Jamaica Arts and Craft Site

What My research unearthed for this planter family. 

In the North Chapel on a plain tablet on the North Wall. Thomas Storer. 21 July

1793 at his house Golden square in the parish of westmoreland Jamaica. 

The Storers of Purely Park 

Ann Catherine Storer wife of Anthonh Gilbert Storer. Born 1785 to 1854 daughter of Thomas Hill of Shropsshire. Claimant for estates in Westmoreland as received by her late husbands. 

Her mother died when she was eleven and her dad is thomas hill shrosphire. 

Married Anthony Gilbert Storer who owned many estates in westmoreland around 18/01/1806 and was born in 1746. 

Son of Thomas Storer. Esq of devonshirest & purely,Berks 

Who was bred at Eaton and Cambridge. Secretary of legation at Paris. Lived much with lord North

 Upon his father death he gave books to Eton college, where he was schooled 1760-1764. He then went to Corpus Christi college Cambridge. He sat as mp for Carlisle in 1774-1780. 

 

Ann Storer had eight children, two of whom died. When her husband died he left the estate in debt and Charles Armstrong and Evelyn Bazalgette appropriated it through legal wranglings. 

She was last living at age 65 with her son in law Hartford westmoreland. She died 07/04/1854. 

Tombstone.

On the west wall of the Nave to the north of the tower arch is a monument finely sculptured in low relief. To the left are represent the widow, one son and four daughters facing an urn. Of which is carved the head of the deceased  and on the pedestial of which is an inscription. To the right of Angels. 

Sacred to the Memory of Gilbert Storer Esq. of purely park,in the county of Berks and of Belle Isle and Frome in Westmoreland , island of Jamaica. 

He was member of the Assembly of Westmoreland. 

Died at New Providence 13th June 1818. Lied buried in a mausoleum erected on the estate of Belle Isle. By his widow Ann Storer. 

According to the Jamaicanfamilysearch.com 

Almanac 1818 

Anthony Gilbert Storer, Belle Isle owned 238/190 acres of land. 

Frome 230/164, fontabelle 297/340, Haddo 301/312 

Purely 21/5 

Ormiston 62/75

I want to show others what Jamaica has to offer... 

Here are snap shots of Mausoleum dedicated to the remains of a planter Family in Grange Hill Westmoreland 

This is the tombstone. I can only make out names such as Anthony, Elizabeth, Ann and Gilbert. The Mausoleum is in need of structural repair and the heritage arm of Jamaica should take it into consideration. I surmise it's probably because it is on private property. 

I hope to do some more research and find out why this family abandoned this land and because the owners were not there, I could not find out how their family came in possession of the land and if they are descendants of those buried entomb in the mausoleum. 

There are lot of unsung Heritage sites in Jamaica that don't get a lot of attention or visits from tourist. 

Gussy's Homecoming: Buried like a King

Today is Gussy's Funeral, he had a phenomenal cleaning day, an inimitable grave digging and historic Wake and I am almost sure he will have a thanksgiving service unlike no other. 

I believe that if Jesus was killed by his own people then any of us, as good as we might be, as Puritan as our moral stance or as transparent a character as we are, our individuality is forever at the mercy of the tribal values.

There are many Ghetto Jesus that we crucify along with thieves because people within our own communities set them up. We have Pharisees and scribes who sit on their self righteous throne and pretend to want good for our collective well being. When In truth they are only seeking their own individual opportunism and salvation... It's a facade, it's not really about us. It is about them. 

The self righteous must be poked with the truth to shatter their fake veneer and allow their real personalities to explode like a dynamite. 

We are the architects of our society which means it is not set in stone. We can break it and rebuild it anyway. Why do we pretend that our notion of a society is not intangible and pliable to our aspirations?

There was a time when slavery was considered acceptable by very Christian, highly religious societies. What does that say about how we as a people see injustices. Well it is ok to be cruel to people if they are from certain economical circumstances or if "upper echeleon" of society deems it so. We tolerate injustices as long as it does not affect us or it benefits us in some way. 

I gave a tribute at Gussy Funeral about how I thought someone like him who has done more good than bad for his community was killed by the protectors of our community was a chilling paradox. Gussy who several pastors attest to assisting with community charities. Grandpus a man who we all knew from childhood was dying in an infirmary and Pastor Evans had approached Gussy with his wish to be buried not by the infirmary but the generosity of his community. Gussy told pastor Evans no problem, just get everything together and I will pay for the package. That was Gussy... 

A boy crashed in a bike collision and his mom could not afford his surgery and she approached Gussy. It cost 100,000 dollars and in a few hours Gussy rounded up contributions from every one and the mother was on her way to saving her son. 

A young man of poor circumstances died, a destitute old man and Gussy along with his friends assist with the burial. Gussy gave to the poor and assist the needy. He has done more for this community than any elected politician, he was only twenty four years old. 

If you wanted to do a business, Gussy was approachable. Everybody could come to him and ask for assistance. Gussy made dreams come true. Gussy send pickney go a school. Why do you suppose the officers allowed us to properly mourn his death instead of treating him like the common criminal some people assumed he must be to be gunned down by the police. 

Man has an idea for a play involving key actors in the Jamaican play community. He approaches Gussy as an investor. Gussy started advertising his play the Wednesday and he was killed the next morning. That's my last memory of his coming from his afternoon football session with his friends driving his brothers jeep advertising an event no one has ever considered doing here. 

Restocking Hardwares, building a pool bar, a craft market in Negril for his older brother. Investing in parties, committing to charities. Is he a criminal or a martyr? 

Well yes he might have been a criminal in the eyes of some people. If so be the case then we have police and politicians that are criminals too but we don't hear anybody demanding that they be gunned down and flung into van back like a dog.

 Oh Right, I forgot, Gussy mother sell pon roadside and him daddy push hand cart fe mind them and when him couldn't manage the economical strain of taking care of the children , he abandoned Miss Madge. Gussy Father admits at the grave digging that if Gussy walked past him, he would not even recognized his own son. He cried when he admitted that Gussy called him several times, saying "daddy cone check me no". He cried that Gussy called and told him about what he was doing and everything he bought. Gussy was a forgiving young man and reached out to his father. 

None a you have any right to judge these youths cause unoo don't know weh them a come from. I carried water from stand pipe up until I was seventeen years old, I had to get up every morning go clean out my fathers business place and the house before u go school. Sometimes me late. I have back problems now from carrying those heavy jugs and I can't sleep till morning light because my body is trained to wake before dawn and do domestic chores. I thought my life was hard then but I now realise that some people have it worst than me. My father never abandoned us. He might not have been the greatest father but I was never hungry and I went to school everyday. Do you think it is fair to Miss Madge for someone to take away her child that she has made sacrifices for and invest in before he came to actual fruition? 

Stop reasoning with your prejudices and classism because that is what this is a about. A girl wrote that we should never assume that my cousin went to heaven because him was never living a life to warrant entrance in the kingdom of God. I kept thinking " what the fuck does she know about Gussy? He has done more good than her and as far as I am concern in a greater position for heaven than she, the pastor himself said that gussy better than nuff so all Christians because he had a good heart . 

I know because Gussy black like a tar and he looks Ghetto cuz poverty no wash offa him yet. Hard life still a show pon him. He does not look refined and he's not related to anyone important. He's a king where he is from and that is most important. Gussy will always be remembered, he's done more for this community than people born inna money yah. I know one particular one, you couldn't even get a thousand dollar fe borrow from him cuz him always bruck and him a drive convertible. And Gussy gave away thousands of dollars. But mr convertible might contend that Gussy was kind and him end up dead cause its his generosity that lures the good and the evil towards him. That maybe do but it never deterred him from giving back to the poor. I have to learn to live with his death. It's gonna take the woman in me to get over his death. 

When i see people from near and far bawling and wailing at sight of the escalade drawn chariot with his lifeless body in a glass casket. I know from every indication that he was loved by everyone. 

Death had an epiphany on me. It has a way of putting life into perspective. When Checky was murdered, I no longer I obsessed about the fifty something pound I gained after my daughter because Checky lived in a gym everyday, everyone knew how he worshiped his body and to see all that hard work go to waste. I would have taken Checky back even if he was fat like that Gabriel girl that played "precious" because I liked interacting with him. Gussy death exposes how much I should never take anyone for granted, cherish every moment I spend with the people I love because you do not know when someone is gonna your life. 

I do not know how anyone can think it is ok or justifiable for Miss Madge to bury her son after all that she has invested in him. After struggling to sell on the road side and pushing hand cart to buy the chicken back and the bag a rice to feed her four sons and three daughters, someone or any one deserves to deny her the right to get grandchildren from Gussy... Smh... Donkey say the world no level. 

Police Officers and Our Young Men in Jamaica : Did the Police Officer Abuse his power here?

I was reading the comments of people responding to this video on you tube with a well known police officer and a school boy where the boy apparently refused to go on the bus and the police officer by all means use brute force to request a search of his bag and ushered him quite abrasively on to the bus. I too have seen children who are so intransigent that only crude tactics and verbal abuse can veer them into respect and response.

I understand that the police officers intentions were quite meaningful. I will not undermine the need for our children to be scold more often so that they can lead better lives as an adult. But we as a country already know that beating them, roughing them up, cussing them and doing all manner of evil has not done very much for this society.


I believe that if we should kill ten of these boys remember tomorrow twenty more will rise up if we do not find ways to campaign against the way we embrace certain convictions as a people. Police have been abrasive with young men and have been abusing their "powers" for years and yet we have not seen a change in the way our young men act. apparently we need to try something new. SEE you people up here are too busy rancouring over the wrong perspective and failing as always to see the bigger picture. we need a social intervention and we need it fast. i understand police officers are stressed, frustrated at the demands that are placed at their foot because parents and people like you up here have failed our children and then unoo expect police officers and teachers to guide them. UNoo just make sure that no police officer no do this to nobody fe unoo. LIke so many Jamaicans we all think that what happen to other people cannot happen to us...show mercy, if you do not, mercy shall be eternally far from you...gain a higher consciousness...


It is not our job to render violence for violence because violence only begets more violence. Do you know why crime will never be eliminated because when a police or a gun man murders someone family member, there are people in that family who will harbour resentments or hatred towards the offender and also will feel inclined sometime in the future to take a vendetta. The officer may have responded the only way he knows how to.


We know that parents have failed our children but this did not stem only from the previous generation. It is something that has been evolving over years of socialisation and came to fruition now. Parents are teaching their children, the only thing that they know because in truth, parents lack foresight. They do not know or see how what they teach their children will affect this society in the years to come.

We have a culture of people who for the most part have socialized our children to loathe the police officers because of years of abuse of power and extra judicial killings. On the other hand we understand that the police officer may have overused his authority in this situation and this has past professional into what may be considered unconstitutional. He had well meaning intentions and I get the message that he was trying to bring across but he apparently did not use an approved tactic.

I have heard people scream many times when they have conflicts with others about "a that's why gunshot cant stop buss inna this". I too have been caught guilty of this sometimes because people have a way of rubbing you and then adding salt to your grievous injury. We do not understand that children do not become what we want, they become who we are. The boy was saving face before his friends and the police was also exercising his authority before the other adults who were witnessing. No one was taking any losses.

We are quick to disrespect the police officers but how many of us have indirectly taught our children to hate the police man but respect the gun man. Our children have embraced the notion that only bad men are revered obviously by the way we are quick to publicly decry a police man yet none of us would dare video a murder and post it online.
None of us would show any temerity to openly decry the murder or abuse of our children by vicious citizens in our society but yet we are not afraid to show our face in decrying the acts of a lone policeman. We definitely need a social reformation. I bet if the police man had roughed up a notorious member of our communities, no one would dare openly denounce the actions of the policeman. When I renounce violence I try not to spare anyone. What is good for the goose is also good for the gander...

I know our police officers are under pressure. The monstrosity of crime continues to rear its head and they seem to not be able to curb it or kill it. They know that people are putting the blame on them for not being able to stop crime.But crime and violence is not a police officers thing or a politician thing. It is a family and community thing. I look at these babies and wonder what they will become as adults which one of them might be paid by some crook to take my life. I know that these teenage mothers do not know any better than they did at twelve and therefore cannot possibly teach their children any better. We need a social campaign! We need a reformation now. We need to censor certain entertainment in our society and we need to do it fast before this gets out of hand.

Should you take back a ex who disrespected you badly during separation

I have dissed men in the past who when I see them a couple years later u wished I was more accommodating because of the status they hold now and not because I find them attractive or their personalities intriguing.

Others that I treated  with indifference; have matured so much both in their personalities and socially that they force me to acknowledge that in life you should never entirely write people off because the same people you turn your nose at going up might pass you going down.

People realize their mistakes and people grow and change but relationships are investments and you have to weigh the pros and cons of dating someone who in your perspective is below your class. You simply have to look at personality traits and hope that he/she grows into someone you can build a life with.

I also know that when someone shows you who they really are and how much they invalidate you then you must believe them. If a person treated you like they do not value you as a person, the core intrinsics of your personality then believe them because they genuinely don't.

How someone treats a person whom they claim cannot do anything for them says a lot about that persons core beliefs and character. Humans will flock the mango tree because it is already grown and producing fruit and they will take a machete to the small tree since its young and may never produce.

Love is a treacherous emotion. Your heart will tug away at someone who you know from experience will hurt you again. There is a clear indication that humans believe that they should be with someone despite how they feel that person feel about them.

That is the reason why we have so many people murdering their partners because people keep getting together for the wrong reasons. Why would anyone want to be with someone who does not value your life? Who dates you for dependency or money?

You will always be angry at the ex who hurt you because getting back together does not give you closure. If anything you are giving someone another opportunity to hurt you. That person can safely conclude that you love them than you do yourself because anyone with any shred of self respect would not wanna go back to someone who treated them the way that ex did.

Emotions are never about rationality , you cannot help how you feel and many times getting back together gives you an opportunity ton see if this relationship could really work. Its a risk you sometimes have to take to experience whether or not, it was worth the heartache in the first place.

Apology is never enough. A man will say whatever he needs to says to get tail.  In order to take back someone they must first demonstrate that

Conflict Resolution to fight Crime in Jamaica

I was watching the news last night where a family member was murdered because she controlled a family house and there was an ongoing dispute over it. I think one of the biggest catalyst for crime and violence is domestic disputes and until we can find effective ways to resolve our issues than resorting to murder then we will never have a peaceful jamaica. As a youth politician I believe that we need a rigorous conflict resolution programme that engages our community and we need mediators who can help to settle disputes before they escalate into body bags and funerals.




We have to build community programmes and outreach centres where mediators are placed within communities that have several flare up of intermittent violence to assist in helping citizens alleviate some of the disparities and frictions that often arises during their day to day associations.

People in Jamaica are not taught to apologise. This is a central issue within our society where people refuse to admit and acquiesce whenever they are wrong . We need an overhaul of our morality continuum. I heard that the minister of education, The Honourable Ronny Thwaites purported that a tolerance subject be added to the school curriculum.

I believe that our school needs an ethics class where children are encourage from youth to be tolerant of people, to understand that someone's opinion will differ from yours as people have divergent views and different experiences. People who do not conform to your beliefs should not be ostracised, murdered or maimed because you are offended. Children are encourage to always seek mediation instead of "chucking" violence whenever you and someone have a misunderstanding. We must emphasize the value of human life and relay the notion that murdering someone does not solved any problem in hindsight, it creates more violence such as reprisals etc.

We must also encourage our children in this curriculum to learn that walking away does not mean you are coward and even so cowards will always live to see another day. We should teach them also that sometimes the only way out is to stand up for what you believe in. Do not let anyone cower you into fear and submission by duress. We only submit to people that we respect and value their existence because it complements our humanity.


We need to rebuild our trust in the police force. Crime and Violence escalates because people with knowledge of criminal activities and perpetrators are afraid to give information to the police because most crime lords are alleged friends and allies of Police Officers. Until we get a collaborative effort between citizens and police officers we will not be able to eradicate the stench of criminality within our communities.


Politicians often think that crimes are committed on the basis of needs and wants. This maybe true but there is a growing dynamism within communities in Jamaica where the prevalence of guns and the accessibility
to guns for many young men has made assassins wealthy and parlours a very thriving business. There are bigger issues because in areas where Member of Parliaments and Councillors are absent than young men murdering and stealing. Where they are not role models, governance, young men easily become soldiers for the wrong set of people.


Our children especially our young men should be persuaded not to carry out people's dirty work. When I was a child we went to church every Sunday. We need to get back to our roots, Most of our values and morals are stemmed from our Christian principles we were taught as children. Our children need to go to bible school so that they can be morally shaped.