Barbados: In 'paternal watch' over 17th-18th century Tobago

DR RITA PEMBERTON

SINCE THE 17th century, strong expressions of interest in the settlement of Tobago emanated from the British crown, individuals with interests in Barbados and officials and residents of Barbados.

At the beginning of that century, apart from the First Peoples, the only Europeans in Tobago were the French and English turtlers who made seasonal visits to the island. However, reports of these and of ship captains who called at Tobago to replenish their water supply and effect repairs, stimulated deeper interest in settling Tobago, which was considered an unoccupied island.

Towards the end of the century European rivalry for supremacy was manifested in a quest for tropical colonies which led to a focus on the Caribbean and to those territories which had not been effectively occupied by another European power.

Considered an open field with great potential according to the reports of visitors and not under the control of any European country, Tobago became the centre of focus by several European countries and as a result a long intense rivalry for possession of the island occurred across the 17th and 18th centuries.

Once Barbados became established as a plantation colony after British settlement in 1627, its interests spread to other islands in the region, Tobago being foremost among them. In the heyday of European rivalry, interest groups in Barbados served as the watchdogs over Tobago, keeping a close eye on developments on the island.

As a result, they engaged in activities which were aimed at preventing the island from falling into the hands of rival countries and to secure Tobago as a British possession. This undertaking involved more than fighting the official agents of the European countries because there were other groups which could impede British possession.

European settlement in the Caribbean also attracted the presence of groups of Europeans who formed bands of buccaneers, pirates and privateers who preyed on shipping in the region and attacked the young settlements, especially those of rival nations. Some of these groups worked for one or other European nation.

For these activities Tobago possessed two ideal hideouts, Man o War Bay and Pirates Bay in the north of the island, which became popular haunts of these seafaring marauders.

Lord Willoughby, governor of Barbados, took a personal interest in developments in Tobago and undertook a private venture to rid the island of these groups. When the buccaneers of Jamaica attacked the settlement in Tobago, Willoughby allied with them to destroy the Dutch settlement on the island.

Having succeeded in that effort, he turned his attention to the buccaneers with whom he formed an agreement to end their looting and in return was granted the privilege of being allowed to sell their booty in Barbados without taxation. He then engaged them to attack the Dutch settlement in Guyana.

Willoughby established a small garrison in Tobago and handed over the Dutch properties to the British crown. After this, nothing more was heard of the buccaneers in Tobago.

Revealing his personal interest in Tobago, Willoughby provided a detailed account of his Tobago campaign in a letter to King Charles II and sought permission to occupy the island for 31 years. There was no response to his request.

On December 30, 1699, agents for Barbados in Britain claimed Tobago instructed a party of men from Barbados to go to Tobago and take possession of the island.

This action was based on a claim of a grant by King Charles I in 1628 to the Earl of Carlisle of Caribbean islands, which included Barbados, St Kitts and Tobago. It was asserted that no attempt had been made to effect the claim and to correct this, a settlement was attempted.

This was shortlived because many of the settlers died and a ship was sent from Barbados to rescue the survivors.

In 1637, after news spread of the defeat and eviction of the Dutch from Tobago, a group of puritans from Barbados decided to settle the island. Rev Nicholas Leverton, who found the behaviour of settlers in Barbados intolerable, sought to establish a more temperate colony in Tobago.

The group established their settlement near Roxborough where they faced the hostility of the First People residents, who resisted their attempts to explore the island and killed all but three of them. On returning, the survivors found the settlement abandoned and they remained until they were rescued by a passing ship.

By the end of the 17th century, Tobago became central to the interests of powerful people in London and Barbados and there developed an enduring relationship between Barbados and Tobago.

Landowners in Barbados took advantage of the flat terrain of their island to clear the island’s forest cover and convert the entire island into large sugar plantations. This action made them dependent on outside sources for wood and food products. Supplies of these items were obtained from the neutral islands, Dominica, St Lucia, St Vincent and especially Tobago.

The trade with Tobago lasted up to the first three decades of the 20th century.

Based on a report they received about the economic possibilities of Tobago, Barbadian planters wanted the British to gain possession of Tobago with the expectation that they would be able to determine the island’s future in agriculture.

It was their intention to prevent the introduction of sugar cultivation in Tobago for fear that it would compete with that of Barbados, and they wanted to secure their supplies of cedar, green heart and mahogany from Tobago. They were very concerned about the island’s status as a neutral island which interrupted trade and wanted this status to be terminated to permit unrestricted wood cutting to continue.

In addition, after 1751, when tensions between Britain and France escalated, the Barbadians became very suspicious of the activities and motives of the French. If the island fell into French hands, Barbados planters would be deprived of the ability to control the crops planted in Tobago while the French would gain the opportunity to boost their sugar production and gain control of the sugar market.

Barbadians felt victorious when the island was made a British possession in 1763. Barbadian interest in Tobago reflected the British imperial ambitions for the island, the personal ambitions of individuals like governor Willoughby, the commercial interests of the planting community and their agents in England, as well as the Barbadian planters for whom the Tobago trade was essential to their operations.

For all these groups the “paternal watch” over Tobago during the 17th and 18th century was essential.