John Sargent, of Yorkshire, England, often shares online some of his most valuable postcards and photos of British Guiana, when Georgetown was known as a “Garden City”.
Sargent’s interest in Guyana and collecting old photos of the country were prompted by 19th century British naturalist, Charles Waterton.
“I have no connection with the Watertons apart from the fact that I live in the village of Walton in Yorkshire, England,” Sargent told Sunday Times Magazine, “the village was once the home of Squire Charles Waterton (1782 – 1865) of Walton Hall. Waterton was a pioneering naturalist and created the world’s first nature reserve at his home, Walton Hall in England. He spent some time in Guyana, and I thought that it would be interesting to visit the country itself.”
Sargent has visited Guyana once, in 2012, as a tourist.
“I stayed in Georgetown and had a very enjoyable time with a number of excursions to places such as Mibiri Creek, Fort Island, the coastal strip across the Demerara, and Kaieteur Falls. A short stay, but very enjoyable,” Sargent recalled.
The pictures he shares today were either bought online, in auction houses in Britain, or from photos other persons have shared with him.
Who was Charles Waterton?
Charles Waterton arrived in Georgetown in 1804 to manage the plantations of his father (Walton Hall) and his uncle, Christopher Waterton (La Jalousie and Fellowship), who had returned to England. One of his uncle’s estates, of which the principal crop was coffee, had no less than 500 slaves working on it. The other estate produced sugar and cotton, worked by 300 slaves.
Walton Hall is near The Jib and Hampton Court, north of Anna Regina on the road to Charity.
In The Argosy, published in 1883, Walton Hall is recorded as being part of Hampton Court, the most northerly plantation in the colony:
“This fine property formerly consisted of four separate sugar estates, viz., Walton Hall, Devonshire Castle, Hampton Court and Windsor Castle. The three latter were vacuum-pan estates in a small way, but from want of labourers to carry on the proper cultivation of the soil, one by one ceased to have an independent existence; and in the course of time the Colonial Company became sole owners of this fine block of land.”
Such spare time as he had, Charles spent with his paternal aunt Anne Daly and her husband Michael at their estate, Bellevue. This became his second home. He also met Charles Edmonstone who lived at Mibiri creek; the friendship endured the test of time.
Waterton’s family owned plantations at La Jalousie, Walton Hall and Fellowship and he managed them for a while. When he inherited them from his father, he disposed of them.
Later, Waterton wrote his “Wanderings in South America” about his journeys in South America. His wife also had connections with Guyana.
Waterton eventually married Anne Mary, Edmonstone’s second daughter. He had attended Anne’s christening in 1812, on his return from his first wandering; 17 years later, this infant became the wife of the Squire.
Edmonstone had originally been a timber-cutter and merchant, in partnership with William Reid (a fellow Scot).
Reid had married an Arawak named Princess Miranda, daughter of a chief. Their daughter, Helen, married Edmonstone.
William Reid lived on Kamuni Creek. Charles Edmonstone lived at Warrows Place, Mibiri Creek, a tributary of Demerara River, not far from Santa Mission.
For more information and photos of British Guiana, visit http://overtown.org.uk (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)
Heritage Museum and Toucan Inn, 2012)
