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Swetes

Coordinates: 17°03′N 61°48′W / 17.050°N 61.800°W / 17.050; -61.800
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Swetes
Village
Swetes is located in Antigua and Barbuda
Swetes
Swetes
Coordinates: 17°03′N 61°48′W / 17.050°N 61.800°W / 17.050; -61.800
CountryAntigua and Barbuda
IslandAntigua
ParishSaint Paul
Swetes, Buckleys, and John Hughes Village Council constituted20 December 1946
Elevation
60 m (200 ft)
Population
 (2011)
 • Total1,720
DemonymSwete
Time zoneUTC-4 (AST)

Swetes is located in Saint Paul Parish on the island of Antigua, in Antigua and Barbuda.

Geography

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With lowlands and valleys, the terrain of the Swete's region is nearly identical to that of Liberta, with the exception that there are less sharp hills. Since it is the area's flattest lowland, as opposed to Buckley's to the north and Folly Hill and John Hughes to the west, the majority of slaves who were freed after slavery lived in Swete. The owner followed the custom of selling unused estate properties to freed slaves.[1]

Etymology

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This community was given its name in honor of Main Swete, who built a plantation there in the early 1700s. He had traveled from South Devon's Modbury. He died in 1735 after serving in the House of Assembly from 1715 to 1715. Henry Gale acquired ownership of the 180-acre estate soon after freedom. Since the estate owners did not want to construct laborers' cottages after the great earthquake of 1843, Sweete's hamlet emerged about the time when its owner marked off a part of land for sale to laborers on the sugar estates in the middle of the 1840s.[1]

History

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Swete's Estate

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The third son of the Rev. John Swete, Maine Swete, relocated to London around 1688 and then to a property on the island of Antigua. On July 15, 1701, a survey was conducted of Captain Main Swete's 337 acre plantation at Falmouth, Antigua. In 1704 and 1715, he served as a member of the Assembly. (1) He wed Grace Waldron. They didn't have any kids. In 1728, he went back to Devon and wed Esther Prickman. When his brother Adrian died without issue in 1733, he received Traine Manor as his inheritance. In trust for their three-year-old son Adrian John Swete, he gave Traine and other possessions to his wife Esther when he died in 1735.

The fourth Marquis of Vallado was Theodore Walrond (born 1701). Humphrey Walrond received the Spanish title of Marquis de Vallado from King Philip IV of Spain on August 5, 1653. He served as Barbados' governor as well. Main Swete Walrond (b.1725), the fifth Marquis, Joseph Lyons Waldron (1725–1815), the sixth Marquis, and Lyons Walrond (1800–1819), the seventh Marquis, all inherited the title from their ancestors.

After 1726, Theodore Walrond married Mary Keynell, the governor's daughter.

Owners of the original property were Captain Main Swete and his wife Esther Swete, who held a 337-acre sugar plantation. The estate, and consequently the community, are located in Liberta's northwest region. Swetes came from a long line of British families with roots in Antigua. During its peak, the estate housed hundreds of slaves. On July 8, 1735, Main Swete was buried in England and left his inheritance to his widow Esther, who was living there at the time of his passing. Daniel Mathew later rented out the Swete Estate.[1]

Demographics

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Swetes has five enumeration districts, As of 2011, it has a population of 1,720.

Enumeration districts[2]

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  • 70300 Swetes-NorthWest
  • 70400 Swetes-North
  • 70500 Swetes-Central
  • 70600 Swetes-SouthWest
  • 70700 Swetes-East

Census data (2011)[3]

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Q48 Ethnic Counts %
African descendent 1,641 95.43%
Caucasian/White 12 0.68%
East Indian/India 5 0.31%
Mixed (Black/White) 6 0.37%
Mixed (Other) 23 1.36%
Hispanic 5 0.31%
Other 13 0.74%
Don't know/Not stated 14 0.80%
Total 1,720 100.00%
Q49 Religion Counts %
Adventist 151 8.86%
Anglican 95 5.62%
Baptist 56 3.31%
Church of God 142 8.36%
Evangelical 72 4.24%
Jehovah Witness 24 1.44%
Methodist 51 3.00%
Moravian 353 20.79%
Nazarene 31 1.81%
None/no religion 77 4.56%
Pentecostal 111 6.55%
Rastafarian 19 1.12%
Roman Catholic 89 5.24%
Weslyan Holiness 323 18.98%
Other 36 2.12%
Don't know/Not stated 68 4.00%
Total 1,700 100.00%
NotApp : 20
Q55 Internet Use Counts %
Yes 768 44.66%
No 915 53.18%
Don't know/Not stated 37 2.16%
Total 1,720 100.00%
Q58. Country of birth Counts %
Africa 1 0.06%
Other Latin or North American countries 2 0.12%
Antigua and Barbuda 1,289 74.95%
Other Caribbean countries 20 1.17%
Canada 2 0.12%
Dominica 53 3.08%
Dominican Republic 3 0.19%
Guyana 138 8.02%
Jamaica 105 6.11%
Monsterrat 6 0.37%
St. Kitts and Nevis 3 0.19%
St. Lucia 2 0.12%
St. Vincent and the Grenadines 13 0.74%
Trinidad and Tobago 8 0.49%
United Kingdom 11 0.62%
USA 33 1.91%
USVI United States Virgin Islands 15 0.86%
Not Stated 15 0.86%
Total 1,720 100.00%
Q71 Country of Citizenship 1 Counts %
Antigua and Barbuda 1,471 85.56%
Other Caribbean countries 18 1.05%
Canada 1 0.06%
Dominica 34 1.97%
Dominican Republic 2 0.12%
Guyana 57 3.33%
Jamaica 81 4.69%
Monsterrat 2 0.12%
St. Lucia 1 0.06%
St. Vincent and the Grenadines 7 0.43%
Trinidad and Tobago 2 0.12%
United Kingdom 4 0.25%
USA 22 1.30%
Other countries 3 0.19%
Not Stated 13 0.74%
Total 1,720 100.00%
Q71 Country of Citizenship 2 (Country of Second Citizenship) Counts %
Other Caribbean countries 25 12.50%
Canada 5 2.60%
Dominica 23 11.46%
Guyana 46 22.40%
Jamaica 31 15.10%
Monsterrat 5 2.60%
St. Vincent and the Grenadines 5 2.60%
Trinidad and Tobago 6 3.13%
United Kingdom 22 10.94%
USA 27 13.02%
Other countries 7 3.65%
Total 204 100.00%
NotApp : 1,516
Q117 MoneyOverseas (Money from friends and relatives overseas) Counts %
Under 100 EC$ 1,234 96.43%
100 to 499 EC$ 17 1.33%
500 to 999 EC$ 8 0.66%
1,000 to 1,999 EC$ 8 0.66%
2,000 to 4,999 EC$ 8 0.66%
5,000 to 99,999 EC$ 3 0.25%
Total 1,279 100.00%
NotApp : 440
Employment status Counts %
Employed 781 60.98%
Unemployed 85 6.63%
Inactive 400 31.23%
Not stated 15 1.16%
Total 1,281 100.00%
NotApp : 439
Q91 Business Earning (Earnings a business made) Counts %
Under 1,000 $EC per month 19 25.35%
1,000 to 1,999 $EC per month 20 26.76%
2,000 to 2,999 $EC per month 10 12.68%
3,000 to 4,999 $EC per month 20 26.76%
5,000 $EC and over per month 6 8.45%
Total 75 100.00%
NotApp : 1,607
Missing : 37

People

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Swetes is the birthplace of George Alexander McGuire, Patriarch of the African Orthodox Church. It is also the birthplace of Antiguan and West Indian cricketers Ridley Jacobs and Sir Curtly Ambrose.

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Sweete's – Antigua Sugar Mills". Retrieved 2023-02-17.
  2. ^ "2001 Complete Census Summary Report" (PDF).
  3. ^ "Antigua and Barbuda::Statistics Division/Redatam Webserver | Statistical Process and Dissemination Tool". redatam.org. Retrieved 2021-12-23.