engineering

Hibbert House

Hibbert House is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Hibbert House rather than just read about it. In short: Hibbert House, also known as Headquarters House, is the head office of the Jamaica National Heritage Trust. It is located at 79 Duke Street in Kingston, Jamaica.

Key takeaways

Hibbert House belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Hibbert House to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Hibbert House from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Hibbert House, also known as Headquarters House, is the head office of the Jamaica National Heritage Trust. It is located at 79 Duke Street in Kingston, Jamaica. It was built in 1755 by Thomas Hibbert, a wealthy English merchant, to serve as his residence. Hibbert migrated to Kingston in 1734, at a time when Jamaica was becoming the wealthiest of the British Caribbean islands and the largest single destination of African slaves. In the early 1750s, he formed a partnership with Nathaniel Sprigg to serve as factors for slaves, purchasing them off the ships from Africa and reselling them to planters and others in Jamaica. Hibbert also helped found a major West Indian house in London, trading in sugar and rum.

The building The two-story house is made from fine Flemish bond brickwork, stone and timber. The walls are brick with limestone quoins. The front of the building has Jamaican Vernacular fretwork. The house has a basement and an attic with dormer windows, a courtyard and several outhouses. Offices were on the ground floor with bedrooms above.

Early days

Headquarters House or "Hibbert House", as it was known up to the time of the owner's death, stands as a reminder of the wealth and power of the Kingston merchants in their glory days. Hibbert was among the first of many wealthy merchants to build in the Georgian style of architecture, as was fashionable in 18th century England. This style would play a large part in the development of Jamaican architecture. Hibbert became involved in politics and in due course was named Speaker of the House of Assembly in 1756. When the capital of Jamaica temporarily moved from Spanish Town to Kingston in 1754. the House of Assembly and Legislative Council held their meetings at Hibbert House until 1758. Hibbert never married, but he maintained a 24-year relationship with Charity Harry, dating from the birth of their daughter Jane Harry in 1756. Charity Harry was described as Hibbert's housekeeper and a "free mulatto," meaning she was not enslaved and had mixed European and African ancestry. She could read and own property. Hibbert provided her with a home, clothes, furniture, and other possessions. Upon Hibbert's death the house was passed to his heir and nephew and not to his daughter Jane or long time consort Charity.

Military Headquarters In 1814 the house was sold to the War Office of the West Indies Regiment to serve as its headquarters, and as the residence for the General of the army that was garrisoned there. This is where it gained the name of "Headquarters House". Since the house is located near the harbor with a good view of the city, it was very desirable as a military headquarters. It was during this time that the crow's nest/ sentinel post was built on the roof. While Hibbert House served as the Headquarters House, several illustrious commanders resided there:

Willoughby Cotton, who ordered the militia to crush the Christmas Rebellion of enslaved Africans, led by Sam Sharpe in 1831. William Gomm who founded the Military Hill Station at New Castle, St. Andrew in 1841. Luke O'Connor, Commander in Chief of the Military Forces which put down the Morant Bay rebellion of 1865. Mayor John Eyre, organized his attack on St. Thomas to crush the Morant Bay Rebellion.

Purchase by Jamaican government Hibbert House was purchased by the Jamaican government in 1872 for £5000 Sterling. Kingston became the permanent seat of the Jamaica legislation and Hibbert House was used as the Offices of Colonial Secretary until 1960.

Current use Since 1983, Headquarters House has been used as the head office of the Jamaica National Heritage Trust.

See also List of National Heritage Sites in Jamaica

Notes

Bibliography Jennings, Judi. Gender, Religion, and Radicalism in the Long Eighteenth Century: An 'Ingenious Quaker' and Her Connections (ashgate, 2006).

External links Media related to Hibbert House at Wikimedia Commons

Hibbert House, JNHT, 2005. Aerial view.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Hibbert House

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Hibbert House claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Hibbert House before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Hibbert House ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Hibbert House

In research: Hibbert House appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Hibbert House in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Hibbert House is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Buildings and structures completed in 1755, Buildings and structures in Kingston, Jamaica, Government buildings in Jamaica, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Hibbert House outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Hibbert House in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Hibbert House means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Hibbert House out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Hibbert House in simple terms?

Hibbert House, also known as Headquarters House, is the head office of the Jamaica National Heritage Trust. It is located at 79 Duke Street in Kingston, Jamaica.

Why does Hibbert House matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Hibbert House?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Hibbert House.