Rock Hall: Cutthroat Village
As mentioned before in the article The Importance of Chattel Houses, it is a known fact that Barbados had become the most complete and foremost slave society in the region, bringing wealth to England that even rivalled India. In order to achieve this, even with an territory so small, planters held hostage 81% of the island for plantations in which the enslaved toiled and sweat (Bolden 1982 pg 12). Even after the abolition of slavery planters held unto this land, and due to the small size of Barbados, poor black Barbadians were forced to pay rent to live on planter’s land under the tenantry system for almost 200 years until the Tenantries Freehold Purchasing Act in 1980. This unfortunate circumstance prevented Barbados from developing a peasant class in free villages as had occurred in Jamaica, Guyana Trinidad and the Leeward islands, however that is not to say that there were no free villages in Barbados. This blog will examine the extraordinary circumstances of the first free village in the island, Rock Hall.
The village, located in St Thomas does not qualify as a line village as is he traditional Barbadian experience, its southern border stands as the glebe land surrounding St Thomas Parish Church, to its east lies Porey Springs while on the west Upland Plateau stands as the demarcation between the Village and Ridgeway Plantation. Woodville Marshal explains that there is inescapable bias by the elites (rich whites) and near elites (poor whites, rich coloured and blacks) when conducting government sanctioned official records, as such there is very little information compiled for this village outside of marriage, baptisms, burials, voting and taxpaying information. In fact, the first initial mention of Rock Hall was in 1841, under the behest of the Colonial Office, eager to keep a watchful eye on the tenantry arrangements of the island as well as to investigate the success of these freeholder villages (Marshal pg 14). This was of course not to provide aid but rather to ensure that no loss of labour in the general population was being incurred by these free villages who no longer had to work to keep their stead on the planter’s land akin to the tenantry system, as well as to ensure these freed groups were not colluding or conspiring to gain further rights and freedoms by political means or otherwise, ‘for the sake of general peace’ (Marshal pg 13).
The report made by Magistrate John Carew explained the creation of the village, explaining that the freeholders formerly of Mount Pleasant Plantation had erected a village near the (St Thomas) parish church under the will of their late master Reynold Alleyne Ellcock Esq who had bequeath unto them £7,055 which they have received since their freedom. This will was an unprecedented thing, planters hardly freed their slaves after death, and even rarer still left them money. This was a practice usually reserved to children of the planter of mixed race. His will intended for their houses to be repaired, to be provided with clean and proper living equipment such as chairs and tables as well as a yearly £5 allowance. Though he stated that this could be revoked for he expected his trustees to keep a rigid rule, monitoring the behaviour of the labourers. Marshal posits that this may have been a ploy to absolve his soul of the horrors he had wielded on black Barbadians (Marshal pg 28-29).
Of course, in order to receive the benefits of Ellcock’s will, he would have to pass. Ellcock had been a ‘poor’ white man who by leveraging his connections with the wealthy white society had managed to own two large plantations in St Thomas; Mount Pleasant and Farmers. Woodville Marshal continues to explain that he lived at Mount Pleasant, estranged from his wife due to his alleged homosexuality and infidelity. Indeed, according to the keeper of keys James William Barker, Ellcock slept in his room with Jeffrey his 20 year old valet while his 19 year old field hand slept outside the bedroom door at the head of the stairs. Now this is important as on October 2nd 1821 his supposed ‘lovers’ James and Jeffrey as well as Billy-Prince (a hitman/obeah priest) and Jack Grigg (a driver at the plantation) murdered Reynold Ellcock, nearly decapitating him in his bed (Marshal pg 22-23). The men were quickly caught and implicated each other during questioning, naming a 5th member 29 year old domestic servant Rita (Rittah) as the fifth member, though due to the fact that the other members were hung and Rita went unpunished, it is likely Rita gave them up first in order to save herself.
Marshal proposes a theory as to why the murder occurred, conspiracy was off the table as no evidence supported this claim, nor was the theory that Jeffrey had instigated the murder in order to secure immediate freedom because Ellcock had in a moment of weakness confided in him that he was to be freed after death as the oral tradition goes. Rather it seems that revenge was the likelier motive, not only was Ellcock a brutal man who worked the enslaved hard, he often enacted violent punishments (Marshal pg 24-25), additionally if the rumours of his homosexuality were to be believed, under no circumstances due to the power imbalance of a master slave relationship could consent be freely given. It is likely these abused workers simply had enough, the will a lucky benefit for the remaining workers, earning the village the name Cut Throat (Cutthroat) Village, which persisted in the oral traditions down to at least the 1980s.
However, though his will clearly stated his intentions, his heirs and trustees tried many legal manoeuvres to prevent it from coming to pass claiming that Ellcock’s money had been exhausted because of a £92,000 debt and annuities could not be paid until this had been resolved. Ellcock’s second plantation could provide funds to repay that debt easily, this was simply a play to delay the bequeathment because enslaved people had no legal rights and could not contest this as well as to prevent the enslaved from benefitting from his death as the family still harboured suspicions. All in all they kept the beneficiaries from their prize for almost 20 years (Marshal pg 32-34). They could only delay the inevitable however, Ellcock’s will was sound and proven way back in October 21, 1821 and the emancipation declaration and ending of apprenticeship in 1838 made these workers free citizens of Britain who immediately petitioned the governor, the parish representative Dr James Bascom and the Magistrate John Carew. By 1840 the workers had their money and their land.
Glasgow, Akini, Original Landowners of Rock Hall circa 1850, Photograph, The Standpipe 246, March, 03, 2022
The newly freed wasted no time, establishing themselves around 1841, becoming the first free village in the island long before it was viable for the majority of the population. It maintains its strong free roots to this day and with the inclusion of government funded housing, has increased its population drastically. In addition, there stands a monument to designate the importance of this village and what it meant to black Barbadians at the time.
Glasgow, Akini, Rock Hall Monument of Freedom, Photograph, The Standpipe 246, March, 03, 2022
Bibliography
Marshal, Woodville. “Rock Hall, St Thomas: A Free Village in Barbados.” The Journal of Caribbean History 41 (2007).
Boldin, Phinorice. The Barbados Chattel House. Hamilton , New York : Colgate University, 1982.