gentlemen having estates there living in Spanish Town. It is a most unhealthy Parish, the air being foggy to 9 or 10 in the morning, and the ground continually wet.
The Minister at present is Mr. Edward Reading, educated at Dublin, & Chaplain to the D. of Grafton, has a Parish in Ireland, but was fain to leave it, his wife having used him scurvily and run him in debt. The poor unhappy gentleman behaves himself very well, is a sober man, tho' being sickly, came to Jamaica about 10 months ago, and has thoughts of returning.
St. Elizabeth's.-This is a very large Parish, having 2 churches in it at 25 miles distance, one at Lacovia and the other at Black River, where the Minister preaches every other Sunday. It is a healthy Parish, and the Minister lives in it very comfortably, having £150 salary per annum, about as much in perquisites, and pasture enough for sheep and cattle. The people there never fail of presenting the Minister at his first coming with stock of every kind. They gave to one Mr. Coleby to the amount of £250 in cattle, but he scarce had well received their present before he accepted of a new living, viz., Port Royal, which much disgusted the people. So that when they like their Minister now, before they offer any presents they take a sacred promise of him that he will not leave them.
Here are more Dissenters than anywhere else in the Island, viz., Quakers and Presbyterians. The Quakers have a Meeting House at Lacovia, and some of 'em have great estates, viz., the Dicksons and Gales, but are so moderate as to permit their children to be christened by the Ministers of the Church of England, when desired by their Relations. The Presbyterians were wont to meet at Colonel Scot's, a son of Mr. Scot, one of King Charles the First's Judges, & had for some time among them the Ministers that came, from Caledonia or Darien; but are all of 'em now pretty well reconcil'd to the church, & frequent it more than many of our own people. There are few besides in the Island. Bradshaw, the son of President Bradshaw, came frequently to Liguania, & rec'd the sacrament there; so did Harrison (the son of Colonel Harrison, another of King Charles the 1st Judges), and lies buried in the Church of St. Andrew's, Liguania.
Westmoreland.-This Parish has not been long settled, not above 20 years, but they have both a Church & Mansion House for the Minister. The salary is from £100 to 150, tho' they never gave more to the former Minister, Mr. Rudd, than £100, nor more to ye present, and the Perquisites are of no great value, the people there being of the meaner sort. The Minister is Mr. John Dickson, educated at. Glasgow in Scotland. He was formerly a Preacher in a Presbyterian Congregation in London, but ejected by them for his lewdness and intemperance, and since his admission to the Church of England has not much mended his life: behaved himself very unhandsomely to my Lord Hamilton, our late Governor, who lent him money tho' he had never seen his face before; refused to pay him, and pretended it was a gift, but. my Lord recovered the Money at Common Law. Too many complaints have been made of him to our Governors, but those who have complained are none of the best, & wish he was worse than really he is, being the worst set of people in the Island.
St. Ann's.- Here was, in the time of the Spaniards, a fine Church and an Abbey, built by Peter Martyr, who was Abbot here, the same Peter Martyr who writ the Decads. A great part of the church remains, and is in a little time to be rebuilt, Colonel Drakes* of that Parish having left by Will a Legacy to that purpose, together with a free School for 30 scholars, to be maintained and educated out of the produce of his Estate, the School Master to live upon his Estate and to have £30 per annum.
There are still some Inscriptions upon the Church (tho' the Weather has effaced some words, which may be easily supply'd). Peter Martyr in these Inscriptions stiles himself Proto noturius Apostolicus, totius insulae Abbas, & Senatus Indici Consiliarius. He says he was sent there by the Council of Trent, & that the Church there was twice burnt with Lightning & a third time rebuilt with Stone. The Town itself, where the Abbey and Church were built, was called Sevilla, which continued to the year 1590, when the Spaniards deserted it, & went to the South side of the Island & built St. Jago de la Vega, St. James in the plain, now called St. Catharin's or most commonly Spanish Town. The Minister is Mr. Roger Price, who lately came from Cape Coast in Guinea, and was prefer'd to it by the D. of Portland, without any recommendation from the Bishop of London.
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* Charles Drax of Jamaica, Esq. Will dated at Twickenham, co. Midd., 7 July 1721. The new house I built on my land in Jamaica called Shelton to be a free school or hospital for 8 poor boys and 4 poor girls of St. Annes. £40 a year for a teacher, £20 a year for a woman, £12 a year for the apothecary, and the use of 2 of my woman slaves, all charged on my estate of Shelton. £500 towards rebuilding a church where the old church stood, which was built by Peter Martyr when Bishop of the W.I. in the parish of St. Annes. Proved 7 Oct. 1721, P.C.C. (177, Buckm.).
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St. Mary's.-Here is neither Church nor Mansion House, & but a very small Salary, scarce a competency, viz., £100 per annum, & the Perquisites very inconsiderable. The Minister preaches at his own dwelling house, but has seldom more to hear him than his own family. His name is Mr. James Spence, educated at Aberdeen in Scotland, a man of no contemptible learning; but not so regular in his life as he ought to be.
St. George's.-Here is neither Church nor Minister, & the people complain they are not able to maintain one. They are but few and poor, the rebellious Negroes from the Mountains frequently making incursions upon them.
St. Thomas in the East.-Here is a small Church and a house for the Minister, but the Salary and Perquisites very inconsiderable, both not amounting to £150 per annum. It was once a very rich Parish & well peopled, but ruined by the French under the command of Mons. de Case anno.
The Minister is Mr. Nicholas McCalnar, educated at Glasgow, a man of good learning and strict life.
St. David's.-This is but a very small Parish, and the Salary but £100 per annum. It has a small Church & house for the Minister, but no Minister at present. This parish was ruined likewise by the French.
St. James's.-This is the poorest Parish in Jamaica, and not able to maintain a Minister, has no Church nor Mansion House nor Glebe. The Salary, by Law, is £150 per annum. One Mr. Gerrard was sent there in Colonel Handasyd's Government, but soon returned, complaining that he could neither have meat, drink, nor any society in the Parish.
St. John's or Guanaboa.-This has a small Church and a good dwelling house. The Glebe likewise has been farmed out £20 or 30 a year. The Salary is £100, but few perquisites, the Gentlemen of the panish for the most part living at Spanish Town. The Minister at present is Dr. Charles Lambe, who has Mr. Richard Marsden for his Curate, during his own abode at Liguania.
Port Royal.-Here was, before the Earthquake, a very large and beautiful church, some part of the wall, with its foundation upward, shewing itself still above the water, about 4 foot thick, which probably was some part of the steeple. Another fine church was built afterwards near the wall on the East side of the Town, which continued till the Fire, 1703. And what was very remarkable of that most terrible judgment, and what every one of the Inhabitants alive still own, all the winds in their turn, from every point, whirled about, to the destruction of that place, and nothing in it was left unconsumed but the Jayle, the Whipping Post, & the Ducking Stool.
Here is no Mansion House, but sometimes they make an allowance in lieu of one, but take it off again at discretion. The Salary before the Earthquake, and which continued till the Fire, was £300 per annum, and the Perquisites (being then the only Port in. the Isle) amounted to £600 or £700. But now the Salary is, by an Act of the Assembly, from £100 to 150, at the discretion of the Justices and Vestry. The Perquisites are said to be £150 more, arising from Christenings, Weddings, and Burials, & the benefit of the Pall. The Minister at present is Mr. Calvin Galpin, educated in New England and formerly a Dissenting Minister, but now very zealous in the defence of the Church of England. Here he set up a Latin School, but it meets with little encouragement, the people at present in that Town being very poor, and others afraid to send their children to such a corrupt place, & liable to so many accidents. The Duke of Portland gave Mr. Galpin a license to keep school exclusive of all others, but soon after, upon the Petition of the Justices & Vestry to permit two others to keep school, who had been very useful to the Town before, his Grace was pleased to grant their Petition, which has given Mr. Galpin not a little uneasiness.
St. Dorothy's.-Here is no Church at present, being demolisht in the last Storm. Nor was there ever a Manse belonging to it, nor any Glebe. The Salary is from £100 to £200 per annum, at the discretion of the Vestry. The Perquisites are but small, most of the gentlemen belonging to that Parish having houses in Spanish Town, at 7 or 8 miles distance, where they choose to live. The Minister at present is Mr. Fulton, educated at Oxford, an ingenious young man and well respected.
Clarendon.- Here was, at a place called the Cross, one of the finest Churches in the Indies before the late Hurricane, all the inside being laid with cedar, from the roof to the foundation, & pews of the same, all finisht by a fine Artist. But it was shattered to pieces in the Storm, the Doors and windows giving way, and is not yet repaired. There is a fine Mansion House, and repaired since the Storm, with a few acres of Glebe land. The Salary per annum is from £150 to 200, at discretion of the Vestry, and the Perquisites about 50 more.
The Minister at present is [ blank], educated at Oxford, a man of a good life and well respected. At his coming to Jamaica his deafness rendered him unfit for conversation, but the change of the clime and the air has much helpt that distemper. This cure probably is owing to nothing else but the rarefaction
of the air in Jamaica and its great elasticity. Both which properties of the Jamaica air Dr. Kaphan, an Eminent Physician here, long ago observed.
Here is a fine Chapel in the Mountains where the Minister officiates every third Sunday, and the Parishioners resolve to Petition the Assembly to divide the Parish, or to give them liberty to choose another Minister to assist the other.
Vere. - Here was a fine Church about 20 years ago, but much shattered by both the Hurricanes of 1711 & 1722. Is since tolerably well repaired, but lost much of its beauty. Here was likewise a very fine Mansion house built while Mr. Johnston was Minister, which cost the Parish in building £1000, but is now almost demolisht by the last Hurricane, & probably will not be rebuilt during the abode of the present incumbent. The Salary by the Act is from £150 to 200, at the discretion of the Vestry, & the Perquisites (while that Parish flourisht) were very considerable. But for these twelve years past they have had such dry weather that a great number of the inhabitants have left it. It has a Glebe of 25 acres joining on the Mansion House, and 25 more at some distance, but of little value. The Minister at present is Mr. White, educated at Aberdeen and afterwards practised Physick for some years in Spain & Portugal, was put in orders by the late Lord Bishop of London, and sent over to Jamaica as Curate to Mr. Johnston, who before his coming was removed to Liguanea, and Vere being vacant Mr.White was preferred to it by my Lord Hamilton. He is a poor, unhappy man, who lives, Salamander like, in the fire of contention with all man kind, and it is not in his power to live otherwise. The Parishioners have petitioned four Governors at several times to turn him out. And though they have rebated £50 of his yearly Salary, and in their Petitions loaded him with most opprobrious reflections, yet he vows he will never leave them while he breathes. And the Governor cannot find sufficient ground to turn him out, the chief Crimes alleged against him being Malice, Destruction, and Calumny (which are not actionable in Jamaica), & his refusing to Christen and Marry in private houses, which doubtless are left to his own discretion, cases of necessity excepted. After all he is a man of great sobriety, with regard to eating and drinking, and whatever his Religion was formerly, the most of his preaching now consists in railing against the Papists and telling ridiculous stories out of their legends.
George Bygrave Brooks, sole survivor of the six children of Dr. George Brooks of Jamaica, was born on the Blenheim estate July 8th, 1832, eleven days only after the death of his grandfather at the same place. In 1854 Dr. Brooks died of cholera in Spanish Town during an epidemic, in which he exhausted himself in his efforts to save those attacked, and two years later his son, taking Holy Orders, was appointed stipendiary Curate of St. Mark's, Craigton. In addition to this he, in 1861, became Chaplain and Secretary to the Bishop of Kingston; in 1865 Acting Chaplain to the Forces In Jamaica; and in 1879 Archdeacon of the Surrey division of the island. In 1884 Archdeacon Brooks accepted the living of Edlesborough, Bucks, offered him by Earl Brownlow, which he held till 1910, when failing health enforced his retirement. He died in London March 9th, 1914, and is buried at Kensal Green. He was thrice married {vide ante, Vol. II., pp. 49, 53).
The Archdeacon's life in Jamaica was marked by two public events of some importance--the negro rebellion of 1865, and the hurricane of August 18th, 1880. Of the former he saw little, but by the latter his church at Craigton, not long before beautified at considerable expense, was utterly demolished. It was owing to his tireless efforts, seconded by his wife Laura, that funds were raised for rebuilding it. With her capable assistance, too, many improvements were
carried out at Edlesborough.
Archdeacon Brooks left no issue, and with his death the family of Brooks of St. Elizabeth becomes extinct.
* Contributed by Miss M. Nembhard
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