1841 - Letter of introduction for an "Immigration Society" agent sent by an important merchant in British Guiana to Madeira wine merchants, soliciting post-slavery laborers for sugar plantations

British Guiana (Guyana), 1841. Envelope or Cover. Very good. This two-page stampless, folded letter measures 8" x 9.75". It was sent by the Murray Brothers of British Guiana (Guyana) to Newton Gordon Cossart & Company in Madeira. It is datelined "Demerary [Demerara] Feby 1840". The front of the letter bears the manuscript annotation "Fav'd by Mr Dunlap" indicating it was favor-carried. In nice shape. A transcript will be provided.,

The letter introduces an "Immigration Society" agent, Mr. Dunlap, and request he be assisted in soliciting post-slavery labor for the sugar plantations of the colony. It reads in part:

"Permit me to introduce as your acquaintance our friend, Mr. Dunlap, whos proceeds as Agent for the Immigration Society to your Island and thence to Sierra Leone, in the hopes of obtaining laboreres for this very fine colony, and on the success of which we may safely say depend its existence, if we had double our present population, sure and profitable employment could be obtained by every one willing to work. . .. Our Mr. Loxdale [is bringing] 7 boxes of choice pine[apple] plants and two coco nuts. [If] Mr. Gordon has more than he requires he will be able to spare some to his friends. [They] number three dozen in one box . . . our very best specimens . . . Blue Jamaica, Montserrat, and Indian. . .. If it will not give you too much trouble [would you send] us a few choice plants in duplicate, and the tea plant. . .."

. Although the Abolition Act of 1833 officially abolished slavery throughout the British Colonies, de facto slavery continued unabated throughout its Caribbean lands via the "coolie" trade which enticed impoverished East Indians into oppressive indentured contracts after which, they were treated only slightly better than the enslaved laborers they replaced. Almost 40,000 were brought to British Guiana.

The planters of British Guiana also established a successful "Immigration Society," subsidized by the government, which recruited Portuguese laborers and former coolies from Madeira and, more importantly African "recaptives" who had been bound for Spanish and Portuguese colonies until their slave ships were captured by the British Navy. Once freed, the Africans were taken to Sierra Leone where Admiralty courts legally confirmed their free status. Afterwards, they were consigned to a variety of unfree labor apprenticeships at the hands of the Nova Scotian Settlers and Jamaican Maroons (Afro-Caribbeans who had freed themselves from slavery and established black communities throughout the West Indies). Mr. Dunlap, in this letter, and other immigration agents were quite successful. Between 1840 and 1865, almost 14,000 African recaptives from Sierra Leone had immigrated to British Guiana, along with over 30,000 Portuguese laborers and several thousand former coolies from Madeira.

(For more information, see Erickson's "The Introduction of East Indian Coolies into the British West Indies" in The Journal of Modern History - June 1934, "The Arrival of the Portuguese" at the Gonsalves of Guyana website, and "Abolition's Adolescence: Apprenticeship as 'Liberation' in Sierra Leone, 1808-1848" in The English Historical Review - June 2022.)

Perhaps unique. At the time of listing, nothing related to the recruitment or use of "receptive" labor is for sale in the trade; neither has any related material appeared at auction per the Rare Book Hub. OCLC shows no related items are held by institutions.

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