Existing comment:
Slave life at Pedro:
At the time of emancipation, some 23 people were registered as slaves "in the possession" of William Eden II.
Some of the slaves probably lived at Pedro St. James. Others had their homes and provision gardens nearby. At the house, two "head domestics" directed six "inferior domestics." Four women and two men were held labourers. There was one fisherman, sixty-three-year-old Peter Brooks, and a number of young children. Eden's slaves were his precious property. He was described as "a very strict man... loyal to [his] slaves in many ways."
At Pedro St. James, domestic work would usually have been performed by slave women and children, as depicted in these contemporary scenes from Jamaica.
This cartoon depicts a Jamaican planter being waited upon by slave [sic]. After emancipation (1835), William Eden II missed the services of his slaves, who "would not bring him a pail of water unless he paid a fivepences." |