ABSTRACT
The following survey of estate villages focuses upon social stratification, annual fluctuations in the labour force, and the changes that occurred to the village populations between 1880 and 1924. It collates basic information about the role of village authorities and the various sections of the estate workforce. Although important aspects of individual and group relations are broached here, the aim in this chapter is to lay the groundwork for the more extensive, thematic discussions in chapters two to five.
