‘Once in a while antiquarian pursuits, like recording monuments in churches, hit present day reality: Black Lives Matter. In a prominent position in the north aisle of St Peter’s Church, Dorchester is a monument to the suppression of a slave revolt in Jamaica in April 1760. It took place during the Seven Years War and is often called Tacky’s War or Rebellion.’
In a fascinating article written especially for the SDNQ website, Max Hebditch, a member of SDNQ’s editorial board who has been working with the Church group at St Peter’s, tells the story behind the monument to John Gordon (1728-1774) which credits him with putting down a revolt of ‘negroes’ with ‘bravery’ and ‘humanity’.
The revolt that John Gordon helped put down is the subject of two new books: Vincent Brown’s Tacky’s Revolt: The Story of an Atlantic Slave War, and Alex Wheatle’s novel Cane Warriors.
With the offending parts of the legend now temporarily covered, the Parochial Church Council has started a process to move the monument from the church to a more appropriate setting in the Dorset County Museum, where it can be fully explained.
Read the full story here: Tacky’s Revolt – Jamaica 1760