Something about colonial Jamaica

[Swashbuckler 1700]

I didn't know where to put this so...

By an accident I happened to look at a book about history of British West Indies and I found an interesting description about life in Jamaican colony from about 1730s (published originally in 1740) and pretty near if we think about pirate era too. An Interesting description about housing, clothes and social lconditions.

I found the description here on the web, otherwise I wouldn't have bothered to post it at all

The Gentlemens Houses are generally built low, of one Story, consisting of five or six handsome Apartments, beautifully lined and floored with mahogany, which looks exceeding gay; they have agenerally a Piazza to which you ascend by several Steps, and serves for a Screen against the Heat. ... The Negroes have nothing but a Parcel of poor miserable Huts built of Reeds, any of which can scarce contain upwards of two or three.

The common Dress here is none of the most becoming, the Heat makes many clothes intolerable, and therefore the Men generally wear only Thread Stockings, Linen Drawers, and Vest, a Handkerchief tied around their Head, and a hat above.

... The negroes go mostly naked, except those who attend Gentlemen. ... The Laidies are as gay as any in Europe, dress as richly, and appear with as good a Grace. ... Learning is here at the lowest Ebb; there is no public School in the whole Island, neither do they seem fond of the Thing. ... The Office of a Teacher is looked upon as contemptible, and no Gentlemen keeps Company with one of that Character; to read, write, and cast up Accounts is all the Education they desire, and even these are but scurvily taught. ... The Gentlemen, whose Fortunes can allow, send their children to Great Britain. ... The Laidies read some, dance a great deal, coquet much, dress for Admirers, and at last, for the most Part, run away with the most insignificant of their humble Servants. Their Education consists entirely in acquiring these little Arts.

The quote in the book was longer and mentioned that Gentlemen's wigs were used only on Sundays or at court meetings.

Edited January 12, 2015 by Swashbuckler 1700

[Brit.Privateer]

You found a reference to a period source, good find. I can fill in some more precise details here about it:

It's from Charles Leslie, A New History of Jamaica from the Earliest Accounts, to the Taking of Porto Bello by Vice-Admiral Vernon. In Thirteen Letters from a Gentleman to his Friend, 2nd Edition (London: Printed for J. Hodges, 1740). Your particular quotes are from the second letter, pages 30, 34-37.

[Swashbuckler 1700]

Thanks for that clarification.

The book is apparently in Google books too. And here is the rest of the quote that belongs after the description of common dress and before slave dress and education section.

Wigs are never used but on Sundays or in Court time; and then Gentlemen appear very gay in silk Coats and Vests trimmed with Silver. The Servants wear a coarse Ostmbrug Frock which buttons at the Neck and Hands long Trowsers of the same a speckled Shirt and no Stockings.

Also here is a massive map about Kingston. Though is made circa 1745. The town seems to be pretty large and prosperous. Though, it was of course larger town in 1740s than in 1710/20s.

http://www.bigmapblog.com/2012/hays-city-plan-map-of-kingston-jamaica-1745/

Edited January 13, 2015 by Swashbuckler 1700

[Jake the SeaSnake]

pardon me but what do they refer as servants?

[Mission]

People brought in to serve in a home or office.They could be hired people (although that's the least likely), slaves or indentured servants. I would guess the last one if you're referring to the quote about ladies running away with them. They would be unlikely to run away with slaves given the beliefs of the time.

[Zaknesbitt]

The common Dress here is none of the most becoming, the Heat makes many clothes intolerable, and therefore the Men generally wear only Thread Stockings, Linen Drawers, and Vest, a Handkerchief tied around their Head, and a hat above.

Now, I know we've put to bed the idea of head-rags for sailors and seamen… BUT, this seems to be direct evidence that (at least common) colonists wore them. And these are from Jamaica to boot!!

Should we have any reason to believe that 40-20 years earlier it would have been any different, fashion changes accepted (which didn't change all that fast for commoners)??

Edited February 5, 2015 by Zaknesbitt

[Swashbuckler 1700]

Indeed. Without going much deeper into this as I personally don't (anymore) feel that this small things are too interesting. I would note that at least description about John Rackham and his lady pirates fits with the above description.

in 1728 Captain Johnson wrote

John Rackham, alias Callico Jack, (so called, because his Jackets and drawers were always made of Callico)

Why would someone be known for their underwear? Rackham probably used only drawers as the Jamaican men did accordingly to that description. Also we know that Anne Bonny and Mary Read used Handkerchief tied around their Heads with men's clothing, when they dressed practically for action, and as the quote above shows they were not thought to be feminine as men used them. So fits well with that Jamaican dress idea. I would think that head rags would work good to absorb sweat and that was clearly their main use rather than any fashion.

Edited February 6, 2015 by Swashbuckler 1700

[Brit.Privateer]

pardon me but what do they refer as servants?

Not sure. I don't think they are "servant to the company" kinds of servants, since they are wearing coarse osnaburg. By 1740, the practice of Absentee Plantation owners became a regular occurence, and so "servants acting as attorneys, managers, and overseers" became a frequent site. This article goes into great detail on the subject: Mason, Keith. “Absentee Planter and the Key Slave: Privilege, Patriarchalism, and Exploitation in the Early Eighteenth-Century Caribbean.” William and Mary Quarterly 70, no. 1 (January 2013): 79–102.

The common Dress here is none of the most becoming, the Heat makes many clothes intolerable, and therefore the Men generally wear only Thread Stockings, Linen Drawers, and Vest, a Handkerchief tied around their Head, and a hat above.

Now, I know we've put to bed the idea of head-rags for sailors and seamen… BUT, this seems to be direct evidence that (at least common) colonists wore them. And these are from Jamaica to boot!!

Should we have any reason to believe that 40-20 years earlier it would have been any different, fashion changes accepted (which didn't change all that fast for commoners)??

I think you missed something in that quote - "tied around their Head, AND A HAT ABOVE." The practice of wearing a cloth around the head under the hat has been documented before for this period. It's a practice that helps with issues such as preventing the oils of the body (via the head) soiling a hat, making a hat fit better, or (the most relevant in this case) to help with the rub/fit of a hat against a bare scalp or short-haired scalp. If we are talking about gentlemen, gentlemen wore wigs during this period. Wearing a wig usually required cutting of the hair or keeping very short hair. Unfortunately for the wearer, the rubbing and regrown of hair also caused itching.

I would be careful about trying to apply the Rackham, Read, and Bonny case to things - it's one case, and it's an exceptional case to the norm. If Rackham did wear Calico a lot (and wasn't something Johnson made up, which wouldn't be surprising), the reason a period writer noted it was because, normally, sailors disliked straight cotton clothes (as in from the cotton plant, not the wool cotton). Attempts at selling blue cotton shirts to sailors repeatedly failed - sailors and the lower class had a tradition of wearing linen and linen was more durable. Jack Rackham probably stood out for his odd choice.

Edited February 8, 2015 by Brit.Privateer

[Zaknesbitt]

Indeed, I always find more often than not descriptions of drawers listed among period clothing inventories, where there is no mention of breeches, my take on this is that they're saying that these men wore breeches with no underclothes (beyond their shirts) hence their coverings would be known as drawers as they were the lowest layer down, regardless if they were breeches or drawers (most likely the former), just worn without anything underneath them (which makes sense considering the climate).

Edited February 8, 2015 by Zaknesbitt

[Zaknesbitt]

I think you missed something in that quote - "tied around their Head, AND A HAT ABOVE." The practice of wearing a cloth around the head under the hat has been documented before for this period. It's a practice that helps with issues such as preventing the oils of the body (via the head) soiling a hat, making a hat fit better, or (the most relevant in this case) to help with the rub/fit of a hat against a bare scalp or short-haired scalp. If we are talking about gentlemen, gentlemen wore wigs during this period. Wearing a wig usually required cutting of the hair or keeping very short hair. Unfortunately for the wearer, the rubbing and regrown of hair also caused itching.

I never missed that, I just thought the whole notion of the handkerchief on the head (incl. under a hat) was an historical anathema - aside from that Cry from Laroon of course. Fascinating. Well, glad to be informed. Thank you Brit Privateer :) Now was this practice strictly applied to landsmen or would it also apply to sailors with their round caps and monmouth caps? I see no reason for it not to be from your reasons above listed… seems to be more a method of practicality than anything else, one that could be used anywhere.

Edited February 8, 2015 by Zaknesbitt

[Swashbuckler 1700]

Certainly Rackham was not an average person and I was not interested if he even wore calico, but it was just so fitting with the idea that men in West-India wore only drawers.

Also, at least to me, a head scarf is still a head scar even if it would be generally used only under a hat. Yes, we have many pictures of them used by white men (vendors alike) under a hat and many pictures with slaves using them without a hat. I am just meaning that when thinking about the pirate appearance we cannot only say they were always similar than the appearance of seamen who sailed in the English channel for example. That quote about tropical colonial dress opened one view and without any ulterior motive I would think that pirates might have had some similar elements in their wardrobe as colonial commoners and not just European mariners. Head scarfs, under a hat at least, might well have been seen, not because Howard Pyle added them to the typical piratical image but because people used them in general during this period.

Edited February 8, 2015 by Swashbuckler 1700

[Zaknesbitt]

Keep in mind also that our modern idea of calico being a thin plain cotton was at this time called muslin, and that the 'calico' Johnson is likely referencing is what we today would call chintz or 'printed calicoes', which was then simply known as calico, very vibrant and colourful fabrics (albeit still made from cotton): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chintz

[RoyalJames]

This could perhaps be interesting to compare with a description of the island Bourbon in the Indian Ocean in 1720.

Gaubil writes (in googlish):

“There may be, both in one and in the other area 3600 inhabitants including more than 2000 black slaves. The others are all European, and many of them were pirates. The Creoles, or those born in the island are well built: one part is mulatto. Women and girls are mostly black and bright eyes, fine lines, healthy head and shoulders. They do not wear corsets or French clothes but simply skirts fabric of India with very fine cotton linen shirts, buttoned in the neck and neck. They have as hairstyle, a clean handkerchief. They do not wear down or shoe. The children really come you never puts the jersey. They do not wear corset or dress.”