Grand Cayman was the only island of the three that create the Cayman Islands that had instituted slavery. Although slavery was instituted, Grand Cayman did not hold witness to violent slave revolts. While scholars tend to agree that to an extent a slave society did exist on at least Grand Cayman, there are debates amongst them on how important slavery was to the society as a whole. The slave period for the Cayman Islands lasted between 1734 and 1834. In 1774, George Gauld estimated that approximately four hundred people lived on Grand Cayman; half the inhabitants were free while the other half were constituted slaves. By 1802, the estimation of inhabitants was at 933 with a 545 slaves. An April 1834 census recorded a population of 1,800 with roughly 46 percent considered free Caymanians. By the time of emancipation, slaves outnumbered that of freemen on Grand Cayman. In 1835, Governor Sligo arrived in Cayman from Jamaica to declare all slaves free in accordance with the Emancipation Act of 1833.