Ins & Outs of Barbados 2020

1655 was facilitated by the movement of over 7,000 Barbadians to that former Spanish colony, initially as soldiers of the conquering Penn and Venables expedition, and later as colonists. Aborted settlements were attempted in Suriname, Trinidad, Tobago and St Lucia. Far more successful was the establishment of a Barbadian foothold in the Carolinas, to the extent that the epithet “colony of a colony” was applied. Some 4,000 went to New England and Virginia, and just under 2,000 migrated to various islands in the Eastern Caribbean, which were then opening up to export agriculture. The eighteenth century was one of consolidation and maturation, but by the early nineteenth century, geo politics conspired to create conditions for massive outflows of people once again from Barbados. The British conquest of the Dutch South American colonies of Essequibo, Demerara and Berbice which would ultimately merge to become British Guiana proved to be very attractive to Barbadian planters and their enslaved workers, but it was really after the Emancipation Act of 1834 that many thousands of black Barbadians chose of their own volition to emigrate there in search of a better life. A similar process took place in Trinidad after Britain wrested that island from Spain in 1802. Telephone directories and surnames are useful tools in assessing patterns of migration and a look through modern day directories of the nations of Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago bears witness to the influx of Barbadians into those countries over the last two hundred years. Barbados has long been noted for the quality of its education. Even before slavery had ended, schools were created on the island for the children of the enslaved. Literacy became more of a norm than a rarity for Barbadians in the later nineteenth and early twentieth century and lead to the recruitment of Barbadians as teachers, civil servants and policemen throughout the many British colonies of the region. From far flung Bermuda and the Bahamas, throughout the entire chain of islands, black Barbadians could be found in senior positions. With the creation of the country of Liberia in West Africa as a haven of repatriation for the newly freed people of the USA, emigration societies were created on Barbados in the 1860’s to encourage the migration of skilled individuals of Above: Carlisle Bay was a maritime hub. Below: Mrs. Sarah Ann Barclay, Barbadian born daughter of London Bourne and mother and grandmother of two of Liberia’s presidents, Arthur and Edwin Barclay respectively, photographed with her daughter, Laura Ann. Photo courtesy Circa West Indies 30  HISTORY INS&