HIBBERT, Robert.

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Facts Verified upon Oath in Contradiction of the Report of the Rev. Thomas Cooper: Concerning the General Condition of the Slaves in Jamaica First edition of Hibbert's rebuttal to Thomas Cooper's account of conditions on the Georgia estate in Hanover, Jamaica. Cooper, a Unitarian minister, was sent to Hibbert's estates in October 1817 and remained in Jamaica until 1821. The consequent publication of his report led to an acrimonious pamphlet controversy.Robert Hibbert (1769-1849), the son of the Jamaica merchant John Hibbert, studied at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he formed a lifelong friendship with the social reformer William Frend (1757-1841). He went to Kingston in 1791 as a partner in the family mercantile house and acquired considerable property in Jamaica, including estates worked by enslaved people. On Frend's recommendation, Hibbert hired Cooper (c.1792-1880), tasking him with their "religious and moral instruction" (p. iv). Cooper, taking issue with the poor conditions he witnessed during his time with Hibbert, published a pamphlet in 1824 specifically criticizing his practices. This rebuttal was published later the same year, pulling direct quotations from Cooper's writings and displaying them side-by-side with affidavits and sworn testimony produced in defence of the estate's management.

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