Avia Ustanny, Freelance Writer
INSIDE THE St. Andrew Parish Church, the sound of traffic is muted and sunlight is blocked by beautiful stained glass windows. The parish church, once situated on over 600 acres in what is now the heart of the capital city, is much reduced in circumstances, with traffic flowing a few feet away, night and day. But within its walls lie timelessly beautiful monuments and a wealth of history.
Part of this history is the story of Devon House which, constructed on lands formerly owned by the church, is sited where an old rectory once stood. Inside St. Andrew's, the stained glass window - donated by Devon House millionaire George Stiebel after the death of his wife Magdalen, is one connection between the church and the family who replaced rectors on church lands.
George Stiebel was also a church member and additionally a member of the parish church committee. His gift to the church - the windows - represent the three Marys - Mary Magdalen, Mary the Virgin and Mary Cleophas. Of course, they also called to mind Stiebels dear wife - she called Magdalen. The organ loft of the parish church is one other reminder. It was first constructed to house the organ donated to the church by Stiebel's daughter, the fair Therese.
The story of Stiebel and the St. Andrew Parish Church began in 1879 when fifty-three acres of the grebe lands owned by the parish church were sold to the millionaire for one thousand five hundred pounds sterling. Later, thirteen acres were returned to the church for the construction of a new rectory.
Current rector of the church, Father Thompson, explains the Stiebel connection more: "Up until 1870, the Anglican church was the established church. It played a special role in state governance as well as in civil and religious life. There was a lot of overlapping between each. The plantocracy, for one reason or another, were involved in the life of the church, as the church was involved in the life of the nation.
In the St. Andrew Parish Church cemetery, governors, members of the legislative council and even the first American envoy are buried.
The church ministered not only to it own members but also to civic society. The Stiebels, included among them Dicky Jackson, great grandson who died in the last decade, are all buried there.
The Stiebel tombs, crowned with imported granite, today gleam softly in the sunlight - as beautiful as the day they were first placed in the ground.
Religious instruction
The story of Stiebel and Devon House makes fascinating reading. It is carefully recorded for us in the book, Devon House Families written by Enid Shields.
Before Stiebel arrives on the scene, we are told the story of Devon Pen, 600-acre home of the Anglican church... "A specific duty of the governors of Jamaica was to provide religious instruction for the citizens of the island. The Glebe as land attached to the Anglican church was termed was given by Charles II by letters patent on 6 May, 1667 to John Zellers, first minister.
The Glebe land stretched from the current site of the St. Andrew Parish Church in Half-Way Tree, north to Sandy Gully, encompassing Old Church Road on the east and including the grounds of the present Kings House. On the southern side, it bordered on Trafalgar Penn, now the residence of the British High Commissioner.
The Devon Penn Rectory, in its heyday as the home of the Anglican ministers, was a gabled red two-storey house with all woodwork and jalousies painted green.
When Stiebel arrived in 1881, the house, in a sad state of repair, was rebuilt, but the coach house (west) and the silver vaults near the coach house, as well as a room used subsequently as a swimming pool and two cook houses date from the Anglican occupation. The Grogg Shoppe is part of that coach house.
Who was Stiebel?
George Stiebel, who built Devon House on the ruins of the old rectory, was born about 1821, the son of a Jamaican housekeeper and a German Jew. Devon House Families reveals that father of George Daniel, was at first mortified by the arrival of his coloured son, but the boy was soon removed from the servants quarters and taken to live in the main house where he lived under his father's strict discipline.
He was sent to an exclusive private school in Kingston where he received a classical education. He left school early and found work in a carpenter's yard. By the time he was 19, he was involved in the reconstruction of the Ferry Inn. In 1842, he avoided military service by departing for the seas, using money given to him by his father to purchase a schooner. Stiebel transported cargo between North and South America until disaster struck in the form of a storm which destroyed his ships and cargo at sea.
Washed ashore in Venezuela, he was to remain in that country for 15 years, rebuilding his fortune through gold mining. He returned to find that his son was dead, but his wife Magdalen and daughter Therese received him happily. Making up for all the years of estrangement, Stiebel bought the lands of Devon Penn and rebuilt Devon House over the old rectory.
Before this, though, he sent Therese off to a finishing school in France and established himself socially in Kingston. Stiebel was much in demand to sit on boards and chair a variety of committees. He was beloved by many and had a penchant to help people in straitened circumstances, Ms. Sheilds records.
In time, the house of Stiebel was united with that of Jackson when George Hill Jackson, a solicitor fell in love with a polished Therese, back from finishing school. As the day of the fabulous wedding approached, George Stiebel ordered an ox to be roasted so the poor of Kingston could celebrate.
It was at age 60 that Stiebel finally constructed Devon House. No expense was spared. It was "solidly built with red bricks and timber. The fence of spiked iron rails were set in cement and at the entrance were imposing, ornate, cast iron gates. Inside, furniture from Europe held pride of place. In the dining room, marble topped mahogany serving tables, where butlers carved enormous roast and huge sideboards laden with silver stood against the walls".
The stately house was approached by a palm tree lined drive, sweeping past green lawns. Many a party was held within the gates.
The first tragedy struck at Devon House in October 1892 when Magdalen Stiebel died. A year later, Richard and Therese's son, Douglas, aged 11, succumbed to typhoid.
In the decades following, the stately home passed from the Stiebel Jacksons to others. In the interim, it had inspired two other magnificent houses at the opposite corner of nearby intersections. Abbey Court, constructed by the Verley family, later purchased, demolished and turned into apartment buildings was one. The other was Reka Dom, built on the current site of the YMCA at the corner of Hope and Trafalgar roads by wine and spirit merchant, Daniel Finzi.
In the 1960s, the Devon House property was rescued from housing developers by the JLP government, when Minister of Welfare and Development, Edward Seaga issued an interim preservation notice under the National Trust Act. It was later purchased by the Government to be preserved as an historical monument. Restoration and construction, under a new plan to run the property into a place of public entertainment and heritage site, was pursued by English architect, Tom Concannon.
Today, the property is undergoing another phase of refurbishing. Named a National Heritage Trust Property in 1990, it is slated to become a leading heritage tourism attraction in capital City Kingston.
The new development is intended to restore the aesthetics and the historical relevance of the site. No doubt the legacy of the Stiebels, so pervading, and their connection to the Anglican church will be somehow brought to the forefront.
For those who cannot wait, the monuments on the grounds of the Anglican church is a tale immediately told.
Information sourced, with permission, from Devon House Families by Enid Sheilds.
