His Excellency Excellency is an honorific style (manner of address), style given to certain high-level officers of a sovereign state, officials of an international organization, or members of an aristocracy. Once entitled to the title "Excellency", the holder ...

Sir Henry Light, KCB,

Esq. Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman an ...

(1782/3, Kimberley House, Falmouth,

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

– 3 March 1870, Great Britain and Ireland) was a British colonial administrator who served as the third Governor of British Guiana from 27 June 1838 to 19 May 1848, overseeing the initial developments such as emancipation. He served as Lieutenant Governor of Dominica for 13 months prior and Lieutenant Governor of Antigua in 1836. Before his administrative career, he served in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

Caribbean lieutenant-governorships

In 1836, Light was appointed in Lieutenant Governor of British Antigua and arrived in July. Between February 1837 and March 1838, Light served as Lieutenant Governor of British Dominica. From July to August 1837, the

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

stayed proceedings in response to him forbidding Special Magistrates to lash men to exert labor or as punishment.

Governorship of Guiana

Apprenticeship and economy

Light assumed office on 27 June 1838 after his predecessor's death in March. Prefacing his 10-year-long term, Light stated: His initial observation was that the two estates were capable of producing more sugar than

Nevis Nevis ( ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea that forms part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies. Nevis and the neighbouring island of Saint Kitts constitute the Saint Kitts and Nevis, Federation of Saint Kitts ...

and

Montserrat Montserrat ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, wit ...

; he believed

Berbice Berbice () is a region along the Berbice River in Guyana, which was between 1627 and 1792 a colony of the Dutch West India Company and between 1792 and 1815 a colony of the Dutch state. After having been ceded to the United Kingdom of Great Brita ...

could obtain higher production than the

Leeward In geography and seamanship, windward () and leeward () are directions relative to the wind. Windward is ''upwind'' from the point of reference, i.e., towards the direction from which the wind is coming; leeward is ''downwind'' from the point o ...

and

Windward Islands The Windward Islands are the southern, generally larger islands of the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean islands or the West Indies. Located approximately between latitudes 10° and 16° N and longitudes 60° and 62° W, they extend from D ...

combined if provided adequate labor. Following the

Slavery Abolition Act 1833 The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 ( 3 & 4 Will. 4. c. 73) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which abolished slavery in the British Empire by way of compensated emancipation. The act was legislated by Whig Prime Minister Charl ...

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in a regulat ...

was established but was intended to be supplanted by emancipation on 1 August 1838. Smyth claimed the peace of the colony would rely on the 15

stipendiary magistrates Stipendiary magistrates were magistrates that were paid for their work (they received a stipend). They existed in the judiciaries of the United Kingdom and those of several former British territories, where they sat in the lowest-level criminal ...

as the black population would not allow a plantation owner-dominated judiciary; Light agreed and kept them, as permitted by the

Colonial Office The Colonial Office was a government department of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom, first created in 1768 from the Southern Department to deal with colonial affairs in North America (particularly the Thirteen Colo ...

. He suggested to those in new African villages they form agreements with the management of plantations, which would be signed by stipendiary magistrates and shareholders. In one such agreement, non-Christian religious practices were banned, in line with suppression of

obeah Obeah, also spelled Obiya or Obia, is a broad term for African diaspora religions, African diasporic religious, Magic (supernatural), spell-casting, and healing traditions found primarily in the British West Indies, former British colonies of th ...

: He was unconcerned for cultivation, citing the absence of labor for 3 weeks in

Antigua Antigua ( ; ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the local population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the most populous island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua ...

in 1834 as reason to believe only temporary effects were imminent. In late August, he informed

Secretary of State for War and the Colonies The Secretary of State for War and the Colonies was a British cabinet-level position responsible for the army and the British colonies (other than India). The Secretary was supported by an Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. Hist ...

Charles Grant, 1st Baron Glenelg Charles Grant, 1st Baron Glenelg PC FRS (26 October 1778 – 23 April 1866) was a Scottish politician and colonial administrator who served as Secretary of State for War and the Colonies Background and education Grant was born in Kidderpore ...

that Berbice plantations resumed operation after a short period of inactivity. He argued against plantation owners and entrepreneurs' claims that the new freedom hampered productivity, retorting that there was bad season, and harsh treatment led freedmen away. However, in October, he demanded freedmen 'give up a fair portion' of their labor, warning of eviction and replacement by immigrants if regular work was not committed. Grant's successor,

Lord John Russell John Russell, 1st Earl Russell (18 August 1792 – 28 May 1878), known as Lord John Russell before 1861, was a British Whig and Liberal statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1852 and again from 1865 to 186 ...

, viewed Light's work more critically. Russell aligned himself with the planters' blaming of emancipation, though disagreed about the supposed contribution by freedmen's behavior. He justified his position by bringing up a

return Return may refer to: In business, economics, and finance * Return on investment (ROI), the financial gain after an expense. * Rate of return, the financial term for the profit or loss derived from an investment * Tax return, a blank document or t ...

from April 1839; shown were output comparisons between 6 July to 10 October 1839 with 1831 to 1833: sugar had decreased by 7,259

hogsheads A hogshead (abbreviated "hhd", plural "hhds") is a large cask of liquid (or, less often, of a food commercial product) for manufacturing and sale. It refers to a specified volume, measured in either imperial or US customary measures, primarily ...

, rum by 2,014 puncheons, and coffee by more than three-fourths in total. He also referred to the £930,000 decline in 1839

Demerara Demerara (; , ) is a historical region in the Guianas, on the north coast of South America, now part of the country of Guyana. It was a colony of the Dutch West India Company between 1745 and 1792 and a colony of the Dutch state from 1792 unti ...

crop as calculated by the Liverpool West India Association. Ultimately, Russell believed parliament should further aid the colonies in dealing with the effects of emancipation and agreed with Light that interconnectivity between the classes was essential for mending the issues. Since emancipation, wealthy planters such as

William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

had attempted to get indentured servants from British India, provoking investigation reluctantly ordered by Light. These efforts were made in vain and when it was made legal in 1845, it was under conditions less favorable than in 1837. The last development on the issue was in 1860, when five-year contracts were able to be issued by the Indian administration; by then Indian indentured servants were integral and a governing concern of the Guiana administration.

General administration

In December 1838, Light told the

Court of Policy The Court of Policy was a legislative body in Dutch and British Guiana until 1928. For most of its existence it formed the Combined Court together with the six Financial Representatives. History The Court of Policy was established in 1732 by the ...

that the government were 'possessors de facto of the soil' and that Native Guyanese would have to apply their territory for grants and pay fees to prevent it from being leased. In accordance with Ordinance No. 3 of 1839 by the

Lords Commissioners of the Treasury In the United Kingdom there are at least six Lords (or Ladies) Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, serving as a Government agency, commission for the ancient office of Lord High Treasurer, Treasurer of the Exchequer. The board consists of the ...

, the

Dutch guilder The guilder (, ) or florin was the currency of the Netherlands from 1434 until 2002, when it was replaced by the euro. The Dutch name was a Middle Dutch adjective meaning 'golden', and reflects the fact that, when first introduced in 1434, its ...

was replaced by the British dollar, exchanging at a rate of 3 guilders per dollar. The ordinance took effect on 1 March. Following emancipation, during the 1830s and 1840s, the prison system was expanded with primarily coastal district prisons. Light laid the first stone of Her Majesty’s Penal Settlement Mazaruni in 1842 and vouched for the humane conditions of the system. In 1848, controversies spurred out of testimonies of abuse and Light ordered an inquiry. One interviewee spoke of killings and beatings. In June 1842, he established the first rudimentary mental illness institution. He sent £3,170 to the

British Relief Association The British Association for the Relief of Distress in Ireland and the Highlands of Scotland, known as the British Relief Association (BRA), was a private charity of the mid-19th century in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Establis ...

, claiming, "this colony is particularly blessed at the moment with the greatest abundance of every necessary of life ..in no place in the world is a labourer so favoured as in this colony".

Family

Light had three children with his wife Charlotte: Elizabeth Georgiana, Charlotte, and Alfred. Charlotte was unmarried and Alfred, born in Paris in 1823, obtained the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Royal Artillery, serving in

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

, before retiring with the

honorary rank Military ranks is a system of hierarchical relationships within armed forces, police, intelligence agencies, paramilitary groups, and other institutions organized along military lines, such as youth groups, chivalric orders, religious orders, a ...

of major general on 31 December 1878. He married Norah, widow of

Charles Oxenden Charles Oxenden (born 23 May 1800 at Deane, near Wingham Kent; died 17 March 1874 at Barham, Kent) was an English amateur cricketer who helped found the Cambridge University Cricket Club, and played first-class cricket for the club from 1820 to ...

and daughter of Martin Gubbins, in 1871 and died in London on 31 September 1911. Elizabeth married William Henry Holmes, Esq.,

Provost Marshal Provost marshal is a title given to a person in charge of a group of Military Police (MP). The title originated with an older term for MPs, '' provosts'', from the Old French (Modern French ). While a provost marshal is now usually a senior c ...

of Guiana, at

St. George's Cathedral, Georgetown St. George's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Georgetown, Guyana. The church is of Gothic revival timber construction and reaches a height of . It is the seat of the Bishop of Guyana. St. George's was designed by Sir Arthur Blomfield and op ...

on 15 April 1848 by the corresponding diocese's bishop. William died in 1868 and Elizabeth on 11 January 1897. He received the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

from

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

in 1849. On 5 July 1865, Light received his pension for 12 years of governance at age 82. He died on 3 March 1870, a few hours after his wife, at age 87.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Light, Henry 1780s births 1870 deaths Politicians from Falmouth, Cornwall Royal Artillery personnel Governors of Antigua and Barbuda Governors of Dominica Governors of British Guiana Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath