The appearance of English cruisers in the
Ionian Sea put a stop to In the meantime, at the conference of Vienna
the fate of Europe, along with that of the Ionian Islands, was being decided. There were
many who desired to possess the islands, among them the Knights of St. John, the Pope
and the English; the agent of the Tsar of Russia, Kapodistrias, proposed that they be
handed over to Austria as an independent state. The treaty signed on November 6, 1815
made the islands a British protectorate under the name "United States of the Ionian
Islands". First to be appointed commissioner for the islands was Thomas Maitland. He concentrated all the legislative and executive powers in his own hands. His stern decrees did not keep the Kefalonians from forming revolutionary bodies and constituting a heroic presence in the struggle for Greek independence. Kefalonia's ships provided supplies for the fighters, the island provided a place of refuge for women and children, and volunteers formed military detachments which performed admirably in action. In addition, many of the more active members of the Friendly Society were Kefalonians. Another Kefalonian was Captain Marinos Sklavos, who removed the body of the Patriarch Gregorius V from the Bosporus; the Turks had hanged him and thrown his body into the sea. Kefalonia also knew a period of growth under
Charles Napier, who governed the island from 1822 to 1830. On July 1, 1823, Lord Byron
visited the island. Byron was appointed representative and agent of the committee in
Greece in a period of internal turmoil. He spent the first six weeks in Argostoli and then
moved to Metaxata in Livathos because he said the environment was healthier and the
scenery more beautiful.
In 1831 the philhellene Nuggent was appointed
governor. He was in favour of constitutional reforms, but was not able to put them into
practice. In 1835 he was succeeded by Baron Howard Douglas, who strengthened the
bureaucracy and squandered public funds, arousing public opinion against him. Sir Stewart
Mackenzie, who took over from him in 1841, was a supporter of agriculture and a patron
of the arts. The next governor of the Ionian islands, John Seaton, affable and
fairminded, governed in a way beneficial to the islanders and instituted some
constitutional reforms. The 1830s saw the beginning of a more general
reform. Young Kefalonians returning from Europe began to cultivate the idea of union with
the rest of Greece. The liberals became extremely active, and England was forced to grant
certain priveleges, such as freedom of the press and establishment of a Parliament. On September 14/26, 1848, the Kefalonians
rebelled against the English, clashing with the English army at Drapano bridge in
Argostoli; there was also fighting in Lixouri. Arrests, trials and failings followed.
Thus an unofficial crackdown on the liberals began, and three new parties were created,
the Radicals, the Reformers and the Conservatives. Sir Henry George Ward was forced to
restore freedom of the press and freedom to form organisations before the rebellion
would simmer down. Economic and social conditions in Kefalonia in 1849 were such that the movement found a response in the middle and lower classes. The class of signori was scandalised at the government's attitude, and claimed that it was not taking satisfactory measures to ensure public safety. They were coming to realise that it was freedom of the press that had mobilised the forces of the bourgeoisie. Their political and economic privileges were becoming endangered. With the political awakening of the people would come the demand for the restructuring of government on a more equitable basis. The people did not hide their repugnance for
the occupying forces, newspapers had no qualms about printing criticisms of the
English, and it was not long before another revolt broke out, between August 15/27, in
Skala. On September 2, Ward arrived on the island, quashed the rebellion and imposed
martial law. The twenty-one instigators were executed by hanging, another 34 were jailed
and 87 whipped.
In 1858 when the British envoy W. E. Gladstone
arrived in Kefalonia to carry out an enquiry into the government of the Ionian islands, he
censured Ward for his tactics, but hardly did anything else. Ward's successor, John Young, was more
lenient. He allowed the exiled radicals to return in 1857, after popular demand in the
Ionian Parliament. The next governor was Sir Henry Storks. In the elections of 1862, the
popular vote went to the Radical Party and its leaders. |
trade and communications among the islands. The
islanders' appalling living conditions made them wonder if perhaps the presence of a new
power might help them throw off the foreign yoke, so they looked for a way to enable the
English to take over the island. The English themselves were enthusiastic and in 1809
General John Oswald attacked and occupied Kefalonia without a fight. When the English
had occupied the islands and began to protect trade, they once again began to prosper. The
Swiss Colonel Charles Philippe de Bosset served as governor of Kefalonia from 1810 to
1814. During those years administration was improved and many public works carried out.
After the death of Maitland in 1824,
Frederic Adam was appointed to the post of governor; he was milder and more lawabiding
than his predecessor, and took more interest in education; it was Adam who established the
Ionian Academy.
In 1850, England approved the
constitutional reforms and allowed the Ionian islands to freely elect 10 representatives
to Parliament. The Radicals won the election. In mid-September, 1851, Ward returned to
Argostoli, banned the islanders' organisations and exiled two leaders of the Radicals,
thus winning the disapproval of the people for a second time. Ilias Zervos lakovatos,
editor of the "Fileleftheros" newspaper, and losif Momferatos, editor of
"Anagenissis", were exiled to Kithira and Othoni respectively. Gerassimos
Livadas, one of the pioneers of the radical movement who escaped arrest, voiced his
opposition by sending memoranda to the English Parliament.