West India Committee: Acquired Papers, 1750-1988

IDENTITY STATEMENT AREA

Reference code(s): ICS 96

Title: West India Committee: Acquired Papers, 1750-1988

Date(s): 1750 - 1988

Level of description: Fond

Extent and medium of the unit of description: 8 standard boxes, 8 large boxes

CONTEXT AREA

Name of creator(s): West India Committee

Administrative/Biographical history: The West India Committee was formed in the 18th century by a permanent association of London merchants engaged in the West Indian trade, and absentee owners of West Indian estates who lived in London and its environs. The interests of both planters and merchants appear to have been first joined on a permanent basis in 1775: before then, the two groups tended to promote their separate interests except on occasions when their usually different priorities became united. The Committee acted as a pressure group for West Indian interests, principally in the support of the sugar and rum trades and, in the first decades of its existence, in opposition to the abolition of the slave trade and then slavery. Although the campaign against slavery eventually won the day, the West India Committee did manage to secure improved compensation terms for the planters and merchants it represented.

Following the abolition of slavery in 1834, and a short period of virtual inactivity, the Committee shifted its work firstly towards the encouragement of immigrant labour from India, China and Africa (to replace the emancipated slave labour), and then to opposing the removal of preferential sugar duties for West Indian sugar. Later in the 19th century, although a more diversified range of produce was being developed, cane sugar still remained a significant element of the West Indian economy and there were further moves to support its success against the new threat of beet sugar which was now being grown in Europe. Beet sugar benefited from bounties paid by the Government as it favoured home-produced beet sugars for a variety of reasons. The West India Committee was instrumental in mounting a strong anti-bounty campaign, as well as seeking alternative markets for West Indian cane sugar in the United States. Bounties were eventually abolished throughout Europe in 1902.

Riding on this success, a concerted effort was made to widen the interests of the Committee beyond sugar alone, to the promotion of West Indian trade in general. This resulted in an increase in membership of the Committee which in turn led to a revision of its administrative structure and, in 1904, the award of a charter of incorporation. The enlarged membership included many members residing in the West Indies, and the Committee's overall knowledge of West Indian affairs improved as a result. Its role became very much a representative one, although it was still perceived as an organisation for the support of the sugar trade, reflecting sugar's continuing dominince in the region. At various times in the first half of the 20th century the Committee sought to become agents or trade representatives for individual colonies or the West Indies as a whole, but it did not achieve comprehensive or lasting success.

Later in the 20th century, with the independence of individual West Indian countries, the role of the West India Committee had to further adapt to reflect the changing political and economic scene. With the breakdown of former colonial affiliations, and changes in world trade as a whole, the Committee's traditional role in representing British interests in its West Indian colonies expanded to encompass trade between the Caribbean region as a whole, and the European Community; and in addition, trade between the Caribbean and other parts of the world, particularly the United States and other American countries. This alteration in its sphere of activities resulted in the creation of significant autonomous bodies within the West India Committee: the Caribbean Council for Europe (CCE), and the Caribbean Trade Advisory Group (Caritag). The CCE in particular played an important part in seeking the continuance of trade agreements between the two regions, in the face of conflicts of interest arising as a result of European Union.

For more information, see 'A brief history of the West India Committee' by Douglas Hall (Caribbean University Press, 1971), available in ICS Library.

Archival history: The material formed part of the West India Committee Library which was sold by the Committee to the Crown Agents at some point prior to 1977. At the time the Library (and the incorporated archive material) was left in situ because the Crown Agents had no premises to house it. In 1977 the West India Committee moved to smaller premises and the Crown Agents arranged for the Library to be housed in ICS instead. Formal agreement for the deposit of the collection on permanent loan at ICS was reached in 1979.

The archive material was initially stored with the library books at ICS, but was eventually physically and descriptively separated in order to distinguish and define its archival characteristics.

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer:

CONTENT AND STRUCTURE AREA

Scope and content: Official and collected records of the West India Committee. Only a small quantity of official records are included in this accession: see below for the whereabouts of of further material.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:

Accruals: This archive is considered as one entity because of its particular custodial history. Some of the material purchased by the Crown Agents is retained by them and it is possible that this may be transferred to ICS in the future. Other archives of the West India Committee are housed at ICS or elsewhere (see related material below).

System of arrangement: The records have been divided into three principal sections: minutes and official papers of the Committee itself; material created by the Committee but not forming part of its official records (predominantly albums of news cuttings and other papers concerning the activities of the Committee); and records presented to and collected by the Committee (miscellaneous documents and several photograph albums).

CONDITIONS OF ACCESS AND USE AREA

Conditions governing access:

Conditions governing reproduction:

Language/scripts of material: English; one item in French

Physical characteristics:

Finding aids: A descriptive list is available in ICS Library

ALLIED MATERIALS AREA

Existence and location of originals:

Existence and location of copies:

Related units of description: A later donation of further archival material comprising the official records of the Committee from c.1900, was received by ICS directly from the West India Committee in 1999 (ICS 97). This has been described separately because of the different provenance of this material. There is also a microfilm of the earlier minute books of the West India Committee available in ICS Library (M915): this material was sold by the West India Committee to the University of the West Indies, St Augustine. ICS 97 and the material on M915 together form the bulk of the official archives of the West India Committee, while ICS 96 includes a small quantity of official records together with collected and donated material.

The earlier minute books and other records to c.1900 are held at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine but copies are available on microfilm at ICS (see related material, above).

Publication note:

DESCRIPTION CONTROL AREA

Recorder's note:

Rules or conventions: Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions: February 2002

Interest: Caribbean

Specific group:

Subjects

Agriculture

Plant products

Sugar

Trade

Trade policy

Free trade

Migration

Emigration

Personal/Corporate names

British West India Regiment

Chinese Emigration Committee

Illustrated London News

Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture, Trinidad

Jamaica Tourist Association

Standing Committee of West India Planters and Merchants

West India Aviation Committee

West India Committee

West Indian Club Limited

West Indies Hurrican Relief Fund

Places

St Vincent x Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Turks and Caicos Islands

Trinidad and Tobago

Saint Lucia

Panama,Central America

Honduras

Montserrat

Martinique

Jamaica

Guyana

Demerera

British Virgin Islands

Barbados

Bahamas