text: Opponents of Eyre established the Jamaica Committee in December 1865, which called for Eyre to be tried for mass murder. More radical members of the Committee wanted him tried for the murder of British subjects, such as George William Gordon, under the rule of law, stating that Eyre's actions taken under the aegis of martial law were illegal. The Committee leaders included the MPs John Bright, Charles Buxton, and Peter Taylor, as well as the scholars Charles Darwin, Thomas Henry Huxley, and Goldwin Smith. Other supporters included T. H. Green, Henry Fawcett, and A. V. Dicey.
  The Eyre Defence Committee was formed in August 1866 to support Eyre during the imminent legal actions. Its leaders included MP Lord John Manners, as well as James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan, scientist John Tyndall, and the authors Thomas Carlyle and John Ruskin. Other supporters were Alfred Tennyson, Charles Kingsley, and Charles Dickens.
  The Jamaica Committee initially sought to have Eyre charged criminally with murder, but the grand jury did not indict him. They then supported a lawsuit against Eyre, Phillips v Eyre; the plaintiff Alexander Phillips was a black gentleman who had been arrested similarly to George William Gordon. The suit was decided in Eyre's favour.
  The rebellion was used as a justification for more centralized control of Britain's empire.
  In Jamaica
  Eyre was replaced as governor by John Peter Grant who arrived in August 1866.