National Hero George William Gordon’s link to Shortwood Teachers’ College

Shortwood Teachers’ College was established on the 28th of September 1885 to train female teachers resulting from the development programmes of Governor Sir John Peter Grant. It was then called the Jamaica Female Training College. In June 1887, Shortwood Estate, a sugar plantation in St Andrew dating back to the mid-18th century, was being sold. A part of the property, with the buildings, was bought by the government to relocate the female teachers’ college. Following the college’s relocation to this site, it became known as the Shortwood Teachers’ College.

The college, now a co-educational institution, trains more than 600 students to teach at the early childhood, primary and secondary levels.

It is known that George William Gordon lived next door at Cherry Gardens Estate. It may not be known that he was linked to Shortwood Estate.

George William Gordon (1815-1865)

George William Gordon was born possibly in 1815, although some documents say 1820, on Cherry Gardens estate. He was the son of Scotsman, Joseph McIntosh Gordon (1790-1867), who had come to Jamaica, around 1812, as an attorney (manager) for a number of absentee plantation owners. Estates being managed by Joseph Gordon in St Andrew, included neighbouring properties, Cherry Gardens, Shortwood, Norbrook, and Barbican. George William’s mother was Ann Rattray, a coloured woman enslaved at Cherry Gardens. Joseph Gordon and Ann Rattray had about six children between 1813-1830.

Joseph Gordon was responsible for more than 20 estates across Jamaica and eventually became an owner himself. This must have been a gruelling task.

One document states that between 1826-1829, Joseph Gordon freed Ann Rattray and their children, including George William, aged about 10. Joseph Gordon did not seem to be the most attentive father to his coloured children.

George William went to live with his godfather, James Daley, in Black River, St Elizabeth. Daley was also a property attorney and owner, who died in 1846.

George William was privately and self-taught. He worked in his godfather’s business and would eventually establish his own business and acquire property. From this, he became quite wealthy and was able to educate his sisters.

In 1830, coloured and free black men were able to vote and stand for electoral positions once they met the land ownership requirement.

George William, in 1836, had successfully opened a store in Kingston selling produce. He later moved to St Thomas-in-the East where he established himself as a businessman and landowner. In 1843, it appears that he was also living at Chancery Hall, in St Andrew. In that year, he was elected to the Assembly representing St Thomas-in-the-East and remained that parish’s representative until 1850.

In the 1840s, George William Gordon also founded the Jamaica Mutual Life Insurance Company.

He, apparently, married Mary Jane ‘Lucy’ Shannon, possibly in 1845. His family life is not clear. It seems possible from documents that his mother died after 1830, when she gave birth to twin girls, but before 1865. The Rev Dr King, in a statement published in the Daily News [London, 1866?] stated that Gordon showed him the grave of his mother.

His father, Joseph Gordon, married Sarah Perkins, widow of the owner of Shortwood Estate, Benjamin Marriott Perkins, in about 1835. They had five children. They resided at Shortwood Estate. Joseph Gordon served as a member of the House of Assembly and as Custos of St. Andrew in the early 1840s. He also owned Cherry Gardens estate.

Joseph Gordon went bankrupt in 1845. He was bailed out by his successful coloured son, George William Gordon, who saved Cherry Gardens Estate and purchased adjoining lands, seemingly at Shortwood Estate. He restored the property to his father. Nevertheless, Joseph Gordon, his wife and their five children returned to Britain. They were living in Jersey in the Channel Islands in 1851. Indications are that Joseph Gordon died there in 1867.

George William Gordon’s family was living at Cherry Gardens after his father left Jamaica. He was reelected to the St Thomas Assembly in 1863 where he continued, with Paul Bogle, to support the cause of the peasantry.

He, with Paul Bogle, would be executed resulting from the Morant Bay Rebellion in October 1865.

So, it can be seen that George William Gordon, through his father, Joseph Gordon, was linked to Shortwood Estate. Buildings from the Shortwood Estate are still there and in use at Shortwood Teachers College. Of course, more research is required to confirm the direct link.

Marcia Thomas is a member of the Jamaica Historical Society and Built Heritage Jamaica, formerly the Georgian Society of Jamaica.