lawyers and duke street

The clustering of legal and financial fraternities in the streets close to the government buildings in Kingston would have intensified after 1872, when the capital was transferred from Spanish Town. An 1877 Kingston Business Directory found barristers, advocates and solicitors as well as auctioneers and commission agents, and consulates, in the lower reaches of Church and Duke Streets and along Harbour and Port Royal Streets. Until after the 1907 earthquake and fire, the courthouse, treasury, post office and other government facilities were concentrated along Harbour Street between Duke and East Streets. Despite the eventual relocation of many of these government offices, especially after the destruction of 1907, lawyers and financial professionals continued to cluster in the Duke Street area. The 1910 Commercial Directory included Duke Street listings for two of the city’s five barristers and 27 of the 40 solicitors across the city.