The Untold Hyde Legacy, Part 2: The Year of Two Petitions

1827: A Father and Son Enter the Halls of British Power

Belize Almanack, 1829, RCS Case.d.391

In 1827, Belize, then known as British Honduras, was governed under Burnaby’s Code, a colonial framework that concentrated political and judicial power in the hands of a small white merchant elite, led by the Superintendent, the top in-country authority.

Free people of colour, regardless of wealth, education, or loyalty, were barred from senior political office, commissioned military rank, and certain judicial roles.

Imagined Father & Son Duo

That year, two men from the same family petitioned the British Government from opposite ends of the Atlantic, one to defend the colony’s economic base, the other to demand equal civic rights.

What Was the Colonial Office?

The Colonial Office was the department of the British Government responsible for administering Britain’s overseas territories. It:

• Appointed governors and senior officials.

• Approved or rejected colonial laws and petitions.

• Oversaw trade policy, customs, and military affairs.

• Settled land disputes and determined constitutional changes.

For Belize in the 1820s:

• The Superintendent in Belize answered directly to the Colonial Office.

• The Agent of British Honduras, James Hyde, communicated with that same office, presenting petitions, negotiating trade issues, and defending the colony’s property claims.

This direct connection meant that if James Hyde persuaded the Colonial Office to act, the resulting instructions would be sent back to Belize as official orders for the Superintendent to carry out.

James Hyde: The Agent of British Honduras

In law and commerce, an agent is a person empowered to act on behalf of another, to negotiate, sign agreements, and safeguard interests.

In the colonial system, the Agent of British Honduras was the settlement’s official representative in London, tasked to:

• Present petitions and memorials to the Colonial Office.

• Negotiate customs duties and shipping regulations for mahogany and logwood.

• Defend property rights in imperial disputes.

• Advocate for policy changes requested by Belize’s Public Meeting.

In modern terms, James Hyde’s role was a blend of High Commissioner, trade ambassador, and political lobbyist, with the unique advantage of direct access to the British ministers who issued the Superintendent’s “marching orders.”

The “Marching Orders” Effect

The Superintendent in Belize was like the colony’s Prime Minister, the top decision-maker on the ground.

James Hyde was the man in London with a seat at the table where those decisions were shaped.

When Hyde made a recommendation to the Colonial Office, and they agreed, the Superintendent in Belize would receive those instructions as official policy.

While James Hyde did not technically command the Superintendent, in practical terms he could influence the orders that guided the highest official in the colony.

The Lamanai Memorial

One of James Hyde’s notable actions in 1827 was submitting a memorial on the estate of Lamanai, a large, strategically significant property with agricultural, timber, and cultural value.

Controlling Lamanai meant controlling an economic stronghold. Lamanai was the longest continuously occupied Maya city in Mesoamerican history, inhabited for more than 3,000 years. Its occupation spanned the Preclassic period (circa 1500 BCE – 250 CE), when it was a rising ceremonial and trade center, the Classic period (250 – 900 CE), when it flourished as a major political and religious hub, and the Postclassic period (900 – 1500 CE), when it adapted to shifting regional powers. Remarkably, Lamanai endured well into the Spanish colonial era (1500s – 1700s), maintaining a Maya presence even after forced conversions and mission settlements, and into the British colonial period (1700s – late 1800s), when it became tied into the mahogany and logwood trade.

By James Hyde’s time, its location along the New River provided strategic access to coastal ports, fertile agricultural lands, and valuable hardwood resources, making it central to the colony’s economy. Defending or asserting rights over it was both a commercial necessity and a geopolitical advantage, as well as a bold statement of the Hyde family’s weight in colonial society.

George Hyde: Privilege Denied

At the same time, James Hyde’s son George Hyde, a prosperous free-coloured merchant, was fighting another battle.

Despite his father’s influence with the Colonial Office, George was legally barred from:

• Serving as a magistrate or member of the Public Meeting.

• Holding commissioned rank in the militia.

• Becoming Commissioner of Police or other senior civil positions.

• Sitting on juries in cases involving white defendants.

To put it in modern terms, even if your father could shape the Prime Minister’s policy agenda, you could still be blocked from becoming a police chief, judge, or elected official simply because of your race.

George’s 1827 petition to the Earl of Bathurst challenged these restrictions head-on, arguing that loyalty, education, and service, not race, should determine who could lead.

Two Petitions, One Legacy

In the same year, father and son attacked the system from different angles:

• James Hyde safeguarded land, trade, and policy influence from London.

• George Hyde sought to dismantle racial barriers in governance.

This was a dual legacy of economic stewardship and social reform.

From 1827 to Modern Belize

These efforts were part of a wider Caribbean movement, including the 1831 petition from free persons of colour in British Honduras (Cambridge University Special Collections), that gradually dismantled racial restrictions.

Y3078A_1 Belize Court House, 1911

By the late 19th century, leaders of African and mixed descent could hold offices that George Hyde had been denied, paving the way for modern political and civil leaders, from George Cadle Price to today’s diverse public servants.

Why It Matters Today

The Hyde story is not just family history, it is the history of Belize’s journey to inclusivity.

• James Hyde defended economic assets like Lamanai that strengthened the colony’s foundation.

• George Hyde fought to open leadership to all qualified Belizeans.

If Belize today enjoys both a strong currency and leadership that reflects its diversity, part of that credit belongs to the groundwork laid in 1827, in the halls of the British Colonial Office and in the petitions that left their mark on history.

Citations

• CO 123/18/3 – Memorial of James Hyde regarding the estate of Lamanai (1827)

• CO 123/18/9 – Memorial of James Hyde, Agent of British Honduras (1827)

• CO 123/27/47 – Petition of certain free persons of colour in Honduras (1831)

• Alfred E. G. Gibb, British Honduras: A Historical and Descriptive Account (1883), Internet Archive

• Melissa A. Johnson, The Making of Race and Place in Nineteenth-Century British Honduras (2003)