On 22 May 1838, the House of Commons adopted a resolution stating that apprenticeship in the British colonies should immediately cease. The motion passed by a majority of three. The resolution expressed Parliament’s view but was not itself a law and did not immediately free Jamaican apprentices. The narrow vote registered intense public and political pressure, including petitions and campaigns shaped by reports of abuse in Jamaica. Colonial lawmakers and planters continued to contest how the transition would be controlled.
On 5 October 1837, the Gordon and Daughtrey inquiry moved its proceedings to St Ann’s Bay and inspected the parish House of Correction. The commissioners examined the institution and its records as...
On 21 October 1837, commissioners George Gordon and John Daughtrey sent Governor Lionel Smith the proceedings of their inquiry. They reported that James Williams’s allegations received “few and...
On 28 November 1837, Marianne Bell, a domestic at Penshurst, swore an affidavit concerning the imprisonment of James Williams and Adam Brown. She stated that food was sent to the prisoners and...
On 29 March 1838, the House of Commons debated immediate abolition of apprenticeship across the British colonies. Speakers cited evidence from Jamaica, including James Williams’s account and reports...
On 6 April 1838, James Stewart moved a clause during debate on the Slavery Abolition Act Amendment Bill that would end apprenticeship in Jamaica on 1 August 1838. He argued that the Jamaican...
👉 The Commons narrowly votes for immediate abolition of apprenticeship
Current
22 May 1838
On 22 May 1838, the House of Commons adopted a resolution stating that apprenticeship in the British colonies should immediately cease. The motion passed by a majority of three. The resolution...
On 28 May 1838, the House of Commons voted 250 to 178 for a government motion declaring that it was not advisable to take steps to implement the resolution for immediate abolition passed six days...
On 16 June 1838, Governor Lionel Smith assented to an act passed by Jamaica’s Council and Assembly to end praedial apprenticeship from 1 August. He described it as the total abolition of praedial...
The remaining apprenticeship system ended in Jamaica, bringing legal freedom to people still bound to plantation labor after 1834. Communities gathered in Spanish Town to hear Governor Lionel Smith...
On 7 October 1865, Paul Bogle and other residents attended Petty Sessions at the Morant Bay courthouse, where Alexander White and Lewis Miller faced charges including assault and trespass. Disputes...
On 11 October 1865, several hundred Black Jamaican men and women, many from surrounding villages, marched into Morant Bay during a Vestry meeting. After militia fired on the crowd, protesters fought...
