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British Honduras: From Public Meeting to Crown Colony

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2015

Herbert F. Curry Jr.
Herbert F. Curry Jr.*
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin
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Extract

IN 1578 the Spanish Ambassador in London protested against English outrages “beyond the line.” Queen Elizabeth replied

that the Spaniards by their hard dealing with the English, whom they had prohibited commerce, contrary to the laws of nations, had drawn these mischiefs upon themselves; moreover, that she understood not why her, or any prince’s subjects should be debarred from the trade of the Indies, which she could not persuade herself the Spaniards had any just title to by the donation of the Bishop of Rome (in whom she acknowledged no prerogative, much less any authority in these cases); not yet by any other claim, than as they had touched here and there upon the coasts; built cottages and given name to a river or a cape; which things could not entitle them to a propriety; so that this donation of what is another man’s (which is of no validity in law), and this imaginary propriety, cannot hinder other princes from trading in those countries, and (without breach of the law of nations) from transporting colonies into those parts thereof where the Spaniards do not inhabit;…

Type
Research Article
Information
The Americas , Volume 13 , Issue 1 , April 1957 , pp. 31 - 42
Copyright
Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 1957

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References

1 Quoted in Long, Edward, The History of Jamaica (3 vols.; London, 1774), I, 338–339.Google Scholar

2 I must give credit for this phraseology to Paul Blanshard, Democracy and Empire in the Caribbean (New York, 1945), p. 193. The sentence refers to population, which in 1952 amounted to 67,430, as compared to Jamaica’s 1,457,240. Only Bermuda possesses fewer inhabitants, 37,254 in 1952. The Yearbook of the West Indies and Countries of the Caribbean (London, n.d.), pp. 315, 96, 58.

3 The first expedition to explore these ruins left Belize in 1839. Sir John Alder Burdon, Archives of British Honduras (3 vols.; London, 1931–1935), II, 409. Hereafter cited as Archives.

4 Asturias, Francisco, Belice (Guatemala City, Guatemala, 1941), p. 12.Google Scholar Dr. Asturias also includes correspondence between him and Major Burdon concerning the matter, pp. 13–17.

5 “That neither of the said Kings [of England and of Spain] nor their respective People, Subjects or Inhabitants within their Dominions, … may … do, or procure to be done, anything against the other in any place, by sea or land….” Archives, I, 49.

6 Ibid., I, 64, 67.

7 Ibid., I, 88.

8 “St. George’s Cay Day” continues to be celebrated as an official holiday in British Honduras. For the most reliable account of the battle see Major John Alder Burdon, “The Battle of St. George’s Caye,” in United Empire, XIX, no. 5 (May, 1928), 248–257.

9 Archives, I, 70, 72.

10 Wrong, Hume, Government of the West Indies (Oxford, 1923), p. 103.Google Scholar

11 Later the power of taxation passed completely to the Public Meeting.

12 Archives, I, 100–106.

13 Articles, I, II, and III. Ibid., I, 102–103.

14 Article X. Ibid., I, 105.

15 Ibid., I, 109. This is not the famous explorer; in 1765 Captain James Cook, commanding the Qrenville, was charting the coasts of Newfoundland. Burnaby’s Cook remained on the Navy list as a Lieutenant until July, 1800.

16 Ibid., I, 109, 114, 117–118.

17 Ibid., I, 149. Sir Archibald Campbell later served as Governor and Commander in Chief of the military forces at Madras.

18 Sir Oman, Charles, The Unfortunate Colonel Despard, and Other Studies (London, 1922), p. 6.Google Scholar

19 Archives, I, 174.

20 Oman, , op. cit., p. 7.Google Scholar

21 Archives, I, 161.

22 Ibid., I, 168.

23 He was executed at Newington jail in 1803 for organizing a revolutionary plot.

24 In 1814 the Duke of Manchester, Governor of Jamaica, commissioned Major (afterwards Colonel) George Arthur Superintendent of the Bay Settlement. The instructions read: “You are … to take under your charge and care the interest of His Majesty’s subjects there residing, and to use your utmost endeavors to prevent any cause of misunderstanding or disagreement between His Majesty’s Subjects and those of His Catholic Majesty inhabiting that neighborhood.” Honduras: Papers Relating to the Appointment of Major Arthur as Commandant at Honduras, Parliamentary Papers, Vol. XV (No. 489), session 1826–1827, p. 490.

25 When James Quilter was called to jury duty in 1829 he said, “You may hold your Court, as you like, but I’ll be d—ned if I go there.” He was fined £5. Archives, II, 312–313.

26 Ibid., II, 204.

27 Ibid., II, 148–149.

28 Ibid., II, 180.

29 Ibid., II, 221. Sir George Arthur later became Lt. Governor of Van Dieman’s Land, of Canada, and Governor of the Presidency of Bombay.

30 Criminal and Civil Justice in the West Indies and South America: Honduras and the Bahama Islands, Second Series, Third Report, Parliamentary Papers, Vol. XXIV (No. 334), session 1829, pp. 3–4.

31 Ibid., p. 14.

32 Swett, Charles, A Trip to British Honduras (New Orleans, 1868), p. 80.Google Scholar

33 Archives, II, 125–126.

34 Ibid., II, 136–137.

35 Ibid., II, 170–177.

36 Ibid., II, 342–343.

37 The Council was composed of “principal officials and inhabitants” of the settlement. Ibid., II, 408, 410.

38 Ibid., III, 55.

39 Ibid.,III, 54.

40 Ibid., III, 111.

41 Ibid., loc. cit.

42 Wrong, , op. cit., p. 103.Google Scholar

43 Archives, II, 123.

44 Ibid., II, 299.

45 Ibid., III, 68, 69. This property had to be free of debt. In 1841 a Bayman had met the qualification by borrowing money and returning it after the session. Ibid., Ill, 60.

46 Ibid., III, 114.

47 Ibid., III, 242.

48 The ordinance does not appear in the Archives. Although the original proposal recommended that there be fourteen elected and seven nominated members, and the Baymen changed this to read twenty-one elected and four nominated members in its final form the assembly was composed of three nominated and sixteen elected members. Ibid., Ill, 161, 162, 175.

49 Ibid., III, 247.

50 Ibid., III, 293.

51 Papers Relating to Her Majesty’s Colonial Possessions, Reports for 1884 and 188S, British Honduras, Parliamentary Papers, Vol. LII (c. 4583, no. 2), sessions 1884–1885, p. 37.