British Guiana   Tilbury & Hohenkerk at Zorg   Fowler, Arabian Coast

Detail of Essequebo, British Guiana, 1832

Sources: Tim L-H's family history; British Guiana Colonists Index
Google Books Online, Texas University Library at Austin (map)
Tikwis; other websites
 

Zorg

A note by Tim's father, quoting from a letter by his own father C. E. L. L-H:

"TILBURY - property in Demerara with Partner Henry HOHENKIRK?"

The index of colonists includes:

(daughter) HOHENKERK b. July 1866, Zorg Store, Essequebo

Olivia HOHENKERK (m. FAIRBAIRN) b. February 1868, Zorg Store, Essequebo

William HOHENKERK jnr. b. September 1874, "Sarmia" Villa, Arabian Coast

(daughter) HOHENKERK b. April 1877, Essequebo

John Thomas HOHENKERK d. November 1878, Zorg

also:

Mary Elizabeth Georgiana HOWES (m. WOHLFAHRT) b. May 1840, Zorg Store, Essequebo

 
Zorg store, hospital, school

1882 British Guiana Directory
W. HOHENKIRK, Jnr., clerk, at:
Hilary TILBURY & Co., General Merchants & Druggists, Zorg Store, Essequebo

Hilary died in 1874, and brother John Barry was already dead (1866); therefore the name of the company continued?

What took Hilary, watchmaker-and-postmaster's son, to British Guiana? How did he finance his initial investment? When did he and brother John Barry go there? Below is some background to their lives.

The installations and equipment required at a plantation were specified by the British colonial administration, and inspected.

page 40
"I had not seen LILADHUR for some time previous to my sending in these returns. I am not aware of his even having money deposited in town; but he had money in MESSRS. H. TILBURY and CO/s hands at the ZORG STORE, where a great many Coolies deposit their money on this Coast."

page 271
"... at ZORG, with an Hospital for 16, which might be extended to 25 beds, we found that until the day before our visit there had only been 10 beds in the Hospital, and if more were required the patients brought [their own]."

George C. MULRAIN - Master of the Wesleyan School, ZORG, Essequebo

Tappin R. F. ELLIOTT - Teacher & Catechist, ZORG, Essequebo

 
Where was Zorg?

I have not as yet found a map giving the situation of the plantations. From the following online data it would seem that ZORG was on the west bank of the Essequebo, towards the mouth of the river.

Essequebo Coast, Wakenaam and Pomeroon Suddie District Plantations: "Pomona, Huis t’Dieren, Riverstown, Airy Hall, Tiger Island, Adventure, Onderneeming, Belfield, Maria’s Lodge, Johanna Cecilia, ZORG, Golden Fleece, Perseverance." Source 1879: "Proceedings of the United States Naval Institute" (page 109) "Suddie on the west bank of the mouth of the River Essequibo." The Arabian Coast (1832 'Morocco Coast'), where T. H. G. FOWLER had his sugar plantation, continued northwards beyond the Essequebo estuary.   Detail from 1844 map by John Arrowsmith (courtesy of http://www.davidrumsey.com/maps781.html)

Public Vendues.

"On Friday, the 3d March, 1815, on Plantation Engelrust & ZORG EN HOOP, WAKENAM ISLAND, by order of P. W. Prins, Esq. q.q. - The Plantation Engelrust & Zorg en Hoop (in parcels) containing eleven hundred and forty three acres of Land, more or less, with all the buildings thereon erected. Also, one hundred and six Slaves, (more or less) in families. The whole payable, in three equal installments, at 3, 6, and 9 months' credit.
January 31. Kingston & Mills."

If Zorg and Zorg-en-Hoop were the same place, since Hilary TILBURY was not born until c.1819, he and his associates must have acquired the plantation at a later date.

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Labour

Slavery is considered to have been abolished from 1 August 1838 in British Guiana. An Apprenticeship Act was passed by the British Government on 19 October 1833, designed to provide indentured labourers to the plantation owners, which was effectively an interim measure transmuting slavery into tied-labour - freedom of mind but not of body.

All persons on the 1st of August 1834, being registered as slaves, six years old and upwards, shall become apprentice labourers.
All apprenticed labourers to continue to serve their former masters.
All slaves free when brought to Great Britain.
Three classes of apprentices: namely, 1st, labourers, or praedial attached on owner's lands; 2nd, praedials unattached, or those not on owner's lands; and 3rd, non-praedial, such as tradesmen and other artisans.
Apprenticeship of praedial labourers to 1st August, 1840.
Apprenticeship of non-praedial labourers to 1st August, 1838.
Labourers voluntarily discharged after this act to be supported by their late employers, if aged or infirm.
Apprenticed labourers allowed to purchase their discharge.
Apprenticed labourers not removable from the colony; praedial labourers not removable from plantation, except with consent of two special justices.
Right to service of apprenticed labourer to be transported property.
Employer to supply labourer with food, &c.
Subject to the above obligation. Slavery to be abolished in 1834.
...
Whipping on the authority of the employer abolished.
...
Apprenticed labourers nsot to be subjected to renewal of apprenticeship, not to more than fifteen hours' extra labour in any week for employer's benefit.
Apprenticed labourers not to be made to work on Sundays, or prevented from attending religious worship.
...

The wisdom of such an arrangement [apprenticeship] was questionable. Its intention was undoubtedly good; it had for its object the gradual adjustment of the relations between master and servant in their new positions, but, strange to say, it pleased neither. The former, denuded of his authority, was at a loss how to treat his dependent, while the latter felt as if he had been in part cheated of the promised boon ... It was then thought hazardous to convert in one day nearly a million of slaves into free subjects. By some it was considered unnecessary to enlighten or instruct them more fully in their required duties."

"Scarcely had the last sounds of revelry and merriment ceased which marked the 1st of August, 1834, when an unwillingness to submit to the published Act of the Apprenticeship betrayed itself throughout the greater part of the colony, but more especially along the west coast of Essequebo, known as the ARABIAN COAST, long deemed the garden of the country, from its opulence and beauty."

1813: A List of Estates in Demerary and Essequebo, With the Number of Slaves on each, and the Quantity of Produce made during the Year

Plantation Chart 2 - Essequebo - Wackenham - Meerzorg plantation, 388 slaves

History books record that plantation owners tended to spend the compensation money (for the loss of slaves) on an improved life-style, rather than invest it. The freed labourers became itinerant, and some planters then vied with each other to offer higher wages. Eventually 'Celestials' were brought to Guiana as labourers, with mixed results since they had little knowledge of personal hygiene, and were less robust physically.

pages 165-6
1853-80: Plantations and Districts in British Guiana Employing Chinese Indentured Labor
District: Essequebo Mainland
22 estates; 1,334 males, 256 females
Plantations:
Aurora, Anna Regina, Better Hope, Coffee Grove, Columbia, Golden Fleece, Hampton Court, Henrietta, Hoff van Holland, Huis't Dierren, Johanna Cecilia, La Belle Alliance, Land of Plenty, Lima, Mainstay, Union, Perseverance, Richmond, Sparta, Spring Garden, Windsor Castle, ZORG.

"Essequibo - Mr. BROWN, minister, writing from the ARABIAN COAST, informs us that no member of the Wesleyan church at Queen's Town or ZORG joined the rioters ..."

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Zorg, Arabian, Sarmia

"On the Arabian coast of Essequebo miles of road of loose sand are found, and beautiful sand beaches line many of the plantations which front the sea."

An incomplete and tantalising reference appears in a list of books at the beginning of an 1893 publication:

"Zorg: A Story of British Guiana" by Vernon Kirke. Crown 8vo, cloth, 6s.
[publisher or bookseller at] 18 Bouverie Street, Fleet Street, London.

In 1867 Hilary TILBURY was listed in a Guernsey trade directory as living at "ZORG", Rohais Road. Hilary and wife Sophia died in Guernsey in 1874.

TimL-H's family history suggests that TILBURY was associated with HOHENKIRK in British Guiana. The HOHENKERK family appear to have had links to Scotland (see below), not the Channel Islands. In September 1874 - shortly after Hilary's death, but before Sophia's in November - William HOHENKERK jnr. was born in September 1874, at "SARMIA" Villa on the Arabian Coast of British Guiana.

 
Sarmia

Although 'Wikipaedia' states:

"Alderney is conjectured to be identified with Sarmia."

... two other websites identify Sarmia with the Channel Island of Jethou:

Guernsey
"Respecting the early history of the island but few authentic particulars can be collected. Its surface was, in a state of nature, covered with woods and overrun with briars, when it was visited by the Romans, about seventeen years before the birth of Christ, and Octavius Augustus, then emperor, appointed a governor over it. It is the generally received opinion, that this is the island mentioned in Antoninus's Itinerary by the name of SARNIA; and that Alderney is called in the same Itinerary, RIDUNA; Sark, SARNICA; the little islands of Herm and Jethou, ARMIA and SARMIA, respectively."

"The Latin history of the names goes obviously back to the Roman period when the Roman legions marched across Europe around 56 BC. They swept into the [Channel] islands along with Gaul and made them outposts for trading. Jersey was given the name "CAESAREA", Guernsey "SARNIA", Alderney "RIDUNA", Sark “SARNICA” and the smaller islands being Herm and Jethou, ARMIA and SARMIA."

This would seem to demonstrate a link between HOHENKERK and the Channel Islands (there is also the possibility of a typographical error in the trade directory, of "Sarmia" in place of "Sarnia").

In September 1874, when William HOHENKERK was born at "Sarmia" BG, Hilary TILBURY had only recently died in Guernsey and his widow Sophia was most probably still in Guernsey since Hilary was buried there, and Sophia died there in the following November. Therefore, might "Sarmia Villa" have been Hilary and Sophia's previous residence in Essequebo, British Guiana?

Who were Hilary and Sophia's heirs?

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Hohenkerk & Fowler

 
Hohenkerk

Hilary TILBURY's associate is suggested as Henry HOHENKERK; a Henry Frederick HOHENKERK (b. c.1826) died in British Guiana in February 1876 at "Abram Zuim".

There are many references particularly to L. S. HOHENKERK in Google Books and on the Internet.

L. S. HOHENKERK
1894: Copied by L. S. Hohenkerk, 18th December - Size, 17i x 22J inches. Black; engraved and colored boundary.
1913: Government Surveyor
1917: A list of British Guiana woods - Timehri 4: 244-293
1919: Experiments to determine the best method of bleeding balata trees - "The Official Gazette" 11343, 1-8
1922: A review of the timber industry of British Guiana - "Journal of the Board of Agriculture of British Guiana" 15, 2-22
1923: Forestry Officer: A review of the timber industry of British Guiana (Plantain, its cultivation, disease and insect pests) - "Journal of the Board of Agriculture of British Guiana, January"
1925: The Colonial Office List (GB) - Forestry Officer, L. S. Hohenkerk, 575l. to 675l.

The link with Scotland is suggested by the following. William Henry HOHENKERK married Ann GRANT August 1865 in Inveravon, Banff, Scotland; a William Henry HOHENKERK died April 1896 Georgetown, British Guiana. Catherine Eliza HOHENKERK married Charles MORRISON in November 1875 at St. Peter's Church, Parish of St. John, British Guiana; she died April 1892 at St. Andrew's, Scotland.

1946: "The Scottish Forestry Journal: Being the Transactions of the Royal Scottish Forestry Society" (page 85):
A very interesting account of the forests of British Guiana is given by Mr. L. S. HOHENKERK.

1952: British Guiana.—
Hon. Mr. Justice W. J. GILCHRIST, Georgetown; L. S. HOHENKERK, Georgetown.
Forestry Department: [A. G.?] HOHENKERK, Deputy Commissioner.

1962: "Aucuparius; Recollections of a Recruiting Officer" by Ralph Dolignon Furse (page 110)
"HOHENKERK would gladly step down to the post of second in command and place his great local experience at the service of the new conservator. I was so impressed by the man himself, as well as by his story, that I asked LOVAT if something could be done."

1964: HOHENKERK, Norman Grant, Senior Resident Engineer, Enmore Estates, Ltd., EC Demerara, British Guiana.

 
Fowler

There are few mentions of T. H. G. FOWLER, and no trace to date (May 2007) of his place of birth or death, although he is remembered on the gravestone in Foulon Cemetery, Guernsey. The 1854 directory listing which would seem to be his cites "Thomas Hughes Gordon FOWLER" as Justice of the Peace for Essequebo and planter on the Arabian Coast, and the 1860 directory lists T.H.G. FOWLER as the manager of a sugar plantation.

From Google Books:

"... Department of Land & Mines in Georgetown, Demerara, under the direction of Frank FOWLER (F. G. S.) Commissioner of Land & Mines. This published work is to a scale of 1:633.600 and quite detailed ..."

FOWLER is associated with HOHENKERK in British Guiana in what appears to be a reference to the same work - a map:

HOHENKERK and FOWLER. Map of British Guiana. Scale 1:633600 or 1 inch to 10 stat. miles. 2 sheets, each 29 by 35 inches.

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Large 1832 Map of British Guiana

A website indexing people associated with British Guiana during the colonial period,
contributed by other researchers; on-site e-contact if you wish to make a contribution.
Introduction (Home Page)
British Guiana Colonists Index - T

The website of the Guyanese Genealogical Society
including, amongst others, a list of records available in 1941:
Guyanese Genealogical & Biographical Society: Sources of vital records

Online newspaper transcripts; contact address; CDs available: history, directories, etc.
Guyana History

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