ARTICLE FROM THE ANGLICAN SEPT/OCT 2026
Music & Race in the Era of Slavery– A Discussion
The Rev. George Bridges is best remembered for his role as a staunch pro-slavery Anglican Priest in early 19th-century Jamaica (1817 – 1837). He achieved notoriety for his harsh treatment of Kitty Hylton, one of the enslaved persons in his household, whom he ordered to be flogged over a trivial incident. Even today, his legacy remains an indelible stain on our Church. As a historian, he wrote the two-volume The Annals of Jamaica, one of the most significant works on Jamaican history – albeit from a pro-slavery perspective.
Not so well known is the fact that in 1827, while rector of the parish of St. Ann, he published a choral mass which he introduced to his services in an attempt to boost church attendance from the African-Jamaican population. Choral music was a novelty at the time, and when the then Bishop, Dr. Christopher Lipscomb, heard about this innovation, he was enraged. In the words of musicologist Dr. Maria Ryan, “ he deemed the music to be unsuitable for the ears of Africans and African descendants, enslaved and free, and he banned it”. This, of course, infuriated the Rev. Bridges.
The reasons for Bishop Lipscomb’s action and the whole issue of what kind of music was appropriate for the enslaved population will be for discussion at the Symposium, entitled Bridges Over Troubled Waters to be held at the St. Ann’s Parish Church, St. Ann’s Bay, on November 11, 2026. It is part of the Transatlantic Reasoning Conference on the Possibility of Forgiveness. Dr. Ryan, who has done extensive research on Bridges’ music, will be a presenter along with Dr. Wayne Weaver, who has researched music in 17th-century Jamaica and particularly the works by Samuel Felsted.
The location chosen for the Symposium is also significant, given that Bridges was a former rector of St. Ann, although, in his time, the church was in a different site. The Symposium – which is free and open to the public – promises to throw light on a little-known part of our church musical history.
Contributed by John A. Aarons
PART OF THE TRANSATLANTIC REASONING CONFERENCE
ABOUT THE CONFERENCE
The Transatlantic Reasonings Conference is an interdisciplinary gathering that will take place in Montego Bay, Jamaica, from November 12–15, 2026. This conference will bring together scholars, creatives, and practitioners from a wide range of fields, including history, literary studies, law, musicology, performance, theatre studies, and theology.
The conference will explore the theme, “The Possibility of Forgiveness? Encountering the Legacies of Colonialism in the 21st Century,” with the aim of generating wide-ranging and far-reaching conversations on the role of forgiveness in relation to slavery, colonialism, reparations, justice, and repair.
READ MORE HERE
https://www.transatlanticcollective.com
