An ACT for a more particular return of Slaves in this Island, and the enrolment thereof.

WHEREAS the legislature of this island is anxious to shew, by every means in its power, the most sincere disposition to guard against any possible infringement of the laws for abolishing the slave trade, for the evasion of which the return of peace may be thought to afford facilities: And whereas a more particular return of the slaves in this island, than had hitherto been required by the laws heretofore passed for that purpose, and an enrolment thereof, may be advantageous: We, your Majesty’s dutiful and loyal subjects, the Assembly of this Your Majesty’s island of Jamaica, do most humbly beseech Your Majesty that it may be enacted; be it therefore enacted by the Governor, Council, and Assembly of this Your Majesty’s island, and it is hereby enacted and ordained by the authority of the same, [Clause 1] That all and every person and persons who shall be present in this island on the twenty-eighth day of June next after the passing of this act, and shall then be in the possession of any slave or slaves within the same, whether as owner, mortgagee, trustee, guardian, executor, administrator, sequestrator, committee, receiver, assignee, lessee, attorney, agent, or otherwise howsoever, do and shall, on or before the twenty-eighth day of September then next, render in to the clerk of the vestry of the parish where such slave or slaves so possessed as aforesaid shall be considered to be most permanently settled, worked, or employed, a true and perfect list or return in writing, or true and perfect lists or returns in writing, of all and every slave and slaves so possessed by him, her, or them, and so settled, worked, or employed within such parish as aforesaid; each and every of which lists or returns shall specify in the first place the name or names of the possessor or possessors as aforesaid of the several slaves in such list or return contained, and the character or capacity in which he, she, or they so possess the same, whether as owner or otherwise as hereinbefore mentioned, and in all cases where such possession shall not be as owner, then also the name or names of the person or persons for whom or for whose estates or interests such slaves are so possessed, and in words at length the total number of male slaves and the total number of female slaves contained in every such list or return; and shall further specify in distinct columns, according to the form in the schedule marked A. hereunto annexed, the following particulars, beginning with the list of males and distinguishing them from the list of females; that is to say, in the first of the said columns, and which shall be entitled “Names,” shall be inserted the name of such slave by which he or she has been usually called and known; in the second of the said columns, and which shall be entitled “Colour,” the colour of such slave, that is whether Negro, Sambo, Mulatto, Quadroon, or Mustie; in the third of the said Columns, and which shall be entitled “Age,” the age or reputed age of such slave, according to the best of the knowledge or belief of the party, who shall make attestation on oath to the truth of such list or return as herein-after mentioned; in the fourth of the said columns, and which shall be entitled “African or Creole,” it shall be shewn whether such slave is an African or Creole, according to the best of the knowledge or belief of the party making attestation on oath to the truth of such list or return as hereinafter mentioned; and in the fifth of the said columns, and which shall be entitled “Remarks,” it shall be shewn opposite the name of each and every slave the name of the mother of such slave, if the mother be returned in the same list or return; and in all cases where any slave or slaves, shall at any time within three years next preceding the said twenty-eighth day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventeen, have runaway from the possession of the party or parties making such return as aforesaid, or from the person or persons whom or whose estates they in any manner represent as aforesaid, to the best of the knowledge or belief of the party making attestation on oath to the truth of such list or return as herein-after mentioned, and still continue a runaway on the said twenty-eighth day of June one thousand eight hundred and seventeen, there shall be stated the name and description of every such runaway slave as aforesaid, in like manner as of the other slaves to be included in such list or return, and opposite to the name of every such runaway who shall then have been absent, and of every slave who may be a runaway for the space of three months or upwards, then next preceding, shall be inserted in the said column entitled “Remarks” the word “Runaway.”

[Clause 2] Provided always, and it is hereby enacted, That no person or persons in possession as tenant or tenants by parole only of any slave or slaves on the said twenty-eighth day of June, shall be bound to make such return of the same, unless the person or persons from whom such slave or slaves are rented or hired shall then be an absentee and unrepresented in this island by attorney or agent authorized to receive the rent, in which cases the tenant or tenants shall be bound to make such return, but otherwise the person or persons hiring out such slave or slaves, his or their attorney or agent authorized to receive the rent, shall be bound to make such return; and in order to avoid as much as possible all irregularities or mistakes in making such lists or returns, a sufficient number of printed forms, according to the schedule A. hereunto annexed, shall be lodged in due time before the said twenty-eighth day of June one thousand eight hundred and seventeen, with the several clerks of the vestries throughout the island, and shall be delivered to all persons applying for the same at a price not exceeding five-pence for each sheet, and which printed forms the receiver general is hereby authorized and required to provide at the expense of this island; and the said clerks of the vestries are authorized and required not to receive any returns of slaves unless the same, or the last sheet of each and every such lists or returns when such list or return shall consist of more than one sheet, shall be made upon one of such printed forms, and each preceding sheet shall contain the same number of columns, and be headed in the same manner as such printed sheet.

[Clause 3] And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said several lists or returns of slaves as hereunto required, shall, before they are rendered to the several clerks of the vestry, be verified by the oath, or, where the party is a quaker, by the solemn affirmation, of the person, or one of the persons if there be more than one, making such return; and such oath or affirmation shall be made in writing and subscribed by the party making the same, and subjoined by the list or return to which the same refers; and which oath or affirmation shall be to the form and effect following; that is to say,

‘I A.B. do swear, or if a quaker solemnly affirm, That the above list and return consisting of (here insert the number of sheets) sheets, is a true, perfect, and complete list and return, to the best of my knowledge and belief, in every particular therein mentioned, of all and every slave and slaves possessed by me, (here insert the name of any joint possessor) as (owner, mortgagee, &c. as the case may be, and where the possession is held otherwise than as owner, add the name of the person for whom or for whose estate or interest such possession is held) considered as most permanently settled, worked, or employed in the parish of [blank] on the twenty-eighth day of June one thousand eight hundred and seventeen, without fraud, deceit, or evasion       

So Help me GOD.’

Which oath or affirmation shall be made before any judge of the supreme or other of the assize courts of this island, or any justice of the peace for the parish for which the return is intended, and such judge and justices respectively are hereby authorized and required to administer the same.

[Clause 4] And be it further enacted, That all and every person and persons who shall be present in this island on the twenty-eighth day of June on thousand eight hundred and twenty, and in every third succeeding year, and shall then be in possession of any slave or slaves within the same, whether as owner, mortgagee, trustee, guardian, executor, administrator, sequestrator, committee, receiver, assignee, lessee, attorney, agent, or otherwise howsoever, do and shall, on or before the twenty-eighth day of September then next ensuing, render in to the clerk of the vestry of the parish where such slave or slaves so possessed shall be considered to be most permanently settled, worked, or employed, a true and perfect list or return in writing, according to the schedule marked B. hereunto annexed, which shall state in the first place the total of males and females contained in the last return, and shew the increase and decrease, if any there be, in the same; and shall state the name of every slave constituting part of such increase and decrease, beginning with the males, and distinguishing where the list of males ends and the list of females begins, and the colour, reputed age, and whether African or Creole, in the columns so respectively entitled; and in the column entitled “Remarks: the names of the mothers of children, of both mother and child, are in the same list; and as to any runaways for more than three months, then next preceding the word “Runaway;” and further, in the case of increase, such return shall state in the column entitled “Increase,” and cause thereof, whether the increase has been by births, acquisitions, or removal from any other parish, or the coming back of old runaways; and in case of births, then the names of the mothers shall be specified respectively opposite to the names of the children born; and in case the same shall be by acquisition, then it shall be stated opposite to the name of every such slave in the said increase column, in whose name, and in what particular list or return such acquired slave stood enrolled at the last preceding period for making returns under this act, or if born since, then in whose name and in what particular list or return the mother of such newly-acquired slave stood enrolled at that period, or should such acquisition have been made of any slave or slaves lawfully imported into this island since the last return, then it shall be stated in the said increase column that the same was or were so imported, and the port or place at which such importation was made, and the name of the vessel and master; and if such increase should be by removal merely from any other parish of this island, the slave being in the same possession, then such removal shall be mentioned in the increase columns, with the name of the parish from whence removed; and should such increase have been by the coming back of any runaway who may have been absent above three years, then in the said increase column such coming back of such runaway shall be specified; and in case of decrease, such return shall state in the column entitled “Decrease,” and cause thereof, opposite the name of every such slave constituted a part of such decrease, whether the same shall have been by death, grant, sale, or manumission, or by removal to any other parish in the same possession, naming the parish, or by the lapse of three years since the first running away of any slave standing enrolled in the last preceding return for the same person or persons, or estate; and at the foot of every such return required by this clause, there shall be stated in distinct lines the total number of slaves in possession on the twenty-eighth day of June, in the year for such return, shall be made also, in like manner, the total number of births and of deaths since the last return; and the same shall be verified by the oath (or in case of a quaker, by his affirmation) of the person, or one of the persons if there be more than one, making such return, to be subscribed by the party, and subjoined to the said return, and to be made and taken in the form and manner, and before the like judges and justices, as already enacted with respect to the verification of returns to be made for the twenty-eighth day of June one thousand eight hundred and seventeen; and every such return so to be made on the twenty-eighth day of September one thousand eight hundred and twenty, and at any succeeding period for making the triennial returns required by this clause, if made for any person or persons or estate for whom there shall have been no prior return made, shall be in every particular, as near as circumstances will admit, in like manner as the return in respect to increase for or on account of any person or estate for whom a former return shall have been made.

[Clause 5] Provided always, That tenants by parole of any slave or slaves shall not be bound to make the triennial returns required by this clause, except as before excepted in the first clause of this act; but all such triennial returns required by this clause in respect to slaves so held by parole, shall be made as required in respect to the return to be made for such slaves on the twenty-eighth day of September one thousand eight hundred and seventeen, by the said first clause of this act, and in order to avoid as much as possible all irregularities and mistakes in making such triennial returns as are required by this clause, the receiver general shall provide, at the expense of this island, a sufficient number of printed forms, according to the schedule marked B. hereunto annexed, to be lodged in convenient time before the twenty-eighth day of June on thousand eight hundred and twenty, and so before the twenty-eighth day of June in every succeeding period of three years, when such returns are to be made, with the several clerks of the vestries, and which shall be delivered to all persons applying for the same, at a price not exceeding five-pence for each sheet; and the clerks of the vestries are not to receive any returns of slaves as by this clause required, unless the same on the last sheet of every such lists or returns, if such list or return shall consist of more than one sheet, shall be made upon one of such printed forms, and each preceding sheet shall contain the same number of columns, and be headed in the same manner as such printed sheet.

[Clause 6] And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the first and triennial return required to be made according to the provisions of this act of the slaves belonging to the Crown and employed about the person of the governor, shall be made and verified on the oath of the private secretary of the governor or lieutenant governor, or person so executing for the time being the functions of governor, under a penalty of one hundred pounds.

[Clause 7] And be it further enacted, That it shall not be lawful for any clerk of the vestry, under a penalty of five hundred pounds, to receive any first return or giving in required by this act after the twenty-eighth day of September one thousand eight hundred and seventeen, or any triennial return after the twenty-eighth day of September in the year in which such triennial return shall fall due, except as hereinafter next mentioned and provided.

[Clause 8] Provided always, and it is hereby enacted, That in such case where it shall be made appear on oath, to the satisfaction of the justices and vestry in vestry assembled, at any meeting to be called for the purpose by the custos or chief magistrate, if necessary, at any time on or before the thirty-first day of December one thousand eight hundred and seventeen, in respect to the first returns to be made under this act, or on or before the thirty-first day of December in any year in which any triennial return shall fall due, in respect to such triennial return, that through inadvertence or unavoidable cause there happened to be no return, or a defective return, it shall and may be lawful for the justices and vestry to order the clerk of the vestry then to receive every such return, or to amend every such defective return.

[Clause 9] And be it further enacted, That every clerk of the vestry shall indorse on every return the actual date of its being filed or lodged with him, and such returns shall be deemed a public record, and to that purpose his office shall be taken to be a public office of record, and such records shall be under the same protection from embezzlement, erasure, and injury, as the records in the secretary’s office are by law protected; besides which, if such injury shall arise from the negligence or misconduct of the clerk of the vestry, he shall incur and suffer the penalty of five hundred pounds for each offence, and be incapable of holding his office.

[Clause 10] And be it further enacted, That every clerk of the vestry, under the penalty of five hundred pounds and incapacity from holding his office, shall, by the first day of February one thousand eight hundred and eighteen, cause the said first returns required by this act; and by the first day of February in each year next after the triennial returns are required to be made into his office, cause all and every such triennial returns received into his office to be fairly and faithfully copied in a neat manner, and as closely as convenient; at the end of which he shall annex an affidavit, to be taken and sworn before any judge of the supreme court, or of either of the assize courts, or of any justice of the peace for the parish in which such return is made, who are respectively hereby authorized and required to administer an oath in that respect, that such copy has been carefully copied, examined with the original returns, and is a faithful and true copy thereof, to the best of the deponent’s endeavour, knowledge, and belief; and shall also annex to such copy a correct alphabet of the names of the persons for whom the return is intended, and at the top and on the back of such return shall state for what parish and for what year it is the return; which copy so prepared the said clerk of the vestry, under the penalty and incapacity last-mentioned, shall, on or before the twentieth day of February one thousand eight hundred and eighteen, for the first returns, and on or before the twentieth day of February in each year next after the triennial returns are required to be made in respect to such triennial returns, transmit and cause to be carefully delivered to or at the office of the secretary of this island, when such authenticated copy shall be forthwith entered and recorded in a book or books to be separately kept for that purpose, in the manner that other instruments are there recorded and kept.

[Clause 11] And be it further enacted, That the said secretary shall, under the penalty of five hundred pounds, on or before the twenty-eighth day of June one thousand eight hundred and eighteen, in respect to the first returns, and on or before the twenty-eighth day of June in each year next after the triennial returns are required to be made in respect of such triennial returns, fully record, and shall thereafter, and after having certified at the back thereof that the same have been recorded by him, and the day when received and entered at his office, deliver in all such authentic copies so received from the clerks of the vestries to or at the office of the secretary of the governor, or person executing the functions of governor, to be transmitted to His Majesty’s secretary of state for the colonial department.

[Clause 12] And be it further enacted, That an extract or copy from any original return under this act of record in the vestry office, certified under the hand of the clerk of the vestry himself, personally, or an extract or copy of any return made under this act from the record thereof in the secretary’s office, and certified under the hand of the secretary or person officiating for him, or by the oath of a witness who had compared the extract or copy with the original return in the vestry office, or with the record thereof in the secretary’s office, shall be admitted in all courts and places as legal evidence, to the extent to the original itself would go.

[Clause 13] And be it further enacted, That if any person or persons who is or are required by this act to make a return of slave or slaves in his or their possession as aforesaid, shall omit or neglect so to do, within the time directed or allowed for the same, whereby any slave or slaves shall be omitted to be duly returned in the first return, or any subsequent triennial return pursuant to this act, every person so offending shall for each and every slave who ought to have been returned, and of whom no return has been made, forfeit the sum of one hundred pounds; and in case of such person or persons acting in any representative character, making such default or omission, he, she, or they shall, besides the said penalty, make good to the real owner of such slave or slaves any damages and loss thereby sustained.

[Clause 14] And be it further enacted, That such penalty of one hundred pounds shall be recoverable by action of debt commenced in the supreme court, but the issue therein to be tried in the county where the cause of action shall arise, and when recovered shall be applied one half to the prosecutor, and the other half to His Majesty, his heirs and successors, for and towards the support of the government of this island, and the contingent charges thereof.

[Clause 15] And be it further enacted, That upon judgment being recovered for such penalty, an information shall be filed in office by His Majesty’s attorney general, in and for the next succeeding grand court, against the slave or slaves for the omission of whose return such penalty shall have been recovered, but the issue joined therein to be tried in the county where the cause of such action arose, as and for an importation of African slaves, contrary to the said abolition laws, and the record of such judgment shall be sufficient evidence to maintain the said information; and to every such information so filed as aforesaid, it shall and may be lawful for the person or persons, against whom the judgment for such penalty has been recovered, to take the defence in his or their own name or names, or in the name or names of the person or persons for whom he, she, or they held possession of the slave or slaves left unreturned as aforesaid, or for such person or persons for whom possession was held to take the defence in his, her or their own name or names, and to plead not guilty, and thereunder to prove that the slave or slaves included in the said information was not or were not imported into this island contrary to the said abolition laws.

[Clause 16] And be it further enacted, That in case the defence to the said information shall not have been taken as aforesaid during the court for which the same is filed, the said information shall be continued over until the next grand court, in which court it shall and may be lawful for any person claiming any estate or interest in the said slave or slaves included in the said information, either in reversion or remainder or other estate expectant, upon the determination of the estate of the person for whose interest the possession of such slave or slaves was held, or any mortgagee of the said slave or slaves, or any judgment  creditor of the person or persons or estate for whose interest such possession was held, to take the defence of such information, by leave of the judges of the said supreme court; and it shall be lawful for the person so taking the defence of the said information to plead not guilty thereto, and thereunder to prove that the said slave or slaves included therein was or were not imported contrary to the said abolition laws, and was or were subject to such right, title, or interest as they claim therein.

[Clause 17] And be it further enacted, That if upon the trial of any such information as aforesaid, a verdict shall be found and judgment thereupon given for the defendant, the slave or slaves included in the said information, or such or so many of them for which such verdict and judgment for the defendant shall be found and given, shall be held and enjoyed in the same estate as before the trial of the said information, and the original return and the record thereof shall thereupon be amended, or a new return made thereof, and recorded, as need may be, under an order of the judges of the court in which the issue was tried: Provided always, that when it shall appear that the person or persons for whose interest possession of such slave or slaves was held, was entitled to the same under a particular estate only, and the defence of the said information shall have been taken under the proviso aforesaid, by the person or persons next in reversion, or remainder, or expectancy, such person or persons shall forfeit his or their particular estate, right, title, or interest in the said slave or slaves, and the same shall immediately vest in the person or persons in reversion, or remainder, or expectancy, as if such reversion, remainder, or expectancy had vested in possession in them in due course of law.

[Clause 18] And be it further enacted, That if judgment for the crown be had in such information, by default or verdict, the slave or slaves who shall be the subject thereof shall be headed and disposed of as if they had been imported contrary to the abolition laws aforesaid and under the regulations of the said laws; and for that purpose, the judges of the supreme court or justices of assize, shall give notice to the governor or person executing the functions of governor, as soon as such verdict or judgment for the crown shall have passed, and shall make such order for the production and delivery over, if needful, of the slave or slaves the subject thereof, as to them shall seem expedient and necessity may require.

[Clause 19] And be it further enacted, That the secretary of this island shall be paid by the public for recording the authentic copies of the returns aforesaid, at and after the rate he is entitled to charge for recording the deeds, and by the person requiring the same, for every copy or extract at and after the rate he is now entitled to charge for copies and extracts of deeds out of his office; and every clerk of the vestry shall in like manner be paid by the public at and after the rate of one shilling and eight-pence for every one hundred sixty words, every figure to be counted a word, for making the authenticated copy or copies of returns hereby required; and for filing such original returns, and granting a receipt for the same, which he is hereby required to give to the party making the return, if demanded, the sum of one shilling and three-pence, and by the party requiring a copy or extract at the same rate as allowed to the secretary for such copies and extracts.

[Clause 20] And whereas it may happen that omissions or irregularities may occur in respect to such returns as by this act required, through accident, or unavoidable impediment, and for the remedying of which, under circumstances, it may be expedient to allow some further time after the said thirty-first day of October one thousand eight hundred and seventeen, in respect to the first returns to be made under this act, and after the thirty-first day of October in any year in which any triennial return is to be made; be it further enacted, That if any person or persons required to make a return of slave or slaves under this act, or any person or persons for whose account or interest a return of any slave or slaves ought to have been made, shall apply by petition, to the governor, lieutenant governor, or person executing the functions of governor, and make it appear to his satisfaction that the non-delivery of any such return, or any omission or irregularity therein, if any return shall have been rendered, has arisen from accident or some unavoidable impediment, or from some other cause which may appear to him as a satisfactory ground for complying with the request of the party to have such omission or irregularity rectified, and that the same has not arisen from any wilful delay or default, the said governor, lieutenant governor, or person executing the functions of governor, at any time on or before the thirty-first day of December in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighteen in respect to the first returns required to be made by this act, and at any time on or before the thirty-first day of December in any year next succeeding that in which the triennial returns are required to be made in respect to such triennial returns, may make an order in writing, subscribed by him and addressed to the clerk of the vestry of the parish to which such return shall properly belong, commanding him to receive such omitted return or amended return, as the case may be, and to keep the same together with the said order to him addressed, as a record in his office; and the said clerk of the vestry shall, within fourteen days after the receipt thereof, transmit a copy of such return, and also of the said order, to the office of the secretary of this island, attested in like manner as is required for the copy of the original returns of his parish; and the secretary of the island shall record the same, and transmit such copy by him received, within fourteen days after his receipt thereof, with the date of his receipt and inrolment thereof indorsed by him, to the office of the governor’s secretary, to be forwarded to His Majesty’s secretary of state for the colonial department, in like manner as the copy of the former returns of the same parish: Provided always, that all expenses of receiving, recording, and copying such omitted or amended return, and the order for receiving the same, shall be paid by the party applying for and obtaining such order to the respective officers entitled to the same, at the same rates herein-before established for such proceedings in the first instance.

[Clause 21] And be it further enacted, That in all cases where any omission or irregularity has been certified as aforesaid, according to the powers herein-before given in such respects, any party against whom any prosecution shall be pending for a forfeiture on account of such omission or irregularity, when judgment shall not have been actually executed, and any defendant to any information filed as aforesaid, whereupon judgment shall not already have passed for the crown, may apply to the supreme court of judicature, and such court shall and may make an order for the staying or discontinuing or vacating of such proceedings, upon payment by the party applying of the full costs out of purse, as well of the informant as of the crown, if any incurred.

[Clause 22] And be it further enacted, That if any person who shall knowingly and wilfully make any false oath or affirmation to any of the matters or things by this act required to be so verified, or shall so corruptly procure or suborn any person or persons to swear or affirm falsely in any such oath or affirmation, shall, on being duly convicted thereof, suffer such punishment as is inflicted by the laws of England for such offence.

[Clause 23] And be it further enacted, That the several penalties hereby imposed, the recovery whereof is not already provided for, shall be recoverable by action of debt, bill, plaint, or information commenced in the supreme court, and the issue tried in the county where the cause of action shall arise, wherein no essoign, wage of law, or non vult ulterius prosequi shall be allowed, one half of which penalties shall go to the informer, or him, her, or them who shall sue for the same, and the other moiety to the use of His Majesty, his heirs and successors, for and towards the support of the government of this island, and the contingent charges thereof.

[Clause 24] And be it further enacted, That all returns, receipts, papers, and proceedings whatsoever, made necessary by this act, shall be exempt from all stamp duty.

I A.B. do swear, [or, if a quaker, solemnly affirm] that the above List and Return, consisting of [blank] sheets, is a true, perfect, and complete List and Return to the best of my knowledge and belief in every particular therein mentioned, of all and every slave and slaves possessed by me as [blank] considered as most permanently settled, worked, or employed in the parish of [blank] on the twenty-eighth day of June one thousand eight hundred and seventeen, without fraud, deceit, or evasion.

So help me GOD.

                                Sworn before me, this [blank] day of [blank]

I A.B. do swear, [or, if a quaker, solemnly affirm] that the above List and Return, consisting of [blank] sheets, is a true, perfect, and complete List and Return, to the best of my knowledge and belief in every particular therein mentioned, of all and every slave and slaves possessed by me as [blank], considered as most permanently settled, worked, or employed in the parish of [blank] on the [blank] day of [blank] in the year of our Lord [blank] without fraud, deceit, or evasion.

So help me GOD.

Sworn before me this [blank] day of [blank]

Passed the Council this 4th day of December 1816.

W. Bullock,

Clerk Committee.

I consent, this 11th December 1816.

Manchester.

Passed the Assembly this 29th day of November 1816.

James Lewis,

Speaker.

Vera copia exten.

Wm. Bullock, Sec.