Who Were Saint Lucia’s First Landowners?

This article is a synopsis of the social architecture that keeps us divided. It is not intended to indict any person, institution or family. It is an historical fact that after the abolition of slavery, slave owners—not the freed slaves—were compensated for their loss of slave labor. The former slaves were never compensated for their years in brutal bondage. Crown grants for all of the twenty-seven large estates below listed were awarded slave owners.

To compound that, unjust laws were enacted to exclude ex-slaves from owning lands. They ended at the mercy of their former owners for whom they had to work for next to no wages. In effect, actual slavery was transformed into low-wage slavery.

Among the early maps of St Lucia is the La Fort De Latoor, which identified estates by their owners’ names. Upon departure to their own countries, slave owners passed their estates on to their descendants who employed ex-slaves or blacks as expendable beasts of burden. They became subservient to half-white or mulatto land owners whom they were forced to address as “Massa,” giving rise to the master and servant syndrome.

Hence, to male ex-slaves, slavery was preferable to hired labor. Female ex-slaves continued to enjoy their customary living condition as maids and nannies, and provided for the entire family. The pimp, the male ex-slave who still conditions or brainwashes women into becoming prostitutes to maintain him in comfort, is a product of slavery. Male ex-slaves who could not withstand subsistence farming turned instead to preaching the gospel. This accounts for the countless black ministers of religion or reverends in the United States.

In Saint Lucia there were 27 large estates namely: Marquis in the north was owned by a Mr. Purchase, a white Englishman who drove only Mercedes Benz. He finally took his own life. Cap Estate was owned by Floissac of French descent. He subsequently sold the estate to Colonel Harrison a horse breeder. Choc Estate was formerly owned by an English family, the Bascombes, who sold to JQ Charles, a former employee.

Corinth Estate’s owner was Balboa Edwards, a Saint Lucian. Goodlands, Cul de Sac and Roseau estates were owned by Deveaux, of a French family. They still do business here as merchants, insurance providers, airline and maritime agents. Du Boulay, of French descent, formerly owned most of Soufriere and environs, including Anse Chastanet. Jalousie and Beau estates were owned by Johnson of Johnson’s Hardware, an Englishman. Fondu and Chateaubelair estates, were owned by Delieu, of French descent. In Saltibus we have Morne Lizard Estate, owned by George Barnard, an Englishman. Londonderry Estate, was owned by Longley, an Englishman, and Parque Estate, was owned by a Mr. Branch, an Englishman. Balambouche East was owned by David Barnard, an Englishman. Balambouche West was owned by Floissac of French descent.

Saphire Estate in Laborie was owned by Algan Louisy, a Saint Lucian. Blackbay Estate, Laborie, extending to Cocodan in Vieux Fort, was owned by Englishman, George Barnard. Fond Estate was owned by Dennehy, an Englishman. Mahaut Estate was owned by Ellwyn Augustin, a Saint Lucian, and Patience Estate by Grace Augustin another St Lucian. Praslin and Mamicoud estates was owned by Shingleton-Smith of English Royalty. Troumassee Estate was owned by Frenchman Moffat, while Hilltop Dennery to La Caye Estate was owned by Dennis Barnard, an Englishman. Bousquedor Estate was owned by Royer, an Englishman who, together with his son, were cutlassed to death in Dennery.

Fourteen sugar cane estates were granted to English slave owners and nine to the French. Four were acquired by St Lucians. Authority on some estates was passed on from Massa to the leggings and cork-hat “colum,” to house niggers, to footmen. Side by side with a ruthless colonial system were the Founding Fathers. The former maximized production of raw sugar for export to England, to be refined and re-exported to the colonies.

Meanwhile the slaves were indoctrinated, turned into a god-fearing mass. Especially during the administration of “last rites,” the dying would be coerced into bequeathing vast prime holdings in the towns and villages to the Catholic Church, the price to be paid for a place in heaven. With the exception of four Anglican and one Methodist school, all others were controlled by Roman Catholic priests.

This article first appeared in the January 2021 edition of the STAR Monthly Review. Be sure to get your printed copy on newsstands or view it here: https://issuu.com/starbusinessweek/docs/star_monthly_review_january_2021