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 in 1755 by Thomas Hibbert, a wealthy English merchant, to serve as his residence. Hibbert migrated to Kingston in 1734, at a time when Jamaica was becoming the 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]
Early days
"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, as was 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 was described as Hibbert's housekeeper and a "free mulatto," meaning she was not enslaved and had mixed European and African ancestry. She 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]
Military Headquarters
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 with a good view of the city, it 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.
Purchase by Jamaican government
Hibbert House was purchased by the Jamaican government in 1872 for £5000 Sterling. Kingston became the permanent seat of the Jamaica legislation and Hibbert House was used as the Offices of Colonial Secretary until 1960.
Current use
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 inhabitants 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.
Samuel Sharpe, or Sharp, also known as Sam Sharpe, was an enslaved Jamaican who was the leader of the widespread 1831–32 Baptist War slave rebellion in Jamaica.
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. Twenty-five people died. Over the next two days, poor freedmen 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 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.
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 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.
Morant Bay is a town in southeastern Jamaica and the capital of the parish of St. Thomas, located about 40 kilometres east of Kingston, the capital. The parish has a population of 94,410.
Tacky's Revolt was a slave rebellion in the British colony of Jamaica which lasted from 7 April 1760 to 1761. Spearheaded by self-emancipated Coromantee people, the rebels were led by a Fante royal named Tacky. It was the most significant slave rebellion in the West Indies between the 1733 slave insurrection on St. John and the 1791 Haitian Revolution. The rebels were eventually defeated after British colonial forces, assisted by Jamaican Maroons, waged a gruelling counterinsurgency campaign. According to historian Trevor Burnard, "[in] terms of its shock to the imperial system, only the American Revolution surpassed Tacky's War in the eighteenth century." It was also the largest slave rebellion in the British West Indies until the Baptist War of 1831, which also occurred in Jamaica.
Cesar Picton was a British merchant of West African descent. Born in West Africa, he was presumably enslaved by the time he was about six years old. He was subsequently brought to England by a British Army officer in 1761 and given as a servant to the Anglo-Welsh politician and lawyer Sir John Philipps, 6th Baronet, mostly living in Norbiton near Kingston upon Thames in Surrey. Picton eventually left the Philipps' family service and became a wealthy coal merchant in Kingston.
Victor Stafford Reid, OJ, was a Jamaican writer born in Kingston, Jamaica, who wrote to influence younger generations to embrace local history. 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.
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 planter who became a prominent figure in colonial Jamaica.
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.
The Crown Colony of Jamaica and Dependencies was a British colony from 1655, when it was captured by the English Protectorate from the Spanish Empire. Jamaica became a British colony from 1707 and a Crown colony in 1866. The Colony was primarily used for sugarcane production, and experienced many slave rebellions over the course of British rule. Jamaica was granted independence in 1962.
The Jamaica Baptist Union is a Baptist Christian denomination, affiliated with the Baptist World Alliance, founded in 1849 in Jamaica. The headquarters is in Kingston, Jamaica. The president of the union is Rev. Dr. Glenroy Lalor.
Jane Harry Thresher called Jane Harry and Jenny Harry (1755–1784), Kingston, Jamaica, was an abolitionist, Quaker, and artist. She fought for the release of slaves owned by her family and the right to equal inheritance. She was born to Thomas Hibbert and Charity Harry. Her father had travelled from England to Jamaica where he bought several properties and later became a judge. Her mother was a free woman but was employed as the housekeeper of Hibbert. Although sexual relations between staff and the wealthy were common in Jamaica, there is no existing evidence suggesting that this union was consensual.
Gordon House is the meeting place of the Jamaica Parliament, located at 81 Duke Street in Kingston, close to the old parliament building headquarters.
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.
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