Dr Rita Pemberton

ONE OF the overflows of the period of enslavement which had a significant impact on the social fabric of Tobago is the appearance of a coloured (mixed-race) population.

This population was primarily the result of the abusive relations between white slave owners and managers and enslaved women. Some of the offspring from this miscegenation remained among the enslaved, where they sometimes enjoyed some preference for less laborious responsibilities because of their colour. In addition, they enjoyed preferred status from black men who sought mates, and some benefited from exposure to education or the ability to obtain jobs outside plantation labour.

This group served as a buffer between the whites and the blacks and during the era of enslavement the whites saw them as additional support for the white ruling class when defence was required against enslaved resistance.

The coloureds generally aspired to become accepted in white society and hoped their support for this ruling group in times of disaster would endear them, but it did not.

However, the coloureds remained very class-conscious and sought to protect their social position by marrying whites or other coloureds, but preferably not black.

Hence colour became established as an important social marker on the island during the era of freedom. But the number of eligible white males on the island was small and the number interested in marrying coloured women was even smaller; hence coloureds preferred to marry within their group. The result was a high level of intermarriage between members of the coloured families, who all became interrelated.

In addition, they occupied areas in and around Scarborough, such as Rockley Vale, Calder Hall, Friendsfield Road and Government House Road, which served to underscore their distinction from the lowest group in the society.

While colour did offer some preferences, towards the end of the 19th century, social mobility in Tobago was largely based on employment, on which people depended to elevate themselves from labourer, which was the lowest rung of the social ladder. Employment such as landholding, shopkeeping, skilled trades, teaching, clerical jobs and the protective services provided the means for members of the coloured group to rise out of the labouring class.

They were able to elevate themselves further by employment as clerks to merchants and in the lower levels of the civil service, artisans, mariners, teachers, estate managers or supervisors, shopkeepers of larger establishments and landowners of substantial parcels of land; some became lessees of estates. Coloured women found employment as seamstresses for the upper class, made and sold confectionery, and owned shops and stores and properties which were rented around Scarborough.

The opportunities for upward mobility were not exclusive to the coloured population, because black labourers were anxious to elevate themselves from the abyss of estate labour. The reduction of the salaries paid to estate overseers resulted in a reduction