Demerara

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For other uses, see Demerara (disambiguation).

Demerara was one of the original British colonies that were joined into the colony of British Guiana, now Guyana. It was located about the lower courses of the Demerara River, and its main town was Georgetown. Demerara is now one of three counties of Guyana. The other two counties are Berbice and Essequibo. Before the colony became British, it was a Dutch colony.

On 13 August 1814 the British combined the colonies of Demerara and Essequibo into the colony of Demerara-Essequibo. On 20 November 1815 the colony was formally ceded to Britain by the Netherlands.

On 21 July 1831 Demerara-Essequibo united with Berbice as British Guiana.

Large slave rebellion broke out in West Demerara in 1795 and on the East Coast of Demerara in 1823[1] . Although these rebellions were easily and bloodily crushed, according to Winston McGowan, they may have had a long-term impact in ending slavery:

"The 1823 revolt had a special significance not matched by the earlier Berbice uprising. It attracted attention in England inside and outside Parliament to the terrible evil slavery and the need to abolish it. This played a part, along with other humanitarian, political and economic factors, in causing the British parliament ten years later in 1833 to take the momentous decision to abolish slavery in British Guiana and elsewhere in the British Empire with effect from 1st August 1834. After serving four years of a modified form of slavery euphemistically called apprenticeship, the slaves were finally freed on 1st August 1838."[2]

Demerara sugar is so named because originally it came from the colony of Demerara.

Contents

[edit] Notable Demererans

[edit] Commanders of Demerara

  • Jonathan Samuel Storm van 's Gravesende (d. 1761) (1752 - 1761)
  • Laurens Lodewijk van Bercheijk (d. 1765) (1761 - 1765)
  • Jan Cornelis van den Heuvel (1765 - 1770)
  • Paulus van Schuylenburgh (1772 - 1781)
  • Antony Beaujon (22 Apr 1796 - 27 Mar 1802)

[edit] Governors of Demerara

  • Robert Kingston (27 Feb 1781 - 1782)
  • Louis Antoine Dazemard de Lusignan (1782)
  • Armand Guy Simon de Coëtnempren, comte de Kersaint (b. 1742 - d. 1793) (1782)
  • Georges Manganon de la Perrière (1783 - 1784)

[edit] Directors-general

  • Joseph Bourda (acting) (6 Mar 1784 - Feb 1785)
  • Jan L'Éspinasse (Feb 1785 - 18 Aug 1789)
  • Albertus Backer (18 Aug 1789 - 31 Mar 1793)
  • Willem August van Sirtema, baron van Grovestins (31 Mar 1793 - May 1795)
  • Antony Beaujon (b. 17.. - d. 1805) (1795 - 22 Apr 1796)
  • Antony Meertens (27 Mar 1802 - Sep 1803)

[edit] Lieutenant governors

  • Robert Nicholson (Sep 1803 - 18 Aug 1804)
  • Antony Beaujon (18 Aug 1804 - 19 Oct 1805)
  • James Montgomery (acting) (19 Oct 1805 - 8 May 1806)
  • Henry William Bentinck (8 May 1806 - Feb 1812)
  • Hugh Lyle Carmichael (b. 1764 - d. 1813) (Feb 1812 - 11 May 1813)
  • E. Codd (acting) (11 May 1813 - 23 May 1813)
  • John Murray (23 May 1813 - 26 Apr 1824)
  • Sir Benjamin d'Urban (26 Apr 1824 - 21 Jul 1831)

[edit] Leaders of Slave Rebellions

  • 1823: Jack Gladstone of Plantation Success

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ McGowan, Winston (2006). The 1763 and 1823 slave rebellions. Starbroeck News. Retrieved on December 07, 2006.
  2. ^ McGowan, Winston (2006). The 1763 and 1823 slave rebellions (Part 2). Starbroeck News. Retrieved on December 07, 2006.
Dutch empire
Former colonies
Africa: Arguin Island - Cape Colony - Lydsaamheid fort & factory in Delagoa Bay - Dutch Gold Coast - Gorée - Mauritius
The Americas: Berbice - New Holland (in Brazil) (part), Dutch Brazil - Dutch Guiana - Demerara - Essequibo annex Pomeroon
New Netherland (New Amsterdam, New Sweden) - Tobago - Virgin Islands (part)
Asia & Oceania: Ceylon - Dutch India (Dutch Bengal - Coromandel Coast - Malabar Coast) - Deshima island, Japan - Dutch East Indies - Malacca - Netherlands New Guinea - Taiwan
Artic: Smeerenburg on Amsterdam island
See also: Dutch East India Company - Dutch West India Company
Present colonies
Kingdom of the Netherlands: Netherlands Antilles - Aruba
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