Through The 20th Century With The Gleaner - The Governor ran for his life (Part I)

C.Roy Reynolds

COLONIAL GOVERNOR Sir Sydney Olivier who administered Jamaica in the early 20th century has been regarded by many as one of the more enlightened ones of his kind. A friend of writer George Bernard Shaw, the two men were said to have hewed to socialist-leaning political views.

But Sir Sydney Olivier, as far as I can determine, has a record unique to him: He remains the only governor, colonial or home-grown or any top politician for that matter, to have been attacked and injured by a mob of demonstrators on the streets of Kingston.

It happened on February 26, 1912 and was reported in The Gleaner the following day. The story was titled: "Attack on Governor: His Excellency Assaulted." "The King's representative in the person of Sir Sydney Olivier was violently assaulted by a frenzied mob which took possession of the upper portion of Orange Street last night. The pitched battle which occurred in the locality on Sunday night between the police and the hooligans had developed in the roughs a feeling of resentment and hatred for the keepers of law and order."

As a result on this night the crowd was out in full force, militantly seeking out the police to wreak mayhem on them... The Gleaner reported that the rum shops did a brisk trade earlier in the evening as the mob prepared for war. Speakers whipped up the frenzy.

According to the reports the tram car service had been withdrawn from the streets. It had been the spark for the violence and had been substantially wrecked by the demonstrators. That left it free to concentrate all their attention on the hapless police. Seven members of the force happened to have been in the Orange Street area that evening and observing the menace thought it prudent to run for cover.

The most convenient refuge they could find was inside Burke's rum shop at the corner of Orange and Beeston Streets. There they barricaded themselves while the menacing crowd with bricks, bottles and sticks assaulted them in their makeshift citadel. They were baying for blood and the police were bawling for rescue!

Fortunately for the embattled policemen, but unfortunately for the Governor, he was being driven up Orange Street when he saw and heard the situation. He ordered his driver to stop, got out and marched to the area of Burke's rum shop where the police were holed up. Sir Sydney assured the rioters that he would take up their grievance against the tram car company, but admonished them for their behaviour.

Meanwhile the police took the opportunity to escape and this further angered the crowd, which now moved on the Governor himself, and while he ran to cover in his car the crowd rained missile blows on both him and his conveyance.

This time though, unlike the Morant Bay rebellion half a century or so earlier when widespread eradication followed, things were handled more discreetly, though bloodshed was not to be avoided. The first thing was to minimise the extent of the Governor's injuries; and so first reports of serious injury to his person were later reported as slight. But slight or serious a record had been established never equalled since.

But the crowd was not done and before it was brought to an end serious injury and death would occur, to say nothing of wanton destruction of public facilities and private property. On the Monday night following the Sunday night mayhem the crowd was out in full force and fuller militancy.

On this occasion the Gleaner reported that shortly before 10.00 o'clock that night hundreds "in massed bands, armed with clubs, bricks, bottles, knives, razors, iron bars and other implements terrorised the central and north central portions of the city, smashing private and public property, beating policemen, causing householders to flee from their homes in terror and respectable law-abiding citizens to vanish at top speed from the streets."

The fuse for all this was the tram car service which had imposed a fare increase and had enlisted the police force to help in imposing it. In the process persons had been arrested and then as now the police had been accused of being overzealous in their action.

C. Roy Reynolds is a freelance journalist.

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