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 apprenticeship. The decision came after parliamentary pressure, abolitionist campaigning and years of resistance to a labor regime that kept people bound to plantation work after formal emancipation. The act was a distinct legislative step from the public proclamation of freedom on 1 August, which is recorded elsewhere in this dataset.
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...
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...
👉 Governor Lionel Smith assents to Jamaica’s act ending apprenticeship
Current
16 June 1838
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...
On 13 October 1865, Governor Edward John Eyre declared martial law in Surrey County, excluding Kingston, after the Morant Bay uprising. Although the uprising was suppressed within days, martial law...
On 21 October 1865, Jamaican politician George William Gordon was sentenced to death by a court-martial at Morant Bay. He had been arrested in Kingston, which was outside the martial-law zone, and...
