Sir Thomas Modyford

 

 

Sir Thomas Modyford seems to have had only one interest in life – lining his own pockets. As governor of Jamaica he behaved abominably – importing slaves, accepting bribes, oppressing the poor and generally amassing a great deal of money. He left Jamaica with a terrible legacy – a political system that protected the rich at the expense of those less fortunate, and, for his pains, ended up with a penthouse suite in the Tower of London.

 

 

The politicians of the island of Jamaica have a history of being corrupt and greedy. This goes back many years, to the 17th century, when Colonel Sir Thomas Modyford became the governor of Jamaica, and used his position to make a fortune out of the many pirate bands who plied the waters of the Caribbean, taking money and goods from them in exchange for pardons. Modyford is also credited with setting up the island’s slave economy, since he transported thousands of slaves to Jamaica, setting up the plantations there and dividing the country into parishes so that he could oversee their operations. He worked in conjunction with a group of men called the Royal Adventurers into Africa, who traded slaves and other goods from Africa, selling them to countries in Europe and the New World. In fact, almost all the slaves that entered the West Indies came there through the auspices of The Royal Adventurers, who had a monopoly on the slave trade to the islands.

Modyford appears to have been an extremely corrupt individual, whose main aim in life was to line his own pockets. In a sense, Jamaica has been suffering the consequences of his actions ever since, with a general population whose history is scarred by slavery, cruelty and oppression, and a political system that some believe is rotten to the core, based on bribery, corruption and the self-interest of those who run the country.

 

The Royal Adventurers

Thomas Modyford was an Englishman born in Exeter. His father was the mayor of the town, and the family had aristocratic connections, being related to the Duke of Albermarle. As a young man, Modyford emigrated to Barbados. Other members of his family also went with him, including his brother James. They left partly because the English Civil War had broken out, and partly because they could see that there were plenty of opportunities to make a fortune in the islands.

According to most reports, Modyford was already a rich man when he arrived on Barbados, and was able to put down an immediate deposit of £1,000 for a plantation. Over the next few years, he was able to pay the rest of the sum, amounting to £6,000 or more. He made a great deal of money by being a factor, or middle man, for the Royal Adventurers, a British company trading slaves from Africa to work in the plantations. As a consequence, his standing on the island increased, and he rose to become the Speaker of the House of Assembly.

 

Convicted felons

In the years that followed, Modyford turned his attention to the island of Jamaica. The political situation in Britain had become complicated, first with the setting up of the Commonwealth there, under Oliver Cromwell, and then with the Restoration of the Monarchy. The fact that Modyford had negotiated with both sides for his commission for a while made his position precarious. However, he proved a skilful negotiator and on 15 February 1664, he was appointed governor of Jamaica, with a brief to set up a full-scale plantation economy there.

He arrived on the island with 700 planters and their slaves. The plantations were to be worked by unpaid African slaves. In addition, Modyford’s brother James received a royal license to ship prisoners from British prisons over to the island, so that a large number of convicted felons also became part of the workforce. Thus it was that, almost overnight, Jamaica changed from being a sleepy island paradise into a brutal labour camp full of desperate slaves, overseen by corrupt, greedy politicians.

 

Imprisoned in the Tower

Modyford’s power increased, as did his financial interests. He lived in splendour on a cacao plantation in St Katherine’s parish, at a place called Sixteen Mile Walk. There, he received the great and good from around the islands. However, before long his luck began to change. It became known that he was in league with various pirates and adventurers around the island, receiving booty from them in return for issuing them with pardons. By turning a blind eye to their activities, he was increasing the size of his coffers, but as it turned out, this was an unwise strategy. The British government were displeased that the governor was allowing law and order to be ignored on the high seas, as this discouraged trade to the islands. Therefore they removed Modyford from his post, brought him to London for trial and took him into custody. He remained in the Tower of London for two years, but in the event, the trial did not take place. Perhaps the authorities feared that other scandals might come out, ones that would not reflect well on British colonial rule in the West Indies. Whatever the case, Modyford was set free and returned to his plantation in Jamaica, where he died in 1679.