The substance of a speech delivered by joseph marryat, Esq. in the House of Commons, on thursday, july 25th, 1822, upon mr. hume's motion for appointing a commission of enquiry to report on the state of the island of trinidad

MARRYAT, Joseph

Published by Printed by W. Hughes, London, 1823

About this Item

xii, 115pp, [1]. With half-title. Stitched, as issued. Uncut and unopened. Half-title and verso of final leaf a trifle dusty. Sir Joseph Marryat (1757-1824), West India merchant who served as agent for Trinidad. Marryat provides a critique of British colonial policy as applied to Trinidad, which had been captured from Spain in 1797. Spanish laws still applied on the island and this was a grievance which had caused the inhabitants to petition the Commons. Particularly at issue were Spanish commercial and land law and the use of torture against the free, as opposed to slave, inhabitants. Marryat refers briefly to the notorious torture case against Governor Picton, supporting him on the grounds that Picton was merely using an old British cavalry punishment rather than Spanish torture. Having been made commandant and military governor of the territory in 1797, British Army officer Sir Thomas Picton (1758-1815) set to remedying the instances of endemic civil disorder that the island was renowned for. His methods were vindictive and vicious and most often resulted in execution. In 1803 William Fullarton, a fellow member of the governing commission, and a man diametrically opposed to Picton, conducted a series of open enquires into allegations levelled at the authoritarian brigadier-general. Fullarton brought charges against Picton, who stood trial in London, with the chief indictment being his torture of one Luisa Calderon. Picton was found guilty, though this conviction was later overturned. Size: 8vo.

Seller Inventory # AQ17683

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The substance of a speech delivered by joseph marryat, Esq. in the House of Commons, on thursday, july 25th, 1822, upon mr. hume's motion for appointing a commission of enquiry to report on the state of the island of trinidad
• Publisher: Printed by W. Hughes, London
• Publication Date: 1823
• Edition: First edition.