General elections were held in Jamaica on 11 and 12 September 1884. Four of the nine seats were uncontested; Clarendon, Manchester, St Mary &amp; St Ann and Westmoreland &amp; Hanover. Of the winning candidates, all but one (who was mixed-race) were white. Supporters of the sugar industry won in seven constituencies, only failing to win St Catherine and Kingston &amp; St Andrews, where sugar was not the primary economic interest. Winning candidates were not exclusively driven by support for the industry however, and often had significant political histories. Palache, a mixed-race Jewish solicitor who won in Manchester, was the only winning candidate from a non-agricultural or plantation background.
In the St Thomas &amp; Portland constituency George Henderson, a former member of the old House of Assembly, faced a strong contest from Richard Hill Jackson. Jackson was the only black candidate in the election, although race was not considered to have played a prominent role in either St Thomas &amp; Portland or the wider election.
Kingston &amp; St Andrews saw the fiercest contest, and was compared by a local newspaper to electioneering in the United States. George Solomon, a prominent leader of the movement for constitutional change who had the support of most of Kingston's newspapers, was defeated by William Malabre, a prominent merchant. Supporters of Malabre had attacked Solomon's Jewish background, although the main cause of his defeat was the decision by Samuel Burke, a Crown Solicitor particularly popular in St Andrews, to support Malabre after Solomon had declined to support Burke's own nomination due to Burke's status as a government official.
Background.
In 1866 the Jamaican House of Assembly had been abolished during disturbances on the island following the Morant Bay rebellion. Since then, the legislative functions of the Assembly had been used by a Council appointed by the Governor. In April 1884 a conference was at the Westminster Palace Hotel, which resulted in the re-establishment of an elected Assembly. The new Assembly would consist of nine elected members and six appointed members.
Under the new constitution, there were 9,176 voters out of a population of 600,000. This compared to 1,798 voters from a population of 450,000 in the last election in 1863.
By-elections.
Wellesley Bourke was elected in 1885 replacing Edward Gooden Barrett, who had resigned.
William Bancroft Espeut was elected in 1886 replacing George Henderson, who had resigned.
Thomas Lloyd Harvey was elected in October 1886 after Emanuel George Levy died.
John Powell Clark was elected 1888 replacing John Thomson Palache, who had resigned.
References.
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