Exploring The Holland Estate Ruins, St. Thomas Jamaica

Deep in the Plantain Garden River valley in St. Thomas-in-the-East, Jamaica, sit the ruins of the Holland Estate - the personal empire of Simon Taylor, the wealthiest planter in Jamaican history. When he died in 1813, his fortune was worth the equivalent of over £82 million today. He enslaved over 2,200 people across his properties. At Holland Estate alone - 610 human beings. George Stiebel built Devon House in 1881 and became Jamaica's first millionaire of colour. But Simon Taylor had already been and gone - building his fortune decades earlier on the backs of enslaved Africans in this very valley. Two men. Two fortunes. Two completely different Jamaicas. In this video we walk through what remains of Taylor's world - the works yard, the mill ruins, the boiling house - all built by the hands of people who never saw a penny of that wealth and just miles from here, in 1865, their descendants finally said enough. Paul Bogle and the Morant Bay Rebellion changed Jamaica forever - born directly out of the injustice this estate represented. The Jamaica National Heritage Trust has proposed Holland Estate as a National Monument. This is history that deserves to be seen. Filmed on location - Holland Estate Ruins, St. Thomas-in-the-East, Jamaica. Like, share and subscribe for more Jamaican heritage and history content.