Eighteenth-Century Settlement in the British Caribbean

THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR between Great Britain and the Franco-Spanish Coalition was brought to an end by the Treaty of Paris (Io February 1763) in which the signatories agreed to an exchange of colonial territories. Accordingly, the Caribbean islands of St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Dominica and Tobago lost the neutral status they had acquired by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748). Together with Guadeloupe and Martinique, St. Lucia reverted to French control, while Grenada (which had always been French), Tobago, St. Vincent and Dominica became undisputed British possessions to be known generally during the next fifty years as the British 'Ceded' Islands (Fig. i). It was clear that the British Government wished their newly acquired islands to be inhabited as soon as possible, preferably by loyal citizens who would be prepared to defend them in time of war. At the same time it was felt that colonists should not be allowed a free rein to exploit their new lands by transplanting haphazard and destructive agricultural techniques, commonly practised in St. Christopher, Barbados, Jamaica and New England. These included rapid deforestation and soil exhaustion, together with chaotic land boundaries. Furthermore, in the hope that some financial return might result from the sale of lands in the future, the Board of Trade was instructed to prepare detailed plans and proposals. Accordingly on 17 October 1763 'Their Lordships took into consideration the method of disposing of land in the islands of Grenada, St. Vincent, Dominica and Tobago and ordered the draught of a representation to His Majesty thereupon to be prepared.'l During the latter part of 1763 and early 1764, this document passed through a number of committees of the Board of Trade, the Treasury and the Privy Council,2 undergoing at each stage a number of amendments, probably based on contemporary and prior administrative experience of colonial settlements in the North American colonies.3