Review of the Jewish Colonists in Barbados, 1680

<plain_text><page sequence="1"></page><page sequence="2">THE JEWISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF ENGLAND A Review of the Jewish Colonists in Barbados in the Year 1680 By Wilfred S. Samuel. Paper read before the Jewish Historical Society of England. May 19, 1924. Foreword. Hitherto the Jewish Historical Society of England in the thirty odd years of its existence has not concerned itself much with the history of our Colonial Jewries. In 1898 Mr. Lucien Wolf touched very lightly on the subject in his paper, " The American Causes of the Resettlement,"1 whilst two more recent essays?on the Jews of South Africa2 and on those of India3?complete the list of the Society's contributions to this aspect of Anglo-Jewish history. Yet the subject in addition to being an extremely interesting one is not without import? ance, for it is impossible to answer adequately the momentous question, " What have her Jews done for England ? " without analysing the history of those early Jewish pioneers whose activities were a factor ?and in some instances, perhaps, a vital one?in the development of the trade, communications and civilization of the British Colonies during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Unfortunately that history still remains to be written. 1 Transactions, iii. 76. 2 Ibid., vii. 180. 3 " Notes on Jews in India," by H. Loewe (read before the Society, Dec. 10, 1923).</page><page sequence="3">2 REVIEW OF THE JEWISH COLONISTS IN BARBADOS. I have formed the impression that our Colonial Jews rendered more pronounced services to the realm in the British West Indies than in any other part. Moreover, some knowledge of British West Indian matters seems to me to be absolutely essential for a proper understanding of the seventeenth and eighteenth century history of the London Sephardi community, since its members appear to have derived so much of their social prestige?and so much of their revenue ?from their Caribbean connections. The publications of the American Jewish Historical Society contain a very large number of scattered references to the West Indian Jewries. Mr. Frank Cundall, the late G. F. Judah, and the late N. Darnell Davis, all well-known local historians of Jamaica and Barbados, have contributed to the printed Transactions of our sister Society much useful data regarding the Jews of their respective Islands. Dr. Herbert Friedenwald, one of the Secretaries of that Society, was the first to draw attention to the importance of the West Indies to the Jewish historian. As far back as 1897 he compiled a series of extracts from the printed Calendars of British State Papers (Colonial Series), thereby setting out most of the West Indian documents relating obviously to Jews which had been catalogued by the Public Record Office for the period 1661 to 1676. Dr. Friedenwald also extracted a number of ordinances relating to the Jews from the Laws enacted on the Islands of Barbados and Jamaica during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. He aug? mented this material subsequently by his contributions to the Jewish Encyclopedia. The Jewish Historical Society of England has thus every reason to be grateful to the American Society for its work in a field which has been neglected over here, in spite of the fact that, strictly speaking, it concerns British rather than American historical workers. The work which I myself have attempted to do is indicated by the title of my Paper, " A Review of the Jewish Colonists in Barbados in the Year 1680." One of the reasons that led me to select Barbados as a field for my researches is that this Island has always been British ?ever since its discovery three hundred years ago?and in this respect it differs from certain other West-Indian Jewish centres which have at varying times been subject to Portuguese, Spanish, French, Danish or Dutch rule. Moreover, the connexion between the Sahar Asamaim</page><page sequence="4">REVIEW OF THE JEWISH COLONISTS IN BARBADOS. 3 congregation in London and the Nidhe Israel congregation in Barbados has always been a close one. Although, as will be seen, the first Haham of Barbados came from Amsterdam, nevertheless London subsequently assumed a tutelary position in regard to the small distant community. It has continued this guardianship to this day, and in 1924, when, alas, there are only two male Jews on the Island?Mr. Edmund Baeza and his brother, Mr. Joshua Baeza?these two act jointly with certain Elders of the Bevis Marks Synagogue as trustees of the ancient burial ground in Swan Street, Bridgetown, and of the rebuilt Synagogue which it surrounds, and if it should please Providence entirely to extin? guish the Jewish element in Barbados, then the melancholy duty will devolve upon the London Sephardi Jews of administering the property of the defunct congregation and of caring for the graves of its founders. I have taken as a basis for my Essay the records of the 1679-80 Census of Barbados which are available at the Public Record Office in Chancery Lane. My task of picking out the Jews from a list of 20,000 names has been enormously facilitated by a splendid manuscript copy of the census returns compiled by Mr. Elijah Williams, and by him furnished with a full alphabetical index. This admirable piece of work (in two large volumes) has been presented by the compiler to the Guildhall Library, where it is catalogued as MS. 2202. Mr. Williams also had the kindness to introduce me to two lists of " Wills in the Registrar's Office at Barbados " which formerly were his property. One is now in the British Museum as Add. MS. 38650D., whilst the other is in the possession of Messrs. Hardy &amp; Reckitt, Record Agents, of Lincoln's Inn. I have extracted from them all apparent Jewish names. Mr. Williams did me a further service by introducing me to the publications of Dr. V. L. Oliver, the historian of Antigua and the Editor for several years of Caribbeana, a quarterly which unfortunately ceased publication in 1919, and was devoted to the genealogy and antiquities of the British West Indies. Its pages enabled me to supplement my list of the Jewish wills at Barbados, and also provided me with a good deal of information of a general character as to the conditions of life on the Island towards the close of the seventeenth century. Dr. V. L. Oliver is also the author of Monumental Inscriptions of Barbados (London, 1915) and ten pages of this important work</page><page sequence="5">4 REVIEW OF THE JEWISH COLONISTS IN BARBADOS. are devoted to " The Jewish burial-ground in Bridge Town." With praiseworthy zeal this painstaking historian has copied on the spot and printed over one hundred Jewish epitaphs (Portuguese, Spanish or English texts?the Hebrew being omitted) and he has very kindly waived all questions of copyright and has given the Society full per? mission to utilise these in the appendix to my Paper. Dr. Oliver has also presented this Society with a transcript of the monumental inscriptions copied by him in the Jewish burial ground on the Island of Nevis and not hitherto printed.4 The American Jewish Historical Society has printed two lists of the contributors to two compulsory levies imposed on the Bridge? town Jews in the year 1680. One was transcribed by the late Mr. N. Darnell Davis (" Towards ye repairing the highwayes "), and by the courtesy of the Bridgetown Cathedral authorities I have been able to inspect and to photograph the original document in London. The other list was printed in a local pamphlet of 1899 by the late Mr. E. S. Daniels, the last (honorary) Hazan (reader) of the Barbados congregation. This latter levy was " Towards defraying the Charges of this Parish," and the Secretary of our sister Society has been so good as to obtain for me a full typescript of this rare pamphlet since only a fragment of this list of taxpayers' names was reprinted in its Publications No. 26. I lay particular stress on these two lists of Jewish taxpayers because they frequently give the Jewish names of individuals as distinct from the commercial or social aliases under which these self-same people figure in the official census lists. This fact has enabled me to secure a full identification of many of our Barbadian Jewish worthies after comparison of the two last-mentioned sources with the tombstone epitaphs, endenization entries, wills, etc. Moreover, since Jewish assessors had distributed the burden of taxation a valuable guide has been obtained as to the circumstances of the various members of the Jewish community. Although imposed by the parochial 4 To Dr. Oliver the Jewish community is also indebted for having drawn attention to the neglected state of the Jewish cemetery at Charles Town, Nevis. On the initiative of the London Board of Deputies arrangements have now been made for the proper maintenance of the ground, whilst the legislative Council of the Island?realising the historical importance of this cemetery?has made a generous grant (in November, 1923) towards the cost of re-enclosing it. See also pp. 97-108.</page><page sequence="6">REVIEW OF THE JEWISH COLONISTS IN BARBADOS. 5 authorities of St. Michael's?the parish in which Bridgetown, the capital, is situated?these imposts also fell on other Jews in the Island, and some of the Speightstown Israelites (in St. Peter's Parish) also figure in the lists. The archives of the Barbados Congregation appear to have been destroyed with the Synagogue in the hurricane of 1831. Included among the Barbados census returns at the Public Record Office are the Militia Muster Rolls for 1680. I have consequently been able to provide myself with a full list of the Jews in the train-bands, arranged under the localities in which they resided, for the Barbados Militia was raised on a territorial basis. As might have been expected the Jews of importance were cavalrymen, whilst those of more moderate means " trailed a pike " and proceeded afoot. The Record Office has also yielded up a passenger list of the sailings from Barbados during the year 1679. This was published with other material by J. C. Hotten in 1878, and also reprinted in the first number of the American Jewish Historical Society's publications. Not all the Jewish names were, however, extracted. The wills of the Barbadian Jews, of which I have collected a large number?some registered in Bridgetown, others in London?have furnished a mass of information about the communal and family life of the Jews on the Island ; they have disclosed, moreover, for the first time, the complete cadre of the religious organisation?right down to the beadle.5 It will be gathered from the foregoing observations that a certain degree of completeness can be claimed for "A Review of the Jewish Colonists in Barbados in the Year 1680." At least the names are now known of most, if not all, of the Jews then on the Island, and in the cases of a great many individuals considerably more than a mere name has been secured. The story that has emerged constitutes a somewhat intricate piece of " jig-saw," and in certain instances a reasonable measure of conjecture has been thought permissible. It is evident that when one studies exhaustively the doings of a small 5 The Portuguese and Spanish texts have, incidentally, become badly " mangled " through repeated copying by West Indian clerks ignorant of these languages. They are, however, still intelligible. See pp. 53-54, 56-57, 71-81, 83, 92-93.</page><page sequence="7">6 REVIEW OF THE JEWISH COLONISTS IN BARBADOS. population in a limited area over a brief space of time?then by pro? cesses of elimination and of deduction one can legitimately arrive at conclusions that are not necessarily apparent on the surface. That this Essay will in the course of time be shewn to contain many errors is, I fear, inevitable, having regard to the fact that it is to some extent a pioneer attempt, and bearing in mind the mass of detail that has had to be handled. As it is intended primarily as a stimulus to further study by other historical students I was anxious not to delay its issue unduly?and in a work of this special type there appears to be no end to the additions and corrections which the author?and his friends?seem able to make ! Therefore I crave indulgence for this first effort to describe one phase of Anglo-Jewish West-Indian history by a co-ordination of some of the many scraps of information available about Barbados and its Jews in Stuart times. It has been my modest endeavour not only to supplement these clues, but also to gather them together in such a way as to present an intimate and fairly complete picture of the seventeenth century Community?this being something which I believe has not previously been essayed. Now that I have, as it were, set the scenery and placed the characters on the stage I sincerely trust that I may look to other historical workers for further contributions towards the social and economic history of British West-Indian Jewry. It is not the material which is lacking, but the workers, and whilst the present compilation is only put forward as minor history, the ultimate goal?the Full Story of the Jews in the English Colonies? is surely a subject which merits a higher historical rating. " Go now . . . and number ye the people that I may know the number of the people "?n Samuel xxiv. 2. H. H. Eliahu Lopez, spiritual head of the Barbadian Jews, may well have quoted to himself this verse one Sunday morning in December, 1679, on learning from some kindly neighbour just back from church of His Excellency the Governor's order that an immediate census was to be taken of the Barbados population. On the following Saturday the Header, Hazan Moses D'Azevedo, would repeat Sir Jonathan Atkins' order to the assembled Jews in the Synagogue of Bridgetown near by, whilst word would have to be sent to the little " Minyan " in</page><page sequence="8">REVIEW OF THE JEWISH COLONISTS IN BARBADOS. 7 St. Peter's?twelve miles away in the north of the island?for a similar proclamation to be made. Sir Jonathan Atkins' enquiries as to the size of their households, as to their land, and as to the number of their negroes, would raise a hundred apprehensions as to increased taxation?not only among the Jews, who were already heavily burdened, but among all the planters and merchants of the Island, and it may well be that here and there an attempt would be made by an anxious taxpayer to underrate the importance of his possessions. Certain of Haham Lopez' congregants would have been prone to such an offence, for some of them, not being planters, owned more than the stipulated number of slaves and hired them out to the planters as and when required?a convenient arrangement, doubtless, but in breach of the law. So far as he personally was concerned, Haham Eliahu Lopez could contemplate with equanimity the forth? coming inquisition. Harsh though they might be towards the Jews, the parochial authorities of St. Michael's conceded something to the position which he filled and he would certainly continue in enjoy? ment of his own two negro attendants. Nor was his own contribution to the white population figure of Barbados an inconsiderable one. Not many years had elapsed since his arrival at Bridgetown, and already his household numbered " 5 Jewes " indicating that his spouse Eachel had presented him with three sons, whilst later the arrival of a fourth?followed by twins (Moses and Aaron)?was to gladden their parents' hearts ! In connexion with the census formalities there was to be a muster of the militia, and, with the exception of Govern? ment servants and slave-overseers, and the very aged, every white man on the Island would have to turn out. Out of respect for his calling Haham Lopez was excused this military duty, and sensitive eyes on Barbados were thus spared the incongruous spectacle of a bearded Amsterdam Habbi in a scarlet tunic parading with firelock ?or else trailing a pike?in the tropical sunshine. If there was one Jew on the Island for whom king Charles' uniform had no terrors it would have been Isaac Naar, for he was Samas (beadle) of the congregation Nidhe Israel, and doubtless shared the taste in dress of the parish beadles of his day?and of all time. Nidhe Israel, " the scattered of Israel," well described Haham Lopez' flock, for they were a heterogeneous and adventurous crew,</page><page sequence="9">8 BEVIEW OF THE JEWISH COLONISTS IN BARBADOS. and, although mainly Portuguese, they had come together from all parts of the. world, and many of them were to disperse again in the years that succeeded the close of 1679. Although still of modest dimensions the congregation had been steadily growing, and it was high time when Mr. Lewis Dias, its honoured founder, had requested his Amsterdam correspondents to select and engage a learned and a godly Haham.6 Rabbi Lopez, the young Principal of the Academy Temime Derech, was willing to accept the call, for had not Isaac Neto, his distinguished predecessor in that office, also forsaken his home on the Amstel to assume a more important position as Haham at Surinam on the Guinea Coast ? Twelve years later H. H. Lopez was to quit his Barbados congregants and to become Haham of a brand new Synagogue at Curacao ; nor were his six sons (David, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the twins), although born under the British flag, destined ever to bear arms for an English king since they all accom? panied the Amsterdam Rabbi to the flourishing Dutch island-colony. At the close of 1679, however, H. H. Lopez had no occasion to be dissatisfied with his outlook on life. He was still quite young?indeed, some of the Amsterdamers had criticised his elevation to Haham on that ground alone7?and there was plenty of scope in Barbados for his youth and enthusiasm. In Bridgetown itself, out of a total of 404 householders, no less than 54 were Jews. Many, indeed most of them, were very poor, but a spirit of religion and true piety prevailed, and the richer Jews assisted in bearing the burdens of their poorer brothers.7* Indeed, apart from their natural gregariousness, the laws and social habits of their Christian neighbours combined to make the Jews of Bridge? town a compact and self-contained unit of the population of St. Michael's Parish, for the dominant English residents disliked and 6 An unexpected conclusion to which this study has led is that the Barbados congregation was only smaller by twenty or twenty-five per cent than the con? temporary London congregation of Spanish and Portuguese Jews. 7 Daniel Levi de Barrios (Amst.), Arbol de las Vidas, p. 90; " Temime Dar ex," 7th (unnumbered) page. 7a In spite of this the Grand Jury was to call the Governor's attention (on the 16th August, 1681), to the evil done to the Island by vagrant and poor Jews and to the want of a state-house and common gaol. C.S.P., Col. 1681-85, p. 102.</page><page sequence="10">BEVIEW OF THE JEWISH COLONISTS IN BARBADOS. 9 distrusted the Jews,7b although all agreed that they were less pestilential than the troublesome Quakers. Nevertheless, a Quaker was taxed in the same way and on the same scale as a Presbyterian or an Episco? palian, whereas the Jews were taxed as Jews with a lump sum by each Parish authority. Reluctant Jewish notables were made respon? sible for distributing the liability and collecting the impost, and when, thirteen years previously, Mr. Lewis Dias had refused to act in that capacity, the gentlemen of St. Michael's Vestry sardonically trans? ferred his office to Robert Rich (surnamed Mordecai), the wealthy and eccentric Quaker. Moreover, the Jews were not allowed to employ Christian servants, and this?combined with the limitation as to the number of negroes to be owned?proved obviously a real hardship in a Colony where plentiful white labour was actually available, thanks to the transportation thither of numerous felons, rebels and paupers. Thus the Barbados Jews of the employer class when in need of inden? tured white servants had to make use exclusively of poor Jews. If these came to Barbados of their own accord, well and good ; if not, they had to be brought to the Island at their prospective masters' expense and by them clothed and employed for five years. A Jewish immigrant of this type after he had served his time might expect to find difficulty in making any considerable headway on the Island.8 Those who stayed on would engage in petty trade at one of the sea? ports, strengthening their position if possible by marrying into one of the well-established Jewish families. The Barbados Jewry of 1680 comprised very few planters, and its landed-proprietor class principally owned freehold and leasehold house property in Bridgetown, but then it must be borne in mind that agricultural holdings in the Island were highly prized and changed hands but seldom. For many years over two-thirds of its area of 166 square miles had been under cultivation, and already in 1650 cultivated land, when it could be bought, was fetching nearly ?30 an acre. Another disability under which many Barbadian Jews laboured was that 7b They set down in a petition of the 9th June, 1681, that " the presence of Jews is inconsistent with the safety of Barbados." C.S.P., Col., 1681-85, p. 69. 8 In his 1693 will (q.v. p. 76) Aaron Louzada writing of the year 1685 says : " I did not sign (a family balance-sheet from Amsterdam) owing to my then serving my 26 (? years of) Slavery."</page><page sequence="11">10 REVIEW OF THE JEWISH COLONISTS IN BARBADOS. unless they were naturalized or endenizened they could not with security import goods, nor could they pursue their debtors in the Courts. Since the process of endenization cost some ?60 and frequently called for influence at Court, it was clearly a privilege which the average poor Jew had to deny himself. There were other drawbacks to Colonial life which Barbadian Jews shared with their Christian neighbours, as, for instance, the horrors of negro risings?there had been an outbreak in May, 1675?and the losses and alarms caused by the destructive hurricanes?one of which had taken place on the 31st August, 1675. There were many deaths, too, from disease. They knew the scourge of leprosy. They suffered from elephantiasis, to them known as " Barbados Leg," whilst the yellow fever claimed its victims by the score. Governor Atkins had indeed to remind Whitehall that " it has pleased Providence to send a great mortality among us these two years past which has swept away many of our people and our slaves." Haham Lopez' flock had suffered with the rest, as is attested by the stones in the little Swan Street burial ground, and by the many women's names among the Jewish heads of families in the 1679-80 Census lists. A poor Jewish stranger who came to the Colony, who found no relatives there and was disappointed at his welcome by the well-settled Jews on the Island, might be forgiven if he shipped himself hence at the earliest convenient opportunity and sought fortune in a likelier spot. There had, however, been Jews in the Island almost from its discovery in 1625, and the foundations of the Nidhe Israel Congregation were in 1680 already at least thirty years old. Many of the Jews had undoubtedly become deeply attached to the Island, and some had amassed comfortable fortunes there. Certain of these betook themselves to London, jealous, no doubt, of the profits which their English agents were securing to themselves from the West Indian trade. In London, too, there was more scope for the employment of capital, and socially life was a great deal more pleasant. But others of these Sephardi Jews, as I have hinted, were content to remain in Barbados, and some, having seemingly become immune from the local illnesses, died there at a very great age. To men and women reared near the sunny banks of the Tagus or the Guadalquivir, London or Amsterdam must have seemed dank and dreary spots?and for such Barbados must have held many</page><page sequence="12">REVIEW OF THE JEWISH COLONISTS IN BARBADOS. 11 compensations. " The place is fruitfull and pleasant, the ground producing yearly two crops of Corn gathered in October and April, and ye heat being generally moderated with a fresh gale of wind in ye daytime and ye cold never so great as to require a fire." To a Jewish merchant holding letters of endenization and possessed of capital and good business connexions, the trading possibilities of Barbados were attractive. The demand for Barbados sugar was large and the export trade afforded scope for middlemen, in fact, the raw brown sugar or muscovado?the word is Portuguese in origin?was the petty currency of the Island?200 lbs. of sugar being equivalent to ?1 of Island money. There was export business to be done also in the clayed or refined sugar, in fact, in a few years' time (viz., 1689) the English sugar refining industry was to express its alarm at the vigorous competition.9 The by-products of the sugar, rum and molasses, were of ready sale. Then Barbados could supply the clothworkers of England with all essential dyes and the Island cultivated and shipped red logwood, green and yellow fustick, and the fruit of the indigo shrub. The cotton plant was also grown. There had been many attempts, in which Jews had shared, to grow the spices of the Eastern Indies, but the vanilla and pimento had proved a failure. The English housewife of 1680, ignoring the virtues of green vegetables, was much dependent on exotic seasonings, and she could, at least, look to Barbados for white, black and green ginger. At the Eeast of Tabernacles each autumn the Jews of Barbados were able to perambulate round their Synagogues bearing Lulabim10 (Palms), and Etrogim (Citrons) of local gr