British and Commonwealth Society of North America
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BRITISH AND COMMONWEALTH SOCIETY OF NORTH AMERICA PRESENTS May 31st 2014—Saturday 12:30 pm till!! FISH ˂ ˂ AND PUB LUNCH with Barry!!! At a British Pub (order off CHIPS the menu): At Public House No 7, 6315 Leesburg Pike (near Seven Corners), Falls Church, Virginia 22044 (www.publichouseno7.com) POC: Barry Kelly SAUSAGE ([email protected]) or 703-403-8785 ˂ ˂ ROLLS June 22nd 2014, Sunday 11:30 am to 2:30 pm Annual Commonwealth/AGM Champagne Brunch Fort Myer Officer’s Club, 214 Jackson Avenue, Fort Myer, Virginia 22211. Election of Board—can we get some volunteers for the B&CSNA Board? Very short AGM, it’s mostly enjoyment Cost: $30.00 for members & $33.00 for non members. Cheques must be received NLT June 16th 2014, no refunds after June 16th POC: Regina ([email protected]) 703-892-6522. Send cheques to Regina (made payable to B&CSNA) at: Regina Barker-Barzel, Box 100298, Arlington, Virginia 22210-0864 June 28th 2014 Saturday British Players 50th ANNIVERSARY OLD TIME MUSIC HALL Kensington, Mary- land. With songs of 1914’s WW1 (100 years ago). B&CSNA day will be June 28th (details later). BRITISH AND COMMONWEALTH SOCIETY OF NORTH AMERICA—NEWSLETTER MAY—JUNE Page 1 of 12 Editorial Note: property. franchise, was established. In 1953, min- Settlers, using slave labour, devel- isters from the council took over most Articles with By-Lines, sources, items oped sugar, cocoa, indigo and later portfolios, and Bustamante became chief made available to the Editor are pub- coffee estates. The island was very minister. Manley followed, in 1955. lished as submitted, no punctuation prosperous by the time of the Napole- When Jamaica joined the Federation of changed, warts and all. onic wars (1792–1814), exporting sug- the West Indies in 1958, it had full inter- ar and coffee; but after the wars sugar nal self-government with a legislative Commonwealth Corner prices dropped, and the slave trade council (senate) and legislative assembly (continued) was abolished in 1807. After the (holding real power). emancipation of slaves in 1834, the On independence in 1962 Bustamante JAMAICA plantations were worked by inden- was prime minister. With bauxite in de- tured Indian and Chinese labourers. mand, tourism flourishing and a revival in Little is known about the island’s early Sugar prices fell again in 1846. Jamai- bananas, Jamaica’s economy boomed. history, except that there are many ca’s worsening economic situation In 1972, the PNP, led by Norman traces of Arawak habitation, and that caused widespread suffering and dis- Manley’s son, Michael, won the elec- Arawaks, agriculturists who made good- content. In October 1865, a political tions, and remained in office until 1980, quality textiles and pottery, were living protest at Morant Bay organised by G when the JLP under Edward Seaga came there when Christopher Columbus land- W Gordon developed into an uprising to power. The PNP, again under the lead- ed on 14 May 1494, on his second during which the local magistrate and ership of Michael Manley, won the elec- American voyage of exploration. He 18 other Europeans were killed. The tions of 1989. named the island Santiago (Saint- governor, E J Eyre, declared martial Source: Commonwealth of Nations James). However, the name was never law and launched a punitive campaign adopted and it kept its Arawak name of ruthless severity, with several exe- Xaymaca, of which ‘Jamaica’ is a corrup- cutions without trial, including the tion. Lacking gold, Jamaica was used hanging of Gordon, who had not insti- mainly as a staging post in the scramble gated any violence. The reaction in for the wealth of the Americas. Britain was astonished outrage. Eyre The Spanish arrival was a disaster to was removed from office and Jamaica the indigenous peoples, great numbers placed under Crown colony rule of whom were sent to Spain as slaves, (1866). The banana industry was es- others used as slaves on site, and many tablished in the second half of the killed by the invaders, despite the 19th century, on big estates and small- efforts of Spanish Christian missionaries holdings. In the early 20th century, to prevent these outrages. There were Jamaicans worked on banana planta- no Arawaks left on the island by 1665, tions in Central America and Cuba, but there were enslaved Africans re- and in the construction of the Panama placing them. Canal. In 1645 the British captured Jamaica Jamaica’s first colonial constitution from the Spaniards, whose former gave considerable power to settlers. slaves refused to surrender, took to the The governor’s council included senior mountains and repelled all attempts to figures such as the bishop and chief subjugate them. These people came to justice, but the representative assem- be known as Maroons (from the Spanish bly was controlled by white settlers. cimarron, meaning ‘wild’, a word ap- After the imposition of direct Crown plied to escaped slaves). Between 1660 colony rule in 1866, settlers lost their and 1670 pirates used Jamaica as a power and the governor was advised place of resort. only by the mainly nominated privy In 1670 Spain formally ceded the island council. With amendments, this con- to Britain. Two years later the Royal stitution was retained until 1944. Africa Company, a slave-trading enter- In 1938, the People’s National Party prise, was formed. The company used (PNP), led by Norman Manley, was Jamaica as its chief market, and the formed to campaign for independ- island became a centre of slave trading ence. The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), in the West Indies. Nonetheless, the led by Sir Alexander Bustamante, was battles of the Maroons to retain their founded in 1943. freedom succeeded when, in 1740, the In 1944, an executive council, with half British authorities recognised their its members elected by universal adult rights to freedom and ownership of UK Woman Sues Attorneys for Not The winning student wrote : ty for the next harvest. Warning Her Divorce Would "Political correctness is a doctrine, “You chuck it in the UK’s direction be- Terminate Marriage fostered by a delusional, illogical mi- cause there they’ll suck in cheap wine.” Apparently not everyone is aware that nority, and promoted by mainstream The study – which is due to be pub- a divorce ends a marriage. A British media, which holds forth the proposi- lished next month – will also show that woman tried to sue her lawyers, claim- tion that it is entirely possible to pick when it comes to choosing a decent ing they should have warned her that up a piece of shit by the clean end." bottle of wine, most Brits don’t have a Source: Facebook clue. Women proved to be much less knowl- More than half of Brits won't pay edgeable than men, with 40 per cent of more than £6 for a bottle of wine women, compared to 29 per cent of More than half of Brits won't pay men, unable to name a single grape more than £6 for a bottle of wine, ac- type. cording to a new survey. James Burston, business development Research by drinks specialist Harpers manager at PLB – Britain’s largest inde- also revealed that only seven per cent pendently owned wine distributor, said: of people are willing to part with more “The UK wine market is going through a than £10 for a bottle of wine in the period of seismic change. supermarket. “There will be casualties, and there may A gender breakdown shows that wom- well be consolidation and collabora- en are more frugal than men when it tion.” comes to wine - with six per cent of Source: The Telegraph women compared to nine per cent of Judge—Lord Justice Briggs men - prepared to exceed the £10 Everything you know about the barrier. black death is wrong by getting a divorce, she would be, However, the majority of us – 54 per In the autumn of 1348, a central Asian well, divorced. cent – won’t spend more than £6. sickness arrived in London and quickly Jane Mulcahy, a devout Roman Catho- Supermarket price wars are to blame dispatched 60 percent of the city’s pop- lic, attempted to file the suit in British for encouraging Brits to put price be- ulation. Within a decade, in what’s be- court recently, arguing that her legal fore quality when it comes to choosing lieved to be the worst human calamity team should have clearly explained to a bottle of wine, according to the of all time, something like 25 million her that by getting a divorce, her mar- study. Europeans were dead. And when they riage would be terminated, reports UK As reported in The Observer, the big died, the secrets of their demise disap- news outlet The Independent. Instead, peared with them. the woman said her attorneys should Until now. have suggested a judicial separation -- On Sunday, London scientists who’d a step down from divorce that would studied 25 skeletons discovered in a not have dissolved her marriage. new rail line announced that those Not surprisingly Mulcahy's case was bones held traces of the black dismissed by a judge. death. Most of the ensuing cover- It's not the only lawsuit we've seen age focused on an unrelated theory waged against a divorce attorney. Back that the disease wasn’t likely spread by in July 2011, a Canadian family law rats’ fleas, as has been taught in every attorney was sued by a client for $14 supermarket chains such as Tesco, high school in the West, but had per- million. The client claimed the lawyer's Sainsbury’s and Asda, all consider haps been airborne.