Jerome S. Handler

1980    (D. Gobert and J. S. Handler), Barbados in the Apprenticeship Period: The Report of a French Colonial Official. Jl. of the Barbados Mus. and Hist. Soc. 36: 108-28

The French government sent observers to the British West Indies to gather specific information on the consequences of emancipation and the creation of a nonslave labor force. A. Bernard, the Attorney General at Guadeloupe, visited Barbados in 1835, and in the following year submitted his report to the French Colonial and Naval Minister.

Barbados in the Apprenticeship Period: The Report of a French Colonial Official

1978, 1979    (D. Gobert and J. S. Handler), Barbados in the Post-Apprenticeship Period: The Observations of a French Naval Officer. Part I, Part II. Jl. of the Barbados Mus. and Hist. Soc. Vol. 35: 243-66; Vol. 36:4-15.

In 1840, the French government appointed a royal commission to study the mechanics of abolishing slavery and the possible socioeconomic consequences of emancipation in its  colonies. The commission was headed by Capitaine de Corvette Layrle, who visited Barbados in the early 1840s.

Barbados in the Post-Apprenticeship Period: The Observations of a French Naval Officer, Part I

Barbados in the Post-Apprenticeship Period: The Observations of a French Naval Officer, Part II

1975    Memoirs of an Old Army Officer: Richard A. Wyvill’s Visits to Barbados in 1796 and 1806-7. Jl. of the Barbados Mus. and Hist. Soc.35: 21-30.

Wyvill was a British Army Officer in the West India Regiments. His diary entries on Barbados are a series of brief thoughts and random observations on a variety of topics although the treatment of slaves and behavior of creole whites seem to have interested him the most.

1970    (A. Gunkel and J. S. Handler), A German Indentured Servant in Barbados in 1652: The Account of Heinrich von Uchteritz. Jl.of the Barbados Mus. and Hist. Soc. 33: 91-100

Cromwell  shipped considerable numbers of his political and military enemies to Barbados where many of them were forced to labor as indentured servants.  Heinrich von Uchteritz, a German mercenary, was captured after the Battle of Worcester in 1651, and spent about four and a half months on the island in 1652.

A German Indentured Servant in Barbados in 1652: The Account of Heinrich von Uchteritz

1969    (A. Gunkel and J. S. Handler ), A Swiss Medical Doctor’s Description of Barbados in 1661. The Account of Christian Spoeri. Jl. of the Barbados Mus. and Hist. Soc. 33: 3-13.

A German-speaking Swiss physician and surgeon, Spoeri visited Barbados at least three times during the early 1660s, and spent a total of approximately fourteen weeeks on the island.

1967    Father Antoine Biet’s Visit to Barbados in 1654. Jl. of the Barbados Mus. and Hist. Soc.32: 56-76.

In 1651, a French company obtained its government’s permission to re-establish a colony in Cayenne . Between 500-600 persons were recruited for this venture, and these were joined by  group of French priests. Among this group was Father Biet, about 31 years old, who had decided to leave his church near Paris in order to meet the missionary challenges of the New World.

Father Antoine Biet’s Visit to Barbados in 1654