Guyana and Jamaica’s inseparable history
Published:Saturday | August 26, 2023 | 12:05 AM
THE EDITOR, Madam:
As the government and people of Guyana mark the 200th anniversary of the Demerara 1823 slave rebellion, we can relate with the people of Jamaica.
Even as we look back at the ill-fated day with revulsion and horror, cognisant that had the Demerara Estate owners obeyed the Scottish Court and the British Lord Mansfield ruling of the 1780s, the tragic loss of lives would have been avoided.
Importantly, buoyed by that example of bravery and determination to bring an end to slavery, Jamaican liberator and National Hero Samuel Sharpe organised and executed the final slave rebellion, thus enabling the end of slavery in 1833.
Notably, John Gladstone’s descendent, Charles Gladstone, has apologised for his family’s links to slavery. Guyana’s Demerara Estate, together with Jamaica’s Holland and Lacovia Estates in St Elizabeth, enabled John Gladstone to be the fifth-largest recipient of the £20 million paid to the sugar mills owners.
DAVID CROSSBOURNE