George Stiebel’s early life

THE EDITOR, Madam:

With the announcement that Mayor of Kingston Delroy Williams wants to name the intersection at Hope, Trafalgar and Waterloo roads for George Stiebel of Devon House, I have been doing some reading and I am quite confused about his early life and family, as there are several versions of his story. If not already done, a proper, well- researched biography of George Stiebel is needed.

What I have found from my own research, and which seems fact-based, is that George Stiebel, born 1821, and at least two brothers, Edward (born 1828) and William (born 1829), were the sons of Sigismund Stiebel (1790 -1859), a man of the Jewish faith from Frankfurt, Germany, who came to Jamaica seizing an opportunity offered by the British. He became a naturalized British citizen in 1823. Their mother was Eliza Catherine Bailey, apparently of African descent, born in Jamaica. The Anglican Church records indicate that Sigismund and Eliza Catherine were not married. They lived at Blackmore Street, Kingston. Not much is known of Eliza Catherine Bailey.

According to information from the University College of London, Sigismund Stiebel, a merchant, if correctly identified, was eligible for compensation of about £55 for three enslaved people, assumed not to be his Jamaican ‘wife’ and children.

According to records in the 1830s, Sigismund Stiebel returned to Britain and married Eliza Jacob Mocatta. They had five children, starting in 1837 with daughter Adeline. Sigismund died in London in 1859 leaving an estate valued at £120, 000, a substantial sum at the time. His will would need to be reviewed to see what was left to his children in Jamaica.

It is indicated that George Stiebel worked in the Schloss/Stiebel family merchant business and that in the 1840s, his father gave him money which enabled him to start on his own business ventures.

George Stiebel’s life from the late 1870s can be fact-checked. He was a Kingston businessman (George Stiebel [Schloss&Co] – 1-3 Church St); a justice of the peace; actively involved in advocating for the 1884 constitutional reform which returned some elected members to the Jamaican legislature; built Devon House in 1881 after acquiring Devon Penn; owned many other properties; joined with Louis Verley and Colonel Charles Ward to finance the 1891 Great Exhibition; was custos of St Andrew; and was honoured by Queen Victoria with the Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George. He died on June 29, 1896.

MARCIA THOMAS