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Manjack Mining in Barbados
MANJAK MINING IN BARBADOS
By, Sylvan Spooner
In
light of the current global dependence on fossil fuel, this article looks
briefly at one segment of this island’s history of fossil fuel exploration as
it examines, in brief, the history of manjak exploration on the island from
1894 to 1939. Profiled in 1657 by Richard Ligon as ‘hard and black as pitch’[1]
and by Sir Hans Slone in 1707 as ‘a sort of pit coal,[2]
this naturally occurring hydrocarbon has been referred to by numerous names,
including: Munjak, Mountjack, Barbados Tar or simply as Barbados manjak. Found
deep within slopes along the Scotland District which comprises an estimated 14%
of the island’s land mass, some manjak mines reached depths of between 30 to a
referenced maximum of 150 ft. Mining at such depths was often a treacherous
affair even though the records indicate that they were no major mining
incidents on the island.
 |
| Barbados Manjack |
Two
of the island’s early mine operators were Mr. R.H Emtage and Mr. Walter
Merivale and these two for decades retained ownership of the most productive
mines. After mining operations commenced in 1894/5, manjak’s use as a source of
fuel was not instantly apparent; indeed, the practice of inserting huge blocks
of manjak directly into plantation furnaces was largely unsuccessful since in
that form its fuel potential was not maximized.
It
took the intervention of a Boston businessman by the name of Mr. T.J Pinny to
convince Marivale that manjak, if processed correctly, could act as a viable
source of fuel. Pinny himself had become interested in manjak only after having
received samples in 1893 which were sent to him in New York by a Mr. C. J
Greenidge from Barbados.[3] It
is highly likely that this was the same C.J Greenidge who a year later in 1894
would build the Mutual building and soon after that the St. Michael Alms House.[4]
Manjak
became, for a time, a local export product and was first exported to the United
States of America in 1895.[5] So
important was Marivale’s dominance of the industry that it was shipped to North
America under the name Marivale Manjak. By the turn of the century, other
players had entered the manjak business; one of these was Barbados Manjak Mines
ltd which employed between 70-100 men and women in various capacities.[6]
Other than Emptage and Marivale, by 1908 Mr. T. W Whitchal also owned two mines
at Irish Town.[7]
Exports continued chiefly to the United States and between 1898 and 1908 over
9,000 tons were shipped to the US for use not as fuel, but as building and
roofing material. The decline of manjak from around 1915 was a slow lingering
process and by 1917 only one mine, under the ownership of Emptage at Springvale
was in operation on the island. This mine produced 76 tons of manjak that year
valued a mere £1,292.[8] The Barbados Blue Books indicate that manjak
exploration continued until the outbreak of WWII with production decreasing
annually to that point. However, by 1940, with the world at war, manjak
exploration came to an end.
[1] Richard Ligon. A true and Exact History of the island of
Barbadoes. p 101
[2] Hans Slone. A Voyage to the land of
Barbados, Barbados, Nieves and Jamaica. p33.
[3] R.H Emptage. The Barbados Handbook. p195.
[4] Warren Alleyne. Historic Bridgetown. p53.
[5] RH Emptage. “Manjak” Journal Of
the Barbados Museum and Historical Society, 1943. p59
[6] Sessional Papers, Vol. 64. House of Commons Report on Barbados 1902-1903,
p15.
[7] Barbados Blue Book, 1908.
J137b2. Manufactures, Mines Oil wells and Fisheries. Zip.2.
[8] Barbados Blue Book, 1917.
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