TPL History

Tobago is widely reputed to be the West Indian Island, which changed hands most often between rival European powers striving for supremacy in and over the Caribbean Sea. In 1814, by the Treaty of Paris, it finally settled under British sovereignty after being a pawn of great power politics for two centuries.

During their continued attempts at colonization, the British and French made Tobago productive and populous, as it became a large exporter of sugar and cotton, at the cost of creating a typical West Indian slave society.

The British sold land in lots to early settlers, and on the southeastern tip of the island, in the area surrounding the Petit Trou Lagoon, the Lowlands Estate developed. On 19th March 1767, one of the first owners, a Mr. Allan Cameron purchased Lot No. 21 at £1.30 per acre and Lots No. 22 and 23 at £1.00 per acre.

By 1774, the estate had passed into the ownership of Mr. James Elder who was a member of the Island Council. By this time a large part of Lowlands would have been cultivated in sugar cane and the estate fully operational with its windmills and cattle mills for crushing the cane and a sugar works for producing sugar for export.

The following owner was Thomas Currin, a proprietor of St. Patrick from the west of Scotland. He died on 12th March 1801 and was buried in the family churchyard next to his dwelling at Lowlands. An inventory of the estate at the time of his death shows that 323acres were under sugar cultivation and the balance of the estate comprising 374 acres was used as gardens for the slaves, pasture and brush. In this inventory was listed all the buildings on the estate, the animals, and a list of 369 slaves.

The next owner was James Allan who was a member of the Society of West Indian Merchants, followed in turn by Fielding Brown Esq., who died in 1807. Records show that the estate was still in the hands of the Piggot family in 1866, but by 1884, it was owned by Daniels & Co., of London, and between the years 1904-1909, all accessible land was planted in coconuts.

In 1919, the estate was purchased by George and Cecil De Nobriga, who continued to own it for the next 70 years. A steady decline in the yield of the trees, together with the damage caused by Hurricane Flora in 1963, and later a lack of the demand for copra, led to the establishment of an area of pasture and rearing for cows and sheep.

In 1991 Angostura Ltd. purchased the Company, Tobago Plantations Ltd. (TPL) which had Lowlands Estate as part of its assets. In December 1994, Angostura sold 50% of its shares in TPL to Guardian Life of the Caribbean Ltd. and the company is now owned jointly by Angostura Ltd. and Guardian Life.