Kingston's inhabitants were required by law to clean their chimneys frequently, a very necessary provision in a city of wooden structures and shingled roofs. Kingston was nonetheless devastated by fire several times in the 19th century.
The chimneysweeper called out "Sweep, Sweep, O, Sweep; here I am, nobody notice Country Law, King-Warrant, Queen-Warrant" as he walked the Kingston streets. "Queen-Warrant" had been added to the cry with the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837, the year in which Belisario published his prints.
This particular chimneysweeper had apparently worked some years before at washing clothes.
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Images 1
Belisario prints:
A Jamaican chimney sweep in the 1830s
It seems strange to see a picture of a chimney sweep in Jamaica, but a look at the picture shows that the kind of chimney he was sweeping was that of a wood-burning, cooking fire on the outside of a home. The chimney, covered at the top to protect the fire from heavy tropical rain, was not very tall. This meant it could be cleaned with brushes alone; it was not necessary to send children up the chimneys to clean them, as was the horrifying practice in Britain at the time.
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