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From Slave Port to ...

In the beginning, the parish of Hanover was part of Westmoreland. Eventually, the land was divided to create two distinct parishes. Lucea, the capital of Hanover, ultimately came into its own.

Fishermen prepare for a long day at the Lucea port, which was once a thriving slave trade area.

The trade of slaves took place in seaports. Slavery was a thriving industry in Lucea with its harbour, an almost perfect horseshoe, providing a passageway for the sale of slaves for many years.

Buyers would come from all over the world, including England and the United States, to purchase what they considered the crème de la crème of slaves.

According to history, the average price for a male slave in Lucea in the 1700s was £56, the equivalent of approximately J$8,140 today.

Slave owner William Henry Ricketts, who spent several years in Lucea, kept journals of his slave purchases and accounts which are now published in various books about the history of Lucea. Ricketts had this to say in a letter to his wife on May 11, 1770:

I was last week at Lucia (Lucea) and bought eight very fine new negroes and a girl from Miles' brother.

Successful trading quarter

Although Lucea was significantly smaller than its slave port counterparts in Kingston and Montego Bay, the area was a successful trading quarter where people from all over the world travelled by ship to purchase slaves.

Proof of the flourishing industry is made evident by the underground passageways that still remain, enduring African influences, and in written accounts from various slave owners who occupied the area during the slave trade years.

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