Thomas Terence Sherlock
Just a start on a brief page on the man Hedley Powell Jacobs called 'the teacher Sherlock' in Sixty Years of Change, 1806-1866, published by the Institute of Jamaica, in 1973.
And who was Thomas Sherlock, father of Thomas Terence, born in Kingston, in 1782?
A printer from England, called Robert Sherlock, son of a London printer also called Robert Sherlock, came out to Jamaica, probably in the late 1750s-early 1760s, and set up printing operations in Spanish Town and Montego Bay. He died in 1779, and left most of his estate of ₤3,000, to his brother Thomas, also a printer. Thomas Sherlock came out to Jamaica, presumably about 1780, to wind up his brother's affairs. I have found nothing about Thomas Sherlock's years in Jamaica, where he died in 1796, but it certainly seems possible that he was the father of Thomas Terence, whose mother was the 'free Quadroon Woman,' Elizabeth Craddock.
And might this be the birth and baptismal record of Elizabeth Craddock in Kingston?
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From the records of the British and Foreign Bible Society -
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ISLA - Volume 20 - Page 229
1980 I've [no indication of name of this writer] traced the Sherlocks and found that before slavery was abolished in 1834, in the late 1820s, Thomas Terence Sherlock was a teacher in Kingston and also was a bit of a journalist working on a small newspaper that advocated freedom ... I have seen no other reference to T. T. Sherlock's journalism - more research needed!
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from research by H. P. Jacobs -
Sixty Years of Change, 1806-1866,
Hedley Powell Jacobs - 1973 page 28 By 1817 the free coloured people of the city had their own school at 44 Church Street, under T. T. Sherlock, whose private school it was. Significantly, Sherlock advertises in both English and Spanish in 1824: presumably he had taught Spanish for some time to English-speaking pupils and was now able to take Spanish-speaking pupils as well -- the latter being in search of instruction because their parents had taken refuge in Jamaica during the War of Independence against Spain. We have here a glimpse of the class of free coloured people who were to play a unique part in Jamaica's history. page 49 Some sort of common action amongst free coloured people had been known before. The leaders in the first stage appear to have been [Alexander] Scholar, a man called Alexander Dawson Sympson, and the teacher Sherlock, at whose house in January of 1818 there had been a meeting to pass a resolution on the death of the Princess Charlotte. This meeting of 1818 is important because it shows that the movement disavowed tacitly any revolutionary aims; it was a constitutionalist and 'loyal' movement. Moreover, it is evident that even in 1818 it already showed great judgement. By passing a resolution on the death of the Princess, to be sent separately to Britain, they emphasised that while the Assembly passed a resolution, it did not represent a large body of loyal British subjects who were excluded from political rights on the sole ground of colour. A Short History of Kingston: 1692-1871,
Hedley Powell Jacobs, 1976 page 32 In 1824 T. T. Sherlock, a prominent member of the coloured community and an active teacher, advertised that he was taking in boarders at his school in Temple Lane. Boarding was at the cost of ₤60 a year, exclusive of washing, and presumably he had a wife who would look after the boarding. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
in official records -
1839 JAMAICA ALMANAC
CIVIL LISTS GOVERNMENT AND COUNCIL Court of Vice-Admiralty
Judge and Commissary, Hon. Sir Joshua Rowe, knight Registrar, William B. King Deputy ditto, John Duff Receiver-General and Comptroller of Droits of Admiralty, H. Hutchings HIS AGENTS At Port Antonio, Messrs. A. and J. Brymer At St. Ann's Bay and Port-Maria, Henry Cox, junior At Falmouth, Thomas Tenison At Montego Bay, James Gordon At Savanna-la-Mar, James W. Fraser At Grand Caymanas, James Coe, sen. Proctor, etc. A.W. Aikman Marshal and Sergeant at Mace, Jno. W. Harris Interpreter of French and Spanish Languages, Mr. Thomas T. Sherlock 1839 JAMAICA ALMANAC
CIVIL LISTS (continued) COUNTY OF SURREY CITY AND PARISH OF KINGSTON WOLMER'S FREE-SCHOOL
Established under the will of John Wolmer, a goldsmith of Kingston, a corporation was formed in 1736. Treasurer, Hon. H. Mitchel Head Master, Mr. Ebenezer Reid £420 Usher, Mr. E. Reid, junior, £300 Teacher of French and Spanish Languages, Mr. T. T. Sherlock £150 Tutoress to Infant School, Miss Margaret Reid £100 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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And the comments of Sir Philip Sherlock -
Jamaica Journal, vol 16, no 3, 1983