Samuel Jackman Prescod (1806 – 26 September 1871) became the first person of African descent to be elected to the Parliament of

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

, in 1843. He also helped found the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

, whose following included small landowners, businessmen, and coloured clerks. The

Parliament of Barbados The Parliament of Barbados is the national legislature of Barbados. It is accorded legislative supremacy by Chapter V of the Constitution of Barbados.Constitution, Chapter V, Part 1; Section 35 The Parliament is bicameral in composition and is ...

has enacted that he should be styled as "

The Right Excellent The honorific prefix "The Right Excellent" is a form of address that is used in several Commonwealth Caribbean countries. Overview In the Bahamas, members of the Order of National Hero are accorded the style "The Right Excellent". Examples are S ...

" and that his life be celebrated on

National Heroes Day Heroes' Day or National Heroes' Day may refer to a number of commemorations of national heroes in different countries and territories. It is often held on the birthday of a national hero or heroine, or the anniversary of their great deeds that m ...

(28 April) in Barbados.PARLIAMENT'S HISTORY
at barbadosparliament.com, accessed 27 July 2008: "In April 1998, the Order of National Heroes Act was passed. National Heroes Day was celebrated on 28 April, the centenary of the birth of

Sir Grantley Adams Sir Grantley Herbert Adams, CMG, QC (28 April 1898 – 28 November 1971) was a Barbadian politician. He served as the inaugural premier of Barbados from 1953 to 1958 and then became the first and only prime minister of the West Indies Federa ...

. The National Heroes, each bearing the title the Right Excellent, are:

Bussa Bussa's rebellion (14–16 April 1816) was the largest slave revolt in Barbadian history. The rebellion takes its name from the African-born slave, Bussa, who led the rebellion. The rebellion, which was eventually defeated by the colonial mili ...

(d. 1816), Sarah Ann Gill (1795–1866), Samuel Jackman Prescod (1806–1871), Dr Charles Duncan O'Neal (1879–1936), Clement Osbourne Payne (1904–1941), Sir Grantley Herbert Adams (1898–1987), Rt Hon. Errol Walton Barrow (1920–1987), Sir Hugh Worrell Springer (1913–1994), Sir Frank Leslie Walcott (1916–1999), and Sir Garfield St Aubyn Sobers (b. 1936)."

Biography

Prescod was born as the son of a free woman of colour, Lidia Smith, and a wealthy white father, William Prescod. He was given his forenames for Samuel Jackman, a local white planter.Biography on Barbadian Government Website
Accessed 21 July 2008. Prescod was excluded from politics in Barbados. A law of 1697 required that all voters should be white, own of land and be of the Christian religion. In fact it was not until 1721 that non-whites testimony was accepted in a court in Barbados.175th Anniversary of the Enfranchisement of Free Coloured and Black Barbadians
2006, Barbados Postal Service. Accessed 24 July 2008. Prescod began his political work in 1829 and it was on 9 June 1831 a major change took place that allowed people of colour the same rights to vote as white people. The new act passed by

Sir James Lyon Lieutenant-General Sir James Frederick Lyon (1775 – 16 October 1842) was a distinguished officer of the British Army who served as Governor of Barbados from 1829 to 1833. Biography James Frederick Lyon was a descendant of the Lyons family, fr ...

, the Governor, removed "certain restraints and disabilities imposed by law on His Majesty's Free Coloured and Free Black Subjects in this Island." Postage stamps of both Lyon and Prescod were issued in 2006 to commemorate this event. Although it was said that Prescod bore "no distinguishing marks of negro complexion" he was still subject to the racial discrimination endemic at that time. Even though he was well educated, a journalist and an acknowledged leader of the coloured community, he was thrown out of the Barbados House of Representatives for observing the political process like any other citizen was entitled to. It was not until 1836 that non-whites were given their first newspaper, which was called the ''New Times''. Prescod served for eight months without being paid, before the job was taken away from him as it was felt that his ideas were too radical.Third World Mass Media and Their Search for Modernity:
John A. Lent, 1977, . Accessed 21 July 2008. Prescod moved on to another paper, ''The Liberal'', which was where he found his voice. This paper was targeted at working- and middle-class people irrespective of colour. The paper got into financial difficulties and Prescod was able to buy it in partnership with a man called Thomas Harris. Harris allowed him editorial freedom and this led to problems with the establishment, who saw him as challenging the

plantocracy A slavocracy, also known as a plantocracy, is a ruling class, political order or government composed of (or dominated by) slave owners and plantation owners. A number of early European colonies in the New World were largely plantocracies, usually ...

. In 1838, the concept of slavery was finally outlawed and about 80,000 slaves in Barbados lost their former status. Prescod, however, wrote: Prescod was aware that the laws preventing all from voting would prevent all the Barbadians from being truly free.

1840

In 1840, Prescod journeyed to London to attend the

World Anti-Slavery Convention The World Anti-Slavery Convention met for the first time at Exeter Hall in London, on 12–23 June 1840. It was organised by the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, largely on the initiative of the English Quaker Joseph Sturge. The exclu ...

on 12 June 1840. The picture above shows him in a painting made to commemorate the event which attracted delegates from America, France, Haiti, Australia, Ireland, Jamaica and Barbados.The Anti-Slavery Society Convention
, 1840,

Benjamin Robert Haydon Benjamin Robert Haydon (; 26 January 178622 June 1846) was a British painter who specialised in grand historical pictures, although he also painted a few contemporary subjects and portraits. His commercial success was damaged by his often tactles ...

. Accessed 19 July 2008. In July 1840, Prescod wrote to the

Colonial Office The Colonial Office was a government department of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom, first created to deal with the colonial affairs of British North America but required also to oversee the increasing number of col ...

in Barbados as a leader of the coloured community. He was protesting at the high prices that landowners were putting on small plots of land.Kathleen Mary Butler, ''The Economics of Emancipation: Jamaica & Barbados, 1823–1843'', University of North Carolina Press, 1995. This was important, since the white owners were using this as a device to prevent other races from entering the land-owning middle class. Moreover, the ability to vote was linked to land ownership. Investigations by the Colonial Office confirmed Prescod's suspicions and the landowners were indeed buying up any small plots of land that did become available, even if this meant some small hardship for themselves. He was successful in getting a change in the law but the effect was minimal. In 1840 there were 1,153 voters; historian

Hilary Beckles Sir Hilary McDonald Beckles KA (born 11 August 1955) is a Barbadian historian. He is the current vice-chancellor of the University of the West Indies (UWI) and chairman of the CARICOM Reparations Commission. Educated at the University of Hul ...

calculates there was still less than five per cent of the population voting after the bill was passed on 6 June 1840, with the number of eligible voters in 1849 showing only a moderate increase to 1,322.''Great House Rules: Landless Emancipation and Workers' Protest''

, 2004, p. 90. . Accessed 24 July 2008. 1840 must have been a very busy year for Prescod, as not only was he writing letters of protest and travelling to Europe and back but he also served eight days in gaol for criminal libel arising out of his editorial freedom with ''The Liberal'' newspaper. However, importantly the change in the emancipation had created a new constituency of "Bridgetown".

Parliament

On 6 June 1843, Prescod was one of two people elected from the new constituency of Bridgetown. This was particularly difficult, as not only had he to overcome the prejudices, he had to work especially hard since it was only people who owned land who could vote. Moreover, this was not a secret ballot. At that time the polling booth was a piece of paper with the names of the candidates shown. Beneath the name of your choice you had to sign your name for all to see. Prescod was always in opposition to the government, but he worked with others to create the Liberal Party. He was particularly noted for his work in creating educational facilities for the children of ex-slaves. This was not just primary and secondary education, but tertiary too, so it is appropriate that an institute of technology was is named after him.

Retirement and death

Prescod retired in 1860 and accepted a position as Judge of the Assistant Court of Appeal. Prescod died in 1871 at the age of 65 on 26 September and he was interred at St. Mary's Church in

Bridgetown Bridgetown (UN/LOCODE: BB BGI) is the capital and largest city of Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Island ...

. The local ''Barbados Times'' described him as "the great tribune of the people".

Legacy

Prescod has featured as a face on the 1973 Barbadian one

dollar Dollar is the name of more than 20 currencies. They include the Australian dollar, Brunei dollar, Canadian dollar, Hong Kong dollar, Jamaican dollar, Liberian dollar, Namibian dollar, New Taiwan dollar, New Zealand dollar, Singapore dollar, U ...

note and on the twenty-dollar note. The twenty-dollar note was redesigned in 1985 and 2000 but still retained Prescod's portrait. He has also appeared on stamps. The portrait of Samuel Prescod at the 1840 Anti-Slavery Convention still hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in London. His portrait in particular was described by the artist,

, as his best so far. Prescod's picture is suggested as an example for visiting schoolchildren of a person they could research further.Teachers Notes
at the National Portrait Gallery in London, 2008. Accessed 25 July 2008. In April 1998, the ''Order of National Heroes Act'' was passed by the

. According to the government, the act established that 28 April (the centenary of the birth of Sir

Grantley Adams Sir Grantley Herbert Adams, CMG, QC (28 April 1898 – 28 November 1971) was a Barbadian politician. He served as the inaugural premier of Barbados from 1953 to 1958 and then became the first and only prime minister of the West Indies Federa ...

) would be celebrated as

National Heroes' Day Heroes' Day or National Heroes' Day may refer to a number of commemorations of national heroes in different countries and territories. It is often held on the birthday of a national hero or heroine, or the anniversary of their great deeds that ...

. The act also declared that there are ten national heroes of Barbados, all of whom would be elevated to the title of "The Right Excellent".Government of Barbados - National Heroes

History of Barbados
, The Parliament of Barbados. The Samuel Jackman Prescod Institute of Technology is named in his honour.Samuel Jackman Prescod Institute of Technology
Accessed 220 December 2018.

Notes

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prescod, Samuel Jackman 1806 births 1871 deaths Barbadian politicians Barbadian journalists Male journalists Abolitionists National Heroes of Barbados 19th-century journalists