Mrs. Lanaghan - Antigua and the Antiguans (Vol. 1&2)

“Bastien Baijer, &c. &c.”

17“Sir,​—​We have sent this morning the only answer we could give, being under the command and authority of the governor, to whose power we could not resist; but as we have shewn him the reason of our first treaty, and our refusal to break it, we have done so much that he has agreed with us, provided he be included in it, with the rest of the inhabitants: the said treaty and agreement will be punctually ratified and executed in all its parts.

“Bastien Baijer, &c. &c.”

18“Gentlemen,​—​I have been much surprised when I saw that you made no answer to the summons given you, and much more yet when I read the letters you sent me this morning, in which you charge us with having treated you with rigour, which is seeking for a pretence of rupture, as you have done by not keeping your faith and word. I am landing and coming to you, to teach you your duty by force of arms: those who will lay down their arms will have good quarter from me, and the others shall be treated according to the rigour of war. Your servant,

“De Clodore.”

19It was for some time pending in the mind of Louis XIV. whether he should, or should not, restore Antigua to its rightful sovereign; and several letters passed between the King of the French and his ambassador, Count D’Estrade, (the deputy from Zealand assuring the count that he would use his influence to retain Antigua for his majesty, should such be his wish,) upon the subject. At length, however, Louis XIV., after much hesitation, authorized its rendition by a letter to Count D’Estrade, dated 6th May, 1667, of which the following is a translation:—

“I have always forgotten to inform you, and even to put it in your instructions, that it is my intention to surrender the island of Antigua to the English, which belonged to them before the war. Thus you will make no difficulty by promising, by the treaty (of Breda), that all things shall be established in the island of St. Christopher, and that of Antigua, as they were previously to the rupture,” &c.

Table of Contents

Governors: Lord William Willoughby, Henry Willoughby​—​Arrival of Major, afterwards Lieutenant-General Byam, the progenitor of the family of that name​—​Biographical remarks​—​Partition of the Caribbee Islands​—​Sir William Stapleton​—​General Council and Assembly​—​Colonel Philip Warner​—​Expedition against the Caribs​—​Death of Indian Warner​—​Arrest and trial of Colonel P. Warner​—​Acquittal​—​Dampier’s account of this affair​—​Captain Southey’s History of the Indian Warner.

After peace had been once more proclaimed between France and England, and Antigua restored to its rightful sovereign, the English government, being fully assured of the death of Lord Francis Willoughby, appointed Lord William Willoughby, of Parham, (who when the royalists rose against the parliament, after the deposition of Richard Cromwell, undertook to secure Lynn for his exiled majesty,) Captain-General and chief Governor of Barbados, Antigua, and the rest of the Leeward Caribbee Islands, as some reward for his services.

Lord William Willoughby arrived at Antigua about 1668, and appointed Samuel Winthorpe his deputy-governor. During the first year of his lordship’s administration, a registrar’s office was established, and fees appointed for the same. The registrar and recorder was to be “a person of good discretion and honesty,” and his salary paid in sugar and tobacco. 20Acts were also passed for the “settling the inhabitants in their lands” and “for the encouragement and promoting the settling of the island”​—​very necessary measures, as all was in confusion, from the late cruel dealing of the French, in so dismantling their promising colony. This year also (1668) commenced the four and a half per cent. duty; which was an impost upon all native productions shipped from the island, to be paid to the reigning monarch, his heirs, and successors, in consideration of new grants of lands being given to the inhabitants after the restoration of Antigua to the English crown; all old titles to lands having become void by reason of the late conquest, by the French.

Lord William Willoughby removing to Barbados about this time, nominated his son, Henry Willoughby, as acting-governor, the same gentleman who was left by Lord F. Willoughby deputy-governor of Barbados during his absence upon the disastrous expedition already spoken of. Nothing of much importance occurred during the short period Mr. H. Willoughby held the government. War had not broken out in the West Indies, although it threatened the mother country, so that the Antiguans had a little quiet to settle their domestic affairs. One of the first points to which they turned their attention was to endeavour to suppress the strong habit of profane cursing and swearing which had crept in among their community, and also to put a stop to the prevalence of inebriety. To bring this desirable reformation about, the legislature enacted, that a fine of ten pounds of sugar, or tobacco, was to be imposed upon every one who uttered an oath, or opened his lips to curse; and if any one was discovered in a state of intoxication, he could be made to pay fifty pounds of sugar, or not being able to procure that quantity, and being possessed of no other property which could be levied upon, he was condemned to be placed in the public stocks for the space of four hours. It would be well if something of the kind was in force now; our ears would not then, perhaps, be so frequently shocked as they are liable to be at every hour of the day by the passers-by. Regulations were also made for establishing a public treasury in the island, and regard paid to the martial bearing of the inhabitants, by exercising them in the science of arms.

Among the settlers who came to Antigua with Francis Lord Willoughby, of Parham, was William Byam, a distinguished royalist, at that time major, but who afterwards acquired the rank of lieutenant-general.

In 1644, Mayor Byam was among the officers in garrison at Bridgewater, and being on guard when an attempt was made by the parliamentary army to take the town by surprise, he defeated the forces with great slaughter, thereby averting for some time the fate of that important fortress. On the following year, Cromwell and Fairfax coming against Bridgewater with an overwhelming power, after a gallant and desperate resistance, the town was taken, and quarter only given to the garrison. The officers were immediately sent to London, and put at the disposal of the Parliament, whence they were despatched to the Tower, and other public prisons. After remaining in the Tower for some months, Major Byam accepted a pass “to go beyond the seas,” (as the term then was,) and, with some of his military friends, he accordingly left the home of his fathers, and sought in Barbados​—​that last asylum for royalists​—​a retreat from the Oliverian power. Soon after his arrival, the important post of “treasurer of the island,” as well as “master of the ordnance,” was conferred upon him, together with large grants of land; but the number of refugees increasing in the colony to such a surprising height, the Parliament became alarmed, and, in 1651, sent a fleet and armament, under command of Sir George Ayscue, to reduce the island. There being a defection in the garrison, owing to the withdrawal of Colonel Thomas Modiford from the side of the king, after a resistance of six months, the governor, Lord Francis Willoughby, of Parham, was compelled to think of terms; and accordingly he appointed, along with three other commissioners, Major Byam to negotiate a surrender. This gentleman and his coadjutors performed their parts so ably, that they obtained from the admiral terms allowed by all historians as alike “comprehensive and honourable.” Indeed, when they were reported to England, though the Parliament did not refuse to ratify them, yet, considering them much too favourable, they never afterwards countenanced Sir George Ayscue. The very first act of the Parliament possession, contrary to the tenor of some of the articles, was to banish Mayor Byam and the other commissioners, and about ten more of the royalists, including Lord Willoughby himself. Major Byam retired to the then newly-founded settlement of Surinam, which being composed chiefly of the refugee followers of Charles, they, in those times of turmoil, elected him, by united suffrages, governor of the colony in 1654. In this situation he continued for six successive years, although Cromwell had despatched an officer of his own to take the command, being elected by universal voice, until the Restoration, when, in virtue of the proclamation at that time issued, he became governor for the crown. He was afterwards more formally confirmed in this appointment, in which he remained until the removal of the colony (or at least a large portion of it) to the island of Antigua, in virtue of the treaty of Breda, in 1667. Of this island he also became an early governor, as is still to be seen by many documents in the registrar’s office, and resumed to himself that property which he had before acquired when on a visit to the island with Francis Lord Willoughby in 1650; and now, by letters patent for the crown, under date April, 1668, 20th Charles II., among the estates of Lieutenant-General Byam renewed to him at this period, were the present Cedar Hill and his Willoughby Bay estate. 21