Things Bajan: Bussa
Sat, November 17, 2012 - 9:30 AM
For the month of November, we will focus on things Barbados as this country celebrates its independence. Every day we will be highlighting Barbadian sayings, artefacts unique to the country, as well as personalities, icons, some places and things that reflect Barbados.
Today the spotlight is on Bussa.
Bussa, also referred to as Busso, or Bussoe, was the ranger or head driver on Bayley’s Plantation in St Philip. We know very little about him; he was born in Africa, and must have come to Barbados before the abolition of the slave trade(1807). This suggests that he was a man of mature age by 1816, as it would normally have taken several years for an African born slave to acquire not only a sufficient command of English, but also enough of the owner or manager’s confidence to be entrusted with a position like that of ranger.
Bussa was one of the leaders of the Rebellion Of 1816 and the ‘alleged primary leader’. There is no mention of him after the rebellion, and he was almost certainly killed in the fighting, possibly in the battle which took place at Bayley’s on the morning of Tuesday, April 16, 1816.
• Source: A-Z Of Barbadian Heritage
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