The Slave Revolt.

In 1799 Edmund Clifton Spence arrived on the island. He was a distinguished colonial civil servant appointed by the government to carry out an audit of the garrison.
Spence was a jovial fellow , very popular with the local children, and not at all aloof from the islanders. However, he was accompanied by his manservants, John, who had served him in Jamaica, Trinidad as well as in England, and Edgar, from Guyana.
John and Edgar were slaves (slavery in the British Empire was not abolished until 1808).
Bentall's servants were not slaves, so the presence of John and Edgar in a community built on libertarian principles was an unwelcome novelty.
By now a significant number of islander's were 'mulattoes' ( a term unknown before the Imperial era) or even pure Wessel's Islanders. They were perturbed by John and Edgar's situation.
There is no evidence that Spence mistreated either man. Nevertheless he had bought them.
In what little leisure time they had John and Edgar naturally sought the company of the islanders, and in doing so were exposed to their libertarian ideas.
Rowley Rowley, as a representative of the Council, approached Bentall and told him that the presence of slaves on the island was not welcome. Bentall, of course, was in no position to break with convention. As far as he was concerned Tamba- Tamba was subject to the laws of Great Britain.
On June 15th 1800 John and Edgar left the garrison under the cover of darkness. They made their way to Hooper's Point, from where Samuel Hooper took them by boat to the deserted island of Round Tamba.
On hearing of John and Edgar's disappearance Bentall called out the garrison. By noon on the 16th Cocktown was under military control and the citizens placed under curfew whilst a search for the missing men was conducted. All boats were impounded.
Rowley Rowley, the voice of the people, told Bentall that as far as he knew no islanders had been involved in the escape, but Bentall's suspicions could not be allayed.
Bentall maintained the curfew for a week, during which time he seriously considered keeping Rowley Rowley as a hostage until the runaways were located. he decided against this move though, knowing that his relationship with the islanders might be irreparably damaged by such a radical move.
Rowley, for his part, convinced Bentall that the men must have perished in an unsuccessful escape attempt. Hooper colluded in this. He fabricated a rumour that one of the jolly boats had been taken from Hooper's Point, leading Bentall to believe that John and Edgar must have left the island.
On 24th June Bentall addressed the population in Cocktown Square, saying that he had reason to believe that John and Edgar were lost at sea.
Following the lifting of the curfew Hooper rescued the beleaguered John and Edgar from Round Tamba and took them to Wessel's Island.
Bentall was pleased that he had avoided taking any punitive steps against the islanders, and encouraged the authorities to accept the 'failed escape' version of events.
Life on Tamba- Tamba returned to normal. The occasional trading journeys to Wessel's brought stories of Edgar's death from Island Malaise in 1801, and of John's prosperity, raising a large family. A number of his descendants returned to Tamba- Tamba years later.
The events of June were soon forgotten however, as in October 1800 Rowley Rowley died suddenly whilst sleeping with his mistress. He was 45 years old.