Henry Light
Caribbean lieutenant-governorships
In 1836, Light was appointed in Lieutenant Governor of
Governorship of Guiana
Apprenticeship and economy
Light assumed office on 27 June 1838 after
A combination of labor, capital, and one directing head are necessary to make this colony flourish, without these, it will become a swamp, and the population retrograde to their original state of nature.
His initial observation was that the two estates were capable of producing more sugar than Nevis and Montserrat; he believed Berbice could obtain higher production than the Leeward and Windward Islands combined if provided adequate labor.[7] Following the
Obeah practices, mixed up with portions of scripture, and repetitions of prayer, have come to my notice within the last few months; they seem to pay so well, that no opening should be allowed to the knavish negro, to assume the sacerdotal power.
— Henry Light, 26 November 1840 dispatch to the Secretary of State for War and the Colonies
He was unconcerned for cultivation, citing the absence of labor for 3 weeks in
General administration
In December 1838, Light told the
In accordance with Ordinance No. 3 of 1839 by the
Following emancipation, during the 1830s and 1840s, the prison system was expanded with primarily coastal district prisons. Light laid the first stone of Her Majesty’s Penal Settlement Mazaruni in 1842 and vouched for the humane conditions of the system. In 1848, controversies spurred out of testimonies of abuse and Light ordered an inquiry. One interviewee spoke of killings and beatings.[15] In June 1842, he established the first rudimentary mental illness institution.[16]
He sent £3,170 to the British Relief Association, claiming, "this colony is particularly blessed at the moment with the greatest abundance of every necessary of life [...] in no place in the world is a labourer so favoured as in this colony".[17]
Family
Light had three children with his wife Charlotte: Elizabeth Georgiana, Charlotte, and Alfred.
See also
References
- ^ a b c d "WILLS AND BEQUESTS.-The will of the Right". The Times. No. 26768. London: Gale. 4 June 1870. p. 10.
- ^ Gramaglia (2013), p. 81
- ^ "Colonial Intelligence". The Times. No. 16201. London: Gale. 6 September 1836. p. 3.
- ^ Kale (1998), p. 66
- ^ Thomas (1999), p. 10
- ^ Green (1969), pp. 45, 48
- ^ Green (1969), p. 46
- ^ Kale (1998), p. 67
- ^ Green (1969), p. 64
- ^ Smith (1976), pp. 328–329
- ^ Kale (1998), pp. 67–71, 74–76, 78
- ^ Kale (2016), p. 76
- ^ Bulkan (2016), p. 367
- ^ Colonial Office (1872–1881), pp. 5, 120
- ^ Anderson, Moss & Jackson (2022), pp. 388–390
- ^ Gramaglia (2013), p. 68
- ^ O’Leary McNeice (2022), p. 171
- ^ "Major-General Lyte". The Times. No. 39705. London: Gale. 2 October 1911. p. 9.
- ^ "Marriages". The Times. No. 19872. London: Gale. 25 May 1848.
- ^ "Obituary". The Times. No. 35101. London: Gale. 15 January 1870. p. 6.
- ^ "Order of the Bath". The Times. No. 20109. London: Gale. 16 February 1849. p. 4.
- ^ "University Boat Race.-Cambridge, Tuesday". The Times. No. 25433. London: Gale. 28 February 1866. p. 9.
Sources
- Anderson, Clare; Moss, Kellie; Jackson, Shammane Joseph (2 October 2022). "Coloniality and the Criminal Justice System: Empire and its Legacies in Guyana". Slavery & Abolition. 43 (4): 682–704. S2CID 253671815 – via Taylor & Francis.
- Bulkan, Janette (2016). "'Original Lords of the Soil'? The Erosion of Amerindian Territorial Rights in Guyana". Environment and History. 22 (3): 351–391. JSTOR 24810671.
- Colonial Office (1872–1881). "West Indian Nos. 23, 23A, 23B to 29 and 31 to 34". Confidential Print: North America. Adam Matthew Digital.
- Gramaglia, Letizia (2013). "Migration and Mental Illness in the British West Indies 1838–1900: The Cases of Trinidad and British Guiana". Migration, health and ethnicity in the modern world. New York. pp. 61–82. )
- Green, William A. (July 1969). "The Apprenticeship in British Guiana, 1834-1838". Caribbean Studies. 9 (2): 44–66. JSTOR 25612128.
- ISBN 9780812202427 – via De Gruyter.
- Kale, Madhavi (2016). Nation and Migration: the Politics of Space in the South Asian Diaspora. Philadelphia, Pa.: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 9781512807837– via De Gruyter.
- O’Leary McNeice, Aoife (1 May 2022). ""A Painful and Tender Sympathy Pervaded Every Class of Society"". Radical History Review. 2022 (143). Duke University Press: 165–176. S2CID 249587203.
- Smith, Raymond T. (1976). The African diaspora: interpretive essays. Cambridge, Massasscheusetts: Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674593220– via De Gruyter.
- Thomas, Sue (1999). "The Tropical Extravagance of Bertha Mason". Victorian Literature and Culture. 27 (1): 1–17. S2CID 162220216.