Hibbert House, also known as Headquarters House, is the head office of the Jamaica National Heritage Trust. It is located at 79 Duke Street in Kingston, Jamaica. It was built by Thomas Hibbert, a wealthy young English merchant, in 1755 to serve as his residence. Hibbert migrated to Kingston in 1734, at a time when Jamaica was becoming the largest and wealthiest of the British Caribbean islands and the largest single destination of African slaves. In the early 1750s, he formed a partnership with Nathaniel Sprigg to serve as factors for slaves, purchasing them off the ships from Africa and reselling them to planters and others in Jamaica. Hibbert also helped found a major West Indian house in London, trading in sugar and rum.
The two-story house is made from fine flemish bonded brick, stone and timber. The walls are brick with limestone quoins. The front of the building has Jamaican Vernacular fretwork.[1]
The house has a basement and an attic with dormer windows, a courtyard and several outhouses. Offices were on the ground floor with bedrooms above.[1]
History
"Head-Quarter House, Kingston", illustration of article "Cast-away in Jamaica" by W.E. Sewell, in Harper's Magazine, January 1861.Hibbert House
Headquarters House or "Hibbert House", as it was known up to the time of the owner's death, stands as a reminder of the wealth and power of the Kingston merchants in their glory days. Hibbert was among the first of many wealthy merchants to build in the Georgian style of architecture. This style had become fashionable in 18th century England. This style would play a large part in the development of Jamaican architecture.
Hibbert became involved in politics and in due course was named Speaker of the House of Assembly in 1756.[2] When the Capital of Jamaica temporarily moved from Spanish Town to Kingston in 1754. the House of assembly and Legislative Council held their meetings at Hibbert House until 1758.[1]
Hibbert never married, but he maintained a 24-year relationship with Charity Harry, dating from the birth of their daughter Jane Harry in 1756.[2] Charity Harry, described as Hibbert's housekeeper and a "free mulatto," could read and own property. Hibbert provided her with a home, clothes, furniture, and other possessions. Upon Hibbert's death the house was passed to his heir and nephew and not to his daughter Jane or long time consort Charity.[2] In 1814 the house was sold to the War Office of the West Indies Regiment to serve as its headquarters, and as the residence for the General of the army that was garrisoned there. This is where it gained the name of "Headquarters House". Since the house is located near the harbor and it also has a good view of the city the house was very desirable as a military headquarters. It was during this time that the crow's nest/ sentinel post was built on the roof.
While Hibbert House served as the Headquarters House, several illustrious commanders resided there:
Mayor John Eyre, organized his attack on St. Thomas to crush the Morant Bay Rebellion at Hibbert House.
Recent history
Hibbert House was purchased by the Jamaican government in 1872 for five thousand pounds Sterling. Kingston became the permanent seat of the Jamaica legislation and Hibbert house was used as the Offices of Colonial Secretary until 1960.
Since 1983, Headquarters House has been used as the head office of the Jamaica National Heritage Trust. The building has survived social, political and structural changes as well as the forces of nature to become a truly national historic treasure, worthy of preservation.
The Caribbean island of Jamaica was initially inhabited in approximately 600 AD or 650 AD by the Redware people, often associated with redware pottery. By roughly 800 AD, a second wave of inhabitance occurred by the Arawak tribes, including the Tainos, prior to the arrival of Columbus in 1494. Early inhabitants of Jamaica named the land "Xaymaca", meaning "land of wood and water". The Spanish enslaved the Arawak, who were ravaged further by diseases that the Spanish brought with them. Early historians believe that by 1602, the Arawak-speaking Taino tribes were extinct. However, some of the Taino escaped into the forested mountains of the interior, where they mixed with runaway African slaves, and survived free from first Spanish, and then English, rule.
Spanish Town is the capital and the largest town in the parish of St. Catherine in the historic county of Middlesex, Jamaica. It was the Spanish and British capital of Jamaica from 1534 until 1872. The town is home to numerous memorials, the national archives, and one of the oldest Anglican churches outside England.
Paul Bogle was a Jamaican Baptist deacon and activist. He is a National Hero of Jamaica. He was a leader of the 1865 Morant Bay protesters, who marched for justice and fair treatment for all the people in Jamaica. After leading the Morant Bay rebellion, Bogle was captured by government troops, tried and convicted by British authorities under martial law, and hanged on 24 October 1865 in the Morant Bay court house.
The Morant Bay rebellion began with a protest march to the courthouse by hundreds of people led by preacher Paul Bogle in Morant Bay, Jamaica. Some were armed with sticks and stones. After seven men were shot and killed by the volunteer militia, the protesters attacked and burned the courthouse and nearby buildings. A total of 25 people died. Over the next two days, poor freemen, many ex-slaves, rose in rebellion across most of St. Thomas-in-the-East parish.
Saint Thomas, once known as Saint Thomas in the East, is a suburban parish situated at the south eastern end of Jamaica, within the county of Surrey. It is the birthplace of the Right Honourable Paul Bogle, designated in 1969 as one of Jamaica's seven National Heroes. Morant Bay, its chief town and capital, is the site of the Morant Bay Rebellion in 1865, of which Bogle was a leader.
Robert Hibbert was the founder of the Hibbert Trust.
St. James is a suburban parish, located on the north-west end of the island of Jamaica in the county of Cornwall. Its capital is Montego Bay. Montego Bay was officially named the second city of Jamaica, behind Kingston, in 1981, although Montego Bay became a city in 1980 through an act of the Jamaican Parliament. The parish is the birthplace of the Right Excellent Samuel Sharpe, one of Jamaica's seven National Heroes.
George William Gordon was a wealthy mixed-race Jamaican businessman, magistrate and politician, one of two representatives to the Assembly from St. Thomas-in-the-East Parish. He was a leading critic of the colonial government and the policies of Jamaican Governor Edward Eyre.
George Hibbert was an English merchant, politician, slave-owner, ship-owner, amateur botanist and book collector. With Robert Milligan, he was also one of the principals of the West India Dock Company which instigated the construction of the West India Docks on London's Isle of Dogs in 1800. He also helped found the Royal National Lifeboat Institution in 1824.
Jamaican Maroons descend from maroons, Africans who escaped from slavery on the Colony of Jamaica and established free communities in the mountainous interior, primarily in the eastern parishes. Escaped Africans who were enslaved during Spanish rule over Jamaica (1493–1656) may have been the first to develop such refugee communities.
Victor Stafford Reid, OJ, was a Jamaican writer born in Kingston, Jamaica, who wrote with an intent of influencing the younger generations. He was awarded the silver (1950) and gold (1976) Musgrave Medals, the Order of Jamaica (1980) and the Norman Manley Award for Excellence in Literature in 1981. He was the author of several novels, three of which were aimed towards children; one play production; and several short stories. Two of his most notable works are New Day - "the first West Indian novel to be written throughout in a dialect form" - and The Leopard.
Mary Morris Knowles (1733–1807), was an English Quaker poet and abolitionist. She spoke out in favour of choosing her own spouse, argued on behalf of scientific education for women, helped develop a new form of needle painting, confronted Samuel Johnson, defied James Boswell, and supported abolition of the slave trade and slavery. She published several works under her maiden name, Morris.
Kingston railway terminus was built in the Jamaica Georgian architectural style using brick. It was constructed on a grand scale, symbolising its importance as the main terminus of the Jamaica railways. It has prominent arcades on both levels of the east entrance end. Victorian cast iron brackets support the roof overhang on the trackside. It has sash windows on the ground and upper floors.
Moore Town is a Maroon settlement located in the Blue Mountains and John Crow Mountains of Portland, Jamaica, accessible by road from Port Antonio. The easternmost Maroon town, Moore Town is located in the eastern end of the parish. Formerly known as New Nanny Town, Moore Town was founded in 1740 when the Peace Treaty was signed between the British colonial authorities and the Windward Maroons. This treaty allotted the Moore Town Maroons 1000 acres, but Moore Town only received 500. In 1781 the initial 500 acres was augmented with another 500 acres, taking their communal land up to 1,000 acres.
Thomas Hibbert (1710–1780) was an English merchant and plantation and slave-owner who became a prominent Jamaican.
Fort Haldane is located near Port Maria in the parish of St Mary, Jamaica and was erected in 1759. It was named after General George Haldane, then Governor of Jamaica. The fort was constructed to protect the harbour of Port Maria from Spanish raids. It was also used as a garrison to keep the enslaved and working classes of St. Mary under control.
Jamaica was an English colony from 1655, and a British Colony from 1707 until 1962, when it became independent. Jamaica became a Crown colony in 1866.
Jane Harry Thresher called Jane Harry and Jenny Harry (1755-1784) was a Jamaican abolitionist, artist and Quaker. Her parents were free people, but her mother was of African heritage and her father's "housekeeper". Her father had made his money by buying and selling slaves. She and her sister were educated in England. She met Anne Seward and Samuel Johnson. The latter fell out with her because she decided to become a Quaker.
Gordon House is the meeting place of the Jamaica Parliament, located on Duke Street in Kingston, close to the old parliament building headquarters.
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