A Brief History of Georgetown
In 1753 when Demerara became a colony, separate from Essequibo,
its administrative headquarters were set up on Borsselen Island, the middle
of three little islands some twenty miles up the Demerara River near Timehri.
A brandwaght or signal station had earlier been erected at the mouth of
the Demerara River in 1748 and plantations were established. The Dutch
also reserved land extending in an easterly direction from the brandwaght
for public purposes. In 1759, owing to the large number of plantations
it was agreed that Borsselen Island was unsuitable as the capital as the
area was overcrowded. The new site for the capital was not agreed upon
and whatever plans the Dutch had in thought were halted when the British
gained control of Demerara.
In 1781, the Dutch surrendered Demerara to the English and lieutenant
Colonel Robert Kingston, the British Lieutenant Governor, erected Fort
St. George near the mouth of the river on the Company Path where the National
Museum now stands. Kingston decided that the Brandwaght strip should provide
the seat of the government and that same year an office
was established there. On 31 January 1782, a squadron of French men
– of – war, allies of the Dutch, appeared in the river, demolished Fort
St. George and in a few days imposed terms of surrender on the English
occupiers.
The French Commander issued a proclamation on 22 February, 1782
stating that it was ‘ considered to
be necessary to establish a Capital, which would become
a business centre: where religion would have a
temple, justice a place, war its arsenals, commerce its
counting houses and industries its factories: where also the inhabitants
might enjoy the advantages of social intercourse.’
Slaves requisitioned from the planters dug two canals running eastwards
from the site of the brandwaght: one called North Canal corresponding to
the present Croal Street, and the other the South Canal, corresponding
to Hadfield Street. These formed two lines of lots looking on to a middle
dam almost three quarters of a mile. On 21 March 1782 the French Governor
gave notice that he would receive visitors twice a week: on Sunday and
on Thursday: from 9 a.m. till noon.
The colonies of Demerara and Essequibo were restored to the Dutch in
1784 and the Dutch West India Company, by a resolution dated 14 September
1784, named the town Stabroek after the President of the Company:
Nicholas Van Gleevink; Lord of Castricum, Buckum and Stabroek. The fort,
which the French had constructed at Plantation Eve Leary was, renamed Frederick
William after the Stadtholder. On 5 May 1812, when Demerara, Essequibo
and Berbice passed finally to the English, Stabroek was renamed Georgetown
in honour of King George IV.
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