Correspondence from the Revolutionary Atlantic 1797–1798

A selection of letters from the Trinidad Historical Society Collection, written by British naval commanders during the period of the French and British wars fought in the Caribbean Sea during the period of the French Revolution. These naval battles between France and England caused various islands in the Caribbean chain of islands to change hands and in so doing alter the destinies of millions of people. 

Sir Ralph Abercromby

Sir Thomas Picton

The Cabildo Building

 There is a little building on Sackville Street, recently restored, right next to the newly built office of the Attorney General, that has been known for years as the cabildo building. Tradition has it that this, Trinidad's first governing body, once sat there. This is very likely, as the Cabildo sat in many places, not having a home of its own. It met in the private residences of its members.

The building on Sackville Street, however, does not date from Spanish times, which came to an end in 1797 with the British conquest. The Illustrious Cabildo continued up until the late 1840s and then metamorphosised into the City Council. That particular building may have belonged to the Senoir family, a distinguished Spanish family of Jewish descent.

The Cabildo, as a Spanish governing institution, involved in administration and deliberation, is claimed by some to extend as far back as the tribal assemblies of the original Iberian peoples in the Spanish peninsuar, prior to the arrival of the Romans. This is an interesting piece of historical trivia for anyone wishing to study the origins of jurisprudence in Trinidad and Tobago!

Be that as it may, it started as an annual court to elect their magistrates and their municipium for the year, to manage their local affairs. This annual assembly also legalised or censured the proceeding of the provincial governors.

From the 400s A.D. to 700 A.D., under the Visigoths, and from 700 to 1000 A.D., under the Muslims, the conditions in Spain favoured the risk of the warlords and the powers of the Cabildo waned. It was not until some 300 years later, in the 1300s, that a notable revival took place and the Cabildos were again supported by the crown.

With the discovery of the New World, it was inevitable that the Spanish authorities should take with them their system of Government. The Cabildo was established in Trinidad in 1592. Its membership was slightly altered in 1797, when the British started to keep Spanish low in place.

The revenue of the Cabildo was obtained from various sources, some of which have continued in practice to the present day. The following is a summary of the general heads revenue and the average yield in the early 1920s (from Dr. K.S. Wise, "Historical Sketches of Trinidad and Tobago", Vol 3):

1. Licenses to sell spirituous liquors, which cost about $10 each year. About 50 licenses in Port of Spain yielded about $6,000 a year.

2. Licenses for billiard tables, $4 monthly. Port of Spain had four tables, yielding $192 a year.

3. Rents for stalls in the public fish and flesh markets, yielding $1,100 a year.

4. Rents of land down the islands for planting cotton, provisions etc. Monos, Huevos, the Perroquets (now Five Islands), Diego Martin Islands (now Carrera and Cronstadt) and El Pato had been granted to the town of Port of Spain by Governor Chacon. Rent was from 4 -6 reals a quarree, totoal yield about $100 a year.

5. Rents of lots in Marine Square and in the Grass Market, yielding $1000 a year.

6. Rents of lots at the western extremity of the town, called Puerto Cacao, granted by Chacon, yielding about $120 a year.

7. Rent of the Cocal on the east coast, granted to the town by the Spanish king, renting for $300-500 a year, but for a few years had been without a tenant.

8. Rents of the new lots east and west of the new mole made by filling at the end of frederick Street and which formed a new part of the town. Granted to Port of Spain by Governor Picton. Annual rent $50-$150, yielding $2400 a year.

9. Grant of one quarter of one percent, on inward and outward cargoes at the port. This was collected by the customs officers and forwarded to the Cabildo. It had been granted by the King of Spain, yielding $2500-$3000 a year.

10. Payments for the use of water from the public well and for the use of the pump and aquaeduct by ships in the harbour. Yield $1000 a year.

11. Fines imposed on delinquents, varied yield.

12. Tax on carts, $2 a month, yielding $1400 a year and wholly spent on maintenance of the streets.

13. Duty on foreign liquors, yielding $1000 a year.

The total annual revenue of the Cabildo was thus approx. $17,000, exclusive of the various fines collected in the Courts of the Alcaldes. The population of Port of Spain was about 7,000.

The annual administrative expenditure of the Cabildo was:

Escribano (Secretary) $300

Interpreter $400

Chief of Police $912

Gaol Keeper $365

Seven Police $1680

Collector, 3% on collections $800

Rent of gaol and maintenance of prisoners unable to keep themselves $2,700

Rent of Caibldo building $960

Maintenance of properties $400

Celebration of the Feast of St. Joseph $400

"The necessary expenses to keep the streets in order were variable from year to year, as also were the expenses of the maintenance of slaves employed on works of public utility," writes Dr. Wise.

The records show that any money left over after expenditure had to be invested in fixed property, so as to increase the revenue in future years. In 1802,  fish and flesh market was built. Later, a gaol was completed, costing $20,000. Afterwards, a hospital for those found ill in the streets was commenced, and in 1809, $5000 was spent to repair the mole at the foot of Frederick Street.

The houseowners of Port of Spain also made a voluntary payment to the Cabildo for the maintenance of fire engines. This was introduced by the first British governor, Sir Thomas Picton. 

Tidbits from the Royal Victoria Institute catalogue (1897)

The Royal Victoria Institute was built in 1892 as a museum for art and science. It was named after Queen Victoria, who celebrated her diamond jubilee (50 years of reign) on the 17th September, 1892. The first exhibit was comprised of microscopic pictures. The cost of construction of the Victoria Institute was $6, 500. In 1894, it was enlarged by a reading and recreation rooms for the members of the society.

On 13th April, 1913, the Marie Louise Hall of the King Edward VII Memorial Wing was opened by no other than Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein herself (Schleswig-Holstein is now a state of the Federal Republic of Germany). Seven years later, on the 1st April, 1920, the whole building and all its contents were completely destroyed by fire. Many valuable collections were lost forever. The main building of the Victoria Institute was rebuilt after the original plans three years later.

An interesting collection was exhibited at the Royal Victoria Institute in Febuary 1897, which was staged to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the British conquest of Trinidad. Amongst the several interesting exhibits was one of this island’s lost treasures. It was a book called “El Libro Becerro”, literally The Vellum Book. The catalogue, which was written by Lionel Fraser, describes the book as thus:

“When in 1783, the King of Spain consented to allow the immigration of foreigners into Trinidad, i.e. of non-Spaniards, he issued a Cedula of Population in which the conditions of settlement and various rules and regulations were laid down. Amongst other things, it was ordered that the grants made to the new settlers should be entered in a ‘Libro Becerro’, in which were also to be recorded the names and descriptions of all the newcomers. The first entry in this volume is that of ‘John Black’, a native of Ireland, who subsequently played an important part in the history of the island. This entry is dated in 1784 and is signed by Governor Chacon. The last of the entries made under the Spanish rule records the name of Doña Rosa Desir, a native of Grenada, and is dated 7th December, 1796.”

The Vellum Book is thus a valuable record of the early settlers under the Cedula of Population, and as Fraser adds, it shows the people with whom the ‘History of the Island may fairly be deemed to have practically commenced’.

Tradition has it that there were two copies of this book that contained the names of Trinidad’s earliest settlers. One was known to have been lost in the Town Hall fire of 1947. The whereabouts of the other is a mystery. Anyone knowing anything about this treasure may call the editor!

Another item in the catalogue of the 1897 exhibition are the well-known Murray family, who once owned Woodbrook estate and is remembered there by Murray Street. The Murrays have over the years produced several generations of outstanding sportsmen. In the catalogue, however, the entry takes on the form of an ‘Army List’ of 1797 which belonged to an officer who formed part of the army commanded by Abercromby. Fraser describes:

“Apparently he [Murray] entered the army subsequently to the publication of the list, as his name does not appear, but that he formed part of the army is certain. He settled in the island and married a Mademoiselle Rochard. The late Dr. Thomas Murray was on of his sons and the late Marshal Edward Murray was another.”

The Army List is very interesting as it shows the composition and state of the British army at the commencement of the Great War. Names that later assumed world importance are mentioned ‘in passing’, e.g. Beau Brummell, the quondam friend of the ‘Prince Regent’, was then a mere junior captian of the 10th Hussars, and the future ‘Iron Duke’ Wellington was entered as Lt.-Colonel Wellesley of the 33rd; Colin Campbell, today remembered as Lord Clyde, was simply the Lieutenant of the Black Watch, and Picton, the future governor of Trinidad and later a hero of Waterloo, was the Second Lieutenent-Colonel of the 56th. Many young men had yet to earn their spurs in 1797.

As Fraser futher describes, the list also shows how certain regiments were entirely comprised of non-British, men who had been in the service of France before the Revolution of 1789. Those contingents took part in the capture of Trinidad, and some of the names show that men of those regiments chose to settle here, as their family names are subsequently well known in Trinidad.

There were for example the York Rangers, amongst whose Lieutenants a François Le Cadre left many descendants in Trinidad, the Corsican Rangers, or the famous Irish Brigade. The latter had departed from Limerick to fight for the House of Bourbon under the British flag, along with anti-republican  French regiments. One of the French soldiers who came to Trinidad with Abercromby’s fleet was the Count de Verteuil, whose descendants form today a large family.

Amongst the ancient families of Trinidad mentioned in the catalogue are also the Caracciolo-Pantin family. As Fraser writes:

“Count Guiseppe Caracciolo, who died in Trinidad on the 6th August 1819, was the direct descendant of Domenico Caracciolo. His eldest son, Domenico, married a lady of the family of Ruffo, by whom he had one son with the name of Literis in 1725. In the ‘Golden Book’ of Naples, he is registered as Guiseppe Literis Carcciolo. Literis married twice, and by his second wife, who was also of the Ruffo family, he had four sons, the third of whom, Luigi Guiseppe, married Mariana de la Porta Strabia. Their son Giuseppe was born in 1779 and at the age of 18 was nambed to a Sub-Lieutenancy in the Royal Cavlry. Impatient to earn military fame, in the followin gyear he joined the Russian army under the famous Suwarov who was then engaged in aiding the Austirans to fight the French under MAssena and Macdonald. He served for about a year and then returned to Naples. Subsequently, finding his safety, perhaps even his life, endangered, in consequence of his having taken service with the Russians, he determined to emigrate and arrived in Trinidad about 1801. On the 5th May 1805 he married Marie Josephine Amphoux by whom he became the father of two sons. The older was Luigi and he married Henrietta Pantin de Mouilbert, the younger, Alfredo, married Barbara Almandoz. Of these two marriages there are many descendants still living in Trinidad.”

About the Sorzano Collection, Fraser mentions that the Trinidadian history of this family goes back to holding important administrative posts in the Spanish times under Governor Chacon. Don Manuel Tomas Sorzano de Tejada occupied the important post of Contador de Real Exercito unter Chacon. Being the owner of considerable property in Trinidad, he swore the oath of allegiance to the British King after the British conquest, and served the British government for many years.

“In 1803, Sir Thomas Hislop [the then governor] named him Assistant Commandant of Arima,” writes Fraser. “Ten years later, he was given a seat at the Board of Council by Sir Ralph Woodford.”

At the time of the exhibition in 1897, the Sorzano family in Trinidad was in its fourth generation and, as Fraser said, “supplied trusted and efficient members of the Civil Service”. The Sorzano family goes back to very ancient roots in Spain. In the 9th century, a coat of arms was bestowed upon Don Sancho Martinez Sorazon de Tejda by Alphonso III, the King of Asturia, for his victory over the army of Abdallah the Arab Caliph of Cordova. In 1492, the King and Queen of Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella, recognised the Sorzano’s family services formally. The name was again mentioned by Charles V. in 1527.

Other exhibits at the Royal Victoria Institute of 1897 were a roll o the slave children at the Toncilla estate in Arima, which belonged to the Sorzano family in 1803. Another exhibit was an original printed copy of the Cedula of Population of the 23rd November 1783, which Chacon probably  brought with him from the King’s printery.

The Basantas are another family mentioned by Fraser as contributors to the exhibition.

“Don Valentine de Basanta at the time of the capitulation held the office of first commissary of population to which he had been appointed by the King of Spain in the year 1792. He held a commission in the Spanish Navy, and, like Don Manuel Sorzano, owning property, and having married in the colony, decided to remain after the conquest, taking the oath of allegiance to the King of England. The name of de Basanta is that of a very ancient family of Castille and occurs frequently in the chroicles of the 14th and 15th centuries as taking part in the wars with Navarre under Pedro the Cruel and in those waged by Ferdinand and Isabella against the Moors. The father of Don Valentine de Basanta emigrated to Cartagena in 1775 and the latter settled in Trinidad where he has left numerous descendants.”