Year: 1834

Of all the letters for which the dates of arrival are recorded, this took by far the longest – over four months – so Kate would not learn of the visit to Demerara until the next letter arrived, by which time her husband was back in Barbados.

R.E. Office Monday 24 Nov 34

I’m in such a bustle my dear Kate that it is with difficulty my head or pen will remain sufficiently steady to write even a line. At one today – now ...     Read more

He doesn’t say so, but this was probably English’s first experience of travelling by steam ship. The Royal Navy had a few by this time, but as there was as yet no worldwide network of coaling stations, they used sail whenever practicable. 

British Guiana (now Guyana) must have had a very different feel from Barbados. It had been colonised by the Dutch for nearly 200 years when the British ...     Read more

This letter has no cover and is dated only at the end. It seems safe, however, to assume that it was all written in Demerara on Tuesday 16 December 1834 after English’s return from Berbice on the previous Saturday. 

Here are interesting references to former slaves regarding their hours of work and the attitude of the Church. The Emancipation Act provided that the former slaves, now called ...     Read more