Canefield is a town located on the west coast of Dominica, north of Roseau and south of Massacre, overlooking Pringle's Bay. The largest settlement in St. Paul Parish, it has a population of 2,803. [1] It is home to an industrial estate with Harris Paints Dominica Ltd., a branch of the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Old Mill Cultural Center and Museum as well as the island's second airport. [2] Neighboring locales include Cochrane, Checkhall, Massacre and Fond Colé.
Canefield | |
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Coordinates: 15°20′N61°23′W / 15.333°N 61.383°W | |
Country | Dominica |
Parish | Saint Paul Parish |
Population (2011) | |
• Total | 2,803 |
Time zone | UTC-4 (UTC) |
Canefield is situated in the area of the former Canefield Estate. The Cane Field estate was owned by Walter Pringle, a merchant of Saint Kitts in the 1700s until his last known association in 1768. Walter Pringle’s son, Vice Admiral Thomas Pringle sold the estate in 1773 to joint owners Samuel Duer, Henrietta Duer, and George Rose, a Scottish politician and plantation owner. [3] [4] Rev. Rowland Duer Sr. inherited his brother Samuel Duer’s share of the estate after his death at St. Lucia in 1783. The Duer family’s share of the estate was later acquired by Rawson Aislabie, a London Merchant who was a joint owner until his death, after which his son, Benjamin Aislabie inherited his share of the estate. [5] By 1817 there was a total of 163 enslaved people working on the estate, 94 of whom were female and 69 male. In 1820 23 enslaved people were purchased from Richmond Estate, two people were purchased from RH Nightengale, and 54 enslaved people died. [6] In 1823 Sir George Henry Rose inherited the property from his mother Theodora née Duer. At the time there was a total of 123 enslaved persons (68 female and 52 male). [7] Following the passage of the Slavery Abolition Act 1833, Benjamin Aislabie and Sir George Henry Rose filed a claim for compensation for their loss of slaves and were awarded £2342 14s 0d on 12 October 1835 for losing the 111 enslaved people that worked on their estate. [8] [9]
In the present day, Canefield is home to one of Dominica’s two airports. It is also the location of the Museum at the Old Mill Cultural Centre. The museum is set in a restored building and features important aspects of Dominica’s heritage. The museum displays posters depicting the processing of sugar cane and coffee plantations and provides information about Dominica’s first people, the Kalinago. [2]
Robert Graham, who took the name Bontine in 1770 and Cunninghame Graham in 1796, was a Scottish politician and poet. He is now remembered for a poem If doughty deeds my lady please, which was later set to music by Sir Arthur Sullivan and also by his great-great-grandson, Rev. Malise Cunninghame Graham.
Samuel Greg was an Irish-born industrialist and entrepreneur of the early Industrial Revolution and a pioneer of the factory system. He built Quarry Bank Mill, which at his retirement was the largest textile mill in the country. He and his wife Hannah Greg assumed welfare responsibilities for their employees, many of whom were children, building a model village alongside the factory. At the same time, Greg inherited and operated a slave plantation in the West Indies where he tortured slaves by whipping them.
Wesley is a village in Saint Andrew Parish in north-eastern Dominica. It situated between the old estates of Eden and Londonderry and 1 1/2 miles (2.4 km) southeast of Woodford Hill. Like many other villages along the east coast, Wesley developed after Emancipation on hilly land along the boundary between the two estates as labourers sought to establish independent holdings for themselves away from the plantations where they had formerly lived and worked.
Marigot is the largest settlement of Saint Andrew Parish in northeastern Dominica. The village has a population of 2,676 people, and is home to a Fisheries Complex as well as the island's main airport.
Benjamin Aislabie was an English wine merchant, slave plantation owner and cricket administrator. He was the first Honorary Secretary of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and was influential in its early development. He also played cricket between 1808 and 1841 as an amateur but was, statistically, one of the worst players on record.
Benjamin Greene was an English businessman, newspaper owner and the founder of Greene King, one of the United Kingdom's largest brewing businesses. He later became the owner of multiple plantations in the British West Indies and supported slavery.
Benjamin Buck Greene was a British banker, plater, and financier. He inherited a large fortune derived from the Atlantic slave trade and the sugar industry in the Caribbean, later becoming one of London's leading merchants and shipowners. He served as a director of the Bank of England for fifty years from 1850, also serving as deputy governor (1871-3) and governor (1873–5).
George Hay Dawkins-Pennant, of Penrhyn Castle, Caernarvonshire, and 56 Portland Place, Middlesex, was a plantation and slave owner, Member of Parliament for Newark and New Romney.
The Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery, formerly the Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slave-ownership, is a research centre of University College, London (UCL) that focuses on revealing the impact of British slavery and, in particular, the implications of the Slave Compensation Act 1837. The Centre's work is freely available online to the public through the Legacies of British Slavery database.
James Laing (c.1749–1831) was a Scottish doctor and slave plantation owner in Dominica.
Henry Dawkins II was a Jamaican plantation and slave owner and Member of the Parliament of Great Britain (MP).
Anna Eliza Brydges, Duchess of Chandos was an English aristocrat and planter. She married James Brydges, 3rd Duke of Chandos.
Green Park Estate was one of several sugar plantations owned by William Atherton and his heirs. It was located in Trelawny Parish, south of Falmouth, Jamaica. By the early nineteenth century, at least 533 people were enslaved there producing mainly sugar and rum.
Thomas Earle (1754–1822) was an English slave trader. He was responsible for at least 73 slave voyages and alongside his brother he transported over 19,000 enslaved people. Of these 3,000 died on board his ships. One of his ships, Annabella, was seized by the British Crown for slave trading with the enemy. He was Mayor of Liverpool in 1787.
The Stapleton Baronetcy, of the Leeward Islands, is an extinct title in the Baronetage of England. It was created on 20 December 1679 for William Stapleton, who followed Charles II into exile in France, and after the Restoration was appointed deputy-governor of Montserrat and captain-general of the Leeward Islands.
James Gordon was a British barrister, politician and plantation owner on Antigua and St Vincent.
Cecilia Douglas was a Scottish art collector and philanthropist from Glasgow. One of Scotland's wealthiest women during her lifetime, with a net worth of £40,000, her fortune was derived from the ownership of slaves in the British West Indies.
William Mackenzie & Co. was a Scottish slave trading firm. The firm was located in Demerara, in the Cumingsburg district of the town. The firm consisted of four partners; William Mackenzie, James Crawford Macleod in Demerara, George Baillie and John Jaffray in St. Vincent.