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Fires were 'kindled in buildings detached from dwelling-houses, &c, having chimneys of such a height, to render brooms only requisite in removing the soot, which is not used here agriculturally. The specimen given, will convey a correct idea of the ordinary Kitchen-chimney with its covered top, as a projection to the fire during the heavy falls of rain, with which the Tropics are visited. Wood is used as fuel throughout the Island, with the exception of those Estates, where canes are ground by steam engines, requiring coals, or in the making of Sugar, when cane-trash is substituted. The Cashaw, on account of the rapidity of its growth is most generally sought for, for this purpose.'
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'The inhabitants of Kingston are by law obliged to have their Chimneys frequently swept, a precaution highly requisite in a City where the houses are shingled, and are thus reminded by the Sweeper. “Sweep, Sweep, 0, Sweep, here I am, nobody notice Country Law, King-Warrant, Queen-Warrant.” Till the accession of our youthful Queen Victoria, having been accustomed to say King-Warrant, [he] finds a difficulty in departing from old usage, and retains that cry in addition to the latter.'
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The picture above shows chimneys on buildings near the Kingston waterfront in the 1840s, and the extract below shows what could happen when Kingston's chimneys were not regularly swept:
'It was the morning of the 30th March [1862] and at 2 a.m. the city was quiet except for the watch who, on patrol, would call out “two o’clock and all is well”; but on Harbour Street, Fisher’s Bakery was busy heating up the ovens to prepare the bread for Saturday morning and the brisk weekend trade. If the chimneys were foul and adjoining roofs were shingled, it is unlikely that anyone cared. True, a city ordinance required the regular inspection of chimneys and another bye-law prohibited the lighting of fires between dusk and dawn in the commercial area of the city; but Fisher had been baking bread there for twelve years - a bread which was esteemed throughout the Island and no one had questioned his right to do so. A heavy breeze was blowing from the north and sparks were issuing from the dirty chimneys. Look closer! those sparks have landed on a shingled roof to the south. The roof is dry and in ten minutes we have the makings of a conflagration which will go down in history as one of the major fires of Kingston.'
from 'The Fisher Fire of 1862', by Harry E Vendryes, Jamaican Historical Society Bulletin, Vol. 3, pages 26 to 28.
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In his notes on the chimneysweeper, Belisario comments that the practice of sending children up the chimneys to clean them was unknown in Jamaica. This horrifying method of cleaning chimneys in Britain caused many deaths until it was finally made illegal in the 1860s.
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Belisario's people
page hits    
Sunday, November 24th, 2024
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