John Knox has documented a number of stories on the History of the Quakers in Barbados for BajanThings:

• “These Fields and Hills beyond recall” – The Quaker biblical root for field and hill names associated with Dukes Plantation, St. Thomas
• The Quaker Gardens of St. Thomas – Friends’ equality even in death

John has recently setup a YouTube channel: @TheUntoldHistoryOfBarbados. It’s about: The Untold History of Barbados – Amerindians, Quakers and Slavery. As John adds to his series of informative videos we will look to share them here on BajanThings.

The Quakers in Barbados – an introduction

This is the untold story of Quakers in early Barbados. They began arriving in the 1640’s fleeing the English Civil War and persecution by Puritans. From here spread to Surinam, Jamaica, New Jersey (Barbados Neck), New York, South Carolina, Virginia,, New England and Pennsylvania. Their thinking is now accepted as normal. It can also be found in the American Constitution and Declaration of Independence.

A generation earlier the Puritans experienced persecution by the Church of England and migrated to New England. The Puritans won the English Civil War and took over the Church of England. They then became the persecutors imprisoning numerous Quakers.

The Quakers were the last non-Conformist Sect to emerge from the Reformation, 1519-1648. They were also the first Evangelical Christians, proto Evangelical Christians. The Great Awakenings in the 18th Century saw Evangelical Christianity becoming more acceptable in the Church of England and led to the Abolition of Slavery. William Wilberforce was an Evangelical Christian as were Buxton and Clarson and many others.

The presentation begins in 1675 when they became established merchants and traders and the Society of Friends was attracting new members and experiencing growth. It uses maps all geo referenced to the current Google Earth map of Barbados. The treatment allows the viewer to understand how the various place names got their names and appreciate the history of the island.

An Addendum to The Quakers in Barbados – an introduction

This addendum video addresses the rotation of the text in the Introduction of the Ford and Mayo Maps.

It also reinforces the point that the 1675 Ford Map was probably commissioned by the Society of Friends, perhaps George Fox himself on his visit to Barbados in 1671, surveyed by Richard Ford between 1671 and 1675 and then presented by the Governor of Barbados to the Lords of Trade with the Census of 1680.

The appearance of the parishes of St. Thomas and St. Joseph with Quaker families marked is also addressed on the rotated Ford Map.

Another concept is introduced, that is the importance of Trade to the economy of Barbados. Various Prospects of the Island and the shipping it attracted are presented.

The Prospect of Carlisle Bay in 1695 by Samuel Coppens is discussed followed by the Prospect of Codrington College from the 1722 Mayo Map with Consett Bay as its port to the sea and the world. Finally, Schomburgk’s 1848 Prospect of Carlisle Bay is discussed. These Prospects all show how dominant Trade was to the economy of early Barbados.

It isn’t surprising to find that Lloyds of London was started by Quakers because of the shipping they controlled. With Barbados as a key re-provisioning centre for their ships dictated by the Atlantic Gyre and Trade Winds (Westerlies) the vast and growing market of North America was opened up to their entrepreneurial interests.

The Quakers were masters of business management as can be seen by Googling “Quaker Businesses”. Not only was Lloyds Bank, Quaker in origin but so too were Barclays and Friends Provident Trust in the banking world and businesses as varied as Cadbury’s and Clarke Shoes.

Some background:

John Knox is a mapping aficionado and is merging his love of engineering with his love of Barbados history in this series of YouTube videos starting with the Quakers in Barbados. These videos merge maps, place names, on-the-ground research, wills, deeds and trade to document the untold history of the Quakers in Barbados.

John was awarded a Barbados Scholarship in 1975 and Dutch Government Fellowship in 1979. He holds a BSc in Electronic Engineering and Physics and a Masters in Electronic Engineering. He worked at Intel in Barbados from 1980 and gained experience at their facilities in the US and Far East.

When Intel in Barbados closed in 1987, he joined a start-up company providing technical services, building services engineering and product development. John went out on his own in 1995 concentrating on product development mapping and modelling Barbados. From 2002 to 2007 he also taught various courses in Electronic and Electrical Engineering at the University of the West Indies (UWI).

John started hiking with Richard Goddard and Colin Hudson and others in 1988 and led the Barbados Hiking Association (BHA) medium group from the early 1990’s to the mid 2000’s. Recently John has concentrated on documenting and sharing the knowledge he gained from exploring Barbados.