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Barbados policeman and free coloured population of Bridgetown

Great-great-great-grandfather: James Hunte

Step 1 - Marriage Certificate

The Barbados Department of Archives in Bridgetown holds the parish registers, through which we were able to trace Constance's Bridgetown origins back to her grandfather, James Hunte.

Early Barbados parish registers are full of useful information, especially if you're keen to find out an ancestor's profession. From James Hunte's marriage certificate we learnt that he was a policeman in the early days of the police force in Barbados.

There are no records of the Barbadian police force this early, so we had to look elsewhere in the archives to find out more about James' life.

Step 2 - St Michael Rate Books

Barbados genealogist Pat Stafford helped Ainsley search the records. The St Michael Rate Books record all those who paid tax on property in the parish. James Hunte appears regularly in the books, but what was more interesting still was the sheer number of properties he owned: at one stage as many as nine properties in the same street in Bridgetown. These were occupied by members of his family, and Ainsley's great-grandmother Constance was even born in one.

James was clearly a successful man who handled his finances well, but how could he afford such a large property portfolio on a policeman's wage just a decade after the end of slavery?

Step 3 - 'Free Negroes'

James' baptism record revealed a detail which could answer the mystery. No father was recorded for James, but his mother was cited as Rachael Hunte, a 'free negro'.

We turned to Dr Pedro Welch of the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill to find out more about whether Rachael's status as 'free' could have influenced her son's social advancement.

Free black women in Bridgetown had the opportunity to become entrepreneurs in certain industries. Some had inherited their freedom, while others gained it through relationships with white men, even having families with them. It is possible James' father was white, but there were no records available to confirm this.

Next: Slave Owners