Buxton | |
|---|---|
Village | |
| Buxton-Friendship Village | |
  Buxton | |
| Coordinates: 6°46′59″N58°01′59″W / 6.783°N 58.033°W | |
| Country |  Guyana |
| Region | Demerara-Mahaica |
| Settled | 1840 |
| Population (2012) [1] | |
| • Total | 2,973 |
Buxton is a village in the Demerara-Mahaica Region of Guyana, standing about midway between Georgetown and Enmore.
Buxton Village was founded in 1840 by a group of freed Afro-Guyanese, who purchased the former Plantation New Orange Nassau, and named it after Fowell Buxton. [2] Friendship, its sister village, was founded in 1841 after the purchase of Plantation Friendship. [3] The two were later joined to form the village of Buxton-Friendship, which is commonly called Buxton. Buxton Village was founded when a group of 128–132 former slaves from Annandale purchased the 580-acre plantation for 50,000 dollars. The 700-acre Friendship plantation was purchased by 168 former slaves for 80,000 dollars. Buxton, Friendship, Victoria, along with other Guyanese, were all collectively purchased by groups of former slaves after emancipation was enacted in 1838. [4]
The Buxton-Friendship local authority was established to interact with plantation owners, in addition to building roads, trenches and other similar infrastructure they also formed an elected village council. In 1856, the British Guiana legislature gave the government the right to enact improvement taxes on the properties of the villagers, this led to a stalemate between the government and the purchasers of Buxton. [3]
In 1862, the governor of British Guiana confiscated the property of James Jupiter, Blucher Dorsett, Hector John, Webster Ogle, Chance Bacchus and James Rodney Sr, leading to riots. After the governor refused to hear the complaints of the delegations from Buxton, six village leaders set sail for England to air their grievances to the Queen. [5] After arriving in Barbados, the Barbadian governor met with the delegation and advised his counterpart to absolve their properties of tax duties. This betrayal upset the other villagers, it also threatened the well-being of the members of the delegation who claimed they were not aware of the contents of the letter. In another effort to settle this dispute, some villagers led by Nana Culley decided to blocked the train carrying the governor, and force him to listen to their grievances. [3] With his train surrounded by angry villagers, the governor promised that Buxtonians would be exempt from these levies.
During the pre-independence period, Buxton-Friendship was the site of some ethnic violence, including the two murders [6] that are blamed for triggering the Wismar Massacre, most of the East Indian population of Buxton moved to the nearby villages of Annandale and Lusignan. [7] During the 2000s, Buxton was the supposed base of the criminal gangs blamed for the increase in murders and other violent crimes in Guyana. [8] Buxton once was considered to be highly affected by external criminal influences but has since been stabilized and is generally crime free and safe.
Buxton sits on very fertile land which is surrounded by an irrigation system. Local farmers produce a variety of fruits and vegetables including peas, beans, Dakar (Tamarind) and the Buxton Spice mango. This mango is unique to Buxton being fleshy and sweet like others but having a unique spicy taste. There are a variety of fish in the water including the Tilapia.
Georgetown is the capital and largest city of Guyana. It is situated in Demerara-Mahaica, region 4, on the Atlantic Ocean coast, at the mouth of the Demerara River. It is nicknamed the "Garden City of the Caribbean." It is the retail, administrative, and financial services centre of the country, and the city accounts for a large portion of Guyana's GDP. The city recorded a population of 118,363 in the 2012 census.
The history of Guyana begins about 35,000 years ago with the arrival of humans coming from Eurasia. These migrants became the Carib and Arawak tribes, who met Alonso de Ojeda's first expedition from Spain in 1499 at the Essequibo River. In the ensuing colonial era, Guyana's government was defined by the successive policies of the French, Dutch, and British settlers. During the colonial period, Guyana's economy was focused on plantation agriculture, which initially depended on slave labor. Guyana saw major slave rebellions in 1763 and 1823. Following the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833, 800,000 enslaved Africans in the Caribbean and South Africa were freed, resulting in plantations contracting indentured workers, mainly from India. Eventually, these Indians joined forces with Afro-Guyanese to demand equal rights in government and society. After the Second World War, the British Empire pursued policy decolonization of its overseas territories, with independence granted to British Guiana on May 26, 1966. Following independence, Forbes Burnham rose to power, quickly becoming an authoritarian leader, pledging to bring socialism to Guyana. His power began to weaken following international attention brought to Guyana in wake of the Jonestown mass murder suicide in 1978.
British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies. It was located on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana.
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 until 1815. It was merged with Essequibo in 1812 by the British who took control. It formally became a British colony in 1815 until Demerara-Essequibo was merged with Berbice to form the colony of British Guiana in 1831. In 1838, it became a county of British Guiana until 1958. In 1966, British Guiana gained independence as Guyana and in 1970 it became a republic as the Co-operative Republic of Guyana. It was located around the lower course of the Demerara River, and its main settlement was Georgetown.
The music of Guyana encompasses a range of musical styles and genres that draw from various influences including: Indian, Latino-Hispanic, European, African, Chinese, and Amerindian music. Popular Guyanese performers include: Terry Gajraj, Eddy Grant, Dave Martins & the Tradewinds, Aubrey Cummings, Colleˊ Kharis and Nicky Porter. Eddie Hooper The Guyana Music Festival has proven to be influential on the Guyana music scene.
Linden is the second largest city in Guyana after Georgetown, and capital of the Upper Demerara-Berbice region, located at 6°0′0″N58°18′0″W, altitude 48 m (160 ft). It was declared a town in 1970, and includes the communities of MacKenzie, Christianburg, and Wismar. It lies on the Demerara River and has a population of 27,277 as of 2012. It is primarily a bauxite mining town, containing many mines 60–90 m deep, with many other pits now in disuse.
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 Britain and Ireland in the latter year, it was merged with Demerara-Essequibo to form the colony of British Guiana in 1831. It became a county of British Guiana in 1838 till 1958. In 1966, British Guiana gained independence as Guyana and in 1970 it became a republic as the Co-operative Republic of Guyana.
Afro-Guyanese are generally descended from the enslaved people brought to Guyana from the coast of West Africa to work on sugar plantations during the era of the Atlantic slave trade. Coming from a wide array of backgrounds and enduring conditions that severely constrained their ability to preserve their respective cultural traditions contributed to the adoption of Christianity and the values of British colonists.
The Railways of Guyana comprised two public railways, the Demerara-Berbice Railway and the Demerara-Essequibo Railway. There are also several industrial railways mainly for the bauxite industry. The Demerara-Berbice Railway is the oldest in South America. None of the railways are in operation in the 21st century.
Annandale is a community in the Demerara-Mahaica region of Guyana, located on the Atlantic Ocean between Buxton, and Lusignan. Many of the inhabitants originally came from the Lusignan estate, while the former slaves of the plantation, bought the neighbouring Orange Nassau plantation and named it Buxton. Annandale is mainly an Indo-Guyanese community. It is divided in Annandale North, South, West and Courabane Park. The economy used to be dependent on the nearby sugar estates. The secondary school for the region is located in Annandale.
Rockstone is a village on the right bank of the Essequibo River in the Upper Demerara-Berbice Region of Guyana, altitude 6 metres. Rockstone is approximately 26 km west of Linden and is linked by road.
The Demerara rebellion of 1823 was an uprising involving between 9,000 and 12,000 slaves that took place in the British colony of Demerara-Essequibo in what is now Guyana. The exact number of how many took part in the uprising is a matter of debate. The rebellion began on 18 August 1823 and lasted for two days. Their goal was full emancipation. The uprising was triggered by a widespread but mistaken belief that Parliament had passed a law that abolished slavery and that this was being withheld by the colonial rulers. Instigated chiefly by Jack Gladstone, an enslaved man from the "Success" plantation, the rebellion also involved his father, Quamina, and other senior members of their church group. Its English pastor, John Smith, was implicated.
Quamina Gladstone, most often referred to simply as Quamina, was a Guyanese slave from Africa and father of Jack Gladstone. He and his son were involved in the Demerara rebellion of 1823, one of the largest slave revolts in the British colonies before slavery was abolished.
Den Amstel is a village in Guyana's Essequibo Islands-West Demerara region. It lies on the Atlantic coast, approximately 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) west-north-west of the capital, Georgetown. The village has a population of 938 people as of 2012, who are predominantly Afro-Guyanese.
Plantation Peter's Hall was a plantation on the east bank of the River Demerara in Dutch Guiana and British Guiana. It was probably laid out in the mid-eighteenth century and by the early nineteenth century had over 200 slaves before that institution was abolished in the British Empire.
Werk-en-rust, also Werken-Rust, is a ward in Georgetown, Guyana, located along the Demerara River that feeds into the Atlantic Ocean.
Cummingsburg, or historically Cumingsburg, is a ward in Georgetown, Guyana. It began as 500-acre plantation, La Bourgade about 1759. When Thomas Cumming, a Scotsman, bought the property, he developed a town plan with residential and commercial lots and streets. The town layout was modified after a fire that burnt much of the town in 1864. Today, it is the site of several museums, including a national and anthropological museum.
Guyanese nationality law is regulated by the 1980 Constitution of Guyana, as amended; the Citizenship Act of 1967, and its revisions; and various British Nationality laws. These laws determine who is, or is eligible to be, a national of Guyana. Guyanese nationality is typically obtained either on the principle of jus soli, i.e. by birth in Guyana; or under the rules of jus sanguinis, i.e. by birth abroad to parents with Guyanese nationality. It can also be granted to persons with an affiliation to the country, or to a permanent resident who has lived in the country for a given period of time through naturalisation. There is not currently a program in Guyana for persons to acquire nationality through investment in the country. Nationality establishes one's international identity as a member of a sovereign nation. Though it is not synonymous with citizenship, for rights granted under domestic law for domestic purposes, the United Kingdom, and thus the Commonwealth, have traditionally used the words interchangeably.
Helena is a village in the Demerara-Mahaica Region of Guyana. Administratively the village is subdivided in Helena No.1 and Helena No.2 and is part of the Mahaica subregion.
Kingston is a former village in Demerara. In 1837, it became a ward of Georgetown. The ward is located along the Atlantic Ocean coast. Kingston is home to many landmarks and historic buildings.