The Myth of Lady Musgrave Road (Transcript)
In Jamaica, there is the famous Devon House. A historical landmark, it is popular for its patties, the Devon House ice-cream and on any given weekend when the weather is suitable, it also serves as a public park for families. However, there’s a popular story that involves Devon House that most Jamaicans grow up hearing. Basically, the story goes that Lady Musgrave, the the then governor of Jamaica’s wife, was so angry at seeing Devon House, this grand mansion owned by a black man, that she authorise the building of another road, to avoid driving passed it. And it’s for this reason why the road is known today as Lady Musgrave’s Road. However, as much as the story is popular and accepted by Jamaicans, it’s not true. Entirely debunked by historical facts, on this episode, we outline why the story of Lady Musgrave and George Stiebel, Devon House’s owner, is just a myth.Introduction The Man Himself
Devon House was built by George Stiebel in 1881. His obituary was published in The Gleaner on July 4, 1895. The write-up states that Stiebel was born in humble beginnings before embarking on a life of carpentry. After this brief stint of his life, he started a small trading business between Jamaica and areas off the South American coast. Soon after, he became involve in gold mining and an opportunity arose where he acquired the shares in a mining property, based in Central America. He invested all his money into this and for a moment, it seems that the investment was unsuccessful. His partner thought so too for he gave up on his investment and sold all his shares to Stiebel. But the investment would eventually bear fruit, and Stiebel took the moneys from that investment to invest in even more gold mine and soon after, he amassed a vast fortune. So after 15 years away, George Stiebel returned to the island with his fortune and his status as Jamaica’s first black billionaire. Upon his return to Jamaica, he would served as a member of the Board of Education and a gas commissioner. He also did stint as a directorate of the Jamaica Co-operative Fruit Insurance Company, the Jamaica Permanent Benefit Society and the Kingston Sailors Home. He was chairman of the St. Andrew’s Parochial Board and the St. Andrew’s Poor House. He also served as custos of St. Andrew. He also lent £5000 with a guaranteed £1000 to the proposed 1891 Jamaica Exhibition which was intended to promote the island via tourism. However, what’s important to this episode is the land Mr. Steel bought when he returned to Jamaica. He purchases multiple land properties, including a mountain retreat called Minard, near Brown’s Town and the place which will be his primary residence, Devon House in St. Andrew. Devon House
Devon House is situated on Devon Penn. The earliest record of the area, which we found, was in 1667 when 60 acres of land was awarded to Reverend Sellers by Kings Charles II, of which Devon Penn was a part. Today, that 600 acres of land stretch from the St. Andrew Parish Church, north to Sandy Gully, includes Old Church Road and Kings House, and to the south, it borders Trafalgar Penn which is now the address of the British High Commission. Then in 1750, the St. Andrew Parish Church built a rectory for which they stayed for the next 128 years. In 1881, George Stiebel purchased the rectory and built his mansion - Devon House. By the time, the house was done built by Stiebel, the crossroad where its situated became known as “Millionaire’s Corner”. The area got its name because at the time, there were three dazzling private homes in the area that were built by three millionaires - George Stiebel, Louis Verley and Daniel Finzi. Today, Devon House is the last surviving home of these three private residence. Louis Verley’s private resident is now replaced by the Abbey Court Apartment and Daniel Finzi’s home is where the YMCA now stands. Still, in the late 1800’s Jamaica, Devon House was a site to see. Covering almost 53 acres of land and apart from the two story mansion, the property, also included a carriage house, a pool, a tennis court and a blacksmith shop, and to visualise Stiebel’s immense love for horses, a racecourse. Staff quarters were also on the property to house the many operative staff around the estate. And with this house, George Stiebel, by 1881 established himself even more, as one of the most important persons in Jamaica. And the list of important persons in Jamaica at this time was indeed impressive for on that list, was the Governor of Jamaica, Sir Anthony Musgrave. The Musgraves
Sir Anthony Musgrave served as Governor of Jamaica from 1877 - 1883. Before coming to the island, he served as governor in various parts of the British empire: Antigua, Nevis, St Vincent, Newfoundland, British Columbia, Natal and South Australia. Then like most governors of British territories, when Governor Musgrave came to Jamaica, he brought his wife, American born woman, Lady Jeannie Lucinda Musgrave, with him. The Myth
Now, with that backstory out of the way, we can now address this myth. A January 15, 2016 post by the National Library of Jamaica Facebook page states: “Did you know Lady Musgrave Road, St. Andrew was named after Jeanie Lucinda Musgrave? She was the wife of Sir Anthony Musgrave who was Governor of Jamaica from 1877-1883. It is also ‘rumoured’ that George Steibel’s wealth made Lady Musgrave very uncomfortable as she took strong offence having to pass his “Devon House”. She was reportedly offended 'that a black man had managed to build such a prominent house in close proximity to the Governor's residence. To address this issue, a road was built at her request to bypass Hope Road”
Conveniently this post by the National Library of Jamaica, the institution that is responsible for the collection and preservation of historical records of the island, followed up in separate post with: “Thank you all for still keeping posted to NLJ's page. We had hoped that by using the word 'rumored' it would show that no written proof has yet been found. We felt that a highlight of the road could not be done without mentioning the popular belief around it”
With that been said The Yaad will provide the necessary evidence to show that despite this widely popular tale that has been repeated by citizens, academics, journalists, The National Library of Jamaica and other government institutions, the story of Lady Musgrave and Devon House is not true. As stated by the National Library of Jamaica, there is no evidence at all, that Lady Musgrave ordered the construction of the road to avoid seeing Stiebel’s private residence. No written evidence at all at the institution. Then, there exist no road approval records in the Jamaica Archives, that we could find at least, which shows that an order was made for the construction of the road we now known as Lady Musgrave, during Musgrave’s time on the island - 1877 to 1883. What exist however, is documentation that the road that is today, Lady Musgrave Road, existed before the Musgrave’s came to Jamaica and subsequently, existed before the Devon House was built in 1881. One article in particular published in The Kingston Gleaner on Thursday, February 7, 1878 states: “A large flag was extended across the junction which leads to Stony Hill and to Kings House, to form a square arch, attached with cocoanut boughs, roses etc. To the sides were attached two flags, red, white and blue. In the middle of the large one was a blue attached, with the words, “Welcome Sir Anthony Musgrave”.
Now the junction which leads from Stony Hill to King’s House in indeed the road we know today as Lady Musgrave’s Road. And since the article mentioned that a flag was placed across this road to welcome the Musgraves, the road existed before they even came to the island. Furthermore, this article was published in 1878 and Devon’s House was built in 1881 so the road was built and used before the construction of George’s Stiebel's residence.Other articles published in The Gleaner prior to 1881, also mentioned the existence of the road now known as Lady Musgrave. Now we would love to share them with you our listeners, however, since one copy of an archival Gleaner newspaper cost us $1586.00, and given our budget, or better yet, or lack there of, the above article is the only one we could afford in a clear readable manner. So with all this been said, clearly, Lady Musgrave did not order a road to be built to avoid Mr. Stiebel’s home. In Honour of Lady Musgrave Road
Now there’s the question of the origins of the road name since what we can say for fact, the road is today known as Lady Musgrave’s Road. The first mention of Lady Musgrave Road, that we could find that is, was in a building site announcement published in The Daily Gleaner on November 18, 1905. Its states: “Frontage on the Lady Musgrave Road, in St. Andrew as per diagram annexed to the certificate of Title under the Registration of Titles Law. Please apply to M. Delgado, 5 Port Royal St, Kingston”
As such, we can firmly state that this junction came to be Lady Musgrave, sometime in the early 1900’s. Then from all documentation the road was renamed in honour of Lady Musgrave for her philanthropic work during her stay in Jamaica. During her stint as a governor’s wife, Lady Musgrave founded the Lady Musgrave Women's Self Help Society on November 1st 1879. Located at Church Street, the society was the first of its kind in Jamaica where it mission was promote the arts & crafts made by women on the island. A copy of the society’s twenty fifth annual report published in 1904 states: “The Lady Musgrave Women’s Self-Help Society popularly known by the shorter title of The Women’s Self Help Society has been established for the purpose of (a) enabling industrious women of all classes to keep themselves and others by providing a sale room for all kinds of work especially the small industries peculiar to the island, such as work in ferns, lace bark, dagger, etc. (b) raising the standard of work by subjecting the articles deposited for sale to the criticism of cultivated taste (c) providing a competent teacher to instruct girls in plain needle-work of a high class (d) supplying materials to necessitous needlewomen to be made up into articles of clothing for sale”
One thing we can say for sure that Lady Musgrave hate in Kingston was the lack of beautification efforts by the state. In an August 14, 1896 article published in the the Daily Gleaner titled “Kingston Horticultural Society, Annual Meeting”, the report from the meeting states“Mr Gail thought they owed a great deal to the Botanical Department and Lady Musgrave for the wonderful change that has been brought about in this country in the growth and cultivation of flowers. When he came here first 45 years ago there were only two rose trees in Kingston, one in East Queen St and the other in the vicinity of Barnes Gully… he was please to see the great advance that had been since…”
Nyenpan Tarpeh-Doe and His Article
On the other hand, the story of Lady Musgrave been outrage of George Stiebel’s wealth, by all documentation, the story was first told by a person name Nyenpan Tarpeh-Doe. On August 29, 1988 in an article titled “Lady Musgrave Road - Born Out of Hatred and Envy” published in the The Daily Gleaner. Tarpeh-Doe stated: “Lady Musgrave, wife of Governor Andrew Musgrave, was en route to Cross Roads, a couple of months after their arrival from England when she observed Devon House the finest piece of architecture in Kingston in the 1800s. She enquired as to whose house it was, and was told that it belonged to Mr. George Stiebel, CMG., former Custos of the Parish of St. Andrew and chairman of the Parochial Board. During those days, in order to get to Cross Roads, one would have to travel by way of Hope Road onto Half-Way-Tree. It was said she could not accept to pass by a black man’s house standing so beautifully in the middle of Kingston. Lady Musgrave was said to be surprised and angry because the finest house in Kingston at the time belong to a black man. Sources close to the family revealed that Lady Musgrave became uneasy, and could not believe that a black man could be living in a house much more beautiful than King’s House. Upon returning to Kings’ House, it was said, that she told the Governor, she would not travel to Cross Roads by way of Hope Road because she could not cope with the reality that a black man was living in more luxury than they were. The Governor having been convinced that his wife would not go to Cross Roads, after insisting that the house, did not mean anything decided to build a road that would run from King’s House to join with Old Hope Road leading to Cross Roads. The road was constructed and named after Lady Musgrave. Sources said that she was pleased but always thought about Devon House. Mr. Stiebel saw that construction of the road as development, and was also said to be pleased about the governor’s decision to open up new roads, thereby creating easy access to Cross Roads for others.”
Now based on the facts we gave before clearly the article is not historical correct for the the Musgrave came almost three years before the construction of Devon House so upon arrival to the island, Lady Musgrave could not have seen Devon House a few months after her arrival to the island. Secondly, the road in question that the author mentioned that Governor Musgrave ordered to be constructed to avoid Devon House, it was already constructed - it already existed. So if she wanted to avoid Devon House, she could have just taken that road that was already there. Why would anyone order the construction of something that already existed? Thirdly, Tarpen-Doe stated no directed source. his references came from “sources said”, “sources close to family” and “it was said”. So as you hear on this episode, we fact-checked Tarpeh-Doe tale of the story behind Lady Musgrave and it’s not true - its simple as that. We Need Have To Talk About de Lisser
Still, the story of Lady Musgrave and her apparent hatred of George Stiebel is one of many myths that Jamaicans have passed down as facts. One of the other famous tale of a place name in Jamaica, is the story of the white witch of rose hall - Annie Palmer. Now the woman who Annie Palmer is based on never practice any form of witchcraft nor was she buried on the Rose Hall compound but a story of a memorial taking place on the Rose Hall Estate in St. James in 1830 eventually found its way to H. G. de Lisser, the former editor of The Gleaner Company. With this memorial serving as his inspiration, de Lisser wrote his fame novel “The White Witch of Rose Hall”. His 1929 publication tells the tale of Annie Palmer, a white woman known for using witchcraft to woo lovers to her bed and control the black enslave population on her property. As de Lisser novel continues, a love triangle develop between Annie Palmer, an English man named Rutherford and a free mulatto woman, Millicent. Then since the English man ended his relationship with Annie Palmer but showed interested to Millicent, Annie Palmer cursed her and the young woman eventually died. Then the climax of the book came when Annie Palmer is killed by an enslave man, Takoo. Takoo would lead charge to a rebellion which giving the setting of this book, this rebellion was actually is the 1831 Christmas Rebellion. The book ends with Takoo been murdered by Annie’s white overseer and former lover, Ashman, thus bringing an end to the rebellion. But just by his fictionalising of the events of the Christmas Rebellion and the memorial on the estate, de Lisser who through his editorials advocated for Jamaica’s business class while opposing black working-class political and economic power, use his novels to further propel his views on Jamaican society. In his paper, “An Act of Unruly Savagery: Re-Writing Black Rebellion in the Language of the Colonizer H.G. de Lisser’s The White Witch of Rose Hall”, academic Kwame S.N.Dawes said this about de Lisser’s most famous novel, “The murder of the white woman by the black slaves reinforces the traditional white paranoia about the masculine male destroying their white people… The white male will seek to bring order to the society after the chaos… The black rebel through ignorance and will therefore be subjected to harsh justice for their illegal acts of rebellion”
And it should not be lost on you our listeners that de Lisser reduces the largest slave uprising in the British West Indies to a love triangle. That theme of reducing political organising of oppressed Jamaicans to love triangles where an oppressed race woman falls in love with a white man and she and society faced terrible consequences because of that love, is prevalent in de Lisser other novels. In "The Awarak Girl", the daughter of an Awarak Chief falls in love with Christopher Columbus’ second in command. In The White Maroon, a love triangle took place just like that in The White Witch. The difference: this was set in 1655 during the English conquest of Jamaica and the lovers were a Spanish man, an indentured woman and a jealous Spanish woman. In "Morgan’s Daughter", de Lisser reduces the Tacky Rebellion of 1760 to a love story between Henry Morgan’s mixed race daughter and this English man posing as Three Fingered Jack. In "Revenge", he spun his own version of the Morant Bay Rebellion where his novel follows the romance between Paul Bogle’s daughter and a white plantation owner. In "The Cup and the Lip", he did his take on the indentureship history of Jamaica; and yes, this follows the relationship Indian woman and a white man. And in "Haunted", published in Volume 4 of "Planter’s Punch", he reduces Jamaica’s 1938 labour uprising to an epic romance involving obeah. Over his forty years as editor of The Gleaner Newspaper, from 1904 -1944, de Lisser, was without a doubt the most influential entity in Jamaican print media, national literature and political debate. As such, anything he said would sway public opinion and be accepted as facts. And that is how the fame story of Annie Palmer, despite been fiction, entered Jamaica society as truth and took on a life of its own. And what a life that story has had for in recent years we have seen the legend of Annie Palmer turned into a play, spotlighted on multiple paranormal television shows, featured on a US modelling reality contest and celebrated as a feminist icon on the world stage by a Jamaica beauty queen. And thanks to de Lisser retelling, The Rose Hall Great House is today, a major tourist attraction. Local and international tourists are eager to tour the former plantation to hear about Annie Palmer and witness her ghost, who is the tour guides will tell you, still haunt the place today. Mind you, all of this is based on events that never happen and a woman who was not buried on the property. Caribbean Landscape and Ideology
Still, the story of Lady Musgrave Road and The Rose Hall Great House despite been false, reinforces our relationships with the landscape around us. So when someone mentions Lady Musgrave Road, they will mention the Lady Musgrave’s hatred of seeing a black man’s wealth and as demanding a new road to be built to avoid it. Then, it is quite impossible to mention the Rose Hall Great House and not speak about Annie Palmer. It is this relationship that Jamaican landscape historian and professor of history at the University of the West Indies Mona campus, Dr. Karl Watts, expounded upon when we seek his expertise during the research of this episode.“Alright, my name is Karl Watts. Historian in the History Department at UWI Mona… ‘The records clearly show that the road existed before Lady Musgrave and her husband, Anthony Musgrave, were present in the island… there is just no indication that she took part in any sleight of George Stiebel. But I do understand the narrative. Historically speaking, these narratives are part of the Jamaican traditional culture. But clearly, historically, if you want to be the party pooper or the one who wants to burst the bubble, these stories are not factual. But they have helped people to identify [these places]”
And we’ve seen Dr. Watts analysis play out in real life for we all associate Lady Musgrave with that her rumoured hatred for Jamaica’s first black millionaire. After George Stiebel’s death in 1896, the house went had an interested history. By a 1923, it was sold to Reginald Melhado, a successful entrepreneur where a portion of the property was subdivide to create what we know today as Waterloo and Devon Roads. In 1928, it was sold to Cecil Lindo who at this time, also purchase J. Wray and Nephew and Monymusk Estate. In 1960, the house was in the position of Cecil’s widow Agnes Lindo but she eventually move to New York and the house was left vacan. Still, when news got out that there was plans to demolish the property, then Minister of Welfare and Development, Edward Seaga placed a restriction order on the property under the National Trust Act which ceased the demolition of the mansion.And so it happens that in 1965, the Government of Jamaica purchased the property. In the 1970’s, members of Rastafari occupied the property but in 1974, Prime Minister Michael Manley, opened Devon House as the National Gallery. Almost a decade later in 1982, the house was refurbished, where it was opened by Queen Elizabeth II. In 1990, Devon House was made a National Monument thus beginning its long tradition as a for one of the most popular public park in Jamaica. And thanks to its fame food establishments on the property, including Devon House Ice Cream and Devon House Patties, the property became Jamaica’s first Gastronomy Center. Nevertheless, there has been numerous plea in traditional and social media for the renaming of the road, since Nyenpan Tarpeh-Doe’s 1988, Gleaner article. And this is a valid point, the renaming of some of Jamaica’s roads. In fact, in the article “Vendors Want Purge of Colonial-Era Street Names In Kingston” published in the Jamaica Gleaner on March 22, 2022, street vendors in Downtown Kingston called for the renaming of some of the roads in the vicinity. As Lincoln “Jimmy” King, a vendor who sells pet fish at the intersection of King and Tower Streets states:“Shoulda all have one Nanny Street, Paul Bogle Street, Louise Bennett Street and dem way deh”
Then a few months later on October 26, 2022, Minister of State in the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Alando Terrelonge says this in regards to Jamaica becoming a republic: “As a republic, it would be a fitting tribute to our cultural heroes to rename some of the roads in Kingston, and across Jamaica, in their honour. Roads that were named to revere the British Monarchy such as King Street, East and West Queen Streets, Duke Street, Princess Street must be renamed to pay homage to our cultural giants who have made Jamaica a global cultural powerhouse and Kingston a UNESCO Creative City of Music”
So in years to come, as Jamaica moves to change its political status, we except to see even more calls for the renaming of the island’s road, including Lady Musgrave. But what we want to drive home, is that there’s a very strong argument for renaming a road honouring a woman who was a part of the island’s colonial history. Now don’t get us wrong, we are not saying that a white woman living in colonial Jamaica who is the wife of the most powerful man on the island did not have racist tendencies; that’s not what we not saying - this is the 1800’s Caribbean. The argument that won’t work though, is that they should rename the road because Lady Musgrave did not want to see George Stiebel’s Devon House mansion so she built a separate road to avoid seeing it. History tell us, it is not true. And it is for that reason, why every petition, every debate and every letter to the editor in the islands’s newspaper with that reason to renamed the road is always unsuccessful. And that is that.