British Guiana was a British colony, part of theBritish West Indies, which resided on the northern coast of South America, nowknown as the independent nation of Guyana since 1966.

The first European to encounter Guiana was Sir WalterRaleigh, an English explorer. The Dutch were the first Europeans to settlethere, starting in the early 17th century, when they founded the colonies ofEssequibo and Berbice, adding Demerara in the mid-18th century. In 1796, GreatBritain took over these three colonies during hostilities with the French, whohad occupied the Netherlands. Britain returned control to the Batavian Republicin 1802 but captured the colonies a year later during the Napoleonic Wars. Thecolonies were officially ceded to the United Kingdom in 1814 and consolidatedinto a single colony in 1831. The colony's capital was at Georgetown (known asStabroek prior to 1812). The economy has become more diversified since the late19th century but has relied on resource exploitation. Guyana became independentof the United Kingdom on 26 May 1966.

Economy and Politics

The slave economy flourished between the abolition ofthe slave trade in 1807 and emancipation in the 1830s. The wealth largelyflowed to a group of absentee slave owners living in Britain, especially inGlasgow and Liverpool.

The economy of British Guiana was completely based onsugarcane production until the 1880s, when falling cane sugar prices stimulateda shift toward rice farming, mining and forestry. However, sugarcane remained asignificant part of the economy (in 1959 sugar still accounted for nearly 50%of exports). Under the Dutch, settlement and economic activity was concentratedaround sugarcane plantations lying inland from the coast. Under the British,cane planting expanded to richer coastal lands, with greater coastlineprotection. Until the abolition of slavery in the British Empire, sugarplanters depended almost exclusively on slave labour to produce sugar.Georgetown was the site of a significant slave rebellion in 1823.

In the 1880s gold and diamond deposits were discoveredin British Guiana, but they did not produce significant revenue. Bauxitedeposits proved more promising and would remain an important part of theeconomy. The colony did not develop any significant manufacturing industry,other than sugar factories, rice mills, sawmills, and certain small-scaleindustries (including a brewery, a soap factory, a biscuit factory and anoxygen-acetylene plant, among others).

The London-based Booker Group of companies (BookerBrothers, McConnell & Co., Ltd) dominated the economy of British Guiana.The Bookers had owned sugar plantations in the colony since the early 19thcentury; by the end of the century they owned a majority of them; and by 1950owned all but three. With the increasing success and wealth of the BookerGroup, they expanded internationally and diversified by investing in rum,pharmaceuticals, publishing, advertising, retail stores, timber, and petroleum,among other industries. The Booker Group became the largest employer in thecolony, leading some to refer to it as "Booker's Guiana".

Indentured workers from India 1850 to 1920 werelargely locked in place. Nevertheless a minority achieved mobility. Somesecretly fled; others waited until their contracts expired. Indian migrationinvolved three phases: desertion from the plantations; movement settlements andlater to urban areas; and intra-regional migration from one Caribbean island toanother. The traditional rigid Indian caste system largely collapsed in thecolonies. 

Guianese served in all British forces during World WarII in 1939-1945, and enjoyed veterans' benefits afterward. The colony made asmall but important financial contribution to the war effort, and it served asa refuge for displaced Jews.