BUXTON VILLAGE EAST COAST DEMERARA GUYANA

Murphy Browne © April 19-2018


BUXTON VILLAGE EAST COAST DEMERARA GUYANA


In April 1840 Buxton Village was established on the East Coast, Demerara, British Guiana by 128 Africans who had been freed from chattel slavery on August 1st, 1838. The Africans pooled their money and bought a 500-acre plantation, New Orange Nassau from its owner James Archibald Holmes, for $50,000. They named the village Buxton in honour of abolitionist Thomas Fowell Buxton. Buxton was the second village established by Africans in British Guiana. Victoria Village, also on the East Coast of Demerara was purchased in November 1839, by a group of 83 formerly enslaved Africans.


This was an extraordinary achievement for Africans who had been enslaved in British Guiana for centuries (by Dutch and British colonizers.) Slavery in British Guiana ended on August 1st 1834, then a system of “apprenticeship” was instituted for another four years (until August 1st, 1838.) During their “apprenticeship” the Africans were forced to remain on the plantations and work without pay for 40 hours every week and then they were grudgingly paid a pittance for any work they did over 40 hours. The White slave holders and plantation owners were compensated for the loss of their property (by the British crown and government) while the Africans were forced to continue working on the plantations where they had been enslaved. The accumulation of wealth from those extra four years of unpaid work helped to bankroll the millions that were paid to the slaveholders as compensation for losing their human “property.”


Not satisfied with exploiting the labour of the Africans for centuries before August 1st, 1838, the British further marginalized the Africans by inviting European workers to increase the population of White people in British Guiana. In 1835, small groups of English and German farmers were recruited. In 1836, 44 Irish and 47 English labourers immigrated to Guyana and 43 Scottish labourers arrived from Glasgow in 1837. This population of European workers apparently did not survive working in the tropical climate.


Realising that the Africans would not continue working for a pittance after their freedom from chattel slavery, the British put in place a system to undercut the Africans’ access to fair compensation for their labour by importing larger numbers of labourers from Asia and Portugal. On May 3, 1835, 40 indentured labourers arrived from Madeira on the ship “Louisa Baillie” on a two to four year indentureship contract and by the end of 1835, 553 other Madeirans had arrived in British Guiana as indentured labourers contracted to work on various plantations. These labourers were recruited using public money (gained from the unpaid labour of enslaved Africans) made available by the British Government and was used to pay the planters for each immigrant transported to British Guiana. On May 5, 1838 a group of 396 labourers arrived in British Guiana from the Indian subcontinent aboard the “Whitby” and the “Hesperus.” The Indian labourers were encouraged to exchange their return passage to India after their 5 year contracts had expired, for a plot of land and a cow. The indentured labourers from India were encouraged to retain their language and culture unlike the Africans who had been prevented under pain of death from speaking their language, retaining their names or practicing their culture. In 1853 three ships (the Glentanner, the Lord Elgin and the Samuel Boddington) left Amoy in the Fujian Province of China with 1,549 labourers bound for British Guiana.


It is under these conditions that villages were bought, owned and administrated by Africans in various parts of Guyana. It is a testament to the perseverance under very oppressive conditions that these villages survived and even managed to flourish. In 1841, another group of 168 formerly enslaved Africans pooled their money and purchased Friendship, a 500-acre plantation east of Buxton for $80,000 and the two communities merged to form Buxton-Friendship village. The founders laid out housing lots at the front of the village and corresponding farm lands at the back. The villagers built roads, dug drainage trenches and established farms. They also created an administrative body, the Buxton-Friendship Village Council to manage maintenance of the village’s infrastructure and collect property taxes.


In Guyana, Buxtonians are known as proudly independent and courageous people. This reputation was gained early in the history of British Guiana soon after Buxton Village was established. With the establishment of Buxton Village the White people who had formerly dictated every area of the lives of Africans tried every underhanded trick to continue doing so including sabotaging the growth of the recently established village. The Buxtonians survived the deliberate flooding of their farms and other attempts to dislodge them from their homes bought with blood, sweat and tears. The final straw was an unfair taxation of their land by the colonial government. Several attempts to dialogue with the British governor were rebuffed. When news reached the villagers that the governor would be passing by their village as he inspected the recently laid train tracks it was an ideal opportunity to engage the governor in conversation.


As the train approached Buxton, the women of Buxton strode onto the train tracks putting their lives on the line. The men followed when the train was forced to stop. The protestors immobilized the train by applying chains and locks to its wheels which forced the Governor to meet with the villagers. The villagers demanded that the governor listen to their genuine concerns about the exorbitant, unfair taxing of their land and repeal the tax law. Following that impromptu meeting at the train line, surprisingly the governor did repeal the tax. The story of the brave men and women of Buxton is hardly known outside of Guyana. However from the time of the Buxtonians stopping the “Governor’s train” to now they are known as a proud, fiercely independent and courageous people. In 2018 the people of Buxton, East Coast, Demerara, Guyana can be justly proud of their 178 years of history.


Murphy Browne © April 19-2018