Quamina occupation carpenter
Quamina Gladstone (1778 – 16 September 1823), most often referred to simply as Quamina, was a Guyanese slave from Africa and father of Jack Gladstone. He and his son were involved in the Demerara rebellion of 1823, one of the largest slave revolts in the British colonies before slavery was abolished.
He was a carpenter by trade, and worked on an estate owned by Sir John Gladstone. Quamina was implicated in the revolt by the colonial authorities and killed by British soldiers on 16 September 1823. He is considered a national hero in Guyana, and there are streets in the capital Georgetown and the village of Beterverwagting on the East Coast Demerara named after him.Biography
Quamina was a carpenter who lived and worked on the "Success" plantation in Demerara. According to da Costa, Quamina was African-born (originated from the Akan ethnic group in modern-day Ghana). He and his mother were sold into slavery when he was a child. His mother died on a plantation in 1817. In some source material, he is surnamed Gladstone, as the enslaved adopted surnames of their masters by convention. Sir John Gladstone, who had never set foot on his plantation, had acquired half share in the plantation in 1812 through mortgage default; he acquired the remaining half four years later.He attended services at the Bethel Chapel of the London Missionary Society on neighbouring Le Resouvenir plantation when the chapel opened in 1808. Under the guidance of Reverend John Wray, he learned to read and write. As was witnessed in a letter he wrote to the LMS, he was persuaded to attend the recently opened church by the person who he served as apprentice. Wray noticed positive changes after he became Christian. Quamina was proud and hardworking, and was baptised on 26 December 1808. On being assessed for fitness to become a member, Quamina declared that when he was young, he had been a houseboy and had to "fetch" girls to entertain the estate's managers. When Wray was sent to nearby Berbice in 1816, his replacement John Smith was equally impressed by Quamina's qualities. He took an interest in others, and had become widely respected by slaves and free blacks throughout the colony. One of five slaves elected deacon by the congregation in 1817, Quamina became Smith's personal favourite, and was highly trusted by John Smith and his wife, Jane. According to da Costa, he was a "loyal, well-behaved, trustworthy and pious deacon." He brought news of the congregation members on a day-to-day basis, and was always consulted about the affairs of any member.Quamina had many wives, but he cohabited for twenty years with Peggy, a free woman. As was common with other slaves, he had been harshly treated and humiliated by his masters and once was beaten badly and incapacitated for six weeks. He was frequently forced to work, thus missing religious services. In 1822, when Peggy was taken seriously ill, he was forced to work all day, every day, and was not allowed any time off to look after her. One evening, he returned to find her dead.
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