1.
JAMAICA GENERAL INFORMATION
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Page
Issue Date: 27/6/20220
Sources as endnotes.
Private information as footnotes (removed before websave).
This volime contains much miscellaneous information of relevance to the
Maitland and related families and properties. Sections 1 & 2 printed
1/11/2020.
1. JAMAICA
GENERAL INFORMATION 0-1
0 Introduction 0-1
0.1 References & Sources: 0-6
MDCCLXIX (1769)
Dictionary of Place-Names in Jamaica 0-6
1 BACKGROUND MATERIAL 1-1
REGNAL YEARS 1-1
Parish Record notes 1-4
St Catherine 1-4
St Elizabeth: 1-4
Clarendon 1-4
Vere 1-4
A Glossary of Estates in
Land and Future Interests 1-5
Tenants in Common 1-16
Primogeniture 1-17
Life Expectancy 1-17
Monetary Values Cost and
Wage Inflation 1-17
Sixteenth and Seventeenth
Centuries Inflation 1-18
Land Prices 1700 1-20
Jamaica Currency 1-20
2 Francis Maitland 2nd Shipping 2-1
3 MAITLAND JAMAICA PROPERTY 3-1
3.1 Introduction 3-1
3.2 BLACK RIVER & SURROUNDS 3-1
3.3 GIDDY HALL 3-3
Giddy Hall Almanacks &
Crops 3-4
Kensington Almanacs: 3-6
AM Visits 1998 & 02: 3-6
Slave Emancipation
Compensation 3-8
Apprentices 3-9
3.4 MITCHAM & SILVER GROVE 3-10
Slave Emancipation
Compensation - Mitcham 3-11
Mitcham Almanacs, Crops
& Slave Registration: 3-11
AM Visit 1998: 3-12
Silver Grove Visit, 3-12
Silver Grove: Manchester
Almanacs. 3-13
Slave Emancipation
Compensation – Silver Grove 3-13
3.5 MOUNT CHARLES: 3-15
Slave Emancipation
Compensation 3-17
Mount Charles: St
Elizabeth Almanacs etc. 3-17
AM Visit 1998: 3-17
3.6 The COVE & LITTLE CULLODEN -
Westmoreland 3-19
Thomas Hogg to Patty
Penford – 1785 3-19
Thomas Taylor to Patty
Pinford – 1778 3-19
4 OTHER RELATED PROPERTIES – Almanacs etc 4-1
4.1 Booth Vere Properties 4-1
Yarmouth Estate. 4-1
Carlisle Estate 4-2
Salt Savanna Estate 4-4
James Wildman 4-7
4.2 Misceallaneous Propeties 4-7
Enfield: Vere 4-8
Between Junction and
Treasure Beach. Small elongated town in 2010. 1811: Powell, Sarah, Tophill 35/
- 4-9
Ashton Pen 4-9
Booth Mentions: 4-13
Cohens: St Elizabeth. 4-16
Hyman's: Vere. 4-17
Wrights: Vere. 4-17
Wrights: St Elizabeth. 4-17
Pusey Hall: 4-17
Wint: Vere. 4-17
Thomas Hercey Barratt 4-18
Mile Gully 4-18
5 Road & Parish Changes 5-1
Surveyors 5-1
Act 24 1683 P38 - An Act
for regulating Surveyors, 5-1
Parish Boundaries 5-4
1683: Boundary of St
Elizabeth & Clarendon 5-4
1703: Dividing St
Elizabeth 5-4
1723: Westmoreland
divided. 5-5
1739: St Elizabeth/Vere/Clarendon
Boundary 5-6
1744: Road from St Ann to
St Thomas in the Vale. 5-7
Southside to Savanna la
Mar, 1823 Magistrates Guide 5-7
Division of Salt Savanna 5-7
New Leeward Road 5-11
1705, New Road over One
Eye Savanna: 5-11
1750: More on 1747 Act 5-17
Repairing St Jago – Pepper
Road Vol 2 Act 32, 1762 P69 5-18
Extract from Long: on
Western Road 5-21
6 WEIGHTS, MEASURES & COINAGE 6-1
6.1 Land Areas – Acres, Roods & Poles 6-1
6.2 COINS USED IN JAMAICA 6-2
PUNCHEON 6-2
CUSTOMARY (OLD) WEIGHTS
& MEASURES 6-3
MEAT WEIGHT 6-5
FISH MEASURE SCOTCH LIQUID
MEASURE 6-5
COKE MEASURE 6-5
TIMBER MEASURE 6-5
WOOL WEIGHT 6-6
BREAD AND FLOUR WEIGHTS 6-6
WHEATEN BREAD 6-6
CHEESE AND BUTTER WEIGHT 6-6
GLASS WEIGHT 6-6
HAY AND STRAW 6-6
7 OTHER PLACES of INTEREST & PARISH
INFORMATION 7-1
7.1 Geographical Features of Note 7-1
Round Hill 7-1
7.2 Other Relevant & Surrounding Properties 7-2
Font Hill, 7-2
Fullerswood (Salmon): 7-2
Palisadoes 7-2
Port Royal 7-2
Roses Valley, 7-3
Chew Magna, 7-3
Fort William 7-3
Morningside 7-3
Greenwich Estate 7-3
Harmony Hall 7-3
Monymusk 7-4
Surinam Quarters &
James Bannister 7-4
PARISH INFORMATION 7-6
Parish Records: 7-6
Clarendon Clarendon
Capital & Parish Church 7-6
CORNWALL - General
Information 7-7
ST ELIZABETH PARISH
INFORMATION 7-8
GENERAL 7-8
POSITION/SIZE/DESCRIPTION 7-8
BRIEF HISTORY 7-9
POPULATION: 148,900 (1999) 7-10
MAJOR INDUSTRIES/SOURCES
OF EMPLOYMENT 7-10
MAJOR
HISTORICAL/CULTURAL/RECREATIONAL/ECOLOGICAL SITES 7-10
Savanna-la-Mar 7-12
St Thomas in the Vale 7-12
EMANCIPATION IN JAMAICA –
New York Times 1860 7-12
8 JAMAICA ALAMANACS, HANDBOOKS &
NEWSPAPERS ETC 8-1
8.1 ALMANACS EXTRACTS 8-1
8.2 Royal Gazettes 8-11
The Columbian 1796/7 8-13
SUGAR ESTATES IN
CULTIVATION IN JAMAICA: 8-14
8.3 Hurricanes 8-15
Jamaica Hurricane of 3
October 1780 8-15
Plato the Wizard 8-15
Wrath of Plato's Spirit 8-16
From Colonial Office
files, CO137/79: 8-16
Extract from the
Supplement to the Kingston Gazette, 14 Oct 1780. 8-17
Hurricane 1 August 1781 8-20
9 MONEY 9-1
9.1 Handbook of World Exchange Rates, 1590-1914 9-1
SUPPLEMENT TO THE ROYAL
GAZETTE; September 1832 9-2
Money and exchange rates
in 1632 9-5
10 MAPS, CENSUS & LANDHOLDERS 10-1
10.1 Jamaica Maps 10-1
10.2 Jamaica 1670 census 10-3
THE SURVEY OF THE ISLAND
OF JAMAICA (1670). 10-3
10.3 1754 Landholders 10-13
10.4 BROWNE &
ROBERTSON MAP COPIES 10-15
BROWNE 1755 MAP 10-15
File Layout 10-15
ROBERTSON 1804 MAP 10-16
y = - 10-16
11 ESTATE MAPS 11-1
11.1 Clarendon 11-1
11.2 Manchester 11-4
11.3 St Catherine: 11-8
11.4 St Elizabeth 11-9
11.5 T Series 11-11
11.6 Westmoreland 11-12
12 LAND SETTLEMENT & GRANTS: 12-1
12.1 JHT Cultural Report
Extracts 12-1
12.1.1 Background to the
Cultural Heritage of the South Coast 12-1
12.2 Encumbered Estates 12-3
Misc PRO Docs 12-6
RESEARCH by JACKIE
RANSTONE 12-6
13 SLAVERY. 13-1
13.1.1 FREE COLOURED
COMMUNITY 13-3
13.2 European Peasants v
African Slaves 13-4
Slavery - Columbian
Magazine, June 1796 13-4
13.3 SLAVE REGISTRATION
RECORDS at the PRO. 13-6
1817 13-6
1820 13-9
1823 13-10
1826 13-11
1829 13-12
1832 13-13
Manumissions: 13-13
13.4 Slave Compensation 13-15
Giddy Hall 13-15
Mitcham 13-15
Silver Grove 13-16
Mount Charles 13-16
Manumissions: 13-17
Runaway Slaves in Jamaica 13-17
13.5 Apprentices 13-18
14 Legislation etc 14-18
14.1 17 Acts (of
Privilege) of the Jamaican Assembly 1760-1810 14-18
14.2 Calendar of State
Papers – Extracts 14-10
15 HISTORICAL SOURCES and OTHER EXTRACTS 15-1
15.1 Caribbeana by Vere
Langford Oliver (1910). 15-1
WEST INDIA COMMITTEE 15-3
A Descriptive Account of
the Island of Jamaica (Beckford) 15-4
Pens and Pen-keepers: 15-4
Planters, Attorneys,
Overseers, etc: 15-6
PEN KEEPERS & SLAVERY
- Shepherd 15-9
BRETT ASHMEADE-HAWKINS 15-15
TROLLOPE’S SPANISH TOWN: 15-17
“MORANT BAY REBELLION” 15-33
ADDRESSES TO HIS
EXCELLENCY EDWARD JOHN EYRE 15-33
16 Monumental Inscriptions 16-1
Burton: 16-1
Hayle: 16-1
Sinclair: 16-1
Wright 16-1
17 Delaroche Family & Giddy Hall 17-1
Descendants of Thomas
Delaroche 17-3
18 CROPS – General Information 18-1
18.1 Rum 18-1
18.2 Sugar 18-1
18.2.1 Mills 18-1
18.2.2 Sugar Estate – The
Economist 1844 18-4
Sugar and Slavery: Molasses
to Rum to Slaves 18-9
Sugar Prices: 18-12
18.3 Coffee 18-14
Labour Regimen on Jamaican
Coffee Plantations during Slavery 18-14
edited by Kathleen E. A.
Monteith, Glen Richards Coffee Costings, late 18thC 18-17
18.4 PIMENTO. – Robert
Renny – 1807 SECTION VIII. 18-24
18.4.1 Cost 18-25
18.5 Indigo Crop 18-26
18.5.1 Long on Indigo, V1
P415 18-26
The Processing of Indigo 18-29
The Early Modern Period 18-30
The British in the
Atlantic Indigo Trade 18-30
18.6 COTTON 18-32
18.6.1 Sloane extract 18-32
18.6.2 Robert Renny – 1807
SECTION III. 18-32
18.6.3 Other Cotton reports 18-33
18.6.4 Cotton Gin 18-34
18.6.5 Cotton Price 18-35
18.7 Logwood 18-35
19 Random notes 19-1
19.1 Quit rents: 19-1
19.2 Lewis on colour: 19-1
19.3 Marine Insurance 19-1
DREADFUL DEPRECIATION OF
WEST INDIA PROPERTY 19-17
Gale Family 19-20
Vassall Family 19-24
Vassall Devon/Jamaica
connections 19-24
The first Vassalls in the
New World 19-24
Vassalls' Jamaican
property 19-24
Vassall marriages into
other prominent slave-owning families 19-25
To what extent were the
Vassalls involved in the running of their plantations? 19-26
Were the Vassalls cruel
slave-owners? 19-26
To what extent do the
compensation records give an accurate picture of the Vassalls' Jamaican
property? 19-26
Why did Vassalls own fewer
properties at Emancipation than in the 18th century? 19-27
William Vassall
(1753-1843) of Berry Pomeroy 19-27
Family Tree showing
relationship between 'David' and William Vassall of Berry Pomeroy 19-29
A little more about
William Vassall 19-30
Eleanor Vassall and her
Glanville children 19-30
A little more about
Eleanor Vassall 19-31
What would their
experiences of the move to Devon have been like? 19-31
Conclusion 19-32
References 19-32
20 Jamaica Archives and Registrar General
Department 20-1
Research Results Plans and
Notes January 2008: 20-2
April 2009: 20-2
January 2010: 20-3
Done 2008: 20-3
To Be Done 1/2/08: 20-3
Further Research required
(3/2008): 20-4
Jamaica Jan 2010: 20-5
To Do Next (Jan 10): 20-6
Plats & Land Grants: 20-7
To be Done, 4/2011:
Deeds: 20-8
Wills: 20-9
Inventories 20-10
Plats & Patents: 20-10
To do Jan 2012 20-11
Wills 20-11
Manumissions: 20-11
Plats & Patents 20-12
Patents 20-12
Deeds 20-12
Crops 20-12
Other 20-12
Done July 2012 20-12
To do Aug 2012: 20-13
To Do May/June 2013 20-14
To Do Nov 2013: 20-16
To do Jan 2014: 20-17
To do Nov 2014: 20-19
To do Aug 2015: 20-22
PRO 20-28
Jamaica Sept 2016 for next
visit 20-29
Feb 2018 For next time 20-34
To do after Feb 2019 20-36
Jam Archives – 3/20 20-37
After March 2020 to do 20-38
Library of Jamaica 20-39
PRO 20-41
21 Changes: 21-1
April 2020 to Do 21-1
1. JAMAICA GENERAL
INFORMATION 0-1
0 Introduction 0-1
0.1 References &
Sources: 0-5
MDCCLXIX
(1769) Dictionary of Place-Names in Jamaica 0-5
1 BACKGROUND MATERIAL 1-1
REGNAL
YEARS 1-1
Parish
Record notes 1-4
St
Catherine 1-4
St
Elizabeth: 1-4
Clarendon 1-4
Vere 1-4
A
Glossary of Estates in Land and Future Interests 1-5
Tenants
in Common 1-16
Primogeniture 1-17
Life
Expectancy 1-17
Monetary
Values Cost and Wage Inflation 1-17
Sixteenth
and Seventeenth Centuries Inflation 1-18
Land
Prices 1700 1-20
Jamaica
Currency 1-20
2 Francis Maitland 2nd
Shipping 2-1
3 MAITLAND JAMAICA
PROPERTY 3-1
3.1 Introduction 3-1
3.2 BLACK RIVER &
SURROUNDS 3-1
3.3 GIDDY HALL 3-3
Giddy
Hall Almanacks & Crops 3-4
Kensington
Almanacs: 3-6
AM
Visits 1998 & 02: 3-6
Slave
Emancipation Compensation 3-8
Apprentices 3-9
3.4 MITCHAM &
SILVER GROVE 3-10
Slave
Emancipation Compensation - Mitcham 3-11
Mitcham
Almanacs, Crops & Slave Registration: 3-11
AM
Visit 1998: 3-12
Silver
Grove Visit, 3-12
Silver
Grove: Manchester Almanacs. 3-13
Slave
Emancipation Compensation – Silver Grove 3-13
3.5 MOUNT CHARLES: 3-15
Slave
Emancipation Compensation 3-17
Mount
Charles: St Elizabeth Almanacs etc. 3-17
AM
Visit 1998: 3-17
3.6 The COVE &
LITTLE CULLODEN - Westmoreland 3-19
Thomas
Hogg to Patty Penford – 1785 3-19
Thomas
Taylor to Patty Pinford – 1778 3-19
4 OTHER RELATED
PROPERTIES – Almanacs etc 4-1
4.1 Booth Vere
Properties 4-1
Yarmouth
Estate. 4-1
Carlisle
Estate 4-2
Salt
Savanna Estate 4-4
James
Wildman 4-7
4.2 Misceallaneous
Propeties 4-7
Enfield:
Vere 4-8
Between
Junction and Treasure Beach. Small elongated town in 2010. 1811: Powell, Sarah,
Tophill 35/ - 4-9
Ashton
Pen 4-9
Booth
Mentions: 4-13
Cohens:
St Elizabeth. 4-16
Hyman's:
Vere. 4-17
Wrights:
Vere. 4-17
Wrights:
St Elizabeth. 4-17
Pusey
Hall: 4-17
Wint:
Vere. 4-17
Thomas
Hercey Barratt 4-18
Mile
Gully 4-18
5 Road & Parish
Changes 5-1
Surveyors 5-1
Act
24 1683 P38 - An Act for regulating Surveyors, 5-1
Parish
Boundaries 5-4
1683:
Boundary of St Elizabeth & Clarendon 5-4
1703:
Dividing St Elizabeth 5-4
1723:
Westmoreland divided. 5-5
1739:
St Elizabeth/Vere/Clarendon Boundary 5-6
1744:
Road from St Ann to St Thomas in the Vale. 5-7
Southside
to Savanna la Mar, 1823 Magistrates Guide 5-7
Division
of Salt Savanna 5-7
New
Leeward Road 5-11
1705,
New Road over One Eye Savanna: 5-11
1750:
More on 1747 Act 5-17
Repairing
St Jago – Pepper Road Vol 2 Act 32, 1762 P69 5-18
Extract
from Long: on Western Road 5-21
6 WEIGHTS, MEASURES
& COINAGE 6-1
6.1 Land Areas – Acres,
Roods & Poles 6-1
6.2 COINS USED IN
JAMAICA 6-2
PUNCHEON 6-2
CUSTOMARY
(OLD) WEIGHTS & MEASURES 6-3
MEAT
WEIGHT 6-5
FISH
MEASURE SCOTCH LIQUID MEASURE 6-5
COKE
MEASURE 6-5
TIMBER
MEASURE 6-5
WOOL
WEIGHT 6-6
BREAD
AND FLOUR WEIGHTS 6-6
WHEATEN
BREAD 6-6
CHEESE
AND BUTTER WEIGHT 6-6
GLASS
WEIGHT 6-6
HAY
AND STRAW 6-6
7 OTHER PLACES of
INTEREST & PARISH INFORMATION 7-1
7.1 Geographical
Features of Note 7-1
Round
Hill 7-1
7.2 Other Relevant
& Surrounding Properties 7-2
Font
Hill, 7-2
Fullerswood
(Salmon): 7-2
Palisadoes 7-2
Port
Royal 7-2
Roses
Valley, 7-3
Chew
Magna, 7-3
Fort
William 7-3
Morningside 7-3
Greenwich
Estate 7-3
Harmony
Hall 7-3
Monymusk 7-4
Surinam
Quarters & James Bannister 7-4
PARISH
INFORMATION 7-6
Parish
Records: 7-6
Clarendon
Clarendon Capital & Parish Church 7-6
CORNWALL
- General Information 7-7
ST
ELIZABETH PARISH INFORMATION 7-8
GENERAL 7-8
POSITION/SIZE/DESCRIPTION 7-8
BRIEF
HISTORY 7-9
POPULATION:
148,900 (1999) 7-10
MAJOR
INDUSTRIES/SOURCES OF EMPLOYMENT 7-10
MAJOR
HISTORICAL/CULTURAL/RECREATIONAL/ECOLOGICAL SITES 7-10
Savanna-la-Mar 7-12
St
Thomas in the Vale 7-12
EMANCIPATION
IN JAMAICA – New York Times 1860 7-12
8 JAMAICA ALAMANACS,
HANDBOOKS & NEWSPAPERS ETC 8-1
8.1 ALMANACS EXTRACTS 8-1
8.2 Royal Gazettes 8-11
The
Columbian 1796/7 8-13
SUGAR
ESTATES IN CULTIVATION IN JAMAICA: 8-14
8.3 Hurricanes 8-15
Jamaica
Hurricane of 3 October 1780 8-15
Plato
the Wizard 8-15
Wrath
of Plato's Spirit 8-16
From
Colonial Office files, CO137/79: 8-16
Extract
from the Supplement to the Kingston Gazette, 14 Oct 1780. 8-17
Hurricane
1 August 1781 8-20
9 MONEY 9-1
9.1 Handbook of World
Exchange Rates, 1590-1914 9-1
SUPPLEMENT
TO THE ROYAL GAZETTE; September 1832 9-2
Money
and exchange rates in 1632 9-5
10 MAPS, CENSUS &
LANDHOLDERS 10-1
10.1 Jamaica Maps 10-1
10.2 Jamaica 1670 census 10-3
THE
SURVEY OF THE ISLAND OF JAMAICA (1670). 10-3
10.3 1754 Landholders 10-13
11 ESTATE MAPS 11-1
11.1 ESTATE PLANS Error! Bookmark not defined.
11.2 Manchester 11-4
11.3 St Catherine: 11-8
11.4 St Elizabeth 11-9
12 LAND SETTLEMENT
& GRANTS: 12-1
12.1 JHT Cultural Report
Extracts 12-1
12.1.1 Background to the
Cultural Heritage of the South Coast 12-1
12.2 Encumbered Estates 12-3
Misc
PRO Docs 12-6
RESEARCH
by JACKIE RANSTONE 12-6
13 SLAVERY. 13-1
13.1.1 FREE COLOURED
COMMUNITY 13-3
13.2 European Peasants v
African Slaves 13-4
Slavery
- Columbian Magazine, June 1796 13-4
13.3 SLAVE REGISTRATION
RECORDS at the PRO. 13-6
1817 13-6
1820 13-9
1823 13-10
1826 13-11
1829 13-12
1832 13-13
Manumissions: 13-13
13.4 Slave Compensation 13-15
Giddy
Hall 13-15
Mitcham 13-15
Silver
Grove 13-16
Mount
Charles 13-16
Manumissions: 13-17
Runaway
Slaves in Jamaica 13-17
13.5 Apprentices 13-18
14 Legislation etc 14-18
14.1 17 Acts (of
Privilege) of the Jamaican Assembly 1760-1810 14-18
14.2 Calendar of State
Papers – Extracts 14-10
15 HISTORICAL SOURCES
and OTHER EXTRACTS 15-1
15.1 Caribbeana by Vere
Langford Oliver (1910). 15-1
WEST
INDIA COMMITTEE 15-3
A
Descriptive Account of the Island of Jamaica (Beckford) 15-4
Pens
and Pen-keepers: 15-4
Planters,
Attorneys, Overseers, etc: 15-6
PEN
KEEPERS & SLAVERY - Shepherd 15-9
BRETT
ASHMEADE-HAWKINS 15-15
TROLLOPE’S
SPANISH TOWN: 15-17
“MORANT
BAY REBELLION” 15-33
ADDRESSES
TO HIS EXCELLENCY EDWARD JOHN EYRE 15-33
16 Monumental
Inscriptions 16-1
Burton: 16-1
Hayle: 16-1
Sinclair: 16-1
Wright 16-1
17 Delaroche Family
& Giddy Hall 17-1
Descendants
of Thomas Delaroche 17-3
18 CROPS – General
Information 18-1
18.1 Rum 18-1
18.2 Sugar 18-1
18.2.1 Mills 18-1
18.2.2 Sugar Estate – The
Economist 1844 18-4
Sugar
and Slavery: Molasses to Rum to Slaves 18-9
Sugar
Prices: 18-12
18.3 Coffee 18-14
Labour
Regimen on Jamaican Coffee Plantations during Slavery 18-14
edited
by Kathleen E. A. Monteith, Glen Richards Coffee Costings, late 18thC 18-17
18.4 PIMENTO. – Robert
Renny – 1807 SECTION VIII. 18-24
18.4.1 Cost 18-25
18.5 Indigo Crop 18-26
18.5.1 Long on Indigo, V1
P415 18-26
The
Processing of Indigo 18-29
The
Early Modern Period 18-30
The
British in the Atlantic Indigo Trade 18-30
18.6 COTTON 18-32
18.6.1 Sloane extract 18-32
18.6.2 Robert Renny – 1807
SECTION III. 18-32
18.6.3 Other Cotton
reports 18-33
18.6.4 Cotton Gin 18-34
18.6.5 Cotton Price 18-35
18.7 Logwood 18-35
19 Random notes 19-1
19.1 Quit rents: 19-1
19.2 Lewis on colour: 19-1
19.3 Marine Insurance 19-1
DREADFUL
DEPRECIATION OF WEST INDIA PROPERTY 19-17
20 Jamaica Archives
and Registrar General Department 20-1
Research
Results Plans and Notes January 2008: 20-2
April
2009: 20-2
January
2010: 20-3
Done
2008: 20-3
To
Be Done 1/2/08: 20-3
Further
Research required (3/2008): 20-4
Jamaica
Jan 2010: 20-5
To
Do Next (Jan 10): 20-6
Plats
& Land Grants: 20-7
To
be Done, 4/2011: Deeds: 20-8
Wills: 20-9
Inventories 20-10
Plats
& Patents: 20-10
To
do Jan 2012 20-11
Wills 20-11
Manumissions: 20-11
Plats
& Patents 20-12
Patents 20-12
Deeds 20-12
Crops 20-12
Other 20-12
Done
July 2012 20-12
To
do Aug 2012: 20-13
To
Do May/June 2013 20-14
To
Do Nov 2013: 20-16
To
do Jan 2014: 20-17
To
do Nov 2014: 20-19
To
do Aug 2015: 20-22
PRO 20-28
Jamaica
Sept 2016 for next visit 20-29
Feb
2018 For next time 20-34
To
do after Feb 2019 20-36
Jam
Archives – 3/20 20-37
After
March 2020 to do 20-38
Library
of Jamaica 20-39
PRO 20-41
21 Changes: 21-1
April
2020 to Do 21-1
Photographs & Maps:
Giddy
Hall Air Photo in 1952.
Giddy Hall rear view in 1899.
Giddy Hall front view in 1899.
Mount
Charles in 1998, front and rear.
Mitchum Air Photo in 1952
Mitchum Site Photo in 1998.
Black
River, Giddy Hall and Mount Charles area map extract.
1755
& 1804 Maps with Gazetteer
ACTS OF ASSEMBLY,
PASSED IN THE ISLAND of JAMAICA;
From the YEAR 1681 to the YEAR 1768, inclusive.
IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. I. SAINT JAGO DE LA VEGA, JAMAICA:
Printed by LOWRY and SHERLOCK, Printers, Booksellers and
Stationers.
MDCCLXIX (1769)
Dictionary of Place-Names in Jamaica
DPNJ
(extracts) Inez Knibb Sibley
(Institute of Jamaica 1978).
HBJ----: Handbook of Jamaica yyyy or Jamaica Almanac yyyy.
JR1998: Jackie Ranston research.
AMV1998: Visit by A Maitland, 4/1998. (extended by visit 4/02)
JS: "Jamaica Surveyed" by BW Higman.
Map1804: 1804 Map of Jamaica Properties
LDS: Mormon Parish Records etc.
VLO: Vere Langford Oliver, 1910, Caribbeanea.
"Thomas Thistlewood in Jamaica, 1750-86", by Douglas Hall, University of West Indies Press (ISBN 976-640-066-0) - a graphic description of the life of
a planter in the period, from his diaries.
BAH: Brett Ashmeade-Hawkins.
The Western Design – An account of Cromwell’s Expedition to the Caribbean.
S.A.G. Taylor
Pub. The Institute of Jamaica 1865 SBM 901814 02 4
UCL: Legacies of British Slave Ownership, online 3/2013.
For more general information, try:
Jamaican family information
Notice re William Ward & Co, or Alexander Sinclair of Port Royal Street.
(Vol IV P70 jan26 1782)
REGNAL YEARS
Another example: 2 May 1662. This is in the reign of Charles
II, whose first regnal year is 1649. So 1662-1649 = 13, add 1 because 2 May is
after 30 January, so the date falls in the 14th regnal year of Charles II.
|
Monarch
|
No. of Years
|
First regnal year
|
Regnal year start date
|
Regnal year end date
|
End of final year
|
|
William I
|
21
|
1066
|
14 October
|
13 October
|
9 Sep 1087
|
|
William II
|
13
|
1087
|
26
September
|
25
September
|
2 Aug 1100
|
|
Henry I
|
36
|
1100
|
5 August
|
4 August
|
1 Dec 1135
|
|
Stephen
|
19
|
1135
|
26 December
|
25 December
|
25 Oct 1154
|
|
Henry II
|
35
|
1154
|
19 December
|
18 December
|
6 Jul 1189
|
|
Richard I
|
10
|
1189
|
3 September
|
2 September
|
6 Apr 1199
|
|
John
|
18
|
1199
|
May (Ascension Day)A
|
May
(varied)
|
19 Oct 1216
|
|
Henry III
|
57
|
1216
|
28 October
|
27 October
|
16 Nov 1272
|
|
Edward I
|
35
|
1272
|
20 November
|
20 November B
|
7 Jul 1307
|
|
Edward II
|
20
|
1307
|
8 July
|
7 July
|
20 Jan 1327
|
|
Edward III
|
51 (England),
38 (France) C
|
1327
|
25 January
|
24 January
|
21 Jun 1377
|
|
Richard II
|
23
|
1377
|
22 June D
|
21 June
|
29 Sep 1399
|
|
Henry IV
|
14
|
1399
|
30
September
|
29
September
|
20 Mar 1413
|
|
Henry V
|
10
|
1413
|
21 March
|
20 March
|
31 Aug 1422
|
|
Henry VI
|
39 + 1 E
|
1422
|
1 September
|
31 August
|
4 Mar 1461
|
|
Edward IV
|
23
|
1461
|
4 March
|
3 March
|
9 Apr 1483
|
|
Edward V
|
1
|
1483
|
9 April
|
25 June
|
25 Jun 1483
|
|
Richard III
|
3
|
1483
|
26 June
|
25 June
|
22 Aug 1485
|
|
Henry VII
|
24
|
1485
|
22 August
|
21 August
|
21 Apr 1509
|
|
Henry VIII
|
38
|
1509
|
22 April
|
21 April
|
28 Jan 1547
|
|
Edward VI
|
7
|
1547
|
28 January
|
27 January
|
6 Jul 1553
|
|
Mary I
|
2
|
1553
|
6 July F
|
5 July
|
24 Jul 1554 G
|
|
"Philip and Mary"
|
5 & 6 G
|
1554
|
25 July
|
24 July
|
17 Nov 1558
|
|
Elizabeth I
|
45
|
1558
|
17 November
|
16 November
|
24 Mar 1603
|
|
James I
|
23
|
1603
|
25 March H
|
24 March
|
27 Mar 1625
|
|
Charles I
|
24
|
1625
|
27 March
|
26 March
|
30 Jan 1649
|
|
Charles II
|
37 I
|
1649
|
30 January
|
29 January
|
6 Feb 1685
|
|
James II
|
4
|
1685
|
6 February
|
5 February
|
11 Dec 1688 J
|
|
"William and Mary"
|
6
|
1689
|
13 FebruaryK
|
12 February
|
27 Dec 1694
|
|
William III
|
8
(7 to 14) L
|
1694
|
28 December L
|
27 December
|
8 Mar 1702
|
|
Anne
|
13
|
1702
|
8 March
|
7 March
|
1 Aug 1714
|
|
George I
|
13
|
1714
|
1 August
|
31 July
|
11 Jun 1727
|
|
George II
|
34
|
1727
|
11 June
|
10 June
|
25 Oct 1760
|
|
George III
|
60 M
|
1760
|
25 October
|
24 October
|
29 Jan 1820
|
|
George IV
|
11 N
|
1820
|
29 January
|
28 January
|
26 Jun 1830
|
|
William
IV
|
7
|
1830
|
26 June
|
25 June
|
20 Jun 1837
|
|
Victoria
|
64
|
1837
|
20 June
|
19 June
|
22 Jan 1901
|
|
Edward VII
|
10
|
1901
|
22 January
|
21 January
|
6 May 1910
|
|
George V
|
26
|
1910
|
6 May
|
5 May
|
20 Jan 1936
|
|
Edward VIII
|
1
|
1936
|
20 January
|
11 December
|
11 Dec 1936
|
|
George VI
|
16
|
1936
|
11 December
|
10 December
|
5 Feb 1952
|
|
Elizabeth II
|
(ongoing)
(2016 = 65th)
|
1952
|
6 February
|
5 February
|
|
Parish Record notes
St Catherine
transcribed from the original by John Venn 1755.
1680’S Rector changes – more info. Marriages from adjoining
parishes as well. Parishes mentions stop 1691.
A very few negroes listed as being married late 17thC.
Coloureds start to appear about 1730
Bapts: Dec 1742: “From this date to the time of my Incumbency, I find no
Baptisms recorded. Those on the next pages I have taken from the several Family
Bibles of other Register.
John Venn Rector, Sept 5 1755.
John Venn appears September 1748.
Baps finish
folio 83 continue f 249
St Elizabeth:
1773 (V1/35) is the first year when the baptisms were split into white and non
white. The few years before that were not well laid out, there being no
definite year breaks.
1775 (V1/39) the first of the mass coloured baptisms appear.
6 Feb 1785 V1/48:
NB There being the strongest reason to believe that these free persons had been
regularly baptised by former Rectors though it does not appear by the Parish
Register the hypothetical form was used in order to avoid the Improprieties of
rebaptising and yet comply with the request of the Parties who were extremely
desirous to ascertain their Baptism.
Marriages: P286, image 146 – 319/165
Burials: 321/166 to end (image 180)
Clarendon
1737 Natural kids bapt
more by 1750
Done to sheet 118 - 1755, marriages still listed alongside Baps.
Vere
From Mid 1715, baps list god parents, intermittently.
Many slaves bapt late 18th & early 19thC
LDS website missing folios 33, 110 & 184.
Mar from folios 147 (sheet 77)
Bur from folio 167 (sheet 87).
A Glossary of Estates in Land and Future
Interests
http://www.law.harvard.edu/faculty/cdonahue/courses/prop/lec/EFI.GLO.html
The Roman jurist Javolenus once said “all definitions in matters of civil
law are dangerous; there is hardly any that cannot be upset.” Never have I
been as sure of the wisdom of this remark as I was after attempting to define
the principal terms in the common law system of estates and future interests.
I hope that what follows is more a help than a hindrance. I would appreciate
comments, suggestions, criticisms (including suggestions that the whole
exercise wasn’t worth it). Obviously, I am particularly interested in anything
that strikes you either as flat-out wrong or as ambiguous.
absolute -- Not subject to any condition. Usually applied only to fees.
alienation -- A general term for the transfer of property interests.
Frequently limited to alienations inter vivos. See also inalienable interest.
ancestor -- The person from whom an heir takes by descent.
base fee -- A determinable fee. See determinable interest.
bar -- To prevent, normally by fine or common recovery, a future interest from
ever taking effect. Inchoate dower and reversions or remainders following fees
tail are the most frequently barred interests.
beneficial interest -- The right to the rents, profits, or more broadly all
benefits from property. See also equitable interest, legal interest.
chattel -- Personal property, as opposed to real property.
chattel real -- An interest in land classified for some purposes, e.g.
succession, as personal property rather than real property. The interest of a
termor is a chattel real.
class gift -- A grant or devise to a group of people who are described but not
named, e.g. “to the children of A”.
common -- See tenancy in common.
common law -- The judge-made law of England received by the United States in
the 18th and early 19th centuries. The common law of estates and future
interests is normally thought to include the “common law statutes,” i.e., De
Donis, Quia Emptores, Uses, and a statute of wills. There is no agreement as
to what date should be regarded as the cutoff for the common law, but in the
field of estates and land and future interests, “common law” normally refers to
some period before the statutory reforms of the middle decades of the 19th
century.
common recovery -- A conveyancing device employing fictitious litigation. By
common recovery the tenant in tail may dock or bar the entail and convey a full
fee simple.
community property -- Not a common law concept but a device of the civil law
whereby husband and wife become, roughly, tenants in common, of all that either
of them acquires as a result of his/her efforts during the marriage.
concurrent interest -- Any undivided present or future interest shared by more
than one person. See also joint tenancy, tenancy by coparcenary, tenancy by
the entireties, tenancy in common.
condition precedent -- A condition that by the terms of the grant or devise
must be fulfilled prior to interest’s vesting. The condition may be express,
e.g. “to Joan if she obtains a college degree”, or implied, e.g., “to Joan’s
first-born son” when Joan has no sons.
condition subsequent -- A defeasing condition, one that will terminate or
modify the interest after it has vested.
conditional limitation -- An a defeasing condition with further provision as to
what is to happen if the condition is fulfilled. The term is ambiguous, but is
frequently applied to determinable fees and those subject to an executory
limitation but not to fees subject to a right of entry or power of termination
retained in the grantor/devisor. Sometimes the term is applied only to fees
subject to an executory limitation. See also fee simple conditional.
condominiums -- A form of ownership of real estate, largely the creature of
statute, in which the condominium owner holds title to his/her unit and has a
concurrent interest in the common property of the condominium.
contingent interest -- Normally applied only to future interests, the phrase
implies the presence of conditions precedent.
contingent remainder -- A remainder subject to one or more conditions precedent
other than the natural expiration of the preceding estate. See also
destructibility.
conveyance -- Alienation of an interest in real property. Sometimes the word
is confined to alienations inter vivos.
cooperatives -- A form of holding real estate, in which the cooperator is a
stock holder in a corporation which owns real estate and which leases to the
cooperator a unit within the cooperative.
coparceners -- A form of concurrent interest held by the female heirs of a
decedent who left no male heir. See tenancy by coparcenary.
cotenants -- The holders of a concurrent interest.
coverture -- The period during which a woman is married to a particular
husband.
curtesy -- The right of the husband to a life estate in all lands in which his
wife had a beneficial interest during coverture. The estate arises upon the
birth of child who cries to the four walls and only applies to those lands
which the issue of the marriage might inherit. During coverture after the
birth of issue, curtesy is described as initiate. After the death of the wife
the husband surviving her the curtesy is described as consummate.
De Donis -- A statute in 1285 that, in effect, prevented the holder of fee tail
from conveying, in effect, more than a life estate for his life.
defeasible interest -- A determinable interest or one subject to a condition
subsequent.
descent -- Succession to an interest in real property upon the death of the
holder of the interest.
destructibility -- Contingent remainders are destroyed: (1) if the precedent
condition is not fulfilled; (2) at common law if the precedent condition is not
fulfilled prior to the expiration of the preceding estate; and (3) at common
law, by merger if the holder of the preceding estate acquires the reversion in
fee.
determinable interest -- An interest that expires of its own terms upon the
happening of some contingency. Words such as “so long as,” “while” and “until”
normally create determinable interests. Determinable interests, if not
followed by a valid executory interest, are normally followed by an express or
implied possibility of reverter in the grantor/devisor.
descent -- Succession to real property when the holder dies intestate.
defeasance -- The termination of an interest other than by its natural
expiration. Determinable fees and life estates and fees and life estates
subject to a condition subsequent are all defeasible interests.
devise -- Alienation of an interest in real property by will or testament. See
also executory devise.
disabling restraint -- See restraints on alienation.
distribution -- Succession to personal property when the holder dies intestate.
dock the entail -- Remove from a fee tail the characteristic that it may only
be inherited by the issue of the first tenant in tail.
Doctrine of Worthier Title -- If a grant or devise expressly creates a
remainder in the heirs of the grantor/devisor, that remainder is a nullity.
The grantor/devisor retains a reversion which passes (unless otherwise disposed
of) to his heirs by descent rather than by purchase.
donee -- The holder of an estate, normally a freehold estate. Usually
synonymous with “purchaser.”
dower -- The right of a wife who survives her husband to be assigned a life
estate in one-third of all lands of which the husband was seised, or entitled
to be seised, of an estate in fee simple or fee tail, during coverture, which
estate the issue of the marriage, if any, might have inherited. During the
marriage dower is described as “inchoate.” Upon the death of the husband, the
wife surviving, the wife acquires the right to have dower assigned. Once
assigned dower becomes an alienable interest.
entail -- See fee tail.
entireties -- See tenancy by the entirety.
entry -- See right of entry.
equitable interest -- An interest that only the Chancery Court would recognize
and defend. (Normally, equitable interests are good only among the parties to
the transaction creating the interest, those in privity with them, and those
who have notice of the transaction.) See also beneficial interest, legal
interest.
executory limitation -- See fee subject to an executory limitation.
estate -- The right to possession of real property. (Normally the term estate
is applied only to freehold interests, but its application to non-freehold
interests, e.g. “an estate for years,” is accurate.)
estate for years -- See “term.”
executed -- See Uses.
executory devise -- A springing or shifting use created by will.
executory interest -- Springing and shifting uses and executory devises.
Specifically, any future interest created in someone other than the
grantor/devisor that cannot take effect upon the natural expiration of the
preceding estate. Examples of executory interests include interests that take
effect upon the defeasance of a present fee or life estate and upon the
defeasance of a reversion or remainder in fee or for life and feoffments in
futuro.
expiration -- See natural expiration.
farm -- See fee farm.
fee -- A descendible freehold estate of potentially infinite duration.
fee farm -- A fee interest subject to a rent.
fee simple -- A fee that may be inherited by the holder’s heirs general, i.e.
anyone who would qualify as the holder’s heir.
fee simple conditional -- Prior to the statute De Donis, grants in the form “to
A and the heirs of his body” were held to create a fee in A
subject to the precedent condition that A have issue. These are called
fees simple conditional.
fee simple determinable -- See determinable interest.
fee subject to an executory limitation -- A defeasible fee followed by an
executory interest.
fee subject to a term of years -- The interest of the landlord in a
landlord-tenant relationship, sometimes called the landlord’s “reversion.”
fee tail -- A fee that may be inherited only by the issue (or a class of the
issue) of the first donee in tail.
fee tail female -- A fee tail that may be inherited only by the female issue of
the first donee in tail.
fee tail general -- A fee tail that may be inherited by any of the issue of the
first donee in tail.
fee tail male -- A fee tail that may be inherited only by the male issue of the
first donee in tail.
fee tail special -- A fee tail that may be inherited only by the issue of the
first donee in tail and a particular spouse of his/hers.
female -- See fee tail female.
feoffment -- A common law mode of conveyance in which seisin was physically
transferred from the conveyor to the conveyee.
feoffment in futuro -- A grant or devise to begin at some time after the
effective date of the instrument. Feoffments in futuro were void at common law
but could be created by way of executory interest.
feoffment to uses -- A feoffment in which the feoffor retains the beneficial
interest in the property in himself or conveys it to someone other than the
feofees. See also uses, Uses.
fine -- A conveyancing device employing fictitious litigation. Used to bar
dower and, in some periods, to dock and bar entails.
forfeiture -- At common law the holder of interests in real property forfeited
his interest by committing treason or felony, also by certain types of waste
and by certain types of attempts to convey more than he had.
forfeiture restraint -- See restraints on alienation.
freehold -- Estates for life and in fee. Estates that give the tenant seisin
as well as the right to possession.
future interest -- An interest in real property that may be fully exercised or
enjoyed only at some future time. When applied to estates, the term “future
interest” refers to a right to possession to commence some time in the future.
The fact that an estate is a future interest does not necessarily mean that it
is not alienable, devisable or descendible.
general -- See fee tail general.
gift -- The alienation of property for no consideration. Also, the conveyance
inter vivos of a possessory interest in land.
grant -- The conveyance inter vivos of a non-possessory interest in land. More
broadly, any alienation of an interest in land inter vivos.
heir -- The person or persons entitled to succeed to the interests in real
property of someone who is deceased. inalienable interest -- At common law
contingent remainders, executory interests, possibilities of reverter and
rights of entry could not normally be conveyed inter vivos. All these
interests could descend to the heirs at law of the deceased holder, and
contingent remainders and executory interests could be devised. Rights of
entry could not be devised, and there was doubt whether possibilities of
reverter could be devised.
inchoate dower -- See dower.
inter vivos -- “Between living persons.” Frequently used to describe
alienations where the alienor is living at the time of the effective date of
the alienation.
interest -- The broadest term for rights, powers and privileges that the law
will recognize in property.
intestate -- Without a will.
issue -- Lineal descendants (children, grandchildren, great grandchildren,
etc.)
joint tenancy -- A concurrent interest in which all tenants acquire at the same
time and by the same instrument an equal share in the same interest, with the
right to succeed to each other. See also severance.
jure uxoris -- An estate of the husband in the land of his wife. The estate
gives the husband the right to the profits of the land and to manage and
control them during coverture.
legal interest -- An interest that the central royal courts of common law would
recognize and defend. Normally, legal interests are “good as against the whole
world” or at least against most third parties. See also beneficial interest,
equitable interest.
limitation -- A description of the type of interest in question (for how long,
under what conditions, etc.), but not who is to take it. See also conditional
limitation.
male -- See fee tail male.
married women’s property acts -- Statutes passed in virtually every common law
jurisdiction during the 19th and early 20th centuries. They normally state
that married women may hold and convey property as if they were unmarried.
measuring life -- The life or lives within which an interest must vest in order
to be valid under the Rule Against Perpetuities, or the life that determines
the length of an estate pur autre vie.
merger -- When one person comes to hold an estate for years or for life and a
future interest in fee simple the “lesser” interest for years or life combines
with the interest in fee simple giving the holder just a fee simple. Merger
does not take place when the interests are created at the same time, nor when
the first interest is in fee tail, nor when there is an intervening vested
interest. Merger does take place if a current possessor for life later
acquires a reversion or remainder in fee, even if there is an intervening
contingent remainder. See destructibility.
moiety -- The share in property of a cotenant other than a tenant by the
entirety.
natural expiration of an estate -- Natural expiration of an estate occurs only
upon the happening of any of the following the events: (1) the death of a
tenant of a life estate; (2) the death of the measuring life of an estate pur
autre vie; (3) the death of a tenant in tail when all the issue of the first
donee in tail to whom the estate was limited have predeceased the tenant.
non-freehold -- Estates for years, periodic tenancies, tenancies at will, and
tenancies at sufferance. Estates that give the tenant only possession and not
seisin.
partition -- The right of one concurrent tenant to demand that his share of the
tenancy be given to him solely, either in kind or after a judicial sale.
partnership -- See tenancy in partnership.
periodic tenancy -- A non-freehold estate that lasts from one period time to
another unless and until terminated by notice from landlord to tenant or vice
versa. Tenancies from week-to-week, month-to-month, and year-to-year are the
most common forms (though not the only possible forms) of periodic tenancies.
Perpetuities -- See Rule Against Perpetuities.
possibility of reverter -- A future interest in the grantor/devisor giving the
holder the right to possession immediately upon the termination of a
determinable interest.
power of appointment -- A device used in modern estate planning whereby the
holder of the power has the power of determining to whom a particular interest
should go. Powers may be inter vivos or testamentary, or both.
They may be general, in which case the holder of the power may appoint to
anyone, including him- or herself, or they may be special, in which case the
holder of the power may choose among a specified group or class of people or
insitutions. (Charitable powers of appointment are quite common.)
power of termination -- See right of entry.
precedent -- See condition precedent.
present estate -- An estate in which the holder has the immediate right to
possession.
primogeniture -- A system of intestate succession in which the eldest male heir
is preferred over others in the same degree of kinship.
promissory restraint -- See restraints on alienation.
pur autre vie -- For the life of another. An estate pur autre vie is a life
estate for the life of someone other than the tenant.
purchase -- A description of who is to take the interest in question.
Confusingly, in the vocabulary of estates in land “purchase” has nothing to do
with whether consideration has passed for the transaction. A purely donative
transaction will contain “words of purchase,” describing the alienee(s).
qualified fee -- An ambiguous term sometimes referring to defeasible fees
generally and sometimes describing only determinable fees.
Quia Emptores -- A statute in 1290 that prohibited the subinfeudation of land
and, in effect, permitted tenants alienate by substitution without obtaining
permission of their lords.
remainder -- A future interest in someone other than the grantor/devisor that
may become possessory upon the natural expiration of a preceding estate. See
also contingent remainder, vested interest.
rent -- The right to a money payment issuing out of land normally held by
non-freeholder and normally payable to the landlord (freeholder).
restraints on alienation -- A condition or covenant in a grant or devise that
expressly limits the power of the grantee or devisee to alienate an otherwise
alienable interest. Restraints on alienation are traditionally categorized
into three types: (1) disabling restraints, those which purport to remove the
characteristic of alienability from the interest in question; (2) forfeiture
restraints, those which purport to make the interest defeasible if an attempt
is made to alienate it; (3) promissory restraints, in which the grantee/devisee
covenants not to alienate the interest. Most restraints on alienation of
freehold interests are void.
resulting use -- After the Statute of Uses a legal interest in a feoffor to
uses who attempted to retain all or part of the beneficial interest in
him/herself.
reversion -- A vested future interest in the grantor/devisor, expressed in the
grant or devise or implied when the grantor devisor fails to convey the entire
interest that he/she has. See also fee subject to a term of years.
reversionary interest -- Any future interest in the grantor/devisor, i.e.,
reversions, rights of entry and possibilities of reverter.
reverter -- A possibility of reverter. Also, a future interest in the grantor
following upon a fee simple conditional.
right of entry -- A future interest in the grantor/devisor, which gives him/her
the option of taking back an estate that has been granted on a condition
subsequent. For our purposes rights of entry and powers of termination are synonymous.
Rule Against Perpetuities -- “No interest is good unless it must vest, if at
all, not later than twenty-one years after some life or lives in being at the
creation of the interest.” For perpetuities purposes, all interests retained
by the grantor/devisor are vested; executory interests do not vest until they
become possessory (an exception being made for executory interests subject to
no contingency other than the termination of a determinable term of years); and
remainders vest when they become vested remainders.
Rule in Shelley’s Case -- If a grant or devise creates some freehold estate in
an ancestor and if, in the same conveyance, a remainder of the same quality
(legal or equitable as the case may be) is expressly limited to the heirs or
heirs of the body of that same ancestor, then the phrase “and his heirs” or
“and the heirs of his body” is treated as words of limitation not words of
purchase, i.e. the ancestor takes both the freehold estate created in him and
the remainder.
severance -- The power to defeat the right of another joint tenant to succeed
to the interest of joint tenant by conveying all or part of the interest to
another.
Shelley’s Case -- See Rule in Shelley’s Case.
shifting use -- An executory interest the effect of which is to shift a vested
interest from one donee to another. Hence, any future interest created in a
third party that defeases a prior vested interest.
simple -- See fee simple.
special -- See fee tail special.
springing use -- An executory interest that springs out of the seisin of the
seisin of the grantor/devisor. Hence, an executory interest that makes the
grantor/devisor’s interest defeasible. Feoffments in futuro are springing
uses.
statute -- See De Donis, married women’s property acts, Quia Emptores, Uses,
Wills.
subinfeudation -- A form of alienation in which the grantor retained the feudal
lordship of the land in himself. Subinfeudation was abolished (prospectively)
by the statute Quia Emptores.
subsequent -- See condition subsequent.
substitution -- A form of alienation in which the grantor substitutes the
grantee for himself as tenant of the next higher lord.
succession -- The broadest term for the passage of property interests upon the
death of the holder intestate. Sometimes expanded to include the passage of
title to property by will.
sufferance -- See tenancy at sufferance.
tenancy -- Historically synonymous with estate. Today, we tend to use the word
“tenancy” to describe non-freehold estates. See also periodic tenancy and
below.
tenancy at sufferance -- A situation in which the landlord may choose to treat
the tenant as holding an estate or may treat him as a trespasser. Normally
this arises when the tenant has held over after the end of his term.
tenancy at will -- A non-freehold estate that is immediately terminable by
notice by either party at any time.
tenancy by coparcenary -- A form of concurrent interest in which the
coparceners hold as a unit like joint tenants but without the right to succeed
to each other. Coparceners had a common law right to partition their tenancy.
tenancy by the entirety -- A concurrent interest, much like joint tenancy,
except that the tenants must be husband and wife, and there is no power of
severance.
tenancy in common -- A concurrent interest which fails to be joint tenancy
either because it is expressly declared not be one or because it is not
characterized by the unity of time, title or interest. Upon the death of one
tenant in common his/her interest passes to his/her heirs or devisees and not
to the other tenants in common.
tenancy in partnership -- Not a common law concept, but a creation of statute,
whereby the partners become, roughly, tenants in common, of the property
acquired by the partnership for partnership purposes.
tenant -- The current possessor of a tenancy.
term of years -- A non-freehold estate that will last for some fixed period of
days, months or years.
testator -- The maker of a will.
testament -- For our purposes, synonymous with “will.”
trust -- An active use, one not executed by the Statute of Uses because the
trustees have something to do other than simply holding legal title.
use -- The beneficial interest in property the legal title to which was held by
feofees, whose sole function was hold the legal title. See resulting use,
springing use, shifting use.
Uses -- A statute in 1536 that converted (“executed”) equitable uses into legal
interests. See also trusts.
vest -- To take effect. Opposite of contingent. “Vest” is probably the most
difficult word on this list. The problem with it is that future interests may
vest (“vest in interest”) before they have become possessory (“vest in
possession”), if there is no precedent condition to their becoming possessory
other than the natural expiration of the preceding estate. At common law
vested interests were alienable even if they had not become possessory.
vested interest -- An interest subject to no conditions precedent other than
the natural expiration of the preceding estate. Since executory interests
cannot follow after the natural expiration of a preceding estate, executory
interests cannot become vested until they become possessory. By convention all
interests retained by the grantor (reversions, possibilities of reverter and
rights of entry) are vested.
vested remainder -- A remainder subject to no precedent condition other than
the natural expiration of the preceding estate.
vested subject to partial divestment --
vested subject to open -- A future interest in a class, one or more members of
which have been identified, but which may still be increased by
newly-identified members. A future interest “to the children of A” is
vested subject to partial divestment or vested subject to open if A has
one or more children and is still alive.
waste -- Acts that diminish the capital value of land. Possessors of land are
frequently liable to holders of future interests in the same land if the former
commit waste.
will -- A form of alienation to take effect on the death of the testator.
Wills have no effect while the testator is alive and may be changed or revoked
so long as the testator lives and is competent. See also tenancy at will.
Wills -- A statute in 1540 that permitted the devise of legal interests in real
property. More broadly, any statute that so provides.
words of limitation -- See limitation.
words of purchase -- See purchase.
Worthier Title -- See Doctrine of Worthier Title.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fee_tail
n
English common law, fee tail or entail is
a form of trust established by deed or settlement
which restricts the sale or inheritance of
an estate in real
property and prevents the property from being sold, devised
by will, or otherwise alienated by
the tenant-in-possession, and instead causes it to pass automatically by operation
of law to an heir pre-determined by the settlement deed. The
term fee tail is from Medieval
Latin feodum talliatum, which means
"cut(-short) fee", and is in contrast to "fee
simple" where no such restriction exists and where the
possessor has an absolute title (although subject to the allodial
title of the monarch) in the property which he can bequeath
or otherwise dispose of as he wishes. Equivalent legal concepts exist or
formerly existed in many other European countries and elsewhere
Purpose[edit]
The fee tail allowed a patriarch to perpetuate his
blood-line, family-name, honour and armorials[1] in the persons of a series of
powerful and wealthy male descendants. By keeping his estate intact in the
hands of one heir alone, in an ideally indefinite and pre-ordained chain of
succession, his own wealth, power and family honour would not be dissipated
amongst several male lines, as became the case for example in Napoleonic France
by operation of the Napoleonic Code which gave each child the legal right to
inherit an equal share of the patrimony, where a formerly great landowning
family could be reduced in a few generations to a series of small-holders or
peasant farmers. It therefore approaches the true corporation which is a legal
body or person which does not die and continues in existence and can hold
wealth indefinitely. Indeed, as a form of trust, whilst the individual trustees
may die, replacements are appointed and the trust itself continues, ideally
indefinitely. In England almost seamless successions were made from patriarch
to patriarch, the smoothness of which were often enhanced by baptising the
eldest son and heir with his father's Christian name for several generations,
for example the FitzWarin family, all named Fulk. Such indefinite inalienable
land-holdings were soon seen as restrictive on the optimum productive ability
of land, which was often converted to deer-parks or pleasure grounds by the
wealthy tenant-in-possession, which was damaging to the nation as a whole, and
thus laws against perpetuities were enacted, which restricted entails to a
maximum number of lives.[citation needed]
An entail also had the effect of disabling illegitimate
children from inheriting. It created complications for many propertied
families, especially from about the late 17th to the early 19th century,
leaving many individuals wealthy in land but heavily in debt, often due to
annuities chargeable on the estate payable to the patriarch's widow and younger
children, where the patriarch was swayed by sentiment not to establish a strict
concentration of all his wealth in his heir leaving his other beloved relatives
destitute. Frequently in such cases the generosity of the settlor left the
entailed estate as an uneconomical enterprise, especially during times when the
estate's fluctuating agricultural income had to provide for fixed sum
annuities. Such impoverished tenants-in-possession were unable to realise in
cash any part of their land or even to offer the property as security for a
loan, to pay such annuities, unless sanctioned by private Act of Parliament
allowing such sale, which expensive and time-consuming mechanism was frequently
resorted to. The beneficial owner (or tenant-in-possession) of the property in
fact had only a life interest in it, albeit an absolute right to the income it
generated, the legal owners being the trustees of the settlement, with the
remainder passing intact to the next successor or heir in law; any purported
bequest of the land by the tenant-in-possession was ineffective.[citation
needed]
History[edit]
Fee tail was established during feudal times by landed
gentry to attempt to ensure that the high social standing of the family, as
represented by a single patriarch, continued indefinitely. The concentration of
the family's wealth into the hands of a single representative was essential to
support this process. Unless the heir had himself inherited the personal and
intellectual strengths of the original great patriarch, often a great warrior,
which alone had brought him from obscurity to greatness, he would soon sink
again into obscurity, and required wealth to maintain his social standing. This
feature of English gentry and aristocracy differs from the true aristocracy
which existed in pre-Revolution France, where all sons of a nobleman inherited
his title and were thus inescapably members of a separate noble caste in
society. In England all younger sons of a nobleman were born as mere gentlemen
and commoners, and without the support of wealth could quickly descend into
obscurity, the eldest son alone being a nobleman. On this eldest son was
concentrated the honour of the family, and to him alone was granted all its
wealth to support his role in that regard, by the process of the fee tail.
Statute of Westminster 1285[edit]
The Statute of Westminster II, passed in 1285, created and
fixed the form of this estate. The new law was also formally called the statute
De Donis Conditionalibus (Concerning Conditional Gifts).
Opponents[edit]
Fee tail was never popular with the monarchy, the merchant
class and many holders of entailed estates themselves who wished to sell their
land.
Abolition[edit]
Fee tail as a legal estate in England was abolished by the
Law of Property Act 1925.[2]
Continuing use[edit]
A fee tail can still exist in England and Wales as an
equitable interest, behind a strict settlement; the legal estate is vested in
the current 'tenant for life' or other person immediately entitled to the
income, but on the basis that any capital money arising must be paid to the
settlement trustees. A tenant in tail in possession can bar his fee tail by a
simple disentailing deed, which does not now have to be enrolled. A tenant in
tail in reversion (i.e. a future interest where the property is subject to
prior life interest) needs the consent of the life tenant and any 'special
protectors' to vest a reversionary fee simple in himself. Otherwise he can only
create a base fee; a base fee only confers a right to the property on its
owner, when its creator would have become entitled to it; if its creator dies
before he would have received it, the owner of the base fee gets nothing. No
new "fees tail" can now be created following the Trusts of Land and
Appointment of Trustees Act 1996.[3]
In the US, conservation easements are a form of entail still
in use.
Creation[edit]
Traditionally, a fee tail was created by a trust established
in a deed, often a marriage settlement, or in a will "to A and the heirs
of his body". The crucial difference between the words of conveyance and
the words that created a fee simple ("to A and his heirs") is that
the heirs "in tail" must be the children begotten by the landowner.
It was also possible to have "fee tail male", which only sons could
inherit, and "fee tail female", which only daughters could inherit;
and "fee tail special", which had a further condition of inheritance,
usually restricting succession to certain "heirs of the body" and
excluding others. Land subject to these conditions was said to be
"entailed" or "held in-tail", with the restrictions
themselves known as entailments.
Breaking of fee-tail[edit]
The breaking of a fee tail was simplified by the Fines and
Recoveries Act 1833,[4] which replaced the conveyance for making a tenant to
the praecipe for suffering a common recovery. This was the usual preliminary to
a recovery with a disentailing assurance, which had to be enrolled. The need
for this to be followed by the fictitious proceeding of a common recovery was
abolished.
The requirement that a disentailing assurance should be
enrolled was abolished in 1926.[5]
Mortgage of entailed lands[edit]
Lending upon security of a mortgage on land in fee tail was risky,
since at the death of the tenant-in-possession, his personal estate ceased to
have any right to the estate or to the income it generated. The absolute right
to the income generated by the estate passed by operation of law to parties who
had no legal obligation to the lender, who therefore could not enforce payment
of interest on the new tenants-in-possession. The largest estate a possessor in
fee tail could convey to someone else was an estate for the term of the
grantor's own life. If all went as planned, it was therefore impossible for the
succession of patriarchs to lose the land, which was the idea.
Failure of issue[edit]
Main article: Failure of issue
Things did not always go as planned, however.
Tenants-in-possession of entailed estates occasionally suffered "failure
of issue" — that is, they had no legitimate children surviving them at the
time of their deaths. In this situation the entailed land devolved to male
cousins, i.e. back up and through the family tree to legitimate male descendants
of former tenants-in-possession, or reverted to the last owner in fee simple,
if still living. This situation produced complicated litigation and was an
incentive for the production and maintenance of detailed and authoritative
family pedigrees and supporting records of marriage, births, baptisms etc.
Depending on how the original deed or grant was worded, in
the event of there being daughters but no sons, all the sisters might inherit
jointly, it might pass to the eldest sister, it might be held in trust until
one of them should produce a (legitimate) son, or it might pass to the next
male-line relative (an uncle, say, or even a--sometimes very distant--cousin.)
Common recovery[edit]
In the 15th century, lawyers devised "common
recovery", an elaborate legal procedure which used collaborative lawsuits
and legal fictions to "bar" a fee tail, that is to say to remove the
restrictions of fee tail from land and to enable its conveyance in fee simple.
Resettlement[edit]
In the 17th and 18th centuries the practice arose whereby
when the son came of age (at 21), he and his father acting together could bar
the existing fee tail, and could then re-settle the land in fee tail, again on
the father for life, then to the son for life and his heirs male successively,
but at the same time making provision for annuities chargeable on the estate
for the father's widow, daughters and younger sons, and most importantly, and
as an incentive for the son to participate in the re-settlement, an income for
the son during his father's lifetime. This process effectively evaded the law
against perpetuities, as the entail in law had been terminated, but in practice
continued. In this way an estate could stay in a family for many generations,
yet emerged on re-settlement often fatally weakened, or much more susceptible
to agricultural downturns, from the onerous annuities now chargeable on it.
Formedon[edit]
Formedon (or form down etc.) was a right of writ exercisable
by a holder in fee for claiming property entailed by a lessee beyond the terms
of his feoffment.[clarification needed] A letter dated 1539 from the Lisle
Letters describes the circumstances of its use:[6]
"I received your ladyship's letter by which ye willed
me to speak with my Lady Coffyn for her title in East Haggynton in the county
of Devon who had one estate in tail to him and to his heirs of her body
begotten; and now he is dead without issue of his body so that the reversion
should revert to Mr John Basset and to his heirs so there be no let nor
discontinuance of the same made by Sir William Coffyn in his life. Howbeit Mr
Richard Coffyn, next heir to Sir William Coffyn, claimeth the same by his
uncle's feoffment to him and to his heirs so that the law will put Mr John
Basset from his entry and to compel him to take his action of form down which
is much dilatory as Mr Basset knoweth"
Tenants
in Common
In a joint tenancy, the right of survivorship allows the remaining tenants to
take over a tenant's property share if they die. In a tenancy in common, the
deceased person's share will pass to their heirs through a will or through the
probate process rather than to the surviving tenants.
Primogeniture
http://sc_tories.tripod.com/law_of_primogeniture_in_the_south.htm
LAW OF PRIMOGENITURE IN THE SOUTH
BY PHIL NORFLEET
PRIMOGENITURE CONCERNS REAL PROPERTY
The old English Law of Primogeniture concerns the inheritance of "real
property" only, such as land, buildings, etc. Under this law, the eldest
living son (the "heir at law") inherited all the real property of the
father if the father died intestate, i.e., without a will. If a will had been
made, then the will's stipulations would govern. Since primogeniture was such a
well known and standard procedure in the English speaking world, no specific
mention of this transfer of title to the deceased's real property would usually
be made in the court records concerning the estate.
DIVISION OF PERSONAL PROPERTY
Conversely, the personal property of the deceased, such as cattle, horses,
furniture, notes due the estate, etc. was NOT subject to primogeniture and
would customarily be equally divided among all the children, both male and
female. The widow was entitled to her right of dower, meaning a right to
one-third of the personal property during her lifetime. After her death the
entire estate could be sold and the proceeds divided among all the heirs.
Accordingly, even if Primogeniture was applicable, it still was necessary to
make an inventory of the deceased's personal property, as soon as possible
after death. The inventory would form the basis for the subsequent division of
the estate, even if the final division might not be made until years later.
Many genealogists, including many professionals, do not seem to fully
understand this need for an inventory when Primogeniture is applicable.
Life Expectancy
Kingston in the 1740’s and 50’s, the annual death rate was
20%, similar to London during the Great Plague, but every year, due partly to
the new arrivals and shipping crews.
Infant mortality, before age 5, was 46% pre 1700, but it was 60% after.
1/3 of 20 year olds failed to reach 30 and ½. Of 30 years olds died before 40.
sugar barons p292
Monetary Values
Cost and Wage Inflation
Standard inflation indices give a historical picture of the changing cost
of goods they do not relate those costs to historical income. Cost changes
related to wages gives an easier way to understand the values given in
historical documents. A spot comparison between wage and price inflation for
1755 to 2015 shows a ratio of 196 for prices and 637 for wages.
The table below shows the wage rates for various trades between 1755 &
1851, in £ Sterling. Wage rates for equivalent trades in 2012, factored to
2015, were used to produce a factor converting historical costs to current
values, based on wage rates as opposed to nominal inflation.
The second to last line shows the ratio between sterling at the column
date and 2015 sterling.
The last line shows the same ratio related to Jamaican pounds, using a
nominal exchange rates.
|
|
1755
|
1781
|
1797
|
1805
|
1810
|
1815
|
1819
|
1827
|
1835
|
1851
|
|
farm
labourers
|
17
|
21
|
30
|
40
|
42
|
40
|
39
|
31
|
30
|
29
|
|
non-farm
common labour
|
21
|
23
|
25
|
37
|
44
|
44
|
42
|
44
|
39
|
45
|
|
messengers
& porters
|
34
|
34
|
58
|
69
|
76
|
81
|
81
|
84
|
87
|
89
|
|
other
government low-wage
|
29
|
46
|
47
|
52
|
57
|
60
|
61
|
59
|
59
|
66
|
|
police
& guards
|
26
|
48
|
47
|
51
|
68
|
69
|
69
|
63
|
63
|
54
|
|
colliers
|
23
|
24
|
48
|
65
|
63
|
57
|
50
|
55
|
56
|
55
|
|
government
high-wage
|
79
|
104
|
134
|
151
|
177
|
195
|
219
|
223
|
270
|
235
|
|
shipbuilding
trades
|
39
|
45
|
52
|
51
|
55
|
59
|
57
|
62
|
63
|
64
|
|
engineering
trades
|
44
|
51
|
58
|
76
|
88
|
95
|
93
|
81
|
77
|
84
|
|
building
trades
|
31
|
36
|
41
|
55
|
66
|
66
|
63
|
66
|
60
|
66
|
|
cotton
spinners
|
36
|
42
|
48
|
65
|
78
|
68
|
68
|
59
|
65
|
59
|
|
printing
trades
|
46
|
54
|
67
|
71
|
79
|
79
|
71
|
70
|
70
|
75
|
|
clergy
|
92
|
183
|
139
|
266
|
284
|
273
|
167
|
255
|
159
|
267
|
|
solicitors
and barristers
|
231
|
243
|
165
|
340
|
448
|
448
|
448
|
523
|
1167
|
1838
|
|
clerks
|
64
|
102
|
135
|
150
|
178
|
201
|
230
|
240
|
269
|
236
|
|
surgeons
& doctors
|
62
|
88
|
175
|
218
|
218
|
218
|
218
|
175
|
101
|
201
|
|
schoolmasters
|
16
|
17
|
43
|
43
|
51
|
51
|
69
|
69
|
82
|
81
|
|
engineers
& surveyors
|
138
|
170
|
190
|
291
|
305
|
338
|
326
|
266
|
399
|
479
|
|
Modern Year
|
57
|
74
|
83
|
116
|
132
|
136
|
132
|
135
|
173
|
223
|
|
2015
|
637
|
491
|
435
|
312
|
275
|
268
|
275
|
269
|
210
|
162
|
|
Historical Amount £J
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1
|
455
|
351
|
311
|
223
|
196
|
191
|
197
|
192
|
150
|
116
|
Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries Inflation
Urbanization and Inflation: Lessons from the English Price
Revolution of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries
Jack A. Goldstone
American Journal of Sociology
Vol. 89, No. 5 (Mar., 1984), pp. 1122-1160 (JSTOR)
Urbanization and Inflation: Lessons from the English Price Revolution of the
Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries1
Jack A. Goldstone Northwestern University
The English price revolution (the 500% rise in prices from
1500 to 1650) has been attributed by some to an excess of money, due to bullion
imports from the New World, and by others to an excess of people, due to population
growth. This essay shows both accounts to be severely flawed. A simple model of
the impact of urban networks on monetary circulation is developed it argues
that taking account of the effects of urbanization and occupational specialization
on the velocity of money provides a fuller understanding of the price
revolution than explanations based simply on aggregate population growth or
changes in the money supply due to an influx of American metals. Implications
are drawn for accounts of inflation in both early modern Europe and the
contemporary developing world.
The gleam of gold and silver has dazzled many an eye. For many economic
historians, Spanish gold and silver imported from America long outshone all
other factors in accounting for the “price revolution”—the century and a half
of sustained inflation that accompanied, and in the view' of many caused, early
modern Europe’s rapid steps toward a more specialized, urban, market economy.
From 1400 to 1500, and from 1650 to 1750, prices in England remained virtually
unchanged. Yet in the intervening century and a half the price level rose 500%
(see table 1). A price rise of similar magnitude occurred at roughly the same
time throughout most of Europe. Although economists and historians have been
the main disputants in analyzing the price revolution, this early occurrence of
sustained inflation is of crucial importance to two groups of sociologists.
1 I have benefited greatly
from criticisms by Joel Mokyr and Christopher Winship, discussions with the
Northwestern University Economic History Seminar and the Cambridge Group for
the History of Population and Social Structure, and suggestions from the
referees of AJS, none of whom bear any responsibility for remaining errors.
Requests for reprints should be sent to Jack A. Goldstonc, Department of
Sociology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60201.
First, the price revolution occurred during the period that witnessed the
origins of capitalism and of the modern nation-state indeed, the rise in prices
has been cited as a key factor in both developments by Marxist and Weberian
scholars alike (Wallerstein 1974, pp. 77-84 Collins 1980, pp. 939-40). The
roots of the price revolution are thus tied to the central concerns of
historical sociology. Second, the question why an inflationary era arose
suddenly and was sustained for over a century is of interest to scholars
studying the economic development of contemporary nations entering the early
phases of economic growth. Since the 1960s, Third World countries have sought
by various paths to attain the status of economically developed, modern
nation-states. Yet most have also been buffeted by sustained inflation.
Understanding the sources of the price revolution of the 16th and 17th
centuries may provide models and insights for coping with a contemporary
inflationary era.
TABLE 1
Prices in England 1410-1749 (Indexed to 1490-1509 = 100)
|
|
A Composite of Foodstuffs
and Manufactures That Form a Market Basket of Consumables*
|
Wheatt
|
A Sample of
Industrial
Products*
|
Day Wage of
Agrarian
Laborer§
|
|
1410-29
|
105
|
|
|
|
|
1430-49
|
105
|
|
|
|
|
1450-69
|
99
|
|
|
100
|
|
1470-89
|
102
|
|
|
99
|
|
1490-1509
|
100
|
100
|
100
|
100
|
|
1510-29
|
126
|
130
|
108
|
103
|
|
1530-49
|
169
|
160
|
121
|
113
|
|
1550-69
|
276
|
295
|
206
|
167
|
|
1570-89
|
327
|
352
|
232
|
203
|
|
1590-1609
|
461
|
508
|
252
|
217
|
|
1610-29
|
508
|
574
|
274
|
239
|
|
1630-49
|
600
|
722
|
300
|
293||
|
|
1650-69
|
624
|
654
|
335
|
|
|
1670-89
|
621
|
581
|
303
|
|
|
1690-1709
|
602
|
639
|
297
|
|
|
1710-29
|
616
|
591
|
274
|
|
|
1730-49
|
560
|
488
|
279
|
|
* Calculated from Phelps-Brown
and Hopkins <10626). pp 194-95 t Calculated from Hoskins (1968), pp 28-31 t
Calculated from Coleman (1977), pp 23, 101-2 § Calculated from Coleman (1977),
p 23.
|| The wages of artisans and
craft laborers in Southern England followed virtually the same rate of increase
as agricultural wages, roughly tripling from 1500 to 1650 (Phelps-Brown and
Hopkins 1962a)
Land Prices 1700
From: Planters, Merchants, and Slaves: Plantation Societies
in British America By Trevor Burnard 2016
During the 1690s, however, the price of land in Jamaica skyrocketed. The price
increases are somewhat evident in the average price per acre, which increased
to 68 pence per acre in St. Andrew in the 1690s, 78 pence per acre in the
1700s, 95 pence per acre in the 1710s, and, most dramatically, £1.89 per acre
in the 1720s. The rise in average price per acre is misleading, however,
because these prices include mountainous land, which was difficult to cultivate
and thus very cheap. Land on the settled area of the Liguanea plains was
considerably more expensive. Cleared land became very expensive and well out of
reach for all except big planters. In 1695, for example, a parcel of 40 acres
sold for £133, while in 1697 a sugar plantation of 126 acres fetched £333. The
early years of the eighteenth century saw prices increase further. In 1700 60
acres went for £300, while in 1701 28 acres of prime land was sold for £206.
The following year saw a fully developed sugar plantation of 300 acres sold for
£1,000. That plantation was sold again six years later at a whopping profit,
with the price for 300 acres now at £2,500. In 1713 another prime sugar
property of 262 acres was sold for £2,200, while 80 acres of cane land sold for
£800. Such prices were out of reach for ordinary whites with inventoried wealth
of under £200 and annual incomes of around £20. Despite these constraints,
landownership was not completely out of reach for ordinary white men. Small
plantations never disappeared completely from the parish. As late as 1754 there
were 128 small estates in St. Andrew producing provisions, coffee, ginger,
cotton, and livestock.
Jamaica Currency
In 1839, an Act was passed which stated that as of 31 December 1840, the
currency of Britain should be that of Jamaica, that is, the lower denomination
copper coins, farthing, half penny, penny ha'penny and penny as well as the
higher denomination silver coins, three pence, six pence, shilling, florin half
crown and crown. While the Spanish coins were demonetized, an exception was
made in the case of the Spanish doubloon, which remained legal tender at a rate
of 3.4.0, until it was demonetized on 01 April 1901.
See IMF paper
Evolution of the Colonial Sterling Exchange Standard
H. A. Shannon, Staff Papers (International Monetary Fund)
Vol. 1 (1950 - 1951), pp. 334-354 (21 pages)
Jstor
Westbrooke
PRO Kew 29/4/94: Register's of Seaman's Service:
BT 119-12 gives FM ref no 1156
BT 112-44 shows FM: (register 1836-1845)
Age 25, b at Jamaica, voyage: m 9/56 Westbroke
64/1355
BT 120-4 f558: (register 1835-36)
Maitland, Francis, age 25, born Jamaica, Mate, Westbroke of London 7/9/36.
This appeared to be his only voyage recorded by this system.
BT98-384: Crew Record for Westbrooke shows Francis M (age 25 born Jamaica) sailed to Jamaica and back, joining the ship 25/1/1836 and leaving 6/9/1836. The master was
Joseph A Freeman aged 30.
Giddy Hall pen shipped 20 tons of fustic and 45 bags pimento in 1834 in the
Westbrook, so it highly likely that Francis was on this voyage
London Standard London, 27 Sep 1834, SHIP NEWS
sailed, the Westbrook, from Jamaica, the Black River Packet.
Royal Gazette, Jamaica 12/3/36[1],
Shipping intelligence:
"Westbrooke, barque, Freeman, London, Last Downs 31 days, arr Port Royal, 8/3/36." Passengers: Messrs Hankin & Goatley.
Advertised as sailing for London, and shown loading for some weeks before
sailing for London 21/7/36. Passengers: Rev A Campbell, lady 2 daughters and
servant, Mrs Freeman (Captain's wife??), Mr Thomas Bilby, Masters Alexander,
Samuel & Solomon Lazarus.
Arrived 8/9/1836 London from Jamaica.
(Freeman noted as Captain of another ship sailing between London & Jamaica:
probably a regular on the run – the Katherine in Lloyd’s Reg 1836).
The Westbrooke was built by Hillhouse and son of Bristol and completed 10/10/1820
for a syndicate of owners, including the 1st master, James Hall and several
merchants. She was first registered 6/11/1820.
She had one deck, 3 masts, was 98'8" x 24'8", square sterned and 5'2"
between decks. She was 265 Tons. Lloyds register of shipping show her still
sailing the trade routes in 1846[2].
1826 Lloyd’s Reg: Master J. Hall, 265sdb, Bristol LS&K, 5, G.Joad, 16, Lo.
Jamaica, A1 10, A1,6. C2 26 J Hall & C23 rp 24 Smith,
A Bark has 3, 4 or 5 masts, square rigged, with aft mast fore & aft rigged.
The travels of the Westbrooke have been found from newspaper reports and
Lloyd’s List.
The Westbrook appears in the English newspaper reports by 1829, sailing
regularly between Jamaica and England; a report of her arrival in 1834
describes her as the Black River Packet. She also appeared regularly in the
Jamaica Gazette from 1823 onwards and in Lloyds by 1825. Captain Freeman takes
over as captain sometime before 1834. When Francis Maitland joined is unknown.
“Shipping News” confirmed that Westbrook, Freeman, sailed for Jamaica[3] 28/1/1836 and returned
about 7 September 1836[4].
Westbrooke went on sailing to Jamaica under Captain Freeman & others for a
few years before changing to the East, Australia & other ports on the way.
Jamaica Gazette shows Westbrook between Jamaica and London from 1823 onwards,
with a few passengers.
Lloyd’s Register 1836:
Westbrook Bk, PH& C 33, J Green, 266, Bristol, 1820, Joad & Co, London,
Lon Jamaica, -, AE1 39.
London Standard London, 9 May 1829, SHIP NEWS
Passed, the Westbrook, Smith, for Jamaica.
Morning Post London, 12 May 1829, SHIP NEWS
Westbrook, Smith, Jamaica
Morning Post London, 4 Nov 1829, SHIP NEWS
London, Westbrook, Smith; and Juno, Pritchard, Jamaica
Morning Post, London, 21 Sept 1830
Arrived the Westbrook, Smith, from Jamaica.
Morning Post London, 12 Jan 1831, SHIP NEWS
With — Westbrook, from London, 18th ult. lat. 23. 52. long. 29. 23
Morning Chronicle, London, 4 May 1831
.. the Westbrook, Smith, from Jamaica.
Morning Post, London, 28 Sept 1831
Arrived the Westbrook, Smith.
Royal Gazette, Jamaica (PRO CO141 30), Shipping intelligence, 1832.
"Westbrooke, barque, Smith, (from) Downs, arr Port Royal,
27/11/1832."
4 Passengers, plus cargo.
London Standard 13 April, 1833
Westbrooke from Jamaica
London Standard London, 27 Sep 1834, SHIP NEWS
sailed, the Westbrook, from Jamaica, the Black River Packet.
London Standard, 29 Nov 1834
remains the Westbrook, Freeman, for Jamaica.
Morning Post London, 8 Dec 1834, SHIP NEWS
Porcupine, Westbrook, from Llandovery
Francis’s voyage:
Morning Post London, 28 Jan 1836, SHIP NEWS
Westbrook, Freeman, for Jamaica
London Standard London, 6 Sep 1836, SHIP NEWS
the Westbrook. from (Jamaica)
Morning Post London, 7 Sep 1836, SHIP NEWS
Westbrook from Jamaica
Morning Post London, 8 Sep 1836, SHIP NEWS
Westbrook, Freeman, from Jamaica
Kentish Gazette Kent, 7 Mar 1837, DEAL, Feb. 27
Westbrook, Freeman, for Jamaica
London Standard 16 Sept 1837:
Express from Liverpool.
...to sail, the Westbrooke, from Old Harbour, the same day for London (1 Aug).
London Standard London, 19 Sep 1837 SHIP NEWS
the Westbrook, from Jamaica
Morning Post London, 7 Oct 1837, SHIP NEWS
Westbrook, Morgan, for Jamaica
London Standard London, 6 Nov 1837, ship news.
the Westbrook, for Jamaica
Morning Chronicle London, 8 Nov 1837, SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE
Westbrook, Morgan, for Jamaica;
Kentish Gazette Kent, England, 14 Nov 1837, DEAL, Nov. 6
Westbrook, Morgan, for Jamaica;
Royal Cornwall Gazette Cornwall, England 17 Nov 1837
Westbrook, Morgan, from London
London Standard London, 4 Jun 1838 SHIP NEWS
the Westbrook, Morgans, from Jamaica
Morning Post London, 7 Jun 1838
Westbrook Morgan, from Jamaica;
Kentish Gazette Kent, 12 Jun 1838, DEAL, May 28
Westbrook, Morgan, from Jamaica.
London Standard London, 19 Sep 1838, SHIP NEWS;
the Westbrook, for the Mauritius;
Morning Post London, 13 Oct 1838, SHIP NEWS
Westbrook. Lemmington, for the Mauritius
London Standard London, 22 Oct 1838, SHIP NEWS
the Westbrook, for the Mauritius
Morning Post London, 23 Oct 1838, SHIP NEWS,
Westbrook, Linnington, for the Mauritius Oct. 21
Morning Post London, 12 Jun 1839, SHIP NEWS
Westbrook. Leamington, March 1, from London and the Cape
London Standard London, 12 Jun 1839, SHIP NEWS
Westbrook. arrived at the Mauritius
Morning Chronicle London, 26 Mar 1839, SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE
by the Westbrook arrived at the Cape of Good The Hope
Morning Post London, 20 Jul 1839, SHIP NEWS
Westbrook, Lexington, New South Wales
Morning Post London, 4 Apr 1840, SHIP NEWS
the Westbrook cleared Dec. 24, for Sydney
1840 April. 21.-For Port Essington and India, the barque Westbrook, Captain
Linnington, in ballast. Australasian Chronicle (Sydney, NSW : 1839 - 1843)
(about) Previous issueFriday 24 April 1840 http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/31728139
Morning Post London, 23 Jun 1840, SHIP NEWS.
Westbrook, Lennington, from the Mauritius
Morning Post London, 12 Sep 1840, SHIP NEWS
Westbrook, from Sydney
Morning Post London, 13 Mar 1841, SHIP NEWS
Westbrook, Nov. 22, from Bombay
Cork Examiner Cork, Republic of Ireland, 27 Sep 1841
SHIP NEWS..COVE OF CORK
Arrived.. Westbrook, Linnington, Canton, teas
Liverpool Mercury Merseyside, 19 Nov 1841, Shipping Intelligence
Westbrook, Linnlngten, Sydney
Morning Post London, England, 12 Nov 1841, SHIP NEWS
Westbrook, Lemington, for Port Philip and Sydney
London Standard London, 6 Apr 1842 SHIP NEWS
the Westbrook, for Port Philip
Morning Post London, 28 Mar 1842, SHIP NEWS
Westbrook, for Port Philip and Sydney
Morning Post London, 19 Dec 1842, SHIP NEWS,
Westbrook, from Liverpool
Came to Port Phillip in 1842: (http://www.oocities.org/vic1847/42/c.html)
Westbrook barque 266 tons, Captain Linnington arrived late 4 Aug 1842 from
Liverpool on 5 Apr 1842 via St Jago, Cape deVerde Islands, Report 9 Aug,
Passengers Mrs and Master William Linnington. Miss Eyne, Revd B Hurst with wife
and child, Revd B Tuckfield, Revd S Wilkinson with wife and 2 chn, Mr G
Wilmott, Capt Symers/Wymiss
Departed August for Sydney
Miscellaneous Shipping Movements
Arrivals at Sydney, NSW during 1843
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~pbtyc/Gazette/Movements/1843_Arrivals_Sydney.html
1843 Westbrook, barque, 265 tons, Linnington, from Launceston, 25th Apr; 4
passengers
1841:
http://www.shipsnostalgia.com/archive/index.php?t-9325.html
Ships Nostalgia > Lost Contact & Research > Ship Research >
Bencoolen
This is a long forum with extracts from the Bencoolen logs between Calcutta
& England via St Helena in July to September, 1841. Westbrook is mentioned
as sailing in the same direction, and doing better than the Bencoolen (a 465 ton
ship rigged vessel). Unfortunately, the extracts do not contain dates.
This voyage is the one arriving in Cork in September 1841 from Canton with tea.
Helen Maria
1841-2:
Similar to 1842, Master: Richards (then?) Maitland, Lon Liv Rio
NB Richards/Richardson was the master who hit the Newark light vessel in July
1841: he probably lost his job to Captain Fish, from whom Francis took over in
February 1842 for Rio.
Lloyds Register 1842:
Helen Maria, a Snow, Master: Maitland, 260 Tons, coppered with iron bolts,
Built Sunderland 1839, Owner Carr & Co, London. Sailing Liverpool to Rio de Janeiro. A1 condition.
Baring Archive: HC17.6 1832: Carr & Co, of Newcastle-on-Tyne, for opening
an account in London
There is also mention of Carr & Co, Newcastle on Tyne as Sugar Bakers at
the end of the 18thC: maybe the same firm, branching out into the sugar
transport.
There was no mention of the Helen Maria in the wreck listing to mid 1843 in the
"Report on the Committee on Shipwrecks, 1843", but 2 ships lost in
the North Sea 19 November 1842. An interesting report.
Newcastle Journal Tyne and Wear, 27 Jul 1839, MARINE INTELLIGENCE
The Helen Maria, of and from Sunderland, for Quebec, out 30
days, all well, m lat. 45.1 long. 57.
London Standard London, 10 Oct 1839, Ship News
Arrived, the Helen Maria, Cliburn, from Quebec
Morning Post London, 17 Aug 1840
UNITED STATES, CANADA, $c
the brig Helen Maria, Capt. Sweetzer, 22 days from Tobasco,
we have received intelligence that the Central General, Don Ygnacio, had taken
possession of the principal fort at Tobasco. The remainder of the city is in
possession of the Federal General, Dob
Newcastle Journal Tyne and Wear, 18 Jul 1840, MARINE INTELLIGENCE
Arrivals at Foreign Ports
Constantinople, June 11 – Helen Maria, Richards, Newcastle, and sailed on the
12th for Odessa.
Newcastle Journal Tyne and Wear, 2 May 1840,
Hamburgh Helen Maria, Richardson
Morning Post London, 23 Feb 1841, SHIP NEWS
Arrived the Helen Maria, from Taganrog
(Taganrog on the Russian coast in the Sea of Azov, to the NE of the Crimea)
Newcastle Courant Tyne and Wear, 2 Apr 1841, MARINE INTELLIGENCE
Helen Maria, Richards, for Malta
Morning Post London, 6 Apr 1841, SHIP NEWS.
The Helen Maria, bound to Malta has been towed into these
roads with loss of mainmast and considerable damage, having been in contact
with the new Warp Light. St. Michael's.
Newcastle Journal Tyne and Wear, 10 Apr 1841, MARINE INTELLIGENCE
The Helen Maria, Richards, from Newcastle to Malta, has been
towed into our With loss of mainmast, and considerable damage to having been in
contact with the Newark Light.
Norfolk Chronicle Norfolk, 17 Jul 1841
Also the Nautical Magazine & Naval Chronicle 1841 (Google Books).
Newark light ship in the Lowestoft/Yarmouth roads.
The Admiralty Court, Monday July 5
The Helen Maria – Salvage – This was an appeal from the award of the magistrate
of Yarmouth, who had allotted a reward of £80l. to a steam tug for towing the
vessel (which had, through carelessness, run foul of the Newark light vessel,
and thereby lost her mainmast) into Yarmouth harbour. The salvors contended
that, considering the value of the property (£3050), and that the magistrates
had awarded the same sum to some boatmen from Winterton, who could render no
effectual service, the sum of 80l. was inadequate.
Dr. Lushington was of opinion, that the magistrate had come to a just
conclusion, and that there was no reason for the appeal. He affirmed the award,
with costs.
Royal Cornwall Gazette Cornwall, 26 Nov 1841, SHIP NEWS
Helen Maria, Fish, from Alexandria;
Morning Post, London, 1 Feb 1842, Ship News:
Helen Maria, Fish, for Rio de Janeiro
Did Capt Fish leave, or go sick??
Morning Post, London, 19 Feb 1842,
Ship News: Helen Maria, Maitland for Rio Janeiro
Liverpool Mercury Merseyside, England, 15 Jul 1842
Shipping Intelligence: Helen Maria, and Ann Brideon, seen at Rio Janeiro
Newcastle Courant, 5 August 1842:
Helen Marie, Nairn for Malta. Probably not the same ship.
Morning Post, London, 19 Sep 1842,
Ship News: Arrived the Helen Maria, Maitland from Rio for Hamburgh
Royal Cornwall Gazette Cornwall, England
23 Sep 1842, Helen Maria, Maitland, from Rio Janeiro
Newcastle Journal Tyne and Wear, England
26 Nov 1842, MARINE INTELLIGENCE:
Newcastle cleared foreign – Helen Maria, Maitland, Malta.
John O’Groats Journal Friday, November 3, 1843 – not ours.
Dreadful Shipwrecks
The past week, like the great storm in January last will long be borne in
melancholy recollection...At Berwick the Helen Maria, from Pappenberg, and the
Anna Margaretta, from Dordt, both bound to Grangemouth, were wrecked to the
westward of the harbour. The crew, fortunately, were saved.
The prime areas interest for Maitland research in Jamaica are the
"pens" (cattle estates) of Giddy Hall, Mitcham and Silver Grove, all
in or near St Elizabeth Parish in the South West of the Island. The next
property to Giddy Hall, Mount Charles was also owned by Andrew Maitland, son of
Francis (1). A property just in Westmoreland from St Elizabeth called The Cove
was owned by Patty Penford. Its boundary started on the eastern edge of Scott’s
Cove.
Giddy Hall was the principal property, and, from the remains visible, was
probably the most substantial most of the children were baptised there. It was
bought by Francis Maitland in 1809 from the Delaroche family (or their
creditors!). In 1840, Giddy Hall was shown as 2000 acres. It was shown as 1150
in 1845, but John Maitland at that date was the owner of 2 other properties,
Kensington (300 acres, on the way to Montego Bay) and Rosehill (130 acres,
adjoining Giddy Hall): this probably was a more specific description of the
1840 2000 acres. Later, the Cooper family had, in addition to Giddy Hall, Mount
Lebanon, adjoining Giddy Hall, land on Forrest Mountain, and property called
Middlesex pen a mile or two north of Giddy Hall. When Giddy Hall was owned by
the Delaroche family at the end of the 18thC, it was in 4 parcels, totalling
1900 acres. It was said that the Maitlands owned most of the property between
Lacovia and Black River.
Mitchum and Silver Grove belonged to Ann Maitland's father Andrew Wright.
They were at one stage joint owned by Francis and his brother-in-law, George
Roberts. It would appear that at some stage the ownership was split with
Mitcham Pen going to Francis' daughter Emma who married Samuel Sherman and
Silver Grove going to the Roberts family.
The area was visited by A Maitland in April 1998, and Giddy Hall, Mount Charles and Mitcham greathouses found. Black River was also visited. Descriptions of
the properties are given below. Silver Grove was visited on a later trip in
2002.
Copies of the original aerial survey photograph taken in 1954 have been
obtained from the UK Ordnance Survey and reveal a lot of detail of the sites:
both Mitcham and Giddy Hall were still standing then. Several photographs of
Giddy Hall and Mount Charles taken in 1899 have been found in Peter
Rushbrooke's collection.
3.2
BLACK RIVER & SURROUNDS
The Black River, once known as Rio Caobana (Mahogany Rver), was a great
obstacle to movement with its surrounding Morass. The first crossing point was
a deep ford near what is now Lacovia, even there the water was usually about 5
feet deep. The modern road from the East through Lacovia still follows the
earliest trail round the foot of the mountains down to Black River town before
following the coast on to Savanna la Mar.
AMV1998:
Giddy Hall and Mount Charles are about 1100 ft amsl on the crest of a
limestone ridge above Middle Quarters at the Northwest corner the Black River lower flood plain, morass and estuary. The vegetation was prolific, but free
water was a problem: water for the houses appeared to be rainwater fed. The
main local centre is Black River, a small port town which probably looks much
the same now as it did 150 years ago. In the early 19thC, it was an important
town and port. It would have been about 1-2 hours drive by trap. The present
church in the middle of town was in good condition and a beautiful example of a
late Georgian church with many monuments to local dignitaries by smart London masons. In the churchyard was a gravestone for a Rebecca Wright who died 1805 aged
(according to MI of Jamaica) 56. The stone was more weathered than when the MI
survey was conducted.
It seems very likely that this stone was that of Rebecca Dunston Wright,
born 1749, the assumed mother of Francis Maitland. She was born free, and if
she had a gravestone was a person of some consequence and resources. Beside
Rebecca’s tomb is an identical one, but worn smooth, with no lettering visible.
This must be that of Rebecca’s mother, Patty who was recorded as being buried
in the churchyard. The Maitland family placed a plaque showing who these 2
women were in 2013:
At least two Maitlands live locally, one at Hodges Land, near Giddy Hall
and another who had recently returned to Black River and was a member of the
church there.
Giddy Hall pen and the nearby settlement, are in St Elizabeth Parish about
10 miles NNW of Black River, on the high ground above the river flood plain.
The origin of the name is not known, but there is a village in north
Wiltshire, near Castle Combe, called Giddy Hall on the 1773 map or Giddeahall
on other maps: perhaps this was a connection of the Delaroche family? A likely
scenario is that Thomas Delaroche came from there and, like many, called his
Colonial property by the same name as his “Old Country” home. The Jamaican
dictionary of place names has the following: Giddy Hall: "... was first
known, some claim, as Giddeon Hall and took the name of the first owner. When
it became known as Giddy Hall is uncertain, but for many years it was owned by
the Cooper family, who were English settlers."
A Nicholas Delaroche had 2 parcels of land of 60 & 180 acres in St
Elizabeth granted in 1675, but by Santa Cruz – this does not quite tie in with
Carsbrook, another Delaroche property. Thomas Delaroche was granted 300 acres
in 1735, the location not specified, except that it adjoined Mathew Rose to the
South and Thomas Rabie on the south and east; the plat in the conveyance when
Francis Maitland bought Giddy Hall, shows Thomas Rabie to the north, boundaries
of which fit Giddy Hall. Rose Hill is shown on Liddell 1888 to the west of
Giddy Hall: with that and the position of the Raby grant makes it likely that
the 1735 grant was to the north west of Giddy Hall boundaries as delineated in
the plat with the conveyance to Francis Maitland in 1809. Matthew Rose had
children baptised in St Elizabeth in the relevant period.
Giddy Hall is marked by name on Craskell’s map of 1763, surveyed in the
latter half of the 1750’s (Browne’s map surveyed in about 1735 does not show
anything in that area) and John Delaroche was shown in the 1754 return as
owning 955 acres in St Elizabeth. This corresponds well with the size of Giddy
Hall. It is likely that the Pen was established between 1735-54, probably by
Thomas Delaroche. It first appears in the crop return for 1780, when it was
owned by the heirs of John Delaroche (who died 1779). Thomas Delaroche’s oldest
child was born in St Elizabeth in 1729, but his putative son, John does not
appear in the parish records.
Francis Maitland left all his estate to his wife Ann; she left it when she
died in 1833 between her surviving children, with, by codicil, and instruction
to pay Emma Rebecca her share in cash. The sons sold their shares at various
times, the last being the sons of Francis Maitland 2, Francis 3 selling his 1/8th
in 1869, leaving his brother John with a remaining 1/8th. John
Maitland’s share when he died in 1853, passed to his wife, who then remarried
John Myers Cooper. Indications in John’s will are that he bought some of his
brothers out of Giddy Hall.
It is interesting to note that Charlotte Bedford (Hill) Tomlinson, Dr.
Andrew Wright Maitland's mother-in-law was born at Giddy Hall.
We have photographs of the house from 1899, and aerial survey image of
about 1952. There are what seem to be some stone piers to the east of the site
of the recent house, still visible in 2011. One suggestion is that they might
be the remains of an earlier structure which perhaps was destroyed in the
earthquake and hurricane of October 1780.
See later in this paper for the Delaroche Family.
Giddy Hall was left by Francis Maitland to his wife Ann
Ann left the pen to her surviving children, at the time Andrew Wright, John,
Francis, George, Alexander, Septimus, Octavius and Emme Rebecca. Ina codicil,
she instructed that her estate should be valued and that 1/8th of
that value should be given to Emma.
Alexander and Octavius had died under 21 by 1845, leaving the remaining 5
brothers with 1/5 each.
Francis died 1842, leaving his estate to his wife Harriet and her heirs
(Francis/Frank, John & George).
In 1845, George agreed to sell his 1/5th share of Giddy Hall and its
stock to the other 4 parties for £600.
In 1850, Andrew Wright Maitland sold his ¼ share in the pen and its stock to
brother John for £700. £210 of this was still due when brother john died in
1853.
1856: John’s widow, Augusta, married John Myers Cooper.
1858: Augusta died, leaving Cooper with ½ from John Maitland’s estate.
In 1859, Septimus sold his ¼ share to John Myers Cooper for £750. The
implication of John’s will was that he, John would buy Septimu’s share for
£700, but this evidently did not happen after John’s death.
In 1869, Francis 3 sold his 1/8th share to John Myers Cooper for
£350, leaving John Andrew Maitland, his brother with 1/8th. At that
time, Giddy Hall was 1050 acres.
1870: JA Maitland sold
the remaining 1/8th
share of GH for £400 with Septimus as attorney, JAM recently
to China[5].
There are some deeds in the Gloucester Record Office pertaining to William
Delaroche. The first is a deed dated November 10, 1793 by which William grants
Giddy Hall, St. Elizabeth to Joseph Longman of Thornbury for ten shillings. The
deed identifies him as the nephew of John Delaroche mentioned in John's Will,
and the second and youngest son of William Delaroche, John's brother.
The second deed, dated November 22, 1793, grants the property from Joseph
Longman back to William Delaroche for ten shillings.
The following lands are listed as part of Giddy Hall:
400 acres patented Feb 11, 1764 in the name of Richard Groom.
250 acres patented August 12, 1689 in the name of Thomas Spencer.
300 acres patented in 1697 in the name of Elisabeth Jones – seen 2/20.
950 acres of land situated in Luana Mountains cutting and bounding northerly on
land belonging to Henry Louis Esq. Easterly on Robert Smith. Southerly on David
Fyffe, and Westerly on lands belonging to Matthew Smith Senior Esq.
George Rolph was witness to both deeds.
Giddy
Hall Almanacks & Crops
The Crop records are on the Excel sheet (Jamaica Inventories
& Crops) in more detail. Slave Registration records are shown in detail in
a later section.
1780: Crop heirs of JD, dcd livestock, cotton (1300lbs) Pimento (238 lbs),
Logwood. £703/19/10
1781: Crop heirs of JD dcd, livestock 448 lbs cotton, 8 tons
logwood, £408/16/8d
1782: Crop Stock, pimento (59 bags), 15 tons fustic,
£799/5/3d
1783: Crop livestock, cotton (13 bags) Pimento (25 bags) 10
tons fustic. £473/13 excl pimento, cotton & fustic. Fustic abt £7/ton
1784: Crop livestock, negro hire £402/11. 7 bags cotton, 52
bags pimento, no value given but abt £490
1785: Crop Livestock, 123 bags pimento & 16.75 tons
fustic. 1349/11/11
1786: Stock & negro hire £623/14. Total £1761/16 incl
36.5 tons fustic
1787: Stock, negro hire, 23 bags pimento subtotal £272, 39
bags pimento, 7 bags cotton, abt 350, Total abt £620
1788: Crop, livestock, cotton (4972 lbs) pimento 41 bags.
£1760
1789: Crop, livestock & negro hire £385, uncosted
pimento 56 bags 6834lbs (abt £8/bag) 7 bags cotton 1769lbs (abt .083/lb).
Total abt £1080
1790: Crop livestock, cotton (9 bags), pimento (50 bags)
coffee (340lbs) £834.
1791: Crop, Livestock, coffee (473 lbs), cotton (4038 lbs),
pimento (2470 lbs) £1670/15s
1792: livestock, coffee (90 lbs @2/-), cotton (2400 lbs
@10½d ), pimento (7321 lbs) Fustic (16¾ tons @£6) £1253
1793: Crop, Livestock, coffee (742 lbs), cotton (12 bags,
3060 lbs), pimento (3090 lbs), Fustick 45 tons. Abt £1067 plus pimento, cotton
& coffee
1794: Crop, Livestock, cotton (10 bags 2835lbs), pimento (77
bags 9528 lbs) £752 + pimento & cotton.
1796: Crop, Livestock, coffee (494 lbs bad, 490 lbs good), 5
bags cotton 1341 lbs @ 2/-. £1784/11/9d.
1797: Crop Livestock, Fustick (30 tons), £1260/8/3d
1798: Crop, livestock, negro labour, fustic (30 tons),
pimento (120 bgs, 12000 lbs @ 6d). abt £1513
1799: Crop, livestock, pasturage, negro hire, cotton (73 lbs
@2/6), pimento (85 bags, 7222 lbas @5d). On warf 13 tons Fustick. £2141
1800: Crop pasturage, negro hire, Logwood (13 tons),
Mahogany 180 tons (no price) £356 plus mahogany.
1806: Crop, 2 6 month reports, negro labour, cartage etc,
pimento (14450 lbs @ 7.5d) total £1665
1807: Crop, 2 6 month reports, negro labour, pasturage,
Fustick (10 tons @£8), pimento (1152 lbs & 7/2d) Total year ~£814
1804:- seems to be Roaches on Robertsons. (probably Delaroche)
(Slaves/Stock)
1810: Francis Maitland. Giddy Hall 74/140
1811: Francis Maitland 74/142
1815: Francis Maitland. Giddy Hall
and Mitcham 197/456.
1816: Maitland, Francis, Giddy Hall Torn – no info
1817: Maitland, Francis, Giddy Hall, 75/224
1817: Slave Registration,Francis Maitland: 77
1818: Crop, 2nd half: Pimento (266 bags @ £2/bag), livestock £1131.
1819: Maitland, Francis, Giddy Hall, 71/240
1820: Maitland, Francis, Giddy Hall, 70/217
1820: Slave Registration,Francis Maitland: 78
1821: Maitland, Francis, Giddy Hall, 66/220
1822: Maitland, Francis, Giddy Hall, 67/298
1823: Maitland, Francis, Giddy Hall, 68/320
1823: Slave Registration, Francis Maitland: 77
1824 Crop: 1/6/24-31/12/1824, Livestock & telescope £754
1824: Maitland, Francis, Giddy Hall, 76/300
1825: Crop Livestock, cartage, 257 bags pimento £1570
1825: Maitland, Francis, Giddy Hall, 72/231
1826: Maitland, Francis, Giddy Hall, 74/228
1826: Slave Registration, John Salmon as attorney to GH 74.
1827: Crop, Ann Maitland, Livestock, pimento (283 bags – no value). £974
1827: Maitland, Ann, 72/226
1828: Maitland, Ann, Giddy Hall, 37/244
1828: Crop Pimento (180 bags), coffee (16 tierces), livestock £484, coffee
& pimento no value
1829: Slave Registration, John Salmon as attorney to Ann Maitland @ GH Pen:76
1830:- Ann Maitland, Giddy Hall 77/145
1830: Crop, livestock, stallion hire, corn, £510 pimento (673 bags & 11688
lbs?) value not given
1831:- Ann Maitland, Giddy Hall 77/216
1835: Crop Livestock £241 Fustic (20 tons), pimento (61 bags shipd, 100 stock)
Cinnabar (20 tons – mercury sulphide).
1832:- Ann Maitland, Giddy Hall 100/300
1832: Slave Registration, Francis M & JS as attorney to Ann M @ GH Pen 78
1837:- Ann Maitland, decd. Giddy Hall 76 (apprentices)
1839:- Andrew Wright, decd. Giddy hall, 2000 acres (should this have been
Ann?)
1844:- Maitland J. Giddy Hall, 1150
Kensington, 300
Rosehill, 130
1891:- Cooper J & Cooper WS (Directory)
1839: Wint, James, Mahogany Grove, 1000 acres.
14 slaves baptized Giddy Hall, 12/4/1814.
1878 Directory, Giddy Hall, J. M. Cooper proprietor, Middle Quarters
1891 Directory, Giddy Hall, Middle Quarters: J Cooper & WS Cooper.
Kensington Almanacs:
Not found on maps.
1833:- William Nembhard.
1838-40:-
1837: Nembhard, Eliza F. 62
1839: Nembhard, Eliza P. 202 acres
1845:- Maitland J.
AM
Visits 1998 & 02:
Giddy Hall settlement consists of a church (late 19thC) and a post office
and little else. The postmistress was helpful, but having only been there 3
months not very knowledgeable. After consultation with a man in the back, we
established the general location of Giddy Hall Greathouse. (only later did we
find that it was marked on the old 1:100000 map).
We drove in the general direction of the house: about 1/2 mile beyond the
post office, to take a right fork (the left fork goes to Mount Charles) and on a further 1/2 mile and stopped to ask a man in a field who offered to direct
us. This he did and led us to a mound of undergrowth on the right of the road,
below a small house. He attacked the mound with his machete and revealed two
graves, one of John Myers Cooper and the other of Augusta Spence Cooper (the
widow of John Maitland). He told us of some other Europeans who came about 4
years ago who searched for 2 days to find these - we were lucky.
Augusta Spence Cooper, wife of John Myers Cooper, who died at Bloomsbury, 13 January 1858, aged 33.
John Myers Cooper, died 8 December 1875 in his 61st year: "For 30
years and upward he took a prominent part in the public affairs of the Parish
of St Elizabeth. He was a man of large sympathy of great generosity and
liberality and his charities though unostentatious were extensive and widely
distributed. His departure is mourned by many. He contemplated the creation of
a church and schoolroom on the farm pen but dying soon after work was commenced
it was left to his successors to carry out."
Giddy Hall was sold to the Bauxite companies after the war by the last
Cooper, Douglas, who was childless: presumably he was the son of John Cooper
who owned the pen in 1915.
The Greathouse site was about 200 yard along the road from the burial
ground, on the left on rising ground. We spent some time examining the site:
there were extensive stone walled pens, which were difficult to walk over
thoroughly due to the undergrowth. The site of the Greathouse was marked by the
remains of the main entrance stairway, but little else remains standing. The
stairway seemed to be unusually at the corner of the house and had evidence of
an arch springing from one side, indicating an arched lower front to the lower
part of the house. Some fragments of cast iron railings, probably from the
entrance stair, were found: additionally and very unusually, we found a
fragment of what appeared to be an East-Anglian pan-tile. The front of the
house seemed to have been about 80ft long and to have faced over the valley
containing the Black River Estuary - the view was spectacular.
To the East of the house were the remains of Barbeques for pimento drying
and on the valley side of the house were the remains of what might have been
gardens.
An Air
Photo of the site in 1952.
The rear view in 1899, see.
The front view in 1899, see.
Visit 4/2002:
N18°06.09' W77°52.73' 1300'amsl
The site was much as before, but more overgrown. Investigated the
extensive paved Barbeque area which fed by a system of stone gulleys, the big
water tank to the SE of the position of the house. The Barbeques are arranged
in 3 terraces, with about 18" fall between each. Water supply must be a
major problem for stock on this site. The tank still held water, although only
what fell into it, the feed gulleys having fallen into disrepair.
Most of the sites seen in this area had barbeques which were usually dual
purpose, being used for Pimento drying (we were told elsewhere that the crop
was taken in when moisture threatened), but also often were used to catch
rainwater.
Very little remains of the house seen on the aerial survey photograph, but
it is just possible to distinguish the original outline and see enlarged piles
of rubble where the steps seen on the 1899 photographs would have been. The
building must have been about 16x17 metres. Curiously, a single floor support
pillar remains in place within the perimeter of the building. The kitchen
visible on the survey photograph still stands, although much damaged. It seemed
small for the site, but looked to be 3 bay, open fronted, with a hearth
remaining.
The regularly spaced objects to the SE of the house seen on the survey
appear to be the remains of an arcade of arches. They are substantial, with the
one nearest to the house with a return on it as though it was part of a flight
of steps on the other end, there are indications of an arch spring from the
wall. It is possible this might have been an aqueduct, but where would a
sufficient quantity of water have come from? It seems to me that this is the
remains of an earlier house. It was by these ruins that parts of an early cast
iron railings were found on the previous visit. A coping stone rests on the
ground with the stump of a balustrade inset with lead. The external walls of
this ruin are of good quality cut stone.
The 1899 photograph shows a late 18thC house. There are references (Thomas
Thistlewood's diary) of a severe hurricane 3 October 1780. Almost all the
buildings in Westmoreland were destroyed in this event, and a considerable
amount of damage in St Elizabeth: Giddy Hall's exposed position facing the
worst of the Southerly and Southeasterly winds described would have made it
particularly susceptible to damage in this storm.
Perhaps the original house was destroyed in this storm and the later house
built on a slightly different site, maybe using the material from the old one
(see piece on the 1780 Hurricane later in this paper). There is mention in the
Cooper history of a separate hipped roof billiards room being there in the
latter part of the 19thC, but these remains seem too substantial for such a place
additionally, the building would probably have been visible in the survey
photo. It must have been exiting into the 1920’s and probably later as it is
mentioned as being used after John M Cooper’s death in 1921.
Later visits have been made.
In 2011, a lock was found on the site. It is a corroded brass rim lock. An
apparently identical one was for sale in England 2012:
http://www.belowstairs.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Door_Locks__58.html
Brass Rim Lock RL395
Original, quality late 18th/early 19th century, surface
mounted brass door lock to take a standard modern square bar for the handles. A
replacement keep has been made to suit and an old key altered to fit. This lock
has the provision for a handle turn, a key lock and security slide on the
inside of the room, which overrides the handles and the key lock. All has been
fully overhauled, polished and lacquered, although the lacquer may be removed
if required at no extra cost. A super lock of smaller proportions, complete and
in good and working order. Lock 6.75" x 3.75" x 0.75".
Click on photo for larger and other view.
I spoke to the seller, a specialist antique dealer, who confirmed that it was
very late 18thC, early 19thc. There is no indication of the maker, who would
have been one of the many artisan lockmakers, probably in or around Willenhall,
England. This is of interest to me as my mother’s family business was lock
making in Willenhall.
DPNJ: (Mount Charles extract) ...It is interesting to note that Andrew
Maitland in the 19th Century also owned Giddy Hall, which was the estate
adjoining Mount Charles....
1910: Giddy Hall: W.S. Cooper
1915: Giddy Hall - Jno Cooper resident
629.5 acres of grass & pasture
538.5 acres of "other"
291 cattle. HBJ1915
1835, (ref 1B/11/4/76, f 233) John Maitland named overseer and owner not
mentioned.
Slave Emancipation Compensation
In a survey of 1835, the slaves at Giddy Hall were neither offered nor refused
wages.
Jamaica St Elizabeth 602 (Giddy Hall)
Claim Details & Associated Individuals
6th Mar 1837 | 70 Enslaved | £1563 10S 2D
Claim Notes
Parliamentary Papers p. 302.
The award was split: £781 12s 3d went to Morrice, 06/03/1837 £781 17s 11d went
to Salmon, 16/10/1837.
T71/870: claim from J. Salmon, as executor of John Maitland. Counterclaim from
William Morrice (a London West India merchant), as judgement creditor.
Apprentices
29 Feb 1836 (ACCOUNTS AND PAPERS FOURTEEN VOLUMES V48 1836)
Giddy Hall - The people well off for provisions, working steadily at their
grounds.
Mount Pleasant Ditto ... - ditto.
Mount Charles & Mount Lebanon : The industrious Part
have good grounds and sufficient provisions ; the few worthless not so well
off; I have directed a particular investigation.
Whitehall - Not abundantly supplied with provisions, but
pretty well off; grounds attended to, but land rather poor.
Mitcham Pen (inter alia): The grounds of all the properties in this week's
report are in as good order as formerly, and many of the apprentices are
cultivating arrow-root, &c. in a larger degree than formerly.
Thumbnail History:
The parish of Yatton Keynell lies
in the northern part of Wiltshire, often referred to as the 'Wiltshire
Cotswolds' due to its local geology. It can be found 4.5 miles north-west of
Chippenham, two miles east of Castle Combe in the Diocese of Gloucester and
Bristol. The parish also includes the smaller villages of Giddeahall, West
Yatton and Long Dean. The parish encompasses 1,717 acres.
The name of the parish was originally Eaton. Henry Caynell had a holding there
in 1242 and the inhabitants commonly called it Yatton. The parish was known as
'Getone' in 1086, 'Yeton' (1247) Yatton(e) Fees (1242) Kaynel (1289), Kaignel
(1306), Kynel (1346) Iatton (1258, Jettun (1245), Yetton Caynel (1334),
Yettonkenell (1553) Yeatton Keynell (1522), Churcheyatton (1530) Yatton or
Eaton Keynell or Churche Eaton (1618). The name is a compound of gate, gap and
tun, the gap being the head of the well-marked valley to the west of the
village. Giddeahall is 'Giddy Hall' in 1773. It may have begun as a nickname,
but it is not known why. Long Dean is le Longdene (1422), meaning long valley
and West Yatton is Westyatton (1279).
Probably at N18º04.6' W77º36.8' (ref Google Earth)
Mitcham and Silver Grove were separate properties, both owned by Andrew
Wright in the late 18thC and early 19thC. Mitcham is on the lower ground to the
north of the road from Mandeville to Lacovia near Gosham. Silver Grove was up
the hill, and on the high ground: Mitcham is good flat alluvial ground,
probably productive. Silver Grove would be much drier and less reliable.
By 1824, they were operated by Francis Maitland and George Roberts (with
about 43 slaves and 224 stock at Mitcham and 81 slaves and no stock at Silver
Grove). Mitcham was a cattle pen, but Silver Grove seemed to carry no stock, it
was probably coffee, pimento and stock. In 1832, Mitcham was operated by George
Roberts and Ann Maitland as joint owners of the slaves. By 1840, Mitcham was
owned by Samuel Sherman, the husband of Emma Maitland, and remained in their
hands, it was 807 acres in 1840 and 843 in 1845. By 1840, Silver Grove was owned
by George Roberts and was 1200 acres, and by his heirs in 1845, and was 1400
acres.
An estate map[6]
from early 19thC shows Mitcham as 807 acres, bounded by Goshen to the south,
Mount Alta to the East, with Silver Grove on the northern end of the eastern
boundary, Cabbage Valley to the north and Peru Pen to the west. The lane to the
house can still be seen on the 1952 air photo. At that time, the remains of the
negro houses could still be seen.
Published in Jamaica Gazette, 1794, the following advertisement:
Mitcham Pen, 13/11/1793:
Runaway slave from the subscriber about the latter end of August last, a new
negro man named Jamaica, about 5 feet high: has filed teeth, country marks on
both temples and right shoulder and breaks down back, marked on right shoulder
AW rather small had on when absconded a blue baise frock and took with him an
afnhurgh(?) one, Reward £2-15s. Andrew Wright.
1818, 31 Oct Royal Gazette:
At Mitcham pen, on the 13th, at an early age of 30 years, Mr John
Cotter, Overseer and Attorney of that property, and of Silver grove, in the
parish of Manchester. The loss to society of thos young mane os irreparable: In
early youth, he had the misfortune to lose by a cannon shot both his hands
andan arm, not withstanding which few young men psssessed more bodily powers,
His understanding ntegrity and perseverance had entitled him to the full
confidence of his employers, and he was in a fair way to welth, when the
insatiate archer Death deprived a worthy and unfortuneate mother of her ohly
solace and the community of a most valuable member.
1804: Mitcham: A. Wright (in fact property just east of Morass)
1804: Silver Grove: (approximate position - shown a bit far north)
A. Wright (next one south was Mashetts) Map1804
All were then in St Elizabeth: the boundary was redrawn later.
LDS shows baptism of 94+ slaves of Mitcham & Silver Grove 21/6/1821, many
with surname Maitland.
Ref West India Committee Library:
Silver Grove Pen: Gordon, George, attorney, Accounts 1832-36 (Jamaica Archives
ref 1B/26)
There was a note in my early researches that Silver Grove was owned by the
Earl of Balcarres in 1763 (he was a sometime Governor of Jamaica – this was
deduced from an estate map[7]
entry, but examination of the map shows that the Balcarres land was further
East).
Slave Emancipation Compensation - Mitcham
In a survey of 1835, the slaves at Mitcham were neither offered nor refused
wages.
Jamaica St Elizabeth 764 (Mitcham)
Claim Details & Associated Individuals
14th May 1838 | 66 Enslaved | £1222 7S 0D
CLAIM DETAILS
Claim Notes
Not listed in Parliamentary Papers.
T71/870: adjudged (with Manchester claim no. 224) £792 9s 11d to John Pusey
Wint the residue went to John Salmon etc.. John Salmon claimed as executor of
Ann Maitland John Pusey Wint counterclaimed 'under the will of the late Andrew
Wright'. Under Andrew Wright's will, dated 21/01/1806, John Pusey Wint is shown
as his 'son-in-law' (in fact he was his stepson). John Pusey Wint was a
trustee under the will. Reference to the reputed daughters Ann Wright and
Elizabeth Wright, born of the body of Ruth Sinclair: 'if the said A & E
Wright go to Jamaica unmarried they should forfeit all benefit under the will'.
Associated Individuals (5)
Andrew Wright Other association
John Pusey Wint Awardee
Edmund Francis Green Awardee
John Salmon the younger Awardee (Executor or executrix)
George Roberts Awardee (Executor or executrix)
1793:- Owned by Andrew Wright, ref Gazette advert.,13/11/1793.
Mitcham Almanacs, Crops & Slave
Registration:
Slave Registration ful details are in a later section
Giving year (almanac later by 1)
Slaves/Stock
1797: Crop, horses & mules, pasturage & furniture £957/15/0 – Andrew
Wright
1805: Crop, horses, steers etc (mules to John Delaroche) AW, att’y JPW £2045
1806: Crop for Mitcham Pen, Silver Grove & Cedar Mount Coffee plantation
& Ramsgate Cotton plantation, AW execs. 7 months £644/8/8
1807: Crop Livestock £464
1809: Crop, AW dcd, Livestock, Coffee (23121 lbs @£1250) Total 2668/19
1810:- Andrew Wright, decd. 116/174
1810: Crop , AW dcd horses & mules, coffee (20 tierces @£800 + 20 t), £2038
1811:- Andrew Wright, decd. Slaves: 118 stock: 169.
1815:- Francis Maitland. Giddy Hall and Mitcham 197/456.
1815: Ryde, John Pusey Wint 131/5 1817 similar.
1816: Francis Maitland T
1817: Francis Maitland 114/185 (probably includes Silver Grove)
1817: Slave Registration, FM & George Roberts: 51
1819: Maitland and Roberts 42/179
1820: Maitland and Roberts St E 38/194,
1820: Slave Registration, FM & George Roberts: 43
1821: Maitland and Roberts, Mitcham 41/219
1822: Maitland and Roberts, Mitcham 41/266
1823: Maitland and Roberts, Mitcham 43/234
1823: Slave Registration, FM & George Roberts: 43
1824: Maitland and Roberts, Mitcham, 42/274
1825: Maitland & Roberts 42/245
1826: Maitland & Roberts 41/264
1826: Slave Registration, Ann Maitland & GR: 39
1827: Maitland & Roberts 40/241
1828: Maitland & Roberts 37/244
1830: Maitland & Roberts 39/247
1831: Maitland & Roberts, Mitcham 50/300
1832: Maitland & Roberts, Mitcham 60/350
1832: Slave Registration, George Roberts & Ann Maitland as joint owners: 37
1837: Sherman, Samuel, Mitcham 44
1839: Sherman, Samuel, Mitcham 807 acres
1844: Sherman, S. 843 acres
AM Visit 1998:
Mitcham Greathouse.
The settlement of Mitcham is just west of the border between Manchester and St Elizabeth Parishes, and is reached by following a track off the
Mandeville to Lacovia road for about a mile northeast. The site of the
Greathouse is about 1/2 a mile beyond the settlement. The house was sited on a
limestone outcrop about 100 ft above the surrounding plain, with a 2500ft
wooded ridge immediately to the East, on top of which is Silvergrove, another
Maitland related adjoining property. The surrounding land looked good fertile
cattle country with Bauxite red soil. No stock buildings remain, all milking
etc being done at another property a mile or so to the west.
The former burial ground below the house had been flattened, the remains
of some tombstones remaining in a pile of spoil. "Great Grandfather
Sherman" was buried there, but the rest of the Shermans are buried in the
local church - Goshen(?).
The house itself was destroyed about 1951, but the foundations remain, now
covered with concrete to form a pan draining into a comparatively recent water
tank (half full and green!). The shell of a small cottage has been built at one
side, but not finished. We were told that there had been a separate kitchen,
but there was no sign it now. GA Hendrix was said to have "mashed it
up". The house was about 60'x30' and was timber framed on stone
foundations, with a veranda, 2 rooms and hall, + slave quarters and separate
kitchen.
We met in the settlement an old man, born 1910 who remembered the Sherman family and had been the farm manager for 28 years. He was now starting a new church
at the bottom of the drive. Another oldish negro at the site remembered the
house before it was demolished and showed us round. We also met an older lady
who also told us of the Sherman family: one Sherman (white) had "had
pickny with black girl: some children came out black like her and some came out
pretty like you (referring to the writer)!": told with great glee and no
colour problem.
See Mitchum Air Photo
in 1952
Mitchum Site Photo in 1998.
Mitcham house seemed little changed in 4/2002.
Ref Brett Ashmeade Hawkins:
According to my Godfather, John Calder Earle bought Mitcham Estate after
the end of the Second World War and made it into one of the finest Dairy Farms
in Jamaica. Perhaps he only leased it from the Sherman family. The Earles never
lived at Mitchum. They lived at Aberdeen Great House, which must have been at
least 20 miles away. I know that there was some problem regarding Mitcham which
led to John Calder Earle giving it up shortly before he died, but I don't
remember what it was now.
Silver Grove Visit,
4/2002:
N18°05.2 W77°35.7 2800' amsl.
The house is reached by a marl track through rough, stony, but fertile
looking fields. It is owned by a Mrs Finch(spelling?) who is related to the
Roberts family, the last of whom died about 1997. There are still some of that
family in the village of Lincoln, about 5 miles to the south.
The house was described by Douglas Blain, who visited the site with me. A
modest 3 bay 3 hip Spanish wall greathouse (only just reaches that level!)
formerly a pimento (& probably coffee) estate (also and cattle pen - AM).
Looks about 1820, in fair condition, still lived in by relatives of the Roberts
family, whose graveyard contains perhaps a dozen, mostly Roberts, graves. Fine
stone tank. 3 stage, stone walled barbeque. Detached kitchen formerly single
roofed. Additional alterations about 1920. We both agreed it seemed a simple
building for a 1400 acre estate. It was a coffee plantation in 1806.
Graves:
William Roberts, born 25/12/1841, married 31/10/1869, died 8/6/1896.
Wife and 7 children.
Rozelle Roberts (mother) born 15/11/1842, died 16/1/1926.
Edward Roberts born 12/1/1870, died 10/1881.
Clement Meikle, died 24/9/1958, aged 54.
Herwin Roberts, died 28/4/1956 aged 52
Millicent Roberts, died 2/4/1956 aged 22.
Ellen B Roberts, died 6/2/1960 aged 45.
Silver Grove: Manchester Almanacs.
The first appearance in Manchester was 1819
1807: Crop, 44 tierces Coffee (abt 27000 lbs)
1819: Maitland & Roberts 80 (slaves)
1820: Maitland & Roberts 81 (slaves)
1821: Maitland & Roberts 80 (slaves)
1822: Maitland & Roberts, Silver Grove, 79
1823: Maitland and Roberts, Silver Grove 81
1824: Maitland and Roberts, Silver Grove 85
1825: Maitland & Roberts 85 (slaves)
1826: Maitland & Roberts 87 (slaves)
1827: George Roberts, Silver grove 86
1828: George Roberts, Silver grove 89
1830: George Roberts, Silver Grove 90
1831: George Roberts, Silver Grove, 180 – has he bought extra land??
1832: George Roberts, Silver Grove, 180
1837: not found
1839: Roberts, George, 1200 acres
1844: George Roberts, heirs of, 1400 acres
1820: Wilderness, John Hewitt est of, 78/4.
Slave Emancipation Compensation – Silver
Grove
Jamaica Manchester 224 (Silver Grove)
Claim Details & Associated Individuals
14th May 1838 | 68 Enslaved | £1271 5S 11D
CLAIM DETAILS
Claim Notes
Not listed in Parliamentary Papers.
T71/860: claim by Geo. Roberts, as guardian to Edward Maitland, Wm. Allen,
Rebecca Roberts and Georgiana Roberts. Counterclaim by John Pusey Wint, under
the will of the late Andrew Wright. 'Adjudged (with St Elizabeth claim no. 764)
£792 9s 11d to John Pusey Wint and the residue to John Salmon, George Roberts
and Edmund Francis Green'.
Associated Individuals (8)
Edward Maitland Roberts Beneficiary
William Allen Roberts Beneficiary
Rebecca Roberts Beneficiary
Georgiana Roberts Beneficiary
John Pusey Wint Awardee
Edmund Francis Green Awardee
John Salmon the younger Awardee (Trustee)
George Roberts Awardee (Guardian)
Goshen (adjoining Mitcham)
Crops:
Goshen Pen, St E of ...George Smyth 1788 year ent 7/3/1789 lot of livestock
sale& cotton.
Francis Georeg Smyth 1793 & Longhill pen Mixed
livestock, pasture, logwood etc - Andrew Wrigh £20 paturage
18 5’41.0 w77 52 10
Mount Charles was a cattle pen situated on the high ground to the NNW of
Black River town and overlooking the Morass on the River, with magnificent
views of the flood plain and the coast. It appears on the 1804 map as
"Miss Smith's", and later as the property of John Smith 1811-21 in
the gazettes, beginning with 66/12, falling to 28/5 in 1822. From 1824, it was
in the name of James E Burlton with 55 slaves & 15 stock, rising to 92
& 225 in 1831 in 1840 it was combined with Ashton a total of 1002 acres,
Ashton being probably 370 acres. In 1845 it was owned by his estate (again
combined 1209 acres). According to BAH, it was sold to William Spence in 1846.
Dr Andrew Wright Maitland bought Mount Charles in 1850, effectively from the
Burlton estate, via some of their creditors. If William Spence was involved, Mount Charles may have come into the family with Augusta Spence who married John Maitland
in 1848.
Estate Maps:
689: 31 January 1861. From Mr Cunningham’s plan in May 1846.
Mount Charles Pen. T Harrison. C.
Giddy Hall pen to NW. Also shows Sherlock Settlement & Clifton. Shows Mount
Charles to be 466 acres.
208: 1861: Plat of 181A part of Luana Pen with Mount Charles to NNE
& W, Luana Pen to S & E. John Colhoun attorney to Andrew Maitland from
plat by Geo Cunningham 3/1851.
Also 60 acres part of Providence Pen, JE Burlton to Samuel Sherman, 1861 Queens
Rd to SW old Rd to S & Hodges Pen. Copy held.
643: earlier copy of 171 acres to AW Maitland, repeated on 208, with
additions.
Dr AW Maitland bought 171 acres of the next property, Luana Pen later.
Andrew's widow, Katherine lived there for the rest of her life. The Miss
Haastrob referred to in DPNJ was almost certainly Ann Catherine (Maitland)
Haastroup, Dr AWM's daughter.
Dr AWM's mother-in-law, Charlotte Bedford (Hill) Tomlinson was first
married to a Charles Burlton.
About 2004, Mount Charles pen was bought by Robbie McMillan from Kingston. He has sympathetically restored the house to its former state and style, and in
2006 was in the process of improving the land surrounding, planting many native
tree species. He has made an extremely good job of the house.
1804: Hodges Land: Cohen's
1878 Directory, Mount Charles, A. K. Maitland proprietor, Black River
Mount Charles Photo in 1998.
Extract from DPNJ:
Mount Charles in St Elizabeth was owned from 1811 by Charles Phipps and was
evidently named after him. A grave which dates back to 1856 could bear the name
of a subsequent owner. The inscription reads as follows: Andrew Wright Maitland
M.R.C.S. It is interesting to note that Andrew Maitland in the 19th Century
also owned Giddy Hall, which was the estate adjoining Mount Charles. Subsequent owners were the Earl family and a Miss Haastrob, a German from whom the Rev
John Maxwell, a Presbyterian Minister then stationed in this parish, purchased
it. It is now (1978) owned by Mrs Iris Sangster, daughter of the Rev J.
Maxwell.
Mount Charles adjoins Giddy Hall:
Extract from Brett Ashmeade-Hawkins,
19/9/06
See also "Other Places of Interest" below.
James Edward Burlton, who was an English Merchant in Black River during the
Early 19th Century, owned both Ashton and Mount Charles. He married Charlotte
Tomlinson, one of three beautiful sisters known as "The Three Graces".
Their only son, Edward James Burlton, was their pride and joy. He was sent to
boarding school in England, but on the voyage home to Jamaica in 1840 he caught Yellow Fever and died at the tender age of 17. He was buried at sea and
the ship arrived in Black River with its flag flying at half-mast. James Edward
Burlton never recovered from the loss. His wife, Charlotte, had already died in
1834, and so he was left distraught and alone.
In 1829 Charlotte's sister, Ana Katherine Tomlinson, had married Col. John
Earle, who owned Mount Olivet coffee plantation near Malvern, in the Santa Cruz mountains of St. Elizabeth. Their son, John William Earle (1837-1912), became
James Edward Burlton's favourite nephew and he later made him his heir. When
James Edward Burlton died in 1853, he left Ashton to John William Earle. (Mount
Charles had already been sold in 1846 to William Spence).
In 1847 Mrs. Ana Katherine Earle, the widow of Col. John Earle, married Dr.
Andrew Wright Maitland, M.D. (1809-1856) of Mount Charles and Giddy Hall. She
died in 1886 and is buried at Mount Charles. Two of her sons from her first
marriage, Edward Muirhead Earle and Charles J. Earle, are also buried at Mount Charles.
Having inherited Ashton in 1853, John William Earle later moved from Mount
Olivet Plantation to take up residence at Ashton Great House. He probably also
wanted to be closer to his mother, who was living at Mount Charles with his younger brothers. He brought with him some of the fine mahogany furniture from
Mount Olivet Great House, including a massive hand-carved Jamaican four-poster
bed that was made on the plantation in 1829 as a wedding present.
John William Earle married Mary Elmina Calder, the daughter of John Calder
of Stanmore Hill Plantation, near Malvern. She was descended, on her Mother's
side, from the famous Vassall family of Jamaica, which produced Elizabeth
Vassal, Lady Holland. I have a manuscript history and genealogy of the Vassal
family, listing all the descendants, if you need any of the relevant dates.
John William Earle (1837-1912) left Ashton to his eldest son, Charles Edward
Earle (1869-1954). His youngest son, John Calder Earle (1881-1957), bought
Aberdeen Estate, near Accompong, in St. Elizabeth, which he ran as a banana
plantation. He was married in 1929 to Stella Mia Pulford (1893-1970), an
English girl who had come out to Jamaica to visit a friend. She was born at a
hill-station in India, the daughter of Col. Russell Richard Pulford, C.I.E.,
R.E., of the India Army, and her brother was Air-Marshal Conway W.H. Pulford of
the R.A.F. He was captured by the Japanese during the Second World War,
following the fall of Singapore, and was beheaded by a Japanese officer in one
of the prisoner-of-war camps. Stella was a talented linguist and spoke 14
languages. During the Second World War the British Governor of Jamaica, Sir
Arthur Richards, appointed her Official Translator to the German and Italian
prisoners-of-war interned at Mona. Sir Arthur had been a friend of her Father
during the British Raj in India.
It is said that John Calder Earle bought Mitcham Estate after the end of
the Second World War and made it into one of the finest Dairy Farms in Jamaica. Perhaps he only leased it from the Sherman family. The Earles never lived at
Mitchum. They lived at Aberdeen Great House, which must have been at least 20
miles away. There was some problem regarding Mitcham which led to John Calder
Earle giving it up shortly before he died.
Edward James b St E 4/6 1823, ch 4/5/1825 of JEB & Charlotte Beckford his
wife)
James Edward Burlton esq of Westmoreland married Charlotte B Tomlinson, widow
of same place, 26/3/1822.
A Charlotte Beckford Tomlinson (inserted after) was baptised with many other
slaves in July 1820 aged 27.
Thomas Tomlinson married Charlotte Beckford Hill, Westmoreland 8/12/1808.
Thomas Tomlinson
Slave Emancipation Compensation
Jamaica St Elizabeth 605 (Mount Charles)
Claim Details & Associated Individuals
31st Oct 1836 | 80 Enslaved | £1993 17S 1D
CLAIM DETAILS
Claim Notes
Parliamentary Papers p. 302.
T71/870: claim from James Edward Burlton, as owner. Numerous counterclaims from
judgement creditors, including Robt. Blemell [sp?] Pollard, a creditor on
'judgement of Oct 1833 and assignment of the compensation', for £645 18s 2d and
interest from 20/03/1835. Counterclaim also by Robt. Blemell Pollard for £760
7s 4d, with the same judgement date.
The London Oratory: British History Online (from survey of London vol. 41 1983,
available at http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50008
[accessed 14/03/2012]): Robert Pollard bought a site of 3 1/2 acres from
Alexander Barclay (a wax-chandler) for £4000 in 1819 and set up a boarding
school, Blemell House. Pollard sold the site to the Congregation of the Oratory
in 1852 for £16,000.
Mount Charles: St Elizabeth Almanacs etc.
1796: Crop Plantation Prop Robert Smith esq 1796 year 37 bags cotton, 4055lbs
@6d £101/7/6; 6 steers @£20, Sundry stock £43, 6 young stock @£20, 14 tons
logwood £?, 7 bags cotton 2010 @2/- £201 estate negroes £245/8/4. Total
£921/15/11
1804:- Miss Smith's
1811-22:- John Smith.
1824-
1837 – 88 Burlton – Ashton not found.
1839:- James E Burlton. 1002.
1844:- James E Burlton, est of.(& Ashton) 1281 acres
1878: Prop AK Maitland
AM Visit 1998:
The house was reached by about a mile of now very rough
track: we were led up it by a young lad on a motorcycle, who spoke to someone
to get permission. After passing one set of formal gate pillars, entry was
through a further gate leading onto a grassed area with the house on a rise at
the far end, with rough buildings below and left. The house was smaller than
Giddy Hall and probably not as grand.
It was built with stone lower floor and wooden living area above. It had
verandas front and back. Like Giddy Hall, it faced over the Black River and its
estuary, with a Victorian style terraced garden below the house overlooking the
valley. Barbeques were still in existence at the back of the house and the
original separate kitchen building was still in use, one room used for storage,
the other as a kitchen with a large open fire - the interior was heavily soot
covered. Interestingly, the path leading to it from the house was very similar
to the remains of a path found in the garden of Giddy Hall.
The occupant of the house appeared and after finding out why we were
wandering around his homestead, was friendly and helpful. He showed us the
burial ground to the southwest of the house where Andrew Wright Maitland and
his wife, Ann Katherine were buried. The graves were in a good state of
preservation. A number of other graves had lost their name plates. Those still
there read as follows:
Ann Katherine Maitland died 22 February 1886
(Marble horizontal gravestone)
Andrew Wright Maitland died 20 April 1858 (brass plaque)
Charles James Earl died 29/6/1858 (brass plaque)
(presumably the Ann Katherine's son by her first husband)
The occupant said that the house was owned by Mr Sangster from Kingston,
possibly the son of Iris Sangster, who was a Miss Maxwell.
By 2006, Mount Charles Pen had been bought from the Sangster family by Robb
MacMillan from Kingston and had been restored, bringing out many of the
original features of the building. Robb at that time was clearing and planting
the surrounding land
National Library, Kingston, ref St Elizabeth 689, JR1998
Mount Charles Pen map based on Morris Petgrave's plan of August 1822 and Mr
Cunnungham's plan of May 1846. Shows Mount Charles Pen with its boundaries
being Giddy Hall Pen, Whitehall Pen, Luana Pen, part of Providence, sold to Wm
Spence.
Note that John Maitland married Augusta Spence (re her gravestone) in 1848.
National Library, Kingston, ref St Elizabeth 643. JR1998
diagram represents 171 acres of land - part of Luana Pen - and is intended to be
purchased by Dr A.W. Maitland and belongs to Mount Charles Pen.
These 2 properties were left by Patty Penford in her will of 1795, The Cove to
Rebecca Wright, Little Culloden to Margaret Forbes.
Patty bought for £60 12½ acres from Alexander & Mary Forbes in 1769 in
Westmoreland. The Forbes are marked on the 1755 map.
In 1778 she bought Little Culloden pen of 96½ acres for £200.
The Cove pen of 213 acres, was bought by Patty Penford in 1784, left to her daughter
Rebecca, who then left it to Francis Maitland. He sold it about the time he
bought Giddy Hall in 1809. The site was visited by AM in May 2009 when it was
raining heavily. The road from Black River to Sav la Mar passes through the
property, but little was visible now, the land on the north side of the road
being now covered by bush, although fenced. The conveyance to Patty Penford
contains a plat of the site, which stretches down to the sea. A couple of
buildings are shown on the map. A further visit on a better day might reveal a
little more. From the 19thC publications, the Cove remained occupied into the
20thC. The plat, included in the Deed, indicates that the property was owned by
Thomas George in 1775, and was sold by Thomas Hogg, possibly his heir
(interestingly, the Hogg family reappear as owners of the Pen in 1891).
The 1804 map has Pentfords marked near Scots Cove, within the scale of the map,
the position is correct.
According to Cundall, "Culloden and Auchindown, in St. Elizabeth, date from
the time of the arrival of the ill-fated Darien refugees." [These
properties would have been in St. Elizabeth before that area became part of
Westmoreland] (B149, Cundall, page 371).
Thomas Hogg to Patty Penford – 1785
339/116 Date 1/12/1784 Ent 4 March 1785
Thomas Hogg, merchant of Westmoreland and Patty Penford, a free mulatto of St
Elizabeth.. J£1000 conveys to Patty Penford … All that piece etc of land etc in
Westmoreland and St Elizabeth commonly called the Cove containing 213 acres
bounding easterly on Major General James Bannister now Fonthill estate
Northerly on Thomas Parris and Benjamin Heath formerly Griffith Jenkin and
westerly and southerly on the sea..
Patty Penford grants to Thomas Hogg 15 feet square around
the grave of Thomas George
Witness Hyem Cohen & William Clark
Plat:
a run of land patented by John James and part of a run of land patented by
Major General James Bannister .. now belonging to Thomas George .. surveyed 1st
March 1775.
Thomas Taylor to Patty Pinford – 1778
291/73 Date 19 January 1778 Ent 27 May 1778
Thomas Taylor of Hannover practitioner of Physic and surgery of Hannover and Patty Pinford a free mulatto woman of Westmoreland .. for J£200 .. convey
Little Culloden containing 96 acres and one half .. bounding southerly on the
sea easterly on Great Culloden westerley on Ankerdown (Ankendown?)
There were 2 properties called the Cove in the Almanacs for Westmoreland, one
looked from the slave numbers to have been quite small, the other was fairly
substantial judging by the slave numbers. Their locations are not known, but
the larger of the two was grouped with others in the Bluefields area. The
larger of the two is probably the one owned by our family at Scott’s Cove.
Craskell shows “the Cave” between Bluff Point and Bluefields Bay: This is
probably the Cove in Thomas Tate’s will and the one the Almanacs
Letellier look to have been a Roman Catholic family, some appear in Kingston early 19thC.
Ann Letellier recorded as being at the Cove (a small version) from 1817-32.
Benjamin Capon recorded at the Grove 1817-22, and then at The Cove 1824-26. (BC
a merchant 1808 Westmoreland).
Thomas Tate at the Cove 1829-38, and left it to a son in his will in 1855.
Proprietors etc./Properties etc./Slaves/Stock
These look too small to be our Cove Pen
1812: Cove, Capon & Letellier: nil.
1815: Walcott & Capon, Glenislay 102/ 10
1817: Capon, Benjamin, Grove, 25
Letellier, Ann, Cove, 13/2
1818: Capon, Benjamin, Grove, 34/4
Letellier, Ann, Cove, 11/2
1820: Capon, Benjamin, Glenislay and Grove 75/16
Letellier, Ann, Cove 12/ 2
1821: Capon, Benjamin, Glenislay and Grove 101/ 47
Letellier, Ann, Cove 13/ 4
1822: Letellier, Ann, Cove 12/ 4
Capon, Benjamin, Glenislay and Grove 109/ 97
1824: Capon, Benjamin, Cove and Glenislay 88/ 79
Letellier, Ann, Cove 11/ 2
Tait, Jane, Farm 8/5 Tate, Thomas, 46/85 Tate, William, 12.
1826: Capon, Benjamin, Cove and Glenislay 99/66
Letellier, Ann, Cove 12
1829: Letellier, Ann, Cove, 4
Tate, Thomas, Old Shaftston, 105/165
..ditto, Rotherwood, 98/174
..ditto, Cove Pen, 36
1831: Letellier, Ann, Cove, 11
Tate, Thomas, Old Shaftston, 98/225
..ditto, Rotherwood, 97/192
..ditto, Cove, 33
1832: Letellier, Ann, Cove, 5
Tate, Thomas, Old Shaftston, 97/ 307
.......ditto, Rotherwood, 101
.......ditto, Cove, 34
1833: Tate, Thomas, Cove 36/ 1-2 [?]
.......Old Shaftston 99/ 215
.......Rotherwood 103
.......Heath Hall 84
1838 Westmoreland Proprietors, Properties, Apprentices
Tate, Thomas, Old Shafston 83
........Rotherwood 64
........Cove 40
1840 acres: Tate, Thomas, 786
---Same, 1821
---Same, 226
---Same, 1333
1845 prop estate acres:
Spence, W. heirs of, Woodstock, 1500
Tate, H. Industry, 14
Tate, R. Robin’s River, 1187
_Same, Orange Grove and Bronte, 206
_Same, Mount Edgecombe, 2215
_Same, Old Shafton, 786
_Same, Rotherwood, 4155
1891 Post Office Address, Kings, (near Culloden pen, west along coast towards
Savlamar)
Hogg, W. E. (Owner), Cove Pen
Tate LA, Shafston, Bluefields
Sinclair DJ, Shafston Pen, Bluefields
1910: OWNER PROPERTY DESCRIPTION OCCUPIER POSTOFFICE
Hogg William, Cove Pen, Hogg William, Bluefields PO
REGISTERS AND WILLS
Descendants of Philip Anglin
Generation No. 3
Mary Ann Anglin, born June 23, 1805 died December 1846. She married
Thomas Dale Tate June 28, 1826 in Westmoreland born Bet. 1789 - 1790 died
October 1855.
Baptism: February 02, 1809, Westmoreland
Burial: December 09, 1846, aged 42, Orange Grove, Westmoreland28
Residence: 1846, Robins River, Westmoreland
Will of Thomas Tate of Westmoreland, Esquire
As executors and trustees I appoint my friend Hugh Anthony Whitelocke and my
son Thomas Anglin Tate.
I give to the trustees to hold in trust the property called Rotherwood, and
runs of land called Metcalfe and Leamington, and Mount Edgecombe and the Cove
Plantation, Robins River and Shaftston and all other real estate I may own.
To pay any debts they may rent the real estate for 7 years. They are to hold
any real and personal estate as follows:
Cove, Rotherwood, Metcalf and Leamington and 40 cows in trust for son Napoleon
Tate.
Robins River in trust for son Cornelius Moore Tate.
Shaftston in trust for William Anglin Tate.
Culloden, Amity, Allsides and stock and Mount Edgecombe Pen in trust for Thomas
Anglin Tate.
To my daughter Helen Campbell Whitelocke (formerly Tate) an annuity of 150
pounds.
An annuity of 150 pounds to my daughter Mary Ann Tate.
An annuity of 150 pounds to my daughter Fanny Ann Tate.
The annuities are to paid in equal portions half-yearly on January 1st and July
1st. One fifth to be paid by Napoleon Tate from Cove, Rotherwood, Metcalf and Leamington. One-fifth to be paid by each of the other boys, William Anglin Tate, Cornelius
Moore Tate and Thomas Anglin Tate from lands they received. [This only accounts
for 4/5ths. There must have been another bequest that was not copied into the
Will Book, to another surviving son, John or Philip.]
The land is to be held as tenants in common [See Glossary].
The trustees may invest in stock until the estate is distributed.
Dated the third day of 1852.
Witnesses: G. B. Vidal, Jane Vidal, and Ellen Georgina Braine were sworn on
December 7, 1855 before Benjamin Vickers. The will was declared on April 15,
1856.
More About Thomas Dale Tate:
Addressed as: Esquire
Burial: October 03, 1855, Orange Grove, Westmoreland29
Occupation: Bet. 1832 - 1843, Planter
Occupation (2): 1837, Proprietor of Old Shaftston, Rotherwood, and Cove.
Occupation (3): 1840, Proprietor of 4,166 acres in Westmoreland31
Occupation (4): 1855, Proprietor Robins River, Westmoreland
Probate: April 15, 1856, Entered Vol. 127, p. 13432
Residence: Bet. 1832 - 1834, Bluefields, Westmoreland
Residence (2): 1842, Residence: Auchindown, Westmoreland
Residence (3): 1855, Residence: Robins River, Westmoreland
Will: 185233
Yarmouth Estate.
Google earth: New Yarmouth 17° 53' 0" North, 77° 16' 0" West, on the
west bank of the Rio Minho, west of Hayes. It looks still to be a sugar
factory.
NEW YARMOUTH sugar estate and factory is owned by the ancient firm of J. Wray
and Nephew. A private consortium that includes J Wray and Nephew and
Booker-Tate of the U.K. has recently bought MONYMUSK from the government http://www.discoverjamaica.com/tour7.htm
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/42179
Henry Lord Garrigues
Profile & Legacies Summary
4th Apr 1790 - ????
Claimant or beneficiary
Biography
Merchant in Jamaica, owner with Sarah Bar[r]iffe of the Yarmouth estate in Vere
Jamaica, and appearing in various capacities in some 17 other awards, largely
in the central parishes of Jamaica, son of Abednego Garrigues (d. 1791-2) and
Jane Frances Lord, and brother of Peter Francis Garrigues (q.v.).
1.
Louisa Rodon Garrigues, the daughter of Henry Lord Garrigues 'merchant' and
Frances Anderson Garrigues of Torrington Square, appears on the baptism
register at St George Bloomsbury 15/04/1830.
2.
The will of Abednego Garrigues, practitioner of physic and surgery, of St
Thomas-in-the-Vale, was proved 22/11/1792. Henry Lord Garrigues born
04/04/1790, had one child (Caroline Lord Garrigues) with Maria Dally c. 1812 (a
'free mulatto'), and married Frances Anderson Christian 29/04/1813 Kingston.
The couple had 11 children (in additon to Louisa Rodon shown above) baptised in
Kingston or St Andrew between 1814 and 1832.
Sources
T71/858 Vere No. 76.
1.
Ancestry.com, London, England, Births and Baptisms, 1813-1906 [database
online]: a note says 'according to the certificate from the Rev. J.B. Murray
curate St Olave West Street transmitted....15/04/1830.'
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/18347
Rt. Hon. Rev. Henry Phillpotts
Profile & Legacies Summary
1778 – 1869
Claimant or beneficiary
Biography
Bishop of Exeter, awarded with others the compensation for Whitney and
Rymesbury in Clarendon and New Yarmouth in Vere, all in Jamaica, as trustees
and executors of the will of the Earl of Dudley (q.v.).
1.
Son of Henry Phillpotts of Bridgwater matriculated Corpus Christi 07/11/1791
aged 13 fellow Magdalen 1795-1804 BA 1795 MA 179 BD and DD 1821 chaplain to
Bishop of Durham 1806 Vicar of Kilmersdon 1804, Bishop Middleham 1805,
Stanton-le-Street 1806, Rector Gateshead 1808, preb of Durham 1810-20, rector
of Stanhope in Weardale 1820, dean of Chester 1828, visitor Exeter College 1831
and bishop of Exeter 1831, died 1869.
2.
Often identified as a slave-owner since Eric Williams discovered his presence
in the compensation records, including by the synod of the Church of England
in 2006 and more recently the BBC.
Sources
T71/859 Clarendon nos. 284 and 320 T71/857 Vere no. 70. He is given as
'Philpotts' in these records.
T71/962 Vere no. 70: letter 14/09/1835 from solicitors (Alban & Benbow) for
the trustees and executors of late Earl of Dudley, enclosing extract from will
of Earl of Dudley. Begs compensation to be awarded to Philpotts etc. the
executors and trustees. Hibbert Oates had made claim on the part of the Heirs
of the Earl of Dudley instead of the Trustees: 'we presume as they are
uncontested this mistake is unimportant.'
Summary of will of 26 July 1831 after reciting amongst other things that 'he
was entitled to the remainder or reversion in fee simple expectant upon his own
death and failure of the issue male of his body of or in several
plantations...situate in the Island of Jamaica late of or belonging to his
grandmother Mary Viscountess Dudley and Ward....gave and devised unto certain
trustees The Rt Hon George Earl of Aberdeen and the Rt Hon James
Abercromby...his said remainder and reversion of or in all and singular the
said plantations and estates and the negro and other slaves thereon to hold
them...to the uses upon and for the trusts...and purposes in his said will and
in part hereafter mentioned viz in default of heirs of his body and subject
with other estates to an Annuity of six thousand pounds to his cousin the Rev.
William Humble Ward now Lord Ward for his life to the use of the Rt Rev H Lord
Bishop of Exeter, the Rt Hon Edward John Baron Hatherton, then Edward John
Littleton, Francis Downing Esq. and John Benbow Esq. for the term of 500 years
upon trust during the term of 12 years to raise annually such sums for the
person entitled in remainder to his estates until he should attain the age of
twenty-five years as in the said will mentioned. And then to raise certain sums
for the maintenance and education of the younger children of the said Lord Ward
and also for portions for such younger children as in the said will mentioned.
And the said Testator directed that his last named trustees should recevie the
rents and profits of his Mines and Estates during the said term of twelve years
and apply the same in discharge of any sums charged upon the said estates and
lay out and invest the residue in the purchase of freeholds copyholds or
leasehold estates...
And the said testator of his said will appointed the said Bishop of Exeter,
Eward John Baron Hatherton, Francis Downing and John Benbow executors.'
Earl of Dudley died 6 March 1833 a bachelor will proved 17 September 1833 'by
the four executors'.
1. CCEd [database online] Person ID: 28960, sourced to Foster.
2.E.g. Nigel Pocock and Victoria Cook, 'The business of enslavement', BBC
History in depth
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/abolition/slavery_business_gallery_03.shtml
[accessed 30/04/2012]: 'Phillpotts and three business associates invested in
slave plantations in Jaamcia, and when slavery was abolished they were paid
compensation for the loss of 665 slaves. A bishop personally owning slaves must
have been a powerful legitimating tool for Caribbean interests in Britain.'
Gale-Morant papers (Exeter): http://www.microform.co.uk/guides/R97047.pdf
Carlisle Estate
Owned in the 1st half of the 19thC by the Lousadas, who were left handsome
bequests in George Booth (1707-1769).
Carlisle Bay was the site of De Casse’s French landings.
Sale in 1879: Jamaica, particulars of a valuable Sugar Estate : known as
Carlisle, containing 900 acres, or thereabouts, and a piece of land belonging
thereto, containing 163 acres or thereabouts, in the Parish of Clarendon (Vere
District) in the Island of Jamaica, together with the buildings, fixtures,
machinery and live & dead stock thereon : which will be sold by auction, in
one lot, by Messrs. Hards, Vaughan & Jenkinson, before James Fleming, Esq.,
Q.C., and Reginald John Cust, Esq., Commissioners for Sale of Incumbered
Estates in the West Indies, at the Sale Room of the Commissioners.
The Gibb Family in Jamaica
Robert Charles Gibb sailed for Jamaica at the end of the 18th century, being
first at Ludlow plantation, Clarendon in 1797. He purchased Bank's, an estate
of 170 acres planted in cotton and sorghum, in Vere Parish. This estate was
near the coast just west of the River Minho and was recorded on James
Robertson's map of Jamaica dated 1804, reproduced in Jamaica Surveyed by
B.W.Higman. Robert had two recorded children, James Mitchell, born c.1807, and
Charlotte.
In the 1811/12 Jamaica Almanac, R C Gibb was recorded with 64 slaves and 6
stock. By 1820 the estate supported 92 slaves and 11 stock. In 1834 slavery was
abolished in Jamaica.
James Mitchell Gibb, who was born abt.1807, was recorded in 1840 with 170 acres
in Vere Parish. This was most likely Bank's which he would have inherited from
his father, Robert. James subsequently lived at Cottage, Vere Parish (1851),
Bog Great House, Vere Parish (1855) and Hermitage, Vere Parish (1856) until his
death in 1890. He was also recorded as owner of Salt Pond Pen, Spanish Town, St
Catherine (1878) and Carlisle Estate, Clarendon (1881), a sugar estate in
cultivation. Carlisle Estate was south of The Alley, east of the Minho River.
Banks was west of the River Minho, north of MacCary Bay, and west of Paradise
Estate. Bank's, Carlisle and Bog are all shown on James Robertsons map of
Jamaica, 1804. In the 1878 Business Directory he was listed as Gibb, James M.,
Custos and Banker, propr of Hermitage Pen.
James first married Mary Ann Robinson, who was English. Her brother, John,
married a Miss Jessie MacLachlan Blount, who, after being widowed in 1857,
became the second Mrs Gibb in 1858.
James and Mary had the following children:
1. Marian Agnes was baptised in 1849. She married Stephen Horseley, brother of
a Canon Horseley in England.
2. Robert Charles Gibb was born on 12 January 1851. At the time of his birth
the home of James and Mary Ann Gibb was `Cottage', Vere. Robert qualified as a
Member of the Royal College of Surgeons (MRCS) and as a Licentiate of the Royal
College of Physicians (LRCP). Robert practised first at Guy's Hospital, London
and then returned to Jamaica to specialise in tropical fevers. In 1878 he was
recorded in the Clarendon Parish Business Directory as: Gibb, Robert C., MRCS
& LRCP, Parochial Medical Officer. In 1900 he was recorded in the Jamaica
Almanac under Clarendon Parish, Legal & Judicial, Gibb, Robert Charles,
Kingston. Justice.
3. John James Gibb was born on 25 September, 1854, and died aged 4 months. He
was buried in the Church Yard on Feb 6, 1855. At that time James and Mary Ann
were living at Bog Great House, east of the River Minho, near Perrins estate
and north east of The Alley.
4. Jessie Mary Ann Gibb was born on 20 June 1856 and was baptised on the 21st.
At the time of her birth the home of James and Mary Ann Gibb was given as
`Hermitage', Vere. Jessie died aged 3 months and was buried in the Church Yard
on Sep 25, 1856.
Mary Ann, aged 40, died following the birth of Jessie and was buried in the
Alley Church Yard on June 22.
In 1858, James married Jessie MacLachlan Robinson (nee Blount), widow of John
Robinson, Esq, of Perrins Estate, who died in 1857 aged 30. John Robinson had
been the brother of Mary Ann Robinson, James Gibb's first wife.
In 1881 the Clarendon Parish Directory listed: Gibb, J. M., Carlisle. Carlisle
was the sugar plantation east of the River Minho, owned by James Gibb.
Engines ordered by Jamaica:
1830: Ordered by Emanuel Lousada. This was a bright
Carlisle Estate, Vere, Jamaica engine, originally made for
Mr Musket.
Merchants Marks: C and EB. Seven additions by Hibbert &
Co. for AngloMexican Mint (see below under Portfolio No. 1019).
Salt Savanna
Estate
N17°47’09” W77°14’51.4”
From a survey for the Assembly, sold btw 1772-1775[8], probably to the Maxwells
as in George’s will, and James Wildman in 1792
Salt Savanna Crop Accounts have been noted 1770-1782. Later ones are listed in
the index, but not copied to 1807.
1811: Wildman, James, Salt Savanna 275/ 44
1812: Wildman, James, Salt Savanna 255/ 38
1816: Wildman, James, Salt-Savanna 262/ 122
1817: Wildman, James, Salt Savanna, 264/1TT
1818: Wildman, James B., Salt Savanna, 265/120
1820: Wildman, James B., Salt Savanna 265/ 31
1821: Wildman, James B., Salt Savanna 258/ 36
1838: Wildman, James B., Salt Savanna 205
1839: Wildman, J. B., 1148 acres
1844: Wildman, JB Salt Savanna, 1780 acres
Jamaica Vere 38 (Salt Savanna)
Claim Details & Associated Individuals
19th Jun 1837 | 272 Enslaved | £5286 19S 5D
Parliamentary Papers p. 291.
T71/858: claim from James Beckford Wildman, of Vere, as owner-in-fee.
Counterclaim from John Edward Collett and his wife, as tenants in tail.
Counterclaim also from George Booth Maxwell ('Claims as tenant for life of
1/2'), under the provisions of the will of George Booth, dated 29/08/1768. He
also denies the validity of assignment of 25 May 1791 and has instituted a suit
in chancery against the claimant which is now pending. Adjudged to J. B.
Wildman on 19/06/1837. 01/07/1837: 'Letter of Pyne & Richards giving notice
of appeal on behalf of GBMaxwell'. 01/02/1839: 'Order of Council granting
petition to withdraw appeal'.
T71/1606: letter, dated 20/05/1836, from Capron & Co., Saville Place,
states that, in 1791, George Booth Maxwell (the counterclaimant) sold and
conveyed his life interest in a moiety of Salt Savannah to the late Mr Wildman,
who then bought life interest in the other half from another person, and the
reversion in fee simple. In 1808, George Booth Maxwell brought a Bill in
Chancery to have the 1791 deal set aside no proceeding for 15 years in this
suit: 'if the compensation Act had not been passed it is quite evident that no
further proceedings would have been undertaken.' The Court of Chancery were
asked to use discretion, and appear to have done so, and paid the award to the
Accountant General but allowed James Beckford Wildman to make an application by
counsel to them for further directions to make such award as to them shall seem
fit. Letter, dated 08/06/1837, from George Booth Maxwell, George St., Hanover
Sq., asking: at what time does the hearing take place? Memorial from James
Beckford Wildman, dated 12/03/1836, as replication was late by 'an accidental
and involuntary omission on our part.' The Memorial includes a description of
John Edward Collett and Rachael Theresa (his wife) as 'of Enfield Wash, Co of
Middx'. Their claim rested on overturning the 1791 sale. Parliamentary
Committee decision, dated 13/02/1839: the withdrawal reveals G.B. Maxwell to
have been in prison for debt at the time.
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/16645
John Holmes
Profile & Legacies Summary 1763 – 1836
John Holmes first comes to light in the 1796 Jamaica Almanac where he is listed
as an Ensign in the Vere regiment of the militia. His career in the militia and
in public service can be traced through the Almanacs: Lieutenant (1802),
Lieutenant Colonel (1808), Colonel (from 1817), Assistant Judge or Magistrate
(1824), Church Warden (1824), Treasurer of Vere Free School (1824). From 1820
he was a Member of Assembly for Vere.
From at least 1809 he was owner of a property with between 18 and 24 enslaved
people, referred to in the birth record of his son in 1813 as Twickenham, in
the 1832 Jamaica Almanac as Kimble and in the slave compensation records and
his will as Twickenham estate. Given the gradual fluctuations in the number of
enslaved people and stock he registered in the givings-in from 1809 to 1832,
this is assumed to be the same property.
John Holmes worked as an attorney on several large estates as well as taking
responsibility for properties as an executor of the previous owner. In the 1817
Slave Registers he registered 264 enslaved people on Salt Savanna estate in
Vere with Thomas Addison as attorney to the absentee James Beckford Wildman. In
the 1820 Slave Registers he registered 266 enslaved people on Salt Savanna,
again with Thomas Addison as attorney for James Beckford Wildman. In 1820 he
also registered 132 enslaved people on Springfield estate in Vere as attorney
to Robert Murchison and registered 88 enslaved people in 3 different
registrations as attorney to the heirs of Robert White and Robert Glasgow. The
Jamaica Almanacs of 1826 and 1827 list him as in lawful possession of enslaved
people and stock on Grimatt estate in Vere as an executor (with William Smith)
of Thomas Samson. The 1828 Almanac lists him as proprietor of Grimatt but by
1831 this had been sold to Alexander Murchison. The 1828 Almanac also lists him
with the heirs of John Pusey Edwardes against Pusey Hall estate with 272
enslaved people and 100 stock. In the 1831 Almanac is is listed against
Smithfield estate (presumably also as attorney). In the 1832 Slave Registers he
registered enslaved people on Dry River estate as attorney to the absentee John
Rodon. In 1834 he claimed compensation for enslaved people on Stretton Hall
estate with Henry Lord Garrigues as executors of Edward White.
John Holmes had at least 7 children, all born and baptised in Jamaica.
Elizabeth, 'A Quadroon' was born 05/01/1800 and died at Salt Savanna and was
buried the following day in the churchyard she was named as the daughter of
John Holmes in her burial record. Thomas Holmes, 'A mustee' was baptised
07/09/1806. John Holmes, 'A Quadroon infant', was buried at Salt Savanna
02/12/1807. George Wood Holmes, 'a mustee infant son of John Holmes' at Salt
Savanna estate was privately baptised 12/08/1810. Samuel Benjamin Holmes,
'mustee infant son of John Holmes' was born 15/03/1813 and baptised at his
Cottage called Twickenham 09/07/1813. Francis Edward Holmes, 'Mustee son of
John Holmes' was baptised 23/11/1817 and is assumed to have predeceased his
father as he is not mentioned in this father's will. Susan Frances Holmes, 'a
free Mustee 6 months old, daughter of John Holmes Esq.' was baptised
31/12/1820.
In his will John Holmes left £100 sterling each to his sons Thomas Addison
Holmes, George Wood Holmes and Samuel Benjamin Holmes and left his personal
effects and Twickenham estate to his reputed daughter Susan Frances Holmes.
John Holmes, Gentleman of Twickenham, age 73 years, was buried 10/04/1836.
His three surviving sons emigrated to London where they can be found in the
census and death records. Thomas Addison was living in Sydney Place, Bethnal
Green, in 1841, age 36, Clerk, with his wife Eliza and seven children (all born
in London). By 1861 he was at 21 Cambridge Road, Bethnal Green and by 1871 at
32 Groombridge Road, Hackney, where he died 28/02/1874 leaving personalty under
£300. Samuel Benjamin Holmes married Maria Eagle 12/08/1832 in Shoreditch and
can be found age 57 in the census of 1861, a tailor, in Portsea, Hampshire and
in 1881 at 3 Sardinia Street, St Clements Danes, London. His death was
registered Q1, 1890 in Strand, London. George Wood Holmes married Ann Abbs at
St Dunstan's, Stepney, 26/08/1834 he appears age 41, an undertaker, living at 2
Great James Street, Marylebone with his wife and son Henry George in the census
of 1851. George Wood Holmes died at 2 Great James Street, 02/02/1855.
The Abolition of Slavery, 1837 (Google books)
Enclosure 2, in No. 41.
EXTRACT of a LETTER from Matthew Farquharson, Esg. dated Spring Mount, 14 April
1835.
I AM happy in adding that the estates under my charge are all doing well,
seldom having occasion for the interference of the special magistrate. At Salt
Savanna estate, Vere, we have averaged 10 hogsheads sugar weekly for six weeks,
with a 10-horse power engine, one set of coppers, five in number at Low Ground,
Clarendon, nine hogsheads sugar weekly for three weeks, water-mill and five
coppers, commencing early in the morning and stopping the mill before eight at
night: both these estates belong to Mr. Wildman. We are in fact doing much
better under the present than the old system, upon Mr. W.'s properties.
http://www.law.mq.edu.au/research/colonial_case_law/colonial_cases/less_developed/jamaica/r_v_aberdeen_adam_and_preston/
R. v. Aberdeen, Adam and Preston [1814]
Slave Court
6 December 1814
Source: The Ipswich Journal (Ipswich, England), 11 February 1815, issue 4066,
from the British Library's 19th Century Newspapers site. See also Trewman's
Exeter Flying Post or Plymouth and Cornish Advertiser (Exeter, England), 16
February 1815, issue 2580
A special Slave Court was held at the Alley, in Vere, (Jamaica) on the 6th of
Dec. for the trial of the following slaves, viz. - Aberdeen, Adam, and Preston,
belonging to Salt Savannah estate, charged with the murder of another slave,
named Thomas, the property of John Holmes, Esq. by burying him alive. It
appeared from the evidence, that the parties were all Congoes, and had made a
play according to the custom of their country, when Thomas dug a grave in which
he laid himself down, desiring his companions to cover him up for the space of
one hour but that if he did not rise again in another place in that time, they
were to open the grave. Aberdeen and Preston were appointed to close up the
grave, and Adam to play on the gombah (African music), all of which was
punctually performed. Some other negroes belonging to the estate appeared,
however, before the ceremony was completely finished, and had sense enough to
open the grave but it was too late, the unfortunate victim of his own
credubility [sic] being dead. His Honour the Custos charged the Jury on the
crime, when they found them guilty of Manslaughter and the following sentence
was passed, viz. each to receive 30 lashes on the spot where the catastrophe
took place, in the presence of all the estate's negroes, then to be severally
burn in the hand, and to suffer one month's solitary confinement in the country
gaol.
James
Wildman
James Wildman also had Papine Estate. Thomas Wildman (1740-95) was a lawyer and
a trustee for the William Beckford when he inherited at the age of 9. Thomas’s
brother, James (1747-1816) was overseer for Beckford estates in Jamaica. By
1802 relations between Beckford and the Wildman brothers were severed, they
having presented him with a bill for £86,000 for their services and taking his
Esher plantation in Jamaica in lieu of payment. Wildman made no attempt to
return to Parliament. He died 23 Mar. 1816.
James Beckford Wildman (1788 - 24th May 1867) M.P. eldest son of James Wildman
of Chilham and Joanna, daughter of J. Harper of Jamaica. Godchild of Alderman
William Beckford. Born Jamaica, educated Winchester 1800-6 and Christ Church,
Oxford 1808; Lincolns Inn 1811. Married 9 Oct. 1820, Mary Anne, daughter of
Stephen Rumbold Lushington. The couple had 2 sons and 5 daughters. He succeeded
his father to Chilham Castle and Esher estate Jamaica in 1816. Served as MP for
Colchester 1818-26.
from MAP1804 and Jamaica Almanacs
A summary of properties mentioned in various texts related to their position on
the 1804 map and a mid 20thC Jamaican road map (pre 1950's air survey). The
latter map shows many estate names, while the 1804 map shows owners' names.
Where possible, lat/long reference has been established. This can be referenced
to the Jamaica grid.
The owners are listed as found in the Jamaica Almanacs.
Berlin: St Elizabeth.
17 55N 77 33W, on SE end of Santa Cruz Mountains.
1804:- Cerf
1811-24:- Almanac, Henry Cerf
1833-40:- Hyman Cohen
Blenheim: Vere
17 57N 77 31.5W, 6.5 miles north of coast.
1804:- not shown, blank area.
1809:- George Brooks
1815-24:- George Brooks
PRO has reference to Accounts of Blenheim & Cranbrooke plantations of John
Moffatt, 1806-7 WO 9/48.
Bloomsbury:
2 miles North of Giddy Hall.
1824:- George Spence.
1858:- Augusta Cooper (nee Spence, and married to John Maitland, died).
Burnt Ground: St Elizabeth.
18 02N 77 44.5W
1804:- J Brooks
1804:- G Brooks, 1 mile north of here.
1808:- George Brooks (m Sarah Wright).
1811:- Almanac, George Brooks.
Burton & New Ground
1811 (1809): Burton’s: John Chorley, 62/0, New Works: John
Blackburn, 213/20
1812 (1811): Burton’s: John Chorley, 60/0, Blackburn: Wallen’s etc, 437
1816 (1815): John Blackburn: Wallens, 234/156, Burton’s, 55/69, New Works,
204/184
1817: John Blackburn, Wallens, 234/144, Burton’s & New Works, 260/361
1818: John Blackburn, Wallens, 213/167, Burton’s & New Works, 219/286
1820: John Blackburn, Wallens, 241/9, Burton’s & New Works, 253/97
1821: John Blackburn, Wallens, 239/2, New Works, 342/74
1822: John Blackburn, Wallens, 237/184, New Works, 350/306
1823: John Blackburn, Wallens, 239/185, New Works, 310/286
1824: John Blackburn, Wallens, 313/175, New Works, 308/323
1833: John Blackburn still.
1838: Henry Lowndes: New Works 220, Wallens 220.
1840: Henry Lowndes, New Works 2060 acres, Wallens 1760
1845: A Sutherland, New Works, 2000 acres.
Enfield: Vere
17 57.5N 77 29W, 6.5 m inland from South Coast.
1804:- Booth
1815-22:- William Burt Wright.
1824-38:- William Burt Wright, est of.
Kensworth: Vere.
17 56N, 77 30.2W, 5.5 miles inland, north of Cut River mouth.
1804:- either Golburns or Stimpsons.
1815-20:- Robert Benstead Wright.
1822:- RB Wright, est of.
1824-6:- Kenilworth.
1833-38:- N Wright. ("Kinworth")
1840:- Nicola Wright.
Lowerworks: St Elizabeth.
1/2 mile NW of Black River centre, off Lacovia Road.
1804:- No indication.
1811:- Joseph Royal.
Meribah: St Elizabeth.
1811-26:- John Wright.
1833:- John Wright, decd.
Middlesex Pen: St Elizabeth
A Cooper property later.
JG 16/8/1813:
For Sale, Middlesex Pen, in the Parish of St Elizabeth, containing about 700
acres of land, on the direct road from Kingston to Savanna la Mar, 4 miles
distant from Lacovia and 8 miles from Black River about 250 acres are in well
established Guinea Grass Pieces, fenced chiefly with stone walls, 50 acres in
Common Pasture, also fenced, the remainder in Woodland. The YS River runs
through the property which is very seasonable, and well worthy the attention of
any Person desirous of purchasing a Pen. For terms apply to Messrs Boyles &
Co, Kingston or to William Rowe esq, St Elizabeth.
Mount Olivet: St Elizabeth.
17 59N 77 43.5W, E side of Santa Cruz Mountains, N of main
road.
1804:- Williams marked near there, but not exact.
1811-24:- Thomas J Williams.
1840:- John Earl. (also Chelsea)
1845:- J Earl, heirs of.
Mount Lebanon: St Elizabeth.
18 26N, 77 56W, 2 miles NW of Giddy Hall.
1804:- Smith's
1811:- Alexander Rose
1812: Rose, Alexander, 57/89
1816 Rose, Alexander Mount-Lebanon
1818 Rose, Alexander Mount-Lebanon
1821 Rose, Alexander Mount-Lebanon
1821 Rose, Mary
1821 Rose, Wm. A. and George Norfolk
1825 Rose, Alexander, dec. Mount-Lebanon
1826:- Alexander Rose, decd.
1830 Rose, Alexander, dec. Mount Lebanon
1830 Rose, William A. Norfolk
Rose Hill: St Elizabeth.
About 2 miles WNW of Giddy Hall.
Roses Valley,
in St Elizabeth, is named after the first owner, William Rose (Jamaica
Almanacs, 1811) of this now defunct estate. Roses Valley is now a village in the
centre of which is a Baptist Church, There is also Roses Valley Post
Office. DPNJ.
Southampton: St Elizabeth.
18 00.5N 77 41.5W,
1804:- J Wright
1804:- W Wright at South Valley, nearby.
1811:- Robert B Wright.
Stretton Hall: (also Streten), Vere.
17 12N 77 42W, on Salt River Bay, 1 mile N of river.
1804:- Wright & Glasgow.
1811:- James Wright, deceased.
1815:- Wright & Glasgow, executors of
1820-22:- White & Levys.
Tophill, St Elizabeth.
Between
Junction and Treasure Beach. Small elongated town in 2010.
1811: Powell, Sarah, Tophill 35/ -
Ashton Pen
- Once owned by the Burlton family with Mount Charles HBJ1840
once owned by Earl family, HBJ1915
1915: 365 acres
1998: now a smart Greathouse hotel just outside Black River.
2008: AM stayed there opinion reserved! Very poorly converted into hotel -
front door and immediate hall only original part remaining.
From Jamaica Gazette, 30/1/1813 (AM 4/2008): Ashton Pen, part of Longwood
Pen, containing 300 acres situate in district of Santa Cruz, and binding upon
Emmaus Pen. To save trouble, the considerate money is £1500 down, or £2000 by
instalments of 1 & 2 years. Applications are to be made to James Miller or
George Graham Stone, attorneys to John Mitchell esq.
From Government Gazette, 1813, Ashton Pen, part of Longwood Pen,
St. Elizabeth’s, Dec. 17, 1817. (Jamaica Gazette)
For SALE, ASHTON, a most desirable residence, situate two
miles from B1ack-River, commanding an extensive and picturesque view of the Sea
and surrounding Country: This Property contains 320 Acres of Land, about 100
of which are in Guinea-Grass, well divided with Stone Walls, the remainder in
Ruinate, Logwood, and Common Pasture. The House consists of a Dining and two
Bed-Rooms, below, a spacious Drawing and two Bed Rooms above, a detached wing
with excellent Out-Offices, and a mason .work Kitchen and Wash- House; the
whole worthy the attention of any Family wishing for a genteel country
residence. Part of the purchase money will be required down, and, time given
for the remainder on approved Security : To prevent unnecessary applications
the premises are valued at £600. currency. Apply to JOHN SALMON.
"Brett Ashmeade-Hawkins" 24/9/06.
Unfortunately the house was converted into a rather shabby hotel in the
early 1990s and the original building has been altered almost beyond
recognition. Sadly most of it is now half-hidden behind a mass of incongruous
modern additions.
Please find attached three pictures showing Ashton Great House as it once
looked when the Burlton and Earle families lived there.
They are as follows (these are held by AM, but not on
line as they may be in copyright):
1. Ashton in 1832. Copy of an original drawing by Miss Storer. Private
Collection.
2. Ashton in 1964. Copy of an original photograph by the late T.A.L.
Concannon. Concannon Collection. National Library of Jamaica.
3. Ashton in 1981. Copy of an original watercolour by Prudence Lovell. Jamaica, National Building Society Collection.
Jamaica Gazette, 22 January 1813: To be sold, Ashton Pen, being part of
Longwood Pen, containing 300 acres, situate in the district of Santa Cruz, in
the parish of St Elizabeth, and binding on Eammaus Pen. To save trouble the
consideration money is £1500 down, or £2000 by instalmets of one and two years.
Applications to be made to James Miller or George Gresham, Attornies to John
Mitchell, Esq. (20180313_141844)
The drawing showing Ashton in 1832 really captures it as it originally was.
It stands on a high hill in the midst of over 350 acres of English-style
parkland. The house had wonderful views of both Black River and the sea from
the front and also the mountains from the back. Most importantly it was always
delightfully cool and a pleasant escape from the constant heat and humidity of
the nearby town of Black River.
The late T.A.L. Concannon, an English architect who was the leading
architectural historian in Jamaica from the late 1940s to the early 1970s,
always described Ashton as an 18th Century house. However it is really quite
different from most 18th Century Jamaican houses and I tend to think that it
was probably built in the Early 19th Century instead. I would say sometime
between 1810 and 1815. It has almost a Regency feel to it.
As you can see Ashton was actually three storeys high, which was somewhat
unusual for Jamaica since most houses were usually two storeys. The ground
floor was a raised basement built of cut-stone and it contained a
"hurricane room", a wine cellar and various storage rooms. The first
floor and second floors were built of wood, solid mahogany boards, and the roof
was covered with cedar shingles cut and cured on the plantation.
A double staircase of stone led up to a pillared entrance portico on the
first floor and into a projecting entrance hall with open wooden jalousies on
all sides. This entrance hall led into a central hallway on the right of which
was a large Dining Room and on the left of which was a large Drawing Room. Both
of these rooms had tall arched doorways and very high ceilings, with glass sash
windows and wooden jalousies on three sides. This allowed the slightest breeze
to pass through both rooms, constantly keeping them cool. A beautiful mahogany
staircase led to the second floor were there were 6 bedrooms. The bedroom above
the entrance hall was said to be the coolest room in the entire house and at
one time it was used as a Study by James Edward Burlton. He always kept a large
brass telescope standing in the window to keep an eye on the shipping in the
harbour at Black River.
The old Slave Kitchen was in a separate building behind the Great House
and was connected to the back veranda of the house by a covered pillared
walkway. The Stables and Servants Quarters were also in separate buildings behind
the house. To the right of the Great House stood a separate one storey wing
known as the "Bachelors Quarters". It is not shown in the drawing of
1832 and must have been built later on, possibly in the 1840s. According to
family tradition it was used to house the Overseer and Bookkeepers and also
visiting Sea Captains and it contained a splendid Billiards Room for their
amusement.
Plantation life probably seems dull now to our modern eyes. but the
Burltons and the Earles enjoyed a very active social life in the 19th Century.
They frequently entertained visitors from Britain and from other parts of the Island. British Governors, Commanders-in-Chief and Admirals or Commodores, on official
tours around Jamaica, would have been frequent guests at Ashton, along with
their A.D.C.s and Staff. Long visits of a month or more would have been
exchanged with family and friends who owned plantations in other parts of the
Island and there would have been trips to Spanish Town, to Kingston and
occasionally home to Britain. Grand Balls and Receptions were often held at the
Black River Court House and numerous dinner parties, formal dances and musical
evenings were constantly being held in the town houses in Black River and in
the Great Houses on the plantations. Jamaica merchants and planters were
well-known for their lavish hospitality, with vast quantities of fine food and
drink, and wonderful parties that lasted for days. All this was made possible
in those days by the huge retinues of servants.
St. Elizabeth was famous for breeding thoroughbred racehorses. Black River had a fashionable racetrack and grandstand, and some plantations such a Emmaus
Pen, just adjoining Ashton Pen, even had their own private racetracks. Race
meetings were crowded events, attended in force by the local Gentry, and
visitors from other parishes, anxious to show off their new carriages and the
latest fashions from Europe. The Highgate Hunt, supported by the local
Anglo-Irish gentry such as The Cuff family, frequently met in St. Elizabeth, to
ride to hounds. Later on there was Polo at Gilnock Hall Estate, Tennis and Golf
at Malvern, and weekend Shooting Parties on all the country estates during
"The Season". Shooting began in Jamaica on "The Glorious
12th" of August, exactly the same as in Scotland, and guests were invited
down for the long weekend from Kingston and Montego Bay and even came out for
the Winter from England, to shoot quail, snipe, plover, wild pigeon and wild
duck. These were elaborate social affairs, each with an army of beaters and
bird dogs and the usual servants and shooting luncheons. There was even the
occasional crocodile hunt in the swamps of the Black River.
In the late 19th Century, due to the export of Logwood, Black River became
one of the richest towns in Jamaica, and it was actually the first town in Jamaica to have electricity. The Farquharson and Leyden families, who had two beautiful
Victorian mansions at Black River, Invercauld and Magdala, competed with each
other to entertain in the grandest manner. Mrs. Leyden, who had once been an
Opera singer in Paris, was the leading Society hostess of Black River during
the Victorian era. Old St. Elizabeth families such as the Farquharsons, the
Griffiths, the Dalys, the Robertsons, the Hendricks, the Levys, the Cuffs, the
Earles, the Calders, the Muirheads, the Myers, the Brownes, the Muschetts and
the Coopers, would have been frequent guests at her mansion, to listen to
visiting Opera singers, Orchestras and Classical Pianists. A fashionable Spa at
Black River attracted International Society including British aristocrats,
titled Europeans and even the King and Queen of Belgium. One of the first
Motor-Cars in Jamaica was imported into Black River in 1904 by the Griffith
family of Hodges Pen and, after the First World War, came the "Dance of
the Millions" in the 1920s with new Rolls Royces, free-flowing Champagne
and endless Cocktail Parties.
All this has long since vanished and today, in a modern, noisy, crowded,
rundown Third World Jamaica, it is increasingly hard to visualize the
graciousness of the old British Colonial Jamaica that we knew and loved. If I
had not seen the last vestiges of this world with my own eyes, and had not
listened to the stories of my Mother and Grandmother and others of their generation,
most of whom have now passed away, it would all seem to have been part of some
sort of insubstantial dream, just a romantic vision of the past, more myth than
history. To most Jamaicans today it is a world as alien and as remote as that
of Slavery itself, yet it still existed when I was a child and a few traces of
it still survive even to this day.
Booth Mentions:
MI of Jamaica:
NEW WEST GROUND, KINGSTON (contd)
MRS. ARABELLA BOOTH, DIED 15th JUNE, 1837, AGED 70 YEARS
Clarendon Patented survey 1670:
George Booth, 1200 acres
Robert Wright 100
St Thomas: Thomas Booth 12
1784:
VERE TROOP, Militia of Horse
Capt. John Ashley
1st Lieut. Thomas John Parker
2d Lieut. John Gall Booth
1787:
Vere Troop, Horse
2d Lieut., John Gall Booth
1790 & 1796:
Vere Troop:
Captain, John Gall Booth
1805:
Vere Regiment:
Ensign JG Booth.
1808:
Vere Regiment of Foot:
Lt JG Booth
1817:
Vere Vestryman:
Samuel Booth
1824 Vere Troop of Horse:
Lieutenant: Samuel Booth 3/8/1821
Vere 1811:
Booth, J. G., Farm 62/ 13
Booth, J. G., deceased, Mount Pleasant 58/ 12
Booth, Samuel, Asia 41/ 19
Vere 1816:
Booth, John Gall, heirs of, Mount-Pleasant 42/ 20
Booth, Samuel, Asia 24
Vere 1818:
Booth, Samuel, Rest, 24/11
Manchester 1818:
Booth, John Gall, heirs of, Mount Pleasant, 38
Booth, John Gall, Farm, 64/29
Clarendon 1820:
Schroeter and Booth, 23
Vere 1820:
Booth, Henry, 10
Booth, Robert W., 2/ 20
Booth, Samuel, Rest 29/ 2
Manchester 1820:
Booth, John Gall, Farm 81/ 33
Booth, John G. heirs of, Mount Pleasant 33/4
St Andrew 1822:
Booth, Annabella, Rowlington Pen 18/ 1
Vere 1823:
Booth, Henry, 3/ 16
Booth, Robert W., 3
Booth, Samuel, Rest 25/3
Manchester 1820:
Booth, John Gall, Farm 74/ 30
Booth, John Gall heirs of, Mount Pleasant 35/ 4
Vere 1823:
Booth, Henry, 5
Booth, Robert W., 2/ 18
Booth, Samuel, Rest 29
Manchester 1823:
Booth, John Gall, Farm 78/ 31
Booth, John G. heirs of, Mount Pleasant 35/ 5
Manchester 1824:
Booth, John Gall, Farm 115/ 23
Ditto.............., Mount Pleasant 32
Vere 1824 Vestrymen:
Booth, Samuel,
Booth, Robert W.
St Andrew 1824:
Booth, Annabella, Rowlington Pen, 26/ 3
Vere 1825:
Booth, Annabella, 6
Booth, Robert W., 6 / 30
Booth, Samuel, Rest 26 / 4
Manchester 1825:
Booth, John G. deceased, Farm 113/ [torn]
Ditto.............., Mount Pleasant 40/ [torn]
St Andrew 1825:
Booth, Annabella, Rowlington Pen, 26/3
St Andrew 1826
Booth, Annabella, Rawlington Pen, 25 / 4
St Catherine 1826:
Booth, Joseph W. 8/0
Silverwood, Samuel, as guardian of E. L. Booth 6/0
Vere 1826 (all slaves, not all have stock):
Booth, Annabella, 23
Booth, Robert W., 6 / 21
Booth, Samuel, Rest 28 / 4
St Catherine 1827:
Booth, Joseph W., 7
Silverwood, Samuel, as guardian of F. L. Booth, 6
St Andrew 1827:
Booth, Annabella, Rawlington Pen, 32/3
Clarendon 1828:
Booth, Annabella, 11
..ditto, administratrix, 20
Booth, Rebecca, 51/10
Vere 1828:
Booth, Annabella, 17
Booth, Robert W., 18
Booth, Samuel, Rest, 24
Manchester 1828:
Booth, J. G., deceased, Farm, 85
St Catherine 1826:
Booth, Joseph W., 14
Manchester 1828:
Booth, J. G. estate of, Farm, 80
St Andrew 1828
Booth, Annabella, Rawlington Pen, 31/4
Clarendon 1829:
Booth, Rebecca, 54/10
Vere 1829:
Booth, Annabella (or Ansabella?), 9
Booth, Robert W., 9
Booth, Samuel, Rest, 28/6
St Andrew:
Booth, Annabella, Rawlington Pen, 40/4
Vere 1828:
Booth, Annabella, 15
Booth, Henry, 5/5
Booth, Robert W., 17/27
Booth, Samuel, Rest, 25/6
St Andrew 1831:
Booth, Annabella, Rollington Pen, 42/5
Vere 1831:
Booth, Robert W., 9/18
Booth, Samuel, The Rest, 25/8
Clarendon 1831:
Booth, Annabella, 8
St Andrew 1832:
Booth, Annabella, Rollington Pen, 38/ 4
St Dorothy 1832:
............... for estate of Catherine Booth 4
Manchester 1832:
Booth, John Gaul, heirs of, 99
Vere 1832:
Booth, Robert W. 11/ 17
Booth, Samuel, The Rest 20/ 7
St Andrew 1833:
Booth, Annabella, Rollington Pen 40/ 7
ST Dorothy 1833:
............... for estate of Catherine Booth 4
Vere 1833:
Booth, Robert W. 8/ 13
Vere 1839:
Constable: Joseph L Booth.
St Andrew 1840:
Booth, Arabella, *Rollington pen, 12
Vere 1840:
Booth, R. W. estate of, 300
Burrell, George P., executor of Booth, 137
Manchester 1845:
Booth, J. W. Gains, 27
St Catherine 1845
Marshall, J. F. Booth’s pen, 17
Vere 1845:
Booth, W. P. Milk-River, 25
Booth, W. P. Rest, 10
Booth, S. Milk-River, 16
Booth, R. B. March Quarter, 66
Booth, R. B. Serpentine River, 1100
Moravian Church in Lititz, St. Elizabeth:
James Booth Feb 9, 1830 Alligator Pond Dec 25, 42 W.A.Prince P.L. Simon Booth
(father)
Michael Booth Feb10,1834
1. William McLeod was born Abt. 1802. He married Adah Jane Booth May 02, 1827
in Manchester (Source: B0059 Manchester Parish Register I, 1817-1836, p. 310
#3.). She was born Abt. 1802.
More About William McLeod:
Purpose of travel: Free person of color
Residence: 1827, Manchester
More About Adah Jane Booth:
Race/nationality/color: Free person of color
Residence: 1827, Manchester
Cohens: St Elizabeth.
1804:- Shown in 2 places NW of Black River, S of Giddy Hall:
18 04N 77 55.5W, between Brompton and Fiffes
18 03.5N 77 45.5, Mt Salus??
1822-24:- Cohen & Co. Heathfield. (Manchester)
1833:- Hyman, Heathfield & Berlin.
1833:- Judah Cohen, Potsdam & Corby Castle
1838:- Hyman, Apropos & Albion (Vere) & Berlin.
1838:- Judah, Potsdam & Corby Castle.
1840:- Hyman, Berlin, Apropos, Isle, Albion
1840:- Judah, Potsdam, Colby Castle, Heathfield, Berwick, Maidstone, Bath & Chatham.
Hyman's: Vere.
Maybe Dean's Valley, 18N 77 43W
1804:- Hyman's
1804:- Hyman's also 1 mile west of Santa Cruz.
Wrights: Vere.
1755:- shown on Minho (Dry) River, east bank. In 1804
perhaps "Richmonds", roughly opposite Gibbons.
Wrights: St Elizabeth.
1804:- shown 1 mile NE of Lacovia, at Greenfield or
Petersfield.
Pusey Hall:
17 38N 77 15W, North of Rocky Point, Carlisle Bay.
Wright Images W 19
1804:- Pusey Hall.
UCL awards:
Jamaica Vere 42 (Pusey Hall Estate)
AWARDEES Richard Godson Henry Hargreaves
Claim Details & Associated Individuals
5th Oct 1835 | 236 Enslaved | £5018 7S 11D
Claim Notes
Parliamentary Papers p. 19.
T71/858: shows 'Henry and Richard Godson Hargreaves [sic]
absentees'. Corrected by hand to Henry Hargreaves and Richard Godson.
T71/56 p. 107: enslaved persons were registered in 1832 by
Jno Melmoth, as attorney to Henry Hargraves and Richard Godson esqs.
Jamaica Vere 43 (Pusey Hall Estate)
AWARDEES Susan Goulburn & Rebecca Ross
Claim Details & Associated Individuals
29th Feb 1836 | 32 Enslaved | £618 1S 9D
Claim Notes
Parliamentary Papers p. 19.
T7/858: claim from Thomas Heney, of Vere, as the agent of
Rebecca Ross and Susan Goulbourn.
T71/56 p. 54: Susan Goulburn registered 5 enslaved persons
in 1832.
T71/56 p. 125: Rebecca Ross registered two enslaved persons,
as guardian.
Wint: Vere.
1804:- on Milk River, north of Main road crossing, on east
bank. Also there were Mrs Booth's.
1811:- John P. Wint.
1804:- Myers were shown about 1/2 mile west of Giddy Hall Settlement
Mrs Parchment's shown near south coast, between Jack's Holt and White Horse.
Thomas Hercey Barratt
Particulars of the Estates of Mile Gully and Spitzbergen,
and Harmans or Harmony Run, in the Parish of Manchester : Paradise, Piper's or
Smith's Penn, Mumbies & Blackwall, in the Parish of Vere, and Garbrand Hall
and Mullet Hall, in the Parish of Saint Thomas in the east, all in the Island
of Jamaica, containing alltogether 15,932 acres, or thereabouts : which will be
sold by auction, in seven lots, or in such lots as the chief Commissioners
shall determine at the time of sale, by Messrs. Leifchild & Cheffins,
before Henry James Stonor, Esq., Chief Commissioner, at the Court of the
Commissioners.
Other Title
In the Court of the Commissioners for the Sale of Incumbered
Estates in the West Indies (Jamaica)
Incumbered Estates in the West Indies (Jamaica)
Copies of the estate maps are in the Estate Map folder, and available from the
Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/resource/g4961gm.gct00414/?sp=1
Jamaica, particulars of a valuable Sugar Estate : known as Carlisle, containing
900 acres, or thereabouts, and a piece of land belonging thereto, containing
163 acres or thereabouts, in the Parish of Clarendon (Vere District) in the
Island of Jamaica, together with the buildings, fixtures, machinery and live
& dead stock thereon : which will be sold by auction, in one lot, by
Messrs. Hards, Vaughan & Jenkinson, before James Fleming, Esq., Q.C., and
Reginald John Cust, Esq., Commissioners for Sale of Incumbered Estates in the
West Indies, at the Sale Room of the Commissioners.
Title from accompanying text. "In the matter of the Estate of Issac Baruh
Lousada, deceased." "Sale on Wednesday, the 14th day of May,
1879." Accompanied by text: In the Court of the Commissioners for Sale of
Incumbered Estates in the West Indies, Jamaica. ([4] unnumbered pages :
cadastral data, annotations ; 44 cm, folded to 28 x 11 cm). "At the
Auction Mart, Tokenhouse Yard, in the city of London, on Wednesday, the 14th
day of May, 1879, at one o'clock precisely. The purchaser will have an
indefeasible Parliamentary Title under the Seal of the Court." Available
also through the Library of Congress Web site as a raster image.
Mile Gully
Culture in Education
Manchester’s Culture and History - Past to the Present
05/11/2013
Manchester Parish Development Committee
Trainer: Mrs. Blackwood Meeks
In 1799, an advertisement appeared in the Jamaica Mercury and Kingston
Advertiser for the sale of a property referred to as ‘Mile Guely’. Names of
persons connected with the transaction were: Thomas Blen___, Robert Miller,
Thomas R__, John Allen and William Hays. The Manchester Vestry Minutes mention
that Mile Gully Pen had 148 slaves and 320 stock, and that the sum which the
estate had to pay to the area’s way warden for upkeep of the roads, etc., was
£43.13.4. There are later references to Mile Gully Pen, which was owned in 1815
by Thomas H. Barrett – whose family was among the first English settlers who
received land patents in Jamaica from the King of England. However, the estate
may have been in operation from as early as the 1790s. By 1818, the property
was chiefly a supplier of coffee and young steers, which were respectively sold
in London and to the local plantations, Garbrand Hall and Paradise Estate.
The crop account of 31st December 1819 to 31st December 1820
for Mile Gully Pen, which by this time belonged to the heirs of the deceased
Thomas Barrett, records a shipment of three puncheons of rum, 27 tierces of coffee
and 30 tierces of sugar to London. In 1820, Garbrand Hall Estate was sold a
bull and two cows for a total cost of £80; Alexander Campbell was sold 16 cows for
£288; Paradise Estate sold two fat calves for £40 and 700ft cedar planks for
£42; and 5,000ft cedar in log shipped to Mullet Hall Estate in St.
Thomas-in-the-East, though no cost was given. The manager of Mile Gully Pen was
then James Matthew White while the overseer was George Lindsay. Also in 1820
was a slave return of the property where 232 slaves were accounted for.
By 1840, Mile Gully Pen was owned by John Nunes although a
substantial acreage (7,942 acres) was owned by Haten Pearson; and by 1846 Mile
Gully Pen was being operated jointly with Spitzbergen Plantation and had
reported a total earning of £848.12.9 for the period 1st January to 31st
December 1846.
In the 1882 Return of Properties, Mile Gully Pen was a vast
4,000 acres property, which was owned by A.W. Heron. The estate produced coffee
on only 16 acres of the land, while 800 acres were devoted to common pasture/guinea
grass, with the remaining 3,184 acres a woodland. Mile Gully Pen ceased to
exist as a separate operation of a person or family by 1920.
The following are extracts from
“Acts of Assembly”
Passed in the Island of Jamaica
From the year 1681 to the year 1768, inclusive
In two volumes
Saint Jago de la Vega, Jamaica
Printed by Lowry and Sherlock, printers, Booksellers and Stationers
MDCCLXIX
Surveyors
Act 24 1683 P38 - An Act for regulating
Surveyors,
BE it enacted by the Governor, Council, and Assembly; and it
is hereby enacted and ordained by the Authority of the same, That no Person
whatsoever shall presume to act or perform the Office or Employment of a
Surveyor-general within this Island, before he hath given good and sufficient
Security in the Sum of Four Thousand Pounds, current Money of this Island, for
the just and faithful Performance of his Office and Trust, according to the
Duty of his said Office and Employment, and that the Bonds for Security be
carefully kept and recorded in the Secretary's Office; and upon any Damages
received by any Person from the said Surveyor, or any deputed under him, in the
negligent or corrupt Performance of his or their Surveys, and due Application
thereon made to the Governor, the said Bond shall be put in Suit, and due
Recovery thereof made for such Damages as they shall prove to have received, in
the same Manner and Form as is declared and provided by the Act, entitled, An
Act requiring all Masters of Ships and Vessels to give Security in the
Secretary's Office.
II. Provided always, and it is the true Intent and Meaning of this Act, That it
shall and may be lawful for any Person or Persons whatsoever to survey,
re-survey, and run any dividing Lines, and give Plats of any Land already
patented, or that shall be patented or surveyed within this his Majesty's
Island, except where the King is or shall be a Party; in which case only the
Surveyor-general, his Deputy or Deputies, or any other Person thereunto
lawfully authorised by the Governor for the Time being, shall survey,
re-survey, or run dividing Lines, and give Plats thereof; any Law, Custom, or
Usage seeming to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding.
III. Be it further enacted and ordained by the Authority aforesaid, That the
Surveyor-general, or any other Person thereunto lawfully authorised, as
aforesaid, shall, by himself, or his Deputy or Deputies, execute every such
Order or Warrant for the surveying or running out of Lands, as from time to
time shall be directed to him or them, as aforesaid, within a reasonable Time
after the proving of such an Order or Warrant; that is to say, in any Place
within the Parishes of St. Catharine, Port Royal, or St. Andrew, within one
Month; in any Place within the Parishes of Vere, Clarendon, St. Dorothy, St.
John, St. Mary, St. Thomas in the Vale, St. David, or St. Thomas to Windward,
within Three Months; and in any other Parish whatsoever within this Island,
within Six Months; upon Penalty of one Hundred Pounds, current Money of this
Island, for every such Default; the one Half to our Sovereign Lord the King,
his Heirs and Successors, for and towards the Support of the Government of this
Island, and the contingent Charges thereof; and the other Moiety to the Person
aggrieved, or to him that shall sue for the same; to be recovered in any of his
Majesty's Courts of Record within this Island, by Bill, Plaint, or Information,
wherein no Essoin, Protection, or Wager of Law shall be allowed.
IV. Provided always, That if any Person under the Pretence of surveying Lands,
shall cause the Surveyor, or any of his Deputies, to take a Journey, and when
he comes at the Time and Place assigned, shall not be there ready to shew him
the Land that is to be surveyed, so that he cannot Perform the same; the
Parties aforesaid shall pay and satisfy unto the said Surveyor or his Deputy,
Ten Shillings per Diem for every Day he shall so lose, for his Pains and
Charges in the said Journey.
V. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That the said
Surveyor-general, by himself, or his Deputy, erect his Office at the Town of
St. Jago de la Vega, under the Penalty of Five Hundred Pounds, current Money of
this Island., to be recovered and levied as aforesaid; and that he, or his
Deputy, keep or attend his Office from Eight to Eleven in the Forenoon, and
from Two to Five in the Afternoon, every Day, except Sundays and Holidays,
under the Penalty of Forty Shillings, to be recovered by Warrant from any
justice of the Peace, to the Uses aforesaid; any Custom or Ufage heretofore to
the contrary notwithstanding.
VI. Provided, That a Power be left in the King's Majesty, and his Officers, to
re-examine the Surveyors for what concerns his Majesty.
1683 Act 25 Vol 1 P39
An Act for further directing and regulating the Proceedings
of Surveyors.
FORASMUCH as it hath been found by Experience, that the Act, entitled, An Act
sor regulating Surveyors, hath not sufficiently provided against the several
Abuses by sundry evil-disposed Surveyors formerly, and now also often done and
committed, contrary to their Duty and the Trust reposed in them, to the Damage
of his Majesty, and of his liege People of this Island, and which in some cases
may tend to the utter Ruin of many of his good Subjects; for Prevention
whereof, be it enacted by the Governor and Council, and Assembly, and it is
hereby enacted and ordained by the Authority of the same, That no Surveyor
whatsoever presume to deliver any Plat, whereby any Parcel of Land shall pass
the Broad Seal of this Island, before he hath himself, in his own Person,
actually surveyed and measured the said Land on every Side thereof, where it is
accessible and possible to be done, and hath also seen the Lines fairly made,
and the Corner-trees marked with the first Letters of his Name and Surname,
expressed in the Order; and that the said Plat shall truly represent the
respective Parcels of Land, with their true Bounds and Bearings, and expressing
the Sort of Wood every Corner-tree is of, with the Alphabetical Marks
aforesaid, and also insert the Scale of the same, either drawn or expressed
therein, under the Penalty of Fifty Pounds for every such Default.
II. And be it further enacted and ordained by the Authority aforesaid, That
where any Surveyor shall be called, or employed to survey or re-survey any
Parcel of Land, bounding upon any Land already taken up, the said Surveyor,
before he presume to run upon any such Lines, shall give Notice thereof to the
reputed Owners or Possessors of the said Land, if he know them, and that they
are Inhabitants in the Precinct where the said Survey or Re-survey is intended
to be made or done; and if he does not know the Owners of the said Land, or
that the said Owners dwell not in the Precinct, that then he give Notice to the
Two next Neighbours, under the Penalty of Twenty Pounds for every such Default.
III. And be it further enacted and ordained by the Authority aforesaid, That no
Surveyor shall presume to survey or lay out any Land to pass the Broad Seal of
this Island, directly or indirectly, for his own Use, but shall employ some
other Surveyor to do the same, under the Penalty of Fifty Pounds.
IV. And whereas sundry Surveyors have practised to give Plats to pass the
King's Grant for several Parcels of Land, upon some of which Parcels they have,
either through Negligence or evil Design, never made any actual Survey, viz.
either marking one Corner-tree or more, and running and marking no Line, but
projecting the Whole, or else some Part where the natural Situation of the Land
would well permit the due Survey and cutting Lines, which tends to the
Dishonour of his Majesty, and great Damage, even in some case to the Ruin of
many of his good Subjects of this Island; be it therefore enacted and ordained
by the Authority aforesaid, That all present Surveyors who have given Plats,
whereby any Parcel of Land hath passed the Broad Seal of this Island, without
actual surveying on all Sides where the Situation of the said Land makes it
possible to be done, shall on Request to them made at any Time, complete any
former Survey, according to the Plat by them given, running fair Lines where
they had before projected only, and marking Trees in the said Lines with Three
Notches in Wood-land, according to Custom, and making fitting Marks in other
Lands.
V. And it is hereby also provided, That no Surveyor, or who hath executed the
Office as a Surveyor, is hereby obliged to make Re-survey, or cut Lines in
Lands which have been patented more than Four Years; and whatsoever Surveyor,
or that hath executed the Office of a Surveyor in this Island, shall, after due
Request, as aforesaid, deny, refuse, or delay to cut the above said Lines, and
rectify the above mentioned Errors, in such Manner as is before expressed,
shall forfeit for every Three Months they shall so deny, refuse, or delay the
same, the Sum of Twenty Pounds, to be recovered in any Court of Record in this
Island; one Half whereof to our Sovereign Lord the King, for the public Use of
this Island, and the other Half to the Informer, Party injured, or who will sue
for the same.
VI. And for Prevention of Disputes and Differences that may arise also of an
evil Practice of some Surveyors, who, when an Order hath been given for running
out Land, have made their own Advantage of the same, running it out for other
Persons; it is also hereby enacted, That every Surveyor shall, at any Time when
an Order for the Survey of Land is offered him, immediately take a Memorandum
thereof, with the Place where the Party bringing it desires it should be run
out, mentioning also the Time of the Receipt thereof, and shall also write the
same on the Back of the said Order, and shall also survey the said Land
accordingly for the said Person, if he be ready in reasonable Time, after due Notice
by the said Surveyor given to shew the said Land; and if it shall so happen,
that the said Surveyor shall have received an Order already, which he believes
is for the said Parcel of Land, he shall then declare the same, and also shew
the said Order, if desired, under the Penalty of Forty Pounds for every such
Default; and every Surveyor shall, on every Survey, return Two Plats of the
said Survey into the Patent-office, the one to be left there, and the other to
be affixed to the Survey into the Patent office,
VII. And it is hereby also further enacted, That the Clerk of the Patents shall
affix one of the Two Plats delivered him by the Surveyor (as above provided)
unto the Grant, and keep the other Plat in the said Office, without any
Embezilment of the same; and that the Secretary of this Island shall record a
true Copy of the Plat so affixed to the Grant or Patent, next unto the Record
of each respective Grant or Patent; and that the Clerk of the Patents shall
receive for writing an original Patent, Ten Shillings, and no more; and if the
Clerk of the Patents, or Secretary of this Island, shall offend against any of
the Clauses of this Act, he or they, who shall so offend, shall forfeit the Sum
of Twenty Pounds for each Offence by him or them committed.
VIII. And it is also hereby enacted, That every Surveyor, or Clerk of the
Patents, or any other Person, in whose Hands soever any original Plat is
lawfully lodged, shall, on Request by any one made, give a true Copy of any
Plat in their Copy of an Possession, and receive Two Shillings and Six-Pence
for the same, and no more; and whosoever aforesaid shall refuse or deny the
same, shall forfeit Forty Shillings for every such Offence, to be recovered by
Warrant from any justice of the Peace; one Half of which Forfeiture to be
received by the said justice, and paid by him to the Church-wardens, for the
Use of the Poor of the Parish, and the other Half to the Party complaining.
IX. And whereas in an Act, intituled, An Act for regulating Fees, it is made
lawful for every Surveyor to receive Two Pence per Acre for all Lands by him
surveyed, viz. for the Survey of the same, and no more; it is hereby enacted by
the Authority aforesaid, That it shall and may be lawful for every Surveyor
receive one Penny per Acre more than the said Act allows; that is, Three Pence
per Acre for surveying any Quantity of Land, and no more.
X. And it is hereby enacted, That every Person who shall receive a Commission
from the Governor to be a Surveyor in this Island, shall give Bond, with sufficient
Surety, in the Sum of Three hundred Pounds, for the true and just Performance
of his Office, before he act in the same, under the Penalty of Fifty Pounds for
every such Offence; the said Bond to be carefully kept and recorded in the
Secretary's Office, that upon any Negligence or corrupt Performance of their
Office, it may be put in Suit, in the same Manner as is declared and provided
for the Recovery of the Bond for Security given by all Masters of Ships and
Vessels, and appointed in the Act, entitled, An Act requiring all Masters of
Ships and Vessels to give Security in the Secretary's Office.
XI. But it is hereby provided nevertheless, That if the Surveyor-general shall
keep his Office, and Perform the Duties herein required, both in his own Person
and his Deputies, and as is provided in an Act, entitled, An Act for regulating
Surveyors; that then it shall and may be lawful for the said Surveyor-general
to employ Deputies, as formerly hath been done; but that his Bond of Four
thousand Pounds, mentioned in the aforesaid Act, shall remain cautionary for
Security, that himself, and also his Deputies, do well observe and Perform all
the Directions and Clauses of this Act for future Surveys, under the several
Penalties therein expressed.
XII. Be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That if Robert Felgate,
or any Person whatsoever, who have any original Plat in their Custody, do not
return the same into the Patent-office at or before the Five and twentieth Day
of March next ensuing, shall, upon due Conviction thereof, for every Plat so
kept back, forfeit the Sum of One hundred Pounds.
XIII. And it is also hereby enacted and ordained by the Authority aforesaid,
penalties, That all Penalties mentioned in this Act, and no Provision made
where they shall be recovered, or how disposed of, shall be recovered by Bill,
Plaint, or Information, in any Court of Record within this Island, wherein no
Essoin, Protection, or Wager of Law shall be allowed; one Half of which
Forfeitures shall be unto our Sovereign Lord the King, towards the Support of
the Government of this Island, and the contingent Charges thereof; and the
other Half to him or them that shall sue for the same; any Law, Custom, or
Usage to the contrary notwithstanding.
Parish Boundaries
1683: Boundary of St Elizabeth &
Clarendon
Act 26: A supplementary and explanatory Act. Vol 1 P42, 1683
III. Be it enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That a
North-north-West Line from the Head of Swift River to the South Bounds of St
Anne's, shall be the Easterly and Westerly Bounds of the Parishes of St.
Elizabeth and Clarendon.
1703: Dividing St Elizabeth
Vol 1. Act 45, P73
An Act for dividing the Parish of St. Elizabeth into Two
distinct Parishes for the Ease of the Inhabitants.
WHEREAS the Parish of St. Elizabeth is of such large Extent,
that the Inhabitants, without long Time of Warning, extraordinary Fatigue, Loss
of Time, and great Expense, cannot convene and appear on public Occasions,
either at Church, Election of Members to serve as Representatives in
Assemblies, choosing Church-wardens or Vestrymen, laying on Taxes, appointing
Surveyors, and many other Privileges, as Subjects of England, are thereby lost:
And whereas the Quantity of Land, Number of Settlements, and Inhabitants
contained in the said Parish, are sufficient for Two several and distinct
Parishes; Be it therefore enacted and ordained by her Majesty's
Lieutenant-Governor, Council and Assembly, and it is hereby enacted and
ordained by the Authority of the same, That the said Parish of St. Elizabeth be
divided, and The Parish of is hereby divided into Two separate and distinct
Parishes, at a Place commonly called and known by the Name of Scott's Cove, in
Syrranam Quarters, from thence due North-east, shall divide the said Two
Parishes; and from the East-ward of the said Division to the Parish of
Clarendon and Vere, shall be a distinct and separate Parish, to be called and
known by the Name of the Parish of St. Elizabeth; and to the Westward of the
said Dividing, as aforesaid, to the South Bounds of the Parish of St. James,
shall be a distinct and separate Parish, and is hereby called and to be known
by the Name of the Parish of Westmoreland; which said Two Parishes shall be,
and for ever hereafter taken and esteemed, to all Intents and Purposes, Two
distinct Parishes, separate from each other, and be called and known by the
Name of the Parishes of St. Elizabeth and Westmoreland, and have, use,
exercise, and enjoy all and every the Powers, Authorities, Benefits, and
Privileges, Rights, Immunities, and Customs, that all or any of the Parishes or
Precincts within this Island have or ought to have, use, exercise, or enjoy of
common Right, or by virtue of any general Act or Acts of this Country, as
fully, amply, and effectually, as if they had been Two distinct and separate
Parishes or Precincts, and therein by Name expressly mentioned and specified;
any Law, Custom, or Usage to the contrary notwithstanding.
II. And whereas it may be supposed that the Parish of St.
Elizabeth, before the separating and dividing thereof, was indebted and in
Arrear, in taxing, levying, and paying some public Debt, or Sum of Money: And
whereas there is already, before the dividing of the Parish, as aforesaid,
Money taxed, collected, or paid to the Church-wardens or Constables; therefore
be it enacted and ordained by the Authority aforesaid, That the Church-wardens
which shall be next chosen for each of the Two several and respective Parishes,
shall have and receive, sue for, or recover such Proportion of the Money
already taxed, levied, or paid, as was taxed, levied, collected, or paid in or
by the Inhabitants of the Parish of Westmoreland before they were divided; and
that each of the said Parishes shall raise Money according to the Proportion
aforesaid, for the Payment and discharging such public Debts as were due from
the Parish of St. Elizabeth at the Time of the dividing the fame into Two
separate and distinct Parishes; any Law, Custom, or Usage in any wise to the
contrary notwithstanding.
1723: Westmoreland divided.
Act 76 Vol 1 P136
An AEl for dividing the Parish of Westmoreland into two
distinct Parishes, for the Ease of the Inhabitants.
WHEREREAS the Parish of Westmoreland is of such large
Extent, that the Inhabitants, without long Time of Warning, extraordinary Fatigue,
Loss of Time, and great Expense, cannot convene and appear on public Occasions,
either at Church, Election of Members to serve as Representatives in
Assemblies, choosing Church-wardens or Vestrymen, laying on Taxes, appointing
Surveyors, and many other Privileges, as Subjects of England, are thereby lost:
And whereas the Quantity of Land, Number of Settlements, and Inhabitants
contained in the said Parish, are sufficient for two separate and distinct
Parishes; Be it therefore enacted and ordained by the Governor, Council, and
Assembly of and for this Island, and it is hereby enacted and ordained by the
Authority of the same, That the said Parish of Westmoreland be divided, and is
hereby divided into two separate and distinct Parishes, in Manner following:
that is to say, That such Part of the said Parish as lieth on the South-fide
of. the Place commonly called and known by the Name of Negril by North, by a
dividing Line to be carried directly from Negril aforesaid, unto King's Valley
River, where the King's Road, leading to the North-side of this Island, cuts
the said River, and from thence, by a due East Course, to the River called
Great River, shall be a distinct and separate Parish, to be called and known by
the Name of the Parish of Westmoreland; and to the Northward of the said Place
called Negril by North, by such dividing Line as aforesaid, unto the South
Bounds of the Parish of St. James, shall be a distinct and separate Parish, and
is hereby called and to be known by the Name of the Parish of Hannover; which
said two Parishes shall be for ever hereafter taken and esteemed, to all
Intents and Purposes, two distinct Parishes, separate from each other, and be
respectively called and known by the Names of the Parishes of Westmoreland and
Hanover, and respectively have, use, exercise, and enjoy all and every the
Powers, Authorities, Benefits and Privileges, Rights, Immunities and Customs,
that all or any of the Parishes or Precincts within this Island have, or ought
to have, use, exercise, or enjoy of common Right, or by virtue of any general
Act or Acts of this Country, as fully, amply, and effectually, as if they had
been two distinct and separate Parishes or Precincts, and therein by Name
expressly mentioned and specified; any Law, Custom, or Usage to the contrary
notwithstanding.
II. And whereas it may be supposed that the Parish of
Westmoreland, before the separating and dividing thereof, was indebted and in
Arrear in taxing, levying, and paying some public Debt or Sum of Money; and
whereas there is already, before the dividing of the Parish, as aforesaid,
Money taxed, collected, or paid to the Church-wardens or Constables, therefore
be it enacted and ordained by the Authority aforesaid, That the Church-wardens
which shall be next chosen for each of the two several and respective Parishes
shall have and receive, sue for and to be divided recover such Proportion of
the Money already taxed, levied, or paid, as was taxed, levied, collected, or
paid in or by the Inhabitants of the Parish of Hanover before they were
divided; and that each of the said Parishes shall raise Money according to the
Proportion aforesaid, for the Payment and discharging such public Debts as were
due from the Parish of Westmoreland at the Time of dividing the same into two
separate and distinct Parishes; any Law, Custom, or Usage in any wise to the
contrary notwithstanding.
1739: St Elizabeth/Vere/Clarendon Boundary
Act 121, Vol 1 P232.
Browne has this boundary in its earlier position, it is shown on Craskell &
Robertson as in this act.
An Act for the uniting of those parts of Carpenters Mountains, heretofore
esteemed part of the parishes of St Elizabeth and Clarendon to the parish of
Vere (12 May 1739)
Whereas those parts of Carpenter’s Mountains, lying in the
parishes of St. Elizabeth and Clarendon, being far, distant from the usual
places of the meetings of the justices and vestry of the said respective
parishes, and the plantations in the said mountains being much infested with
rebellious negroes, the inhabitants of the said mountains cannot, without long
time of warning, extraordinary fatigue, loss of time, and great expense and
difficulties, convene and appear on public occasions, either at church,
election of members to serve as representatives in assemblies, choosing churchwardens
or vestrymen, assessing taxes, appointing surveyors, and attending the
quarterly sessions and trials of negroes whereby many privileges to the
inhabitants of those parts of the said mountains, as subjects of Great-Britain,
are in a great measure lost: And whereas the uniting those parts of the said
parishes of St. Elizabeth and Clarendon, called Carpenter’s Mountains, bounding
from the mouth of Milk River ten miles (this must be a misprint – on Craskell,
it is about 2 miles up the Milk River) up the same river-course to the bounds
of Sutton and Sperry, and thence, with a north-west line, cross the mountains
to Manatee Savannah, and along the top of the said mountains to Alligator Pond,
and along the sea-side to the mouth of Milk River aforesaid, according to the
plan annexed, would be the most effectual remedy for the ease and relief of the
inhabitants of the said mountains from such their difficulties, without much
inconvenience to the inhabitants, either of the parishes of St. Elizabeth or
Clarendon: May it please your most excellent majesty that it be enabled; Be it
therefore enacted by your Majesty’s governor, council, and assembly of this you
island of Jamaica, and it is hereby enabled by the authority of the same. That
those parts of Carpenter’s Mountains, heretofore esteemed part of the said
parishes of St. Elizabeth and Clarendon, bounding as herein before described,
according to the said plan annexed, shall for ever hereafter be united and
annexed to, and be taken and esteemed, to all intents and purposes, as part of,
the said parish of Vere; and that the inhabitants of those parts of the said
Carpenter's Mountains herein before described, and their heirs,
representatives, and successors, shall for ever hereafter have, use, exercise,
and enjoy, all and every the powers, authorities, benefits, rights, immunities,
and privileges, which all or any of the inhabitants of the said parish of Vere,
or their heirs, representatives, or successors ought to have, use, exercise, or
enjoy, of common right, or by virtue of any general act or acts of this island,
as fully, amply, and effectually, as if those parts of the said mountains, now
or heretofore in the said parishes of St. Elizabeth and Clarendon, had been
originally in, or part of, the said parish of Vere, and had never been deemed
or taken to have been in, or esteemed as part of, the said parishes of St.
Elizabeth and Clarendon, or either of them; any law, custom,. or usage, to the
contrary notwithstanding.
II. And whereas the inhabitants of those parts of the said
mountains, before the passing of this act esteemed to have been in the said
parishes of St. Elizabeth and Clarendon, or one of them, may have been
indebted, or in arrear, in or by reason of some public or parochial taxes,
debts, or sums of money:
And whereas before the passing of this act, money might have
been assessed, taxed, collected, or paid to the churchwardens or constables of
the said respective parishes of St. Elizabeth and Clarendon: Be it therefore
enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the churchwardens, already chose for
the parishes of St. Elizabeth and Clarendon, shall respectively have and
receive, such proportion of the money already assessed, taxed, levied, or paid,
as were, taxed, levied, collected, or paid, in or by the inhabitants of those
parts of the said Carpenter’s Mountains, before the passing of this act
esteemed to have been in, or parts of, the said respective parishes of St.
Elizabeth and Clarendon, or as if this act had never been made; and that the
inhabitants of those parts of the said mountains, heretofore in the said
parishes of St. Elizabeth and Clarendon, shall raise money, according to their
assessments, and in such proportions, for the payment and discharge of such
public debts as were due from, or ought to have been paid, by, the inhabitants
of those parts of the said mountains, before the passing of this act deemed to
have been in the parishes of St. Elizabeth and Clarendon, or either of them,
and pay the same to such person and persons, and in such manner and form, as if
this act had never been made and that the justices and vestry of the said
parishes of St. Elizabeth and Clarendon shall have the same powers and
authorities, and shall and may assess, collect, and levy, all such acreages as
are or may be due from the inhabitants of those parts of Carpenter’s Mountains,
before the passing of this act esteemed to have been in the said parishes of St
Elizabeth and Clarendon, in as large and ample manner as they had, or could or
might, have, done, before the passing of this act: any law, custom, or usage,
to the contrary notwithstanding.
1744: Road from St Ann to St Thomas in the
Vale.
Vol 1 Act 140 P262.
An Act for making and opening a Road, fit for Wheel-Carriages, from the Parish
of St. Anne to the Parish of St. Thomas in the Vale; and for empowering other Trustees
to execute so much of the Trusts as remain unexecuted by or under an Act, entitled^
Southside to Savanna la Mar, 1823 Magistrates Guide
Southside to Savanna- la- Mar Distance from Kingston to Spanish-Town
13 miles, Spanish- Town to Old-Harbour 12, Old-Harbour to Clarendon 12,
Clarendon to Green-Pond 16, Green-Pond to May-Hill 5, May-Hill to the Gutters
5, the Gutters to Goshen 5, Goshen to Lacovia 12, Lacovia to Black- River 12,
Black- River to Robin's River 16, Robin's River to Savanna-la- Mar 16; total
124.
Division of Salt Savanna
1709 Vol 1 Act 55, P91
An Act for dividing the common or salt Savanna, in the Parish of Vere.
WHEREAS our late Sovereign Lord King Charles the Second, by
his Act 55.
gracious Letters Patent under the Great Seal of this Island,
bearing Date
the Twentieth Day of January, which was in the Thirty-sixth
Year of his Reign [1685 Plat 2/34/79], for the Considerations therein
mentioned, did give and grant unto Robert Varney, late of the Parish of Vere,
Esq; and his Heirs for ever, a certain Parcel of Land, lying and being in the
said Parish of Vere containing by Estimation Two thousand and six hundred
Acres, commonly called The common or salt Savanna (there being included in the
Plat thereof Seven hundred Acres, formerly patented by Robert Smart of the said
Parish; as likewise sixty Acres, formerly patented by Arthur Goodwin, of the
said Parish; in all Three thousand three hundred and sixty Acres; bounding then
North-easterly upon Capt. John Goddard, under the Brazileto Mountain;
North-west on John Downer and Samuel Gale; Westerly, upon Col. William Ivy, the
King's Road, Arthur Turner, George Osborne, Edward Green, Edward Brumpfield,
Robert Barriffe, Richard Twarton, and Capt. Christopher Horner; South, on the
said Horner and Richard Barriffe; Easterly, on Mr. John Lory, Capt. Homer,; the
Sea and Morass, Robert Windall, Peter Killby, and John Loyd; North-easterly, on
Valentine Mumby; and East, on Capt. Henry Rymes, as by the Plat thereof to the
said Patent annexed appears) to have and to hold the same Premises, with their
and every of their Appurtenances, unto him the said Robert Varney, his Heirs
and Assigns for ever, under such Rents, Provisoes, Conditions, and Services, as
are therein and thereby more particularly expressed and set forth: And whereas
the said Two thousand and six hundred Acres of Land were patented by the laid
Robert Varney in his Name, in Trust only for and at the special Instance and
Request of several of the Inhabitants of the said Parish, to the Intent that
the said Robert Varney should give and make a Title unto Thirty-three Acres and
a half, for one Seventy-seventh Part of the said Land, be it more or less, to
each such Inhabitant; which was afterwards by him the said Robert Varney
accordingly, and pursuant to the said Trust, given and Performed: But in
regard, no Division thereof in a legal Manner was then, or at any Time since
hath been made among the said several Proprietors, whereby it hath remained and
still doth remain as an undivided Interest; which hath occasioned not only
several of the said Proprietors to enclose, fall, and manure greater Quantities
of the said Land than their Shares or Proportions have amounted to, but several
other Persons who have not any manner of Interest in, or the least Colour of
Pretence of Right unto the said Land or any Part thereof, to enclose, fall, and
manure several Parcels of the said Land, and to make great Sums of Money, and
other Advantages thereby, contrary to all Law and Justice, and to the Prejudice
of all the said Proprietors: And whereas a Division of the Land by a regular
Course of Law, by reason of the great Number of Parties interested therein, and
for several other Causes, is rendered almost, if not altogether impracticable;
be it therefore enacted by the Governor, Council, and Assembly of this her
Majesty's Island of Jamaica, and it is hereby enacted by the Authority of the
same, That the Hon. Henry Lew, Richard Asdeburgh, John Carver, Edward Fearon,
and James Rule, Esqrs. be, and are hereby appointed Commissioners for to view
and inspect the several and respective Titles of the Proprietors of the said
Land, to cause a Just and equal Division of the same to be made unto the said
Proprietors, according to the true Intent and Meaning of this Act; which said
Commissioners being first sworn so to do by the Chancellor of this Island, or
such Person or Persons as he shall by Dedimus appoint to administer the said
Oath, are hereby impowered to appoint and administer an Oath unto any Two such
honest able Surveyors as they or the major Part of them shall approve, to make
a Just and equal Division of the said Land, according to the Directions of this
Act.
II. And forasmuch as the best and most valuable Part of the
said Land lies together, and may be with the greatest Ease and Convenience
distinguished, divided, and separated entirely and apart from that which is
much more ordinary, and of less Value; the said Surveyors are hereby impowered
and required to may make such distinct Division, taking into each Division such
a Quantity or Number of Acres as the Commissioners in their Judgments shall
direct: Which Division into Two Parcels being first made, the Surveyors shall
proceed to divide again each of the said Two Parcels into Seventy-seven equal
Parts, that each Proprietor may have his Proportion of the good and bad Land;
which said Division being made, as aforesaid, and each Seventy-seventh Part of
the said respective Parcels of Land having a particular Number assigned thereto,
the said Commissioners, or the major Part of them, shall cause Seventy-seven
Pieces of Paper, of equal Shape and Bigness to be numbered, from Number One to
Seventy-seven, and put into or under some proper Covert; from whence the said
Proprietors shall draw the said Pieces of numbered Papers, which shall
determine each Share of Land of the same Number to such Proprietor that shall
happen to draw the fame; and the said Commissioners, or the major Part of them,
shall make Assignment of each such Share according to the respective Lots or
Numbers so drawn.
III. And forasmuch as the Number of Proprietors whose Title
shall appear to be approved of by the said Commissioners, or the major Part of
them, may be different from that of the said Vendees of the aforesaid Patentee;
and for the avoiding any Confusion that may happen thereby, it is hereby
enacted and ordained by the Authority aforesaid, That in case, and whenever
more Claimers than one shall appear to have Right and Title to but one full
Share, or Seventy seventh Part, containing Thirty three Acres and a Half, be
the same more or Right to but less; that then, and in such Case, the said
Commissioners shall direct and appoint one of the said Proprietors to draw a
Lot for one full Share; which said Lot so being drawn, the said Commissioners,
or the major Part of them, shall cause the said full Share to be divided by the
said Surveyors into such and so many distinct Parts as the said several
Proprietors of the said full Lot shall appear to have a Right and Title to.
IV. And it is hereby further enacted by the Authority
aforesaid, That the said Commissioners shall have and receive for each Day they
shall be employed in Execution of this Act, Twenty Shillings each Commissioner
per Diem; to be paid them by the several Persons that shall claim or have Lots
assigned them at that particular Time and Place of Meeting, when and where the
said Lots shall be assigned: Which said Commissioners are hereby impowered to
order and appoint such proportionable Sum or Sums of Money as the said
Commissioners shall think most reasonable for defraying all such further
Charges as shall arise from or be incident to the said Division, Meeting, and
Assignment: And in like Manner, whensoever one or more Claimers, Proprietor or
Proprietors, shall require or occasion a Meeting of the said Commissioners, or
the Majority of them, in order to inspect, view, hear, or determine such their
Claim or Claims; that then, and in such case, the said Commissioners, or the
major Part of them, shall appoint and order as well the said Twenty Shillings
for each of themselves as such other the Claimer or Claimers, Proprietor or
Proprietors proportionable Part of the Charges of the said Division and
Assignment, as aforesaid: And in case any such Claimer or Proprietor shall
refuse to pay such their proportionable Part of such Charges so allotted them
by the said Commissioners, or the major Part of them; that then, and in such
case, the said Commissioners, or the major Part of them, are hereby impowered
to issue out their Warrant to any Constable to distrain upon the Goods and
Chattels of such Person or Persons so refusing to pay, as aforesaid, and the
same to fell by public Outcry, first giving Notice of such Sale at some public
Place of the Precinct where such Distraint shall be made, returning the
Overplus (if any such shall be) to the Owner, deducting Twelve Pence in the
Pound to the Constable, for such his Distress and Sale, as aforesaid.
V. And the said Commissioners, or the major Part of them,
are hereby further impowered and enabled, upon due and satisfactory Proof to
them made of the Right, Title, and Property of any Claimer or Claimers, in and
to such their proportionable Part of the said Land, snd his, her, or their Lot
or Lots being duly drawn, to assign to each such Claimer such his
proportionable Part or Parts of the said Land, as by his, her, or their Lot or
Lots shall befal unto him or them, mentioning the several Buttings and
Boundings of the said proportionable Part or Parts so assigned; which said
Assignment is hereby declared to invest the Fee-Simple of the said
proportionable Part or Parts so assigned in him, her, or them, to all Intents
and Purposes whatsoever; any Law, Custom, or Usage to the contrary thereof in
any wise notwithstanding.
VL And forasmuch as several Persons that may appear to have
a Right to and Interest in some Part or Share of the said Land, having
Confidence of such their Right and Interest, have erected Buildings, made
Indigo Works, Wells, and other Improvements, on several Parts of the said Land;
which said Parts or Shares may probably by Lot happen, befall, and be assigned
over unto some other Claimer and Proprietor; it is therefore hereby further
enacted, That the said Commissioners, or the major Part of them, be impowered,
and are hereby impowered to value and esteem such Buildings and Indigo Works,
Wells, or other Improvements, as they shall think them reasonably worth; and to
award such Sum or Sums of Money to be paid to him, her, or them that shall have
erected such Buildings, made such Indigo Works, Wells, or other Improvements,
as aforesaid, by him, her, or them to whom the said Shares mail by Lot befall
and be assigned, as the said Commissioners, or the major Part of them, shall
value and esteem the said Buildings, Indigo Works, Wells, or other
Improvements, to be reasonably worth: And upon Refusal of such payment by the
Party or Parties so awarded to pay the same, that then, and in such case, the
said Commissioners are hereby impowered to issue out their Warrants of Distress
for the said Sum or Sums of Money so awarded to be paid in lieu and full
Assurance of such Buildings, Indigo Works, Wells, or other Improvements, as
they are before impowered for the defraying the Charges incident to the
Divisions and Assignment, as aforesaid.
VII. And to the Intent that the said Divisions and
Assignments may be timely executed and Performed, according to the true Intent
and Meaning of this Act; it is therefore further enacted, That the
Commissioners, or the major Part of them, be hereby impowered and required to
meet at such Place as they shall think convenient on the second Tuesday in June
next ensuing, then and there to appoint said the said Surveyors; which said
Surveyors so appointed, shall, upon due Notice given them by the said
Commissioners, or the major Part of them, of the certain Time and Place, and
when and where they shall attend the said Commissioners, in order to their
being sworn, and laving out and dividing the said Land, according to the
Directions and true intent and Meaning of this Act, are hereby required to
attend accordingly: And at all Times hereafter the said Surveyors shall attend
the said Commissioners, at such Times and Places as they the said
Commissioners, or the major Part of them, shall appoint.
VIII And the said Commissioners are hereby further impowered
and required give Notice at some public Place in the Parish of Vere, whenever
they intend to meet in the said Parish, in order to inspect and view the Titles
of the several Claimers, and make Assignments of the said Land, Five Days
before the said several and respective Times of Meeting.
IX. Provided nevertheless, That nothing in this Act
contained shall extend to prejudice or destroy the Right, Title, or Interest:
of the aforesaid Robert Smart, his Heirs, or Assigns, in and to Seven hundred
Acres of Land; and of the aforesaid Arthur Goodwin, his Heirs and Assigns, in
and to Sixty Acres of Land, included in the Plat of the aforesaid Two thousand
six hundred Acres of Land, as is before specified.
X. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid,
That in case the aforesaid Commissioners, or any one of them, shall be sued or
impleaded for any thing that he or they shall act or do, by virtue and in
pursuance of, and in compliance with this Act, it shall and may be lawful for
the said Commissioners, or any of them, to plead the General Issue, and give
this Act in Evidence, which shall be allowed as good and valid, to all Intents
and Purposes whatsoever, in bar of such Suit or Action, in any of her Majesty's
Courts of Record in this Island; any Law, Custom, or Usage to the contrary
thereof notwithstanding.
XI AND be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid,
That if any Surveyor or Surveyors, Constable or Constables, shall neglect his
or their Duty, as in this Act is required, they shall respectively forfeit the
Sum of One hundred Pounds; to be recovered in her Majesty's Supreme Court of
Judicature in this Island; one Half of which Forfeitures shall be to our
Sovereign Lady the Queen, her Heirs and Successors, for and towards the Support
of the Government of this Island, and the contingent Charges thereof; and the
other Half to the Informer, or him or them that shall sue for the same, wherein
no Essoin, Protection, or Wager of Law shall be allowed, or Non vult ulterius
prosequi be entered; any Law, Custom, or Usage to the contrary notwithstanding.
New Leeward Road
1705, New Road over One Eye Savanna:
This road is shown on Browne (surveys 1730-49) but not on Sloane. It follows
the Porus River, but continues further north than the modern Mandeville to
Gutter road. Browne shows the road continuing past Fosters and Dickenson’s and
crossing the Black River at Barton Bridge, where is appears to stop, although
later maps show it carrying on South round the morass towards Lacovia.
An Act for the making and keeping clear a public Road from
Clarendon to St. Elizabeth’s, over One-Eye Savanna.
WHEREAS the present Highway from St. Jago de la Vega into the Parishes of St.
Elizabeth and Westmoreland, in that Part from Swift River over Long Bay and the
Devil's Race, is very inconvenient and dangerous, by reason of
the Quick-sands along the Sea-shore, and the Narrowness and
Difficulty of the Pass over the Devil's Race: And whereas by several credible
Persons that have travelled in the Woods and Mountains between Porus Savanna in
the Parish of Clarendon, and Forsters Plantation in the Parish of St.
Elizabeth, it hath been found, that a more commodious and shorter Way may be
cut through the Woods from Porus Savanna aforesaid, by the Cisterus to Martin's
and by One-Eye Mountain to Forsters Plantation, in the Parish of St. Elizabeth
aforesaid: And it being requisite, as well for her Majesty's Service in
conducting speedy Succours to each Place, as for the necessary Use of her
Majesty's liege People, that a public Road be laid out from the said Parishes
of St. Elizabeth and Westmorland into the Parish of Clarendon aforesaid; be it
therefore enacted by her Majesty's Governor, Council, and Assembly, and it is
hereby enacted and ordained by the Authority of the same, That a new Highway or
Path shall be, with all convenient Speed, run out and made, leading from the
Cross to Burnt Savanna, and through St. Jago Savanna by Mr. John Sutton's Penn,
and so over St. Jago Savanna to Porus Savanna, in the Parish of Clarendon,
according to the most direct and convenient Course it can be laid out; and from
Porus Savanna aforesaid by Martin’s, and from Martins to the Cisterus, and from
the Cisterus by One-Eye Mountain aforesaid, and from thence the most direct and
best Way leading to Forster's Plantation in St. Elizabeth's aforesaid.
II. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid,
That the Commissioners for the respective Parishes, in this Act to be hereafter
nominated and appointed, shall and may, and they are hereby impowered and
required to administer an Oath to the Surveyor of the Highways or Way-wardens
of each respective Parish, forthwith upon the Return of the Surveyors, who are
to run and lay out the laid Road or Highway, to the Commissioners in this Act
to be hereafter named; which said Surveyors are to be appointed by the said
Commissioners: And after such Return to be made and delivered by the said
Surveyors to the said Commissioners, the said Commissioners are to deliver the
same to the said Way-wardens or Surveyors of the Highways, who mail thereupon
forthwith proceed to the Execution and Discharge of the several respective
Duties, as is required in and by an Act, entitled, An Act for the Highways, as
in all other Cases of Public Roads and Highways, which said Highway shall be
cut sixty Foot broad, according to an Act of this Island, entitled, An Act for
the Highways, and well cleared by the Way-wardens of the Parish of Clarendon
aforesaid, by the Labour of the Negroes belonging to the said Parish, by them
to be warned for that Purpose, so far Westwardly as the Bounds of the said
Parish shall be found to extend; and the remaining Part of the Way to Fosters
Plantation, as aforesaid, shall be cut and cleared in like Manner by the Way-wardens
of St. Elizabeth's: And the said Highway being so cut and cleared, shall for
ever hereafter be deemed and taken as a Public Road; and shall, as often as
Occasion requires, be maintained, repaired, and cleared, and kept in good Order
by the Way-wardens of the said Parish of Clarendon, from the Cross aforesaid to
the Westward Bounds of the said Parish of Clarendon, and by the Way-wardens of
the Parish of St. Elizabeth, from thence to Forsters Plantation aforesaid, and
thence by or through Dickenson’s Plantation to the next Highway, leading to the
Parish of Westmoreland, through the Parish of St. Elizabeth aforesaid.
III. And to prevent all Disputes which may arise about the
Bounds of the said
Parishes of St. Elizabeth and Clarendon, or otherwise however
touching the Execution and Performance of this Law, be it further enacted and
ordained by the Authority aforesaid, That Jonathan Gale, John Cambel Esq;
Jonathan Dickenson, John Forster, and John Hodges, Gentlemen of the said Parish
of St. Elizabeth; Peter Beckford, Edward Pennant, Edward Fearon, Thomas Roden,
and Thomas Cargil, Esquires, of the Parish of Clarendon, be and are hereby
appointed Commissioners to inspect and take Care of the due Execution of this
Act; which said Commissioners, or any Three of them, shall and are hereby
required to meet at the Cross in Clarendon the first Thursday in November next,
in the Year of our Lord One thousand seven hundred and five, and there to
choose and appoint one lawful and sworn Surveyor for the Parish of St.
Elizabeth, and another for the Parish of Clarendon, who shall immediately
proceed to the running out of such a Path as by this Act is appointed to be
made a Highway, with the most Conveniency to the Public, and the least
Prejudice or Damage to any particular Person, from the Cross, as aforesaid, to
Burnt Savanna, and through St. Jago Savanna by the said John Sutton's Pen, as
aforesaid, to Porus Savanna in Clarendon Parish, to Forsters Plantation in St.
Elizabeth's aforesaid; and shall run out, fix, and ascertain the Bounds of the
said two Parishes of St. Elizabeth and Clarendon, according as the same is
appointed by a former Act of this Country for the Division of the said two
Parishes; and the same so ascertained shall mark out with Stakes or other notable
Marks exactly in the Line, to the End a Post of good and durable Timber may be
fixed, and for ever kept and maintained therein, when the said Highway comes to
be cleared; on which said Post, so to be fixed, shall be cut or carved in good
legible Characters, on the Westerly Side thereof, St. Elizabeth; and on the
Easterly Side thereof, Clarendon, and the same shall be always known, reputed,
and taken as the Boundary of the said two Parishes, and to which these said two
Parishes respectively are hereby obliged to clear, and for ever maintain: And
in case any Surveyor or Surveyors, so to be chosen respectively, shall neglect
or refuse immediately to proceed to the running out the intended Path and Line,
as aforesaid, that then, and in such Case, they shall respectively forfeit the
Sum of Fifty Pounds.
IV. And it shall and maybe lawful for the said
Commissioners, or any Three of them, to appoint Two such other lawful sworn
Surveyors, as they shall think fit, who are hereby impowered to act and do in
the Premises as by this Act is required and intended, instead of the other
Surveyors intended to be chosen respectively by the Commissioners for the said
two respective Parishes of Clarendon and St. Elizabeth aforesaid, under the
like Penalty of Fifty Pounds; and the said Surveyors so to be chosen and
appointed, shall, as soon as they have run out the said Path and Line, make
Return of their Doings therein to the said Commissioners, or any Three of them,
who shall cause the same to be recorded by the Clerk of the Peace of each of
the said Precincts of Clarendon and St. Elizabeth; and that the said Surveyors
shall be paid by the Church-wardens of each Parish, for the Work by them done
on account of each Parish, as shall be adjudged by the Commissioners aforesaid,
or the Majority of them, to be paid out of the Parish Stock respectively.
V. And it is hereby further enacted by the Authority
aforesaid. That the said Commissioners having received the Return of the
Surveyors, as aforesaid, shall cause Two Copies of the same to be fairly drawn
out, one whereof they shall forthwith send to the Way-Wardens of the Parish of
Clarendon, and the other wardens to the Way-wardens of St. Elizabeth's,, with
their strict Orders to each and every of them in Writing, that they
respectively, as before in this Act is appointed, immediately proceed to the
cutting down and clearing the said Highway, so as the same may be completed and
finished within Eighteen Months after the passing the said Act: And for the
better doing and effecting thereof, the said Way-wardens of the said several
Parishes, and every of them respectively, are hereby authorised to issue out
their Warrants to the Constables and Tythingmen, to warn the Inhabitants of the
said Parishes to furnish such Numbers of able Negroes or Slaves, together with
such a Number of white Men-drivers to oversee them, as shall be appointed by
the Justices and Vestry of each respective Parish, together with such Tools,
Provisions and other Necessaries, as shall be thought by them necessary for
carrying on the said Work, and finishing the same within the Time hereby
limited and appointed, as aforesaid: And whosoever shall fail to send in his or
her Proportion of Workers, with such Tools as shall be convenient, shall for
every Head pay Three Shillings per Day upon Conviction thereof; to be recovered
before any Justices of the Peace by the Surveyors respectively; any thing in
this, or any other Act to the contrary thereof notwithstanding.
VI. And if the said Way-wardens, or any of them, shall
refuse to do, or neglect his or their Duty in cutting or clearing the said
Highway to the Extent of their respective Bounds, as hereby is appointed, he or
they so offending shall respectively forfeit the Sum of Fifty Pounds, current
Money of this Island: And in case the said intended Highway shall be neglected,
and not maintained in good Repair by succeeding Way-wardens, he or they that
shall so offend therein, shall respectively lie under the Pains and Penalties
provided in an Act of this Island, entitled, An Act for the Highways: And if
any Commissioner, Justice, or Surveyor, by this Act appointed, shall neglect
his or their Duty, touching the Premises, or any Part thereof, he or they shall
respectively forfeit the Sum of Fifty Pounds: And if any Vestryman, Constable, or
Tythingman shall neglect his or their Duty, they shall respectively forfeit
Twenty Pounds; all which said Forfeitures shall be one Half to the Informer, or
to him or them that shall sue for the same; the other Half to the
Church-wardens of each of the respective Parishes, to the Use of the said
Highways: And all other Forfeitures, not exceeding Forty Shillings, shall be
recovered by the Church-wardens of the said Parishes respectively, by Action of
Debt before any Justice of the Peace; and if above Forty Shillings, in any
Court of Record of this Island, wherein no Essoin, Protection, or Wager of Law
shall be allowed, or Non vult ulterius profequi be entered; any Law, Custom, or
Usage to the contrary thereof in any wife notwithstanding.
The “New Windward Road” Act 151 1747 P284
This is the road described by Long, the latter part of which is the existing
road down the May Day Hills to Gutters, and in Liddell probably went over the
hills south of St Jago, up past Green Pond past Elgin, Knockpatrick and Moreland
as on the map extract below. On a modern map, it is probably the road from
Patrick Town, just north of Plynlimmon to pear Tree
An Act for laying out a Road from Pepper Plantation over May-Day Hills, in the Parish
of St. Elizabeth, to St. Jago Savannah, in the Parish of Clarendon.
Act for the laying out and making good and convenient Roads
between the different Parts of this Island, and from each to the Capital, cannot
but contribute much to the future peopling, fettling, and cultivating of the Country,
as well as to the Ease, Safety, and Advantage of the present Inhabitants, by
promoting and facilitating an Intercourse of Commerce and Communication in
Times of Peace, and of Aid and Council, in case of any public Danger: And
whereas the Roads at present leading from the Leeward to the Windward Parts of
this Island, are on many Accounts extremely incommodious; and it is therefore
intended, as well for the Reasons aforesaid, as for the particular Benefit of
the Parishes of St. Elizabeth and Westmoreland, and for the more easy Attendance
of the Representatives, and others, upon the public Service at St. Jago de la
Vega, to lay out and make a good and sufficient Road from Pepper Plantation over
May-Day Hills, in the Parish of St. Elizabeth, to St. Jago Savannah, in the Parish
of Clarendon; may it therefore please your most Excellent Majesty that it may
be enacted; and be it enacted by the Governor, Council, and Assembly of this
your Majesty's Island of Jamaica, and by Authority of the same, That a good and
sufficient Road be forthwith laid out and made from Pepper Plantation over
May-Day Hills, in the Parish of St. Elizabeth, to St. Jago Savannah, in the Parish
of Clarendon; and that the Sum of Three hundred Pounds, out of the Monies to
arise by virtue of an Act, entitled, An Act to oblige the several Inhabitants
of this Island to provide themselves with a sufficient Number of White Men
capable of bearing Arms, or White Women, or pay certain Sums of Money in case
they shall be deficient, and applying the same to several Uses; and for adding
Commissioners to those appointed for ordering and inspecting the Works to be performed
in and about the Fortifications, passed or to be passed in this present Session
of Assembly, be for that Purpose vested in the Honourable John Gale and Isaac
Gale, Esqrs. and Barnart Andriess Woodstock, Nicholas Newton, Francis Cooke,
Benjamin Blake, Norwood Witter, Francis Sadler Hals, Richard Beckford, Joseph
Armstrong, and George Raxtead, Esqrs. and the Survivors and Survivor of them,
who are hereby nominated and appointed Trustees and Commissioners for the said
Road; to be received by them, or such Person or Persons as they, or any Three
or more of them, shall appoint; and they, or any Three or more of them, are
hereby authorized and empowered to receive and apply the same, and to enter
into and execute all Contracts, and in general to do and transact all things necessary
in that Behalf, to be done, laid out, and expended in making and perfecting the
said road; and that the further Sum of Three hundred Pounds be, and the same is
hereby also vested in them the said John Gale, Isaac Gale, Barnart Andriess
Woodstock, Nicholas Newton, Francis Cooke, Benjamin Blake, Norwood Witter,
Francis Sadler Hals, Richard Beckford, Joseph Armstrong, and George Raxtead,
the said Commissioners; and that the Sum of Two hundred Pounds, part of the
said Sum of Three hundred Pounds, shall be raised and paid by the said Parish
of St Elizabeth, by an Assessment to be made by the Justices and Vestry of the
said Parish, and which they are hereby empowered to make and levy in such Sort,
Manner, and Form as other Parish Charges are made and levied in the said Parish,
by the Laws and Statutes of this Island; and the remaining Sum of One hundred
Pounds shall be raised and levied by the Parish of Westmoreland; to be assessed
and levied by the Justices and Vestry of the said Parish, in Manner aforesaid:
And that the respective Church-wardens of the said Parishes of St Elizabeth and
Westmoreland, shall raise and levy the said several Sums of Two hundred Pounds,
and One hundred Pounds, and shall pay the same into the Hands of the said Commissioners,
or any Three of them; to be applied by them, or any Three or more of them, in
Manner aforesaid, on or before the twenty fifth Day of December next ensuing.
II. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid,
That the said Trustees and Commissioners, or any Three or more of them, do and shall,
on or before the First Day of May, which shall be in the Year of our Lord One thousand
seven hundred and forty-eight, or as soon after as the same can be conveniently
done, lay out and expend the said Sums of Three hundred Pounds, and Three hundred
Pounds, or so much thereof as shall be necessary for laying out, making, and
perfecting such Road, as aforesaid; and they are for that Purpose hereby
authorized and empowered, by Warrant or Writing under their Hand and Seals, or
under the Hands and Seals of any Three or more of them, to order and empower any
Person or Persons whom they, or any Three or more of them shall employ, and
with whom they shall contract or agree for that Purpose; and his or their
Workmen, Servants, or Slaves, or other Person or Persons to be employed by him
or them, to survey, run out, level, drain, raise, ditch, fence, and inclose,
and by any Manner of Ways or Means necessary or convenient for that Purpose, to
make, or cause to be made, a good and effectual Highway, not exceeding the
Breadth of Sixty Feet, in any one Place or Part thereof, and not less than
Forty Feet broad, where so much can be cleared and laid open; and the same to
be in as straight and direct Lines, and with as few Turnings and as little
Declination as the Nature of the Soil and Quality of the Lands thro' which such
Road is to be carried, and the Exigency of the Work to be done, can admit of:
And that it shall and may be lawful to carry on and prosecute such Work, in
Manner aforesaid, and under such Restrictions, Provisos, and Limitations, as
are herein after specified, although the Lands through which such Roads are to
be made now are or shall then be vested in his Majesty, his Heirs and Successors,
or any other Person or Persons whatsoever.
III. And whereas the making and perfecting the said Road,
and the keeping the same in Repair, may be attended with an Expense exceeding
the Sums hereby appropriated for that Use; be it therefore further enacted and
is hereby further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That the said John Gale,
Isaac Gale, Barnart Andriess Woodstock, Nicholas Newton, Francis Cooke, Benjamin
Blake, Norwood Witter, Francis Sadler Hals, Richard Beckford, Joseph Armstrong,
and George Raxtead, the Commissioners and Trustees aforesaid, and the Survivors
of them, or any Three or more of them, or such Person or Persons as they or any
Three or more of them may appoint, as aforesaid, shall and may erect, or cause
to be erected One or more Gate or Gates, Turnpike or Turnpikes, in, upon, or across
any Part or Parts of the said Road; and there shall receive and take the pikes,
Toll or Duty following, before any Horse, Cattle, Coach. Berlin, Landau,
Chariot, Chaise, Chair, Kitterin, Wagon, Wain, Cart, or other Carriage, shall
pass through the fame; to wit, For every Coach, Berlin, Landau, Chariot, Chair,
or Chaise drawn by Six Horses or Mules; the Sum of Three Shillings and
Nine-Pence; for every of the said Carriages drawn by Four Horses only, the Sum
of Two Shillings and Six-Pence; for every Chaise, Chair, or Kitterin drawn by
Two Horses, the Sum of Fifteen- fence; and for every one drawn only by One Horse,
Seven-Pence Half-penn; and for every Wain, Wagon, Cart, or Carriage for Goods,
Provisions, or Merchandizes only, with Four Wheels, and drawn by Three or more
Steers, Horses, Mules, or Asses, the Sum of Five Shillings; for every
Two-wheeled Cart, or other Carriage of the like Kind, or to the like Use, and
drawn by less than Three, Two Shillings and Six-Pence; for every Horse, Mare,
Mule, or Ass, laden, and not drawing as aforesaid, Seven-Pence Halfpenny; for
every Drove of Steers, Oxen, or neat Cattle, the Sum of Twelve Shillings and
Six-Pence per Score, and so in Proportion for a greater or lesser Number; for
every Drove of Calves, Sheep, Hogs, Goats, Lambs, or Kids, the Sum of Five
Shillings per Score, and so in Proportion for a greater or lesser Number; for
every White Person journeying on Horseback, Seven-Pence Half-penny; and for
every Person riding on a Mule or Ass, Seven-Pence Halfpenny.
IV. Provided always, That this Act do not extend to charge
with the said Toll any Person or Persons Carriages, Cattle, and Things, that may
from Time
to Time be employed in the actual Service of the said Trustees
and Commissioners, in the making or repairing the said Roads, or collecting the
said Tolls: And the said respective Sums of Money shall be received and taken
as and for a Toll or Duty, and the Money thereby to be raised is, and shall
hereby be vested in, the said Trustees and Commissioners, and be applied and disposed
of for the making, keeping, and repairing the said Road, in such Sort, Manner,
and Form as before and herein after is mentioned: And the said Trustees and
Commissioners, or any Three or more of them, are hereby empowered and
authorized by themselves, or such Person or Persons as they or any Three or
more of them shall appoint, to levy the said several Tolls or Duties, upon any
Person or Persons who shall, upon Demand thereof made, neglect or refuse to pay
the same, by Distress of any Horse or Horses, Cattle or Carriages, or the Goods
thereon laden, from which such Toll is or ought to arise, or upon any other the
Goods and Chattels of him or them who ought to pay the same; and such Distress
to impound, keep or detain, until such Toll or Duty, with all Costs and Charges
reasonably incident to the same, be paid and satisfied; and further to sell and
dispose of the same, in such Sort, Manner, and Form, as Distress for Rent
Arrear, may be sold and disposed of by the Laws and Statutes of Great Britain.
V. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid,
That such Toll and Duty to be raised and levied, be by the said Trustees and Commissioners
applied to and for the laying out and making of the said Road, and the keeping
of the same in Repair, and the Charges incident thereto; and to and for no
other Purpose whatsoever.
VI. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid,
That if any Person or Persons having, or being in the Care, Management, or
Occupation of any Lands adjoining or near to such Road, shall willingly or
wittingly suffer any Person or Persons to take or make Use of any Roads or By-Paths
through such Lands, whereby to Prevent the Payment of such Toll or Duty as
aforesaid, the Person Or Persons so offending, as well the Owner or Occupier of
such Lands as the Party making Use of such Artifice to avoid the Payment of the
Toll or Duty aforesaid, upon Complaint, in open Session, or before Two or more
of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace for the Parish or Precinct where such
Offence shall be committed, and due Proof thereof made by Oath of one or more
credible Witness or Witnesses, or other probable Circumstance, shall respectively
forfeit to the said Trustees and Commissioners Six Times the Value of such
Toll or Duty, or Forty Shillings, at the Election of the said Trustees and Commissioners,
or any Three or more of them; to be applied by them, or any Three or more of
them, to the Use of this Act. And further, to prevent such Frauds and Abuse as
aforesaid, that it shall and may be lawful to and for the said Trustees and Commissioners,
or any Three or more of them, to erect and place one or more Gate or Gates, Turnpike
or Turnpikes, on the Side or Sides of the said Road, cross any Lane, Path, or
Way, leading from the said Road, and there to demand, levy, and take such Toll
or Duty, and to have such Remedy for the same as aforesaid, so as the same do
not amount to a double Charge, or exacting for the one and the same Thing in
one and the same Day.
VII. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid,
That it shall and may be lawful to and for such Trustees and Commissioners, or
any Three or more of them, from Time to Time, as Occasion shall require, by such
Warrant, or Writing as aforesaid, to appoint one or more Overseer or Overseers,
Surveyor or Surveyors of the said Roads, and one or more Receiver or Receivers,
Collector or Collectors of the said Toll or Duty, with such reasonable Salary,
Hire, or Reward as they shall think fit; and them or any o; them so appointed
to remove, and others in their Place and Stead to put; and that it shall and
may be lawful to and for the said Overseer or Overseers, Surveyor or Surveyors,
or any of them, their Servants and Slaves, or any others by them commanded,
ordered, or appointed to seek for, dig, carry away, and make Use of, for the
making or repairing the said Read, any Stones, Gravel, Sand, or other such like
Materials, in any common Savannah or other uncultivated Ground not inclosed,
next adjoining or most convenient to such Roads.
VIII. Provided always, That nothing in this Act shall be construed
to extend to empower the said Trustees and Commissioners, or any Person or Persons
acting under them, or by virtue of this Act, either in the laying out, making
or repairing the said Road., to molest, disturb, or trespass upon any Person or
Persons whatsoever, or his or their Dwelling-house, Out-houses or Curtelage, Works,
Negro-Houses, Cane Pieces, Plantin Walks, or other Provision-Grounds, or in any
Settlement, Pen, Pelinck, Pasture, or other inclosed Grounds whatsoever; but
that upon Complaint made by any Person or Persons so mole ed, injured, or trespassed
upon, - in open Session, or before Three or more of his Majesty's Justices of
the Peace for the Parish or Precinct where the same shall happen, it shall and
may be lawful for the said Justices in Sessions, or for such the said Justices
to whom such Complaint shall be made, (and they are hereby strictly injoined
and required so to do) summarily to hear the Parties so complaining, and such
Witnesses as they shall offer to produce upon Oath, as likewise the said Trustees
and Commissioners, and the Persons so appointed by them and their Witnesses;
and upon the Whole to make such Order, either for the proceeding in the said
Work, or slaying the same, as to them shall seem meet; such Order so made to be
binding upon all Parties, till the said Matter can be heard and determined, in
the Supreme Court of Judicature of this Island, either by Action of Trespass,
to be brought by the Party so complaining, or by Removal of the said
Proceedings, either by Certiorari, at the Instance of the said Commissioners, or
any of them, as the Case shall happen or require.
IX. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid,
That the Collector or Collectors, Receiver or Receivers so to be appointed by
them the said Trustees and Commissioners, or any Three or more of them, shall
and may demand, take, and receive the said Toll and Duty, and all such Remedy
for the same as is herein before mentioned and expressed; and further, that the
said Collector and Collectors, Receiver and Receivers be, and are hereby made
liable and accountable to the said Commissioners and Trustees, either according
to such particular Contracts as shall be made and shall subsist between them,
or, in general, for all such Sums as they shall respectively receive, over and
above such Hire, Wages, or Salary, as is herein before mentioned and provided
for.
X. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid,
That if it shall happen that any Dispute shall arise between the said Trustees
and Commissioners and the said Receivers and Collectors, or any of them, or any
other of their Deputies, Servants, or Substitutes, concerning the Sums received
or to be accounted for, or otherwise, or for or concerning any other Thing whatsoever,
that the same shall be decided and determined in such Sort, Manner, and Form,
and such Order therein made, so to be obeyed and complied with, until the same
shall be brought to a final Determination in the Supreme Court of Judicature of
this Island, either on Removal of such Proceeding by Certiorari, or other
proper Action to be brought by the Party grieved, in such Manner and Form as is
herein before mentioned and provided.
XI. And for the further providing for the laying out and
making the said Road, and the Expenses and Exigencies thereof; be it further
enacted and ordained, by the Authority aforesaid, That it shall and may be
lawful to and for the said Commissioners, and the Survivors, of them or any
Three or more of them, from Time to Time, as Occasion shall require, by Lease
or Mortgage of the said Tolls and Duties herein before laid, with Covenants, to
execute the Powers herein given, or Alignment of the same, to raise any Sum or
Sums of Money that shall be by them thought necessary for the Purposes aforesaid.
XII. Provided always, That this Act, and every Part thereof,
shall be and remain of Force for the Term of Fourteen Years from the passing
thereof, and from thence to the End of the next ensuing Session of Assembly,
and no longer.
XIII. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid,
That this Act shall be deemed and taken to be a public Act, and shall be
judicially taken Notice of as such by all Judges, Justices, and others, without
specially pleading the same.
1750: More on 1747 Act
P322:
An Act for the more effectually carrying into Execution an Act entitled,
An Act for the laying out a Road from Pepper Plantation over
May-Day Hills, in the Parish of St. Elizabeth, to St. Jago Savannah, in the Parish
of Clarendon,
WHEREAS the Commissioners appointed by an Act entitled, An
Act; Act for laying out a Road from Pepper Plantation over May-Day Hills, in
the
Parish of St. Elizabeth, to St. Jago Savannah, in the Parish
of Clarendon, passed in the Year of our Lord One thousand seven hundred and
forty-seven, by reason of their great Distance from that Part of the Country
through which the Road intended by the said Act to be laid out, have not been
able to make a Quorum of the said Commissioners so often as was necessary to
complete the same: For Remedy whereof, and that the said Road may be
effectually and expeditiously laid out and finished, we, your Majesty's most
dutiful and loyal Subjects, the Governor, Council, and Assembly of this your
Majesty's Island of Jamaica, do most humbly beseech your Majesty that it may be
enacted; be it therefore enacted by he Governor, Council, and Assembly of this
Island, and it is hereby enacted and ordained by the Authority aforesaid, That
all the Commissioners appointed in and by the said Act, shall, from and after
the passing of this Act, cease to be Commissioners, except Bernard Andreas Woodstock,
Joseph Armstrong, and George Raxsted, Esqrs.
II. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid,
That they, the said
Bernard Andreas Woodstock, Joseph Armstrong, and George Raxsted,
together with John Morse, Esq; shall be Commissioners for putting the said Act
in Execution; and they, or either of them, mail exercise all the Rights, Jurisdictions,
Powers, and Authorities, given by the before recited Act to the former Commissioners,
or any Three of them.
III. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid,
That all and every the former Commissioners and their Executors and Administrators,
and all other Persons whatsoever, in whose Hands any Money shall be and remain,
belonging to or applicable to the said Road, shall forthwith pay the same into
the Hands of the said Bernard Andreas Woodstock, Joseph Armstrong, George Raxsted,
and John Morse, or one of them.
IV. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid,
That the said Bernard Andreas Woodstock, Joseph Armstrong, George Raxsted, and
John Morse, or either of them, shall be, and they are hereby authorized to
bring Actions for, and to recover in their, or either of their Names, either in
Law or Equity, and to receive all and every Sum or Sums of Money belonging or
applicable to the said Road, and to give Acquittances upon receiving the same;
and they, or either of them, are further hereby empowered to do all and every
other Act and Acts, Thing and Things, which the Commissioners appointed in and
by the said recited Act, could or might lawfully do; any Law or Statute to the
contrary notwithstanding.
Repairing St Jago – Pepper Road Vol 2 Act
32, 1762 P69
An Act, for amending and keeping in repair a Road leading
from Pepper Plantation over Mayday Hills in the Parish of St Elizabeth, to Saint
Jago Plantations in the Parish of Clarendon; and for vesting in Trustees the
toll raised by a Turnpike on the said Mayday Hills for the Purposes aforesaid.
WHEREAS an Act entitled an Act for the laying out a Road
from Pepper Plantation over the May Day hills in the Parish of St Elizabeth to
Saint Jago Savannah in the Parish of Clarendon, expired the last session of the
assembly, and whereas the making and keeping in repair good and sufficient
Roads will contribute much to the settling and cultivating this Island as well
as to the Ease, Safety and Advantage of the Inhabitants thereof, by
facilitating an Intercourse of Commerce and Communication in Times of Peace,
and of Aid and Council in case of public Danger; and whereas the aforesaid Road
leading over Mayday Hills cannot, by the ordinary Course provided by the Laws
of this Island for repairing the Highway, be effectually amended and kept in
good repair; to the intent that so necessary a Road may be with all convenient
Speed amended and kept in good and sufficient Repair, may it please your most
Excellent Majesty that it may be enacted, Be it therefore enacted by the
Governor, Council and Assembly of this your Majesty's Island of Jamaica; and it
is hereby enacted by the Authority of the same, that the Honorable John Scott,
the Honorable Norwood Witter and the Honorable Zachary Bayly, Esquires, Members
of your Majesty's Council; John Olyphant, Robert Dellap, John Campbell, William
Lewis, James Dawes, Alexander Crawford, Thomas Fearon, Luke Spencer Dowell and
Walrond Fearon, Esquires, Members of the present Assembly, and Julines
Beckford, George Raxtead, David Mitchell, Christopher Brooks, Thomas Wallin,
Esquires, and the Reverend John Venn shall be, and they are hereby nominated
and appointed Trustees, for the surveying, ordering, amending and keeping in
Repair the said Road, leading from Pepper Plantation over Mayday Hills in the
Parish of Saint Elizabeth, to Saint Jago Plantations in the Parish of Clarendon;
and also, for putting in Execution all other the Powers in and by this Act
given, and they and that the Survivors of them, or any three or more of them,
or such Person or Persons as they or any five or more of them shall authorize
or appoint, shall and may, from and immediately after the passing of this Act,
erect or cause to be erected, one or more Gate or Gates, Turnpike or Turnpikes
in, upon, or across any Part or Parts of the said Road, and their shall receive
and take the Toll or Duty following, before any Horse or other Beast, or any
Coach, Berlin, Landaw, Chariot, Chair, Chaise, Ketterine, Wain, Cart, or other
Carriages shall pass thro' the same; to wit, for every Coach, Berlin, Landaw,
Chariot, Rates of the Chair or Chaise drawn by six Horses or Mules, the Sum of
Seven Shillings and Sixpence; for every of the aforesaid Carriages drawn by
four Horses or Mules only, the Sum of five Shillings; for every Chaise, Chair
or Ketterine, drawn by two Horses or two Mules, the Sum of two Shillings and
Sixpence; and for every one, drawn only by one Horse or Mule, one Shilling and
Threepence; and for every Wain, Waggon, Cart or Carriage for Goods, Provisions
or Merchandizes only, with four Wheels and drawn by three or more Steers,
Horses, Mules or Asses, the Sum of Ten Shillings; for every two wheeled Cart or
other Carriage of the like kind, or to the like Use and drawn by less than
three Steers, Horses or Mules, five Shillings; for every Horse, Mare, Mule or
Ass, loaden and not drawing as aforesaid, one Shilling and threepence; for
every drove of Steers, Oxen or Neat Cattle, the Sum of one Pound five Shillings
per Score, and so in Proportion for a greater or lesser Number, for every Drove
of Calves, Sheep, Hogs, Goats, Lambs, or Kids, the Sum of Ten Shillings per
Score, and so in Proportion for a greater or lesser Number; for every Person
journeying on Horse-back, one Shilling and threepence; for every Person riding
on a Mule or Ass, one Shilling and threepence.
II. Provided always that this Act doth not extend to charge
with the said Toll, any Person or Persons, Carriages, Cattle and Things that
shall from Time to Time be employed in the actual Service of the said Trustees
in the amending or repairing the said Road, or collecting the said Tolls; and
the said respective Sums of Money shall be received and taken as and for a Toll
or Duty, and the Money thereby to be railed is and shall hereby be veiled in
the said Trustees, and be applied and disposed of, for the amending and keeping
in repair the said Road, in such Sort, Manner and Form as herein after is
mentioned; and the said Trustees or any three or more of them, are hereby
empowered and authorized, by themselves or such Person or Persons, as they or
any five or more of them shall appoint, to levy the said several Tolls or
Duties upon any Person or Persons, who shall upon Demand thereof made, neglect
or refuse to pay the same, by distress of any Horse or Horses, Cattle or
Carriages, or the Goods thereon loaden, from which such Toll is or ought to
arise, or upon any other the Goods and Chattels of him or them, who ought to
pay the same, and such Distress to impound, keep or detain, until such Toll or
Duty, with all Costs and Charges reasonably incident to the same be paid and
satisfied; and further to fell and dispose of the same, in such Sort, Manner
and Form, as distresses for Rent-Arrears may be sold and disposed of, by the
Laws and Statutes of Great-Britain.
III. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid,
That such Toll and Duty so to be raised and levied shall be, by the laid
Trustees applied to and for the amending and keeping in good and sufficient
repair the said Road, and the charges incident thereto, and to and for no other
Purpose whatsoever.
IV. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid,
that if any Person or Persons, having or being in the Care, Management, or
Occupation of any Lands adjoining or near to such Road, shall willingly or
wittingly suffer any Person or Persons to take or make Use of any Roads or bye
Paths through such Lands, thereby to prevent the Payment of such Toll or Duty
as aforesaid, and the Person or Persons so offending, as well the Owner or
Occupier of such Lands, as the Party making Use of such Artifice, to avoid the
Payment of the Toll or Duty aforesaid, upon complaint in open Session, or
before two or more of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace for the Parish or
Precinct where such Offence shall be committed, and due Proof thereof made by
Oath of one or more credible Witness or Witnesses, or other probable
Circumstance, shall respectively forfeit to the said Trustees, six times the
Value of such Toll or Duty, or Forty Shillings, at the Election of the said
Trustees, or any three or more of them, to be applied by them or any three or
more of them, to the Uses in this Act mentioned; and further, to prevent such
Frauds and Abuses as aforesaid, that it shall and may be lawful, to and for the
said Trustees, or any three or more of them, to erect and place one or more
Gate or Gates, Turnpike or Turnpikes, on the Side or Sides of the said Road,
cross any Lane, Path or Way leading from the said Road, and there to Demand,
levy or take such Toll or Duty, and to have such Remedy for the same as
aforesaid, so as the same do not amount to a double Charge, or exacting for the
one and the same Thing, in one and the same Day.
V And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That
it shall and may be lawful, to and for such Trustees, or any five or more of
them from Time to Time as Occasion shall require, by such Warrant or Writing as
aforesaid, to appoint one or more Overseer or Overseers, Surveyor or Surveyors
of the laid Roads, and one or more Receiver or Receivers, Collector or
Collectors of the said Toll or Duty, with such reasonable Salary, Hire or
Reward, as they shall think fit, and them or any of them so appointed to remove,
and others in their Place and Stead to put, and that it shall and may be
lawful, to and for the said Overseer or Overseers, Surveyor or Surveyors, or
any of them, their Servants and Slaves or any others by them commanded, ordered
or appointed, to seek for, dig, carry away and make Use of, for making or
repairing the said Road, any Stones Gravel, Sand or other such like Materials,
in any Common, Savannah or other uncultivated Ground, not enclosed, next
adjoining or most convenient to such Roads.
VI. Provided always, that nothing in this Act shall be
construed to extend, to empower the said Trustees or any Person or Persons
acting under them, or by Virtue of this Act, either in the laying out, making
or repairing the said Road, to molest, disturb or trespass upon any Person or
Persons whatsoever, or his or their dwelling House, Out house or Curtelage,
Works, Negro houses, Cane Pieces, Plantain Walks or other Provision Grounds, or
in any Settlement, Penn, Polink, Pasture or other inclosed Grounds whatsoever;
but that upon Complaint made, by any Person or Persons so molested, injured or
trespassed upon, in open Session, or before two or more of his Majesty's
Justices of the Peace, for the Parish or Precincts where the same shall happen,
it shall and may be lawful for the said Justices in Sessions, or for such of
the said Justices, to whom such Complaint shall be made, and they are hereby
strictly injoined and required so to do, summarily to hear the Parties so
complaining, and such Witnesses as they shall offer to produce upon Oath, as
likewise the said Trustees and the Persons so appointed by them, and their
Witnesses, and upon the whole to make such Order, either for the proceeding in
the said Work, or flaying the same, as to them shall seem meet, such Order so
made to be binding upon all Parties, till the said Matter can be heard and
determined in the Supreme Court of Judicature of this Island, either by Action
of Trespass to be brought by the Party so complaining or by removal of the said
Proceedings, either by Certiorari at the instance of the said Trustees, or any
of them, as the cafe shall happen or require.
VII. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid,
That the Collector or Collectors, Receiver or Receivers, so to be appointed by
hem, the said Trustees, or any five or more of them, shall and may demand, take
and receive the said Toll and Duty, and have all such Remedies or the same, as
is herein before mentioned and expressed; and further, that the said Collector
and Collectors, Receiver and Receivers, be, and they are hereby made liable and
accountable, to the said Trustees, either according to such particular
Contracts as shall be made and shall subsist between them, or in general, for
all such Sums as they shall respectively receive over and above such Hire,
Wages or Salary as is herein before-mentioned and provided for.
VIII. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid,
That if it shall happen, that any dispute shall arise between the said
Trustees, and the said Receiver and Collectors or any of them, or any of their
Deputies, Servants or Substitutes concerning the Sums received, or to be
accounted for, or otherwise, or for or concerning any other Thing whatsoever,
that the same shall be decided and determined in such Sort, Manner and form,
and such Order therein made, so to be obeyed and complied with, until the same
shall be brought to a final Determination, in the Supreme Court of Judicature
of this Island, either on Removal of such Proceeding by Certiorari, or other
proper Action to be brought by the Party grieved n such Manner and Form as is
herein before mentioned and provided.
IX. AND whereas, there are many Owners or Possessors of
Lands joining to, or upon the said Road, and near to the Ends or Limits of the
same, who may be put to great Expenses, were they subjected to pay the full
Toll or Rates, not only on the necessary Occasions of sending their Cattle of
different kinds to Water or Work, but also for the Carriage of Provisions from
their Grounds or Timber for the Building or repairs of their Works, be it
therefore enacted, that the Trustees aforementioned or any three or more of
them be impowered, to agree with the said Owners or Possessors of Land joining
to or upon the said Road, or with the Attorneys or Overseers of such Owners or
Possessors of the said Lands, upon such Terms as to them may appear reasonable,
for yearly or half yearly Sums, to be paid to the Collector or Collectors
aforesaid, towards keeping the said Road in repair, instead of the Toll or
Rates before specified and expressed.
X. And be it further enacted that this Act, and every Part
thereof shall be and remain in Force, for the Term of Fifteen Years, from the
passing thereof, and from thence to the end of the next ensuing Session of
Assembly, and no longer.
XI. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid,
That this Act shall be deemed and taken to be a Public Act, and shall be
Judicially taken notice of as such, by all Judges, Justices, and others without
specially pleading the same.
XII. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid,
That the Secretary of this Island, do cause this Act to be printed, and send
two Copies thereof to each of the Trustees herein before named and appointed,
the Expense whereof shall be paid him by the Receiver General out of any Monies
in his Hands unappropriated.
Also Private acts:
30G2 re 7 Rivers & Martin Williams
26G2 re Francis Smith etc
23G2:
An act for the laying out, making and repairing, a road from Chesterfield
plantation in the parish of St Elizabeth, through Montpelier plantation,
belonging to Francis Sadler Hales, esq, to the north sea (17 nov 1750)
Extract from
Long: on Western Road
This great Western road, which leads from Spanish Town, traverses St. Jago
Savannah, and the bridge of Milk River, in Clarendon; not far beyond which is
the estate which belonged to the late lord Ol—ph—t. Soon after leaving this,
the ascent begins over May-day Hills, continuing rocky for about half a mile,
till it narrows into a gloomy path between two hills, over-hung with the
interwoven boughs of trees on each side, which form an agreeable shade. At the
end of two or three miles further on is a small plantation and pimento-grove;
and, beyond this, the way opens suddenly upon a pretty rising lawn, on the
highest part of which stands a little villa, belonging lately to Mr. W—stn—y,
who is said to be a natural son of the late duke of L—ds. This villa overlooks
a diminutive vale, through which the high road passes, and extends its narrow
prospect to another delightful, rising spot, of a circular form, and fringed
with stately trees. A number of kids, lambs, and sheep, are pastured in the
glade, or roam on the sides of the adjacent hills, which are fenced in with a
wall of craggy mountains, richly cloathed with wood. In rural charms few places
exceed this little spot. The road across this assemblage of high lands is
extremely curious in every part, and worthy the traveller’s attention. There
are none in England, nor I believe in Europe, resembling it. It divides the
May-day Ridges, as it were, through the middle; the breadth of which, from East
to West, is upwards of fourteen miles; it is about fifty feet in width, and
confined on each side by a majestic wood, that is almost impervious to the sun.
The lofty trees, so close arranged, form a living wall; and, intermingling
their leafy branches, afford a cooling shade during the greater part of every
day throughout the year. The Tavern of Knock-patrick (belonging also to Mr.
W—stn—y), the next settlement we come to, stands very commodiously, and enjoys
a most excellent climate. The English beans, pease, and other culinary
vegetables of Europe, grow here, in most seasons of the year, to the utmost
perfection. A gentleman who supped here could not help remarking, that the
victuals were literally brought smoaking-hot to table; a phenomenon seldom
observed in the low lands, where the air is so much more rarefied. A species of
the tarantula spider is said to be often found in this part of the country. The
woods abound with paroquets, and pigeons of various sorts. The laghetto, and
other useful trees, such as mahogany, cedar, pigeon-wood, &c. This tavern
stands in the midst of these woods, and as yet has but a very small tract of
cleared ground about it. Every appearance of the road to the Westward of it is similar
to what is observed on the approach to it from the Eastward, till the hills
begin to decline, and the parish of St. Elizabeth breaks upon the view. From
the different parts of this declivity, the prospects are finely variegated,
and, from some stations, are extended not only over the champaign-country of
this parish, but into great part of Westmoreland many miles: but one of the
most pleasing scenes is, the spacious trail of open land, called Labour-in-vain
Savannah, which appears partly of a vivid green, and partly of a russet colour.
One side of it is girt about with romantic hills and woods; the other, towards
the South, is washed by the sea; the middle sweep is graced with scattered
clumps of trees and under-wood; which objects all together combine in
exhibiting a very picturesque and beautiful appearance.
From Wikipedia, 3/2017:
(square) rod, pole or perch = 25.29 sq m
1 pole x 1 pole = 1 (square) pole = 30.25 square yards = 1 (square) pole
40 (square) poles = 1 rood,
Rod, pole and perch are rather complicated. First, they are different names for
the same unit of length, which is five and a half yards (see length page). To
shorten the explanations, I use one unit rather than all three. Next, they
could also be used as a unit of area. So a 10 perch allotment would be 5.5
yards wide by 55 yards long, or 10 square perch. To make my explanations clear,
I say '(square) rod' to mean rod as a unit of area.
rood = 1011.71 sq m =1210 square yards = 1 rood
40 (square) poles = 1 rood
1 furlong x 1 pole = 1 rood
4 roods = 1 acre
Old records of land mention areas measured in '... A, ...R, ...P'. This will be
acres, roods and (square) poles or perch.
Old American records refer to a 'goad', which may be the same as a rood,
although a goad may be other sizes as well.
acre = 0.4 hectares = 4840 square yards = 1 acre
1 furlong x 1 chain = 1 acre
10 square chains = 1 acre
4 roods = 1 acre
640 acres = 1 square mile
An acre is a conventional measure of area. It was defined in the time of Edward
I (1272-1307) and was supposed to be the area that a yoke of oxen could plough
in a day. Acre is derived from the Latin for field, but the common field system
of medieval times in Britain was ten acres. An acre is a furlong long and a
chain wide. In fact, an archaic word for furlong was 'acre-length' and for
chain 'acre-width'. See the length page for furlong and chain.
The Scottish and Irish used to have different values for their acres. The
Scottish acre was 6150.4 square yards and the Irish acre was 7840 square yards.
Hide = ?40 hectares = ?100 acres = 1 hide
A hide was enough land to support a house-hold, usually between 60-120 acres
(24-48 hectares). A hide of good land was smaller than that of poor quality.
Hides are used in the Doomsday Book. However, I have a reference of a hide as
100 acres.
A correspondent wrote: An oxgang was viking measure used in the Doomsday Book,
and was the area of land that an ox could plough in one season. Since oxen were
usually used in teams of eight, the area that eight ox could plough was called
a bovate, or carucate. So an oxgang was about 15 acres, and a bovate was
100-120. Just to make it more awkward, parts if England not under Danelaw used
the virgate, which was twice the size of an oxgang (because you used two ox
instead of one), and a carucate was then known as a Hide.
8 Ryals = 5/- Jamaican currency
8 Pistoles = 10/- currency
5 Moidore = £10 currency
12 Hd Joe = £33 currency
17 cwts. doubloon = 18/- currency
Half Johannes
Quarter Joe
Half Moidore
Barrel Sizes
https://sizes.com/units/hogshead.htm
An English and later British unit of capacity, a quarter of a tun, = 63 wine gallons. After
conversion to imperial measure in 1824, the hogshead became 52.5 imperial gallons, about 238.7
liters. See beer
and ale for a chart showing its changes over time for those
commodities. See wine barrel for a chart showing
its changes in value and its relation to other wine measures. Abbr., hhd.
In Ceylon, a law in force
in 1900 fixed the hogshead at 63 gallons.
In addition to the legal
value, the hogshead had various conventional commercial values,
depending on the commodity.
|
|
Mid 19th century,
according to Waterston
|
20th century
|
|
beer
|
54 imperial gallons
|
|
|
brandy
|
45–60 imp. gal. some say 57
|
60 imp. gal. 273 liters
|
|
claret
|
46 imp. gallons
|
46-49 imp. gal. 209-225 liters
|
|
madeira, marsala
|
|
46 imp. gal. 209 liters
|
|
port
|
|
58 imp. gal. 264 liters
|
|
Scotch whisky
|
55–60 imp. gallons
|
56 imp. gal. 255 liters
|
|
sherry
|
|
55 imp. gal. 250 liters
|
|
sugar (West Indies)
|
1,456–1,792 pounds avoirdupois.
|
|
|
Tobacco
|
1,344–2,016 pounds avoirdupois.
|
|
|
Hock, Rhine and
Moselle wine
|
30 gallons
|
|
sources
1
See these
statutes: 1
Richard III, chapter 13, 2 Henry
VI chapter 14
Another source gives a hogshead of sugar as 272 kgs (600 lbs): this looks more
likely with a specific gravity of about 1 for the sugar as packed and 60
gallons or so.
PUNCHEON
An English measure of capacity for wine, one third of a tun. This unit is also called a
firkin or tertian. After 1824 it = 70 imperial gallons, about 318.2 liters. Previously it
had been 84 wine gallons. See wine barrel for a chart
showing its relationship to other wine measures.
It also had other conventional commercial values, for
particular commodities:
|
Mid 19th century, according toWaterston
|
|
brandy
|
100 to 110 imperial gallons
|
|
molasses
|
1,120 to 1,344 pounds av.
|
|
rum
|
90 to 100 imperial gallons
|
|
Scotch whiskey
|
112 to 120 imperial gallons
|
Lederer speculates that the 18th
century American pon, a cask in which sugar was shipped, was a shortening
of puncheon.1
1. Richard M. Lederer, Jr.
Colonial American English. A Glossary.
Essex, Connecticut: A Verbatim Book, 1985.
CUSTOMARY (OLD) WEIGHTS & MEASURES
Apples, Bushel lb 40 & up
Almonds, seron cwt 1.1/4 to 2s
basket cwt 1.1/4 to 1.1/2
Jordan, box lb 25
Anchovies, barrel lb 30
Beef (Irish), tierce of 38 pieces lb 304
Brandy, hogshead imp. gals 45 to 60
Puncheon imp. gals 100 to 110
1/4 cask imp. gals 20 to 25
Bricks, load No. 500
Bullion, bar lb15 to 30
Butter, firkin lb 56
tub lb 84
barrel lb 224
Calico, piece yds 28
Carnphor, box about cwt 1
Candles, barrel lb 120
Cheese, stone lb 16
Cider, pipe imp. gals 100 to 118
Cinnamon, bale lb 92.1/2
Cloves a rnatt, lb 80 chest. lb 200
Coal, ton (10 sacks of 2 cwt) cwt20
Newcastle chaldron of 3 wains cwt 52.1/2
estimated for boats at cwt 53
Cochineal ,seron lb 140
bag lb 200. 70,000 insects to a lb
Coffee, tierce cwt 5 to 7
barrel cwt 3 to 11
bag cwt 11 to 11
Mocha, bale cwt 2 to 2.1/2
Cocoa bag, about cwt 1,
cask, cwt 1.1/4
Cotton Wool (Virginia, Carolina, Georgia, West Indies)
bale lb 300 to 310
(New Orleans, Alabama) lb 400 to 500
(East India) bale lb 320 o 360
(Brazil), bale lb 196 to 250
(Egyptian), bale lb 1 80 to 280
Currants, butt cwt 15 to 20
Figs, Faro, frail lb 32
Malaga lb 56
barrel lb96 to 360
Fish, maze fish 615
last.. fish 13,200
Fish, warp fish 4
a long hundred fish 132
a barrel of herrings. gals 32
keg of sturgeon gals 4 to 5
Flour, peck or stone lb 14
boll of 10 pecks or stones lb 140
sack or 2 bolls lb 280
barrel , lb 196
Ginger (Jamaica), bag, about . cwt 1
(Barbados), bag, about cwt 1.1/4
(East India), bag, about cwt 1
Glass seam of lb 120
Gum Arabic, E. I. chest cwt 6
Turkey, chest cwt 4
Gunpowder, barrel . cwt 1
last 24 barrels or 2,400 lb
Hide: dicker skins 10
last dickers 20
Hock aum . gals 30
Honey, gallon lb 12
Hops, pocket 1 cwt 1.1/2 to 2
bag nearly cwt 2.1/2
Indigo, E.I. about 3.1/2 maunds lb 260
(Guatemala) seron . lb 250
Lead, tother, or fodder lb 2,400
Mace, case, about cwt 1.1/2
Molasses, puncheon cwt 10 to 12
Muslin, piece yds 10
Mustard, cask lb 9 to 18
Nutmegs, casks lb 200
Nuts (Barcelona) lb 126
(Messina), bag cwt l.1/2 to 1.3/4
Oil, tun wine gals 252
imp. gals 210
ton lb 1,770
Olive, Oil, chest of 60 flasks imp. gals 125
jar imp, gals 25
Opium (East India.),chest 2 maunds, or lb 149.1/3
(Turkey).. lb 136
Pepper (black), Company's bag lb 316
free trade bags lb 28, 56, 112
(white), bag, about cwt 1.1/2
Pilchards, hogshead (about 3,000 fish) gals 40
Plums. 1/4box. about lb 20
Plums, carton lb 9
Pork (Irish), tierce, 80 pieces, or lb 320
Potashes, barrel lb 120
Potatoes, bag lb 112 and 168, bushels 4 & 5
Quicksilver, bottle, about lb 84
Raisins,
Valencia, box, from about lb 30 to 40
a drum, about lb 24
a barrel cwt 1
(Malaga), a cask cwt 1
(Turkey), a cask cwt 2.1/2
(Ma)aga), a box lb 22
Rice, (East India), bag about cwt 1.1/2
(American), cask cwt 6
Resin, barrel, about cwt 2
Rum, puncheon gals 90 to 100
hogshead gals 45 to 50
Soapbarrel lb 256
firkin, lb 64
Soda, cask cwt 3 to 4
Steel, faggot lb 120
Stone of iron lb 14
butcher's meat lb 8
glass lb 5
hemp lb 32
cheese lb 16
Straw load 11 cwt 64 lb
truss lb 36
Sugar (West India), hogshead cwt 13 to 16
tierce cwt 7 to 9
(Mauritius), mat or bag cwt 1 to 1.1/2
(East India), bag cwt 1 to 1.3/4
Tallow, cask, about cwt 9
Tapioca, barrel, about cwt 1.1/4
Tar, barrel imp. gals 261
Tea, India, Ceylon, Pakistan, East Africa,Indonesia.:
chest, 19 in x19 in x 24 in approx. lb 110
half chest 18 in x 18 in x 20 in approx lb 100
Tiles, load tiles 1,000
Tobacco, hogshead cwt12 to 18
Train Oil, gallon lb 9
Turpentine, barrel cwt 2 to 2.1/2
Vermilion, bag lb 50
Whisky (Scotch), puncheon imp. gals 112 to 120
hogshead imp. gals 55 to 60
Wool, pack lb 2,403
tod lb 28
MEAT WEIGHT
8 pounds 1 stone
25 stone (beef) 1 barrel
28 stone (pork) 1 barrel
Irish Beef Irish Pork
8 pounds 1 piece 4 pounds = 1 piece
38 pieces 1 tierce 80 pieces = 1 tierce
FISH MEASURE SCOTCH LIQUID MEASURE
2 fish = 1 hand 4 gills = 1 mutchkin
37.1/2. imperial galls. = 1 cran 2 mutchkins = 1 choppin
13,200 fish = 1 last 2 choppins = 1 pint
COAL WEIGHT
14 Pounds 1 Stone.
28 1 Quarter Cwt.
56 1 Half Cwt.
1 Sack of 112 Pounds 1 Cwt.
1 Double Sack of 224 Pounds 2 Cwt.
20 Cwt or 10 Large Sacks 1 Ton.
21 Tons 4 Cwt 1 Barge or Keel.
20 Keels, or 424 Tons ' 1 Ship Load.
140 Cwt or 7 Tons 1 Room
25.1/2 Cwt 1 Chaldron.
By the Weights and Measures Act of 1889, all coal had to be sold by Avoirdupois
Weight. A truck of coal weighson an average about 8 tons.
COKE MEASURE
3 Bushels = 1 Sack, 12 Sacks = 1 Chaldron.
TIMBER MEASURE
100 Superficial Feet of Planking = 1 Square.
120 Deals = 1 Hundred.
108 Cubic Feet . 1. = 1 Stack.
120 = 1 Cord.
50 Cubic Feet of Squared Timber, or }
40 , of Unhewn or 1 Load or Ton. } 1 Load or ton.
600 Square . of 1" Planking }
WOOL WEIGHT
7 Pounds 1 clove
14 lb or 2 cloves 1 stone
2 Stones, or 28 lb 1 tod
6 Tods 1 Wey
2 Weys 1 sack
12 Sacks 1 last
20 Pounds 1 score
12 Score, or 240 lb 1 pack
In different counties the stone of wool varies from 12 lb to 16 lb but the
statutory value is 14 lb. Wool is weighed by wool weight only.
BREAD AND FLOUR WEIGHTS
1 quartern of flour 3 lbs. 8 ozs. avoirdupois
1 quartern of bread 4 lbs. 5 ozs. 8.1/2. drs. avoirdupois
1 peck of flour 14 lbs. avoirdupois
1 peck of bread 17 lbs. 6 ozs. 2 drs. avoirdupois
1 bushel of flour 56 lbs. (4 pecks)
1 sack of flour 280 lbs. (5 bushels)
WHEATEN BREAD
lb oz drm
A Peck Loaf weighs 17 6 2
A Half-Peck Loaf 8 11 1
A Quartern Loaf 4 5 8.1/2
A Quartern (or Quarter-Peck) of Flour 3 8 0
A Peck or Stone of Flour 14 0 0
A Bushel of Flour 56 0 0
A Sack of Flour, or 5 Bushels 280 0 0
Under wartime regulation bread had to be sold in loaves of 1 lb 14 oz or 15 oz.
Bakers are forbidden by Statute to sell bread by the peck or quartern.
CHEESE AND BUTTER WEIGHT
8 Pounds make 1 Clove or Half Stone.
32 Cloves or 256 lb 1 Wey in Suffolk.
42 Cloves or 336 lb 1 Wey in Essex.
56 Pounds of Butter 1 Firkin.
84 1 Tub.
224 1 Barrel.
GLASS WEIGHT
5 Pounds make 1Stone.
120 Pounds or 24 Stones 1Seam.
HAY AND STRAW
36 Pounds make 1 Truss of Straw.
56 Pounds 1 Truss of Old Hay.
60 Pounds 1 Truss of New Hay.
36 Trusses 1 Load.
1 Load of New Hay 19 Cwt 32 lb.
1 Load of Old Hay 18 Cwt.
1 Load of Straw 11 Cwt 64 lb
1 Cubic Yard of New Hay 6 Stone or 84 lb.
1 Cubic Yard of Old Hay 8 Stone or 1 Cwt
Round Hill
Round Hill is included as it appears in several grants and deeds and is an
imposing landmark on the coast on the eastern extent of Carpenter’s Mountains.
Extracts from Report of a field meeting to south-central Jamaica, 23rd May,
1998[9].
Round Hill is an imposing, roughly oval-shaped limestone massif orientated in
an approximately east-west direction. It is bounded to the east and south by
the floodplain and mangrove swamps of the Milk River, and to the west by
similar wetlands within the lower reaches of the Alligator Hole River. To the
north, Round Hill is bordered by conical hills and enclosed depressions forming
poorly developed kegelkarst, which gives way in the northwest to collapse
dolines around God‟s Well and to small limestone gorges associated with
uplands containing some enclosed depressions in the Alligator Hole River area.
Much of the southwest margin of Round Hill is skirted by a gently sloping,
apron-like footslope covered with scrubland vegetation and comprising limestone
conglomeratic debris with many fallen limestone blocks on its surface, which
terminates at the coast as an 8-10 m high seacliff, below which is a
discontinuous beach containing black sand.
Although Round Hill is composed of limestones of the Newport
Formation, there is a general lack of typical, large-scale karst landforms on
its surface. For the most part, the slopes of Round Hill are broadly convex to
rectilinear, but are occasionally broken by benches and steps, particularly on
the north- and south-facing slopes, which can be interpreted as „structural
benches‟, probably marking bedding planes or structural trends within the
limestones. There are also numerous gullies and possible old landslide scars
cut into the flanks of Round Hill, especially on its southwest-facing slopes,
whilst many former drainage lines can be traced on its surface on all aspects
of the massif. These gullies and drainage lines are predominantly relic
phenomena and were presumably cut during periods of more significant rainfall
than at present, or, alternatively, secondary permeability of the limestones
has now advanced to a stage where all rainfall simply infiltrates below the
surface. Many of the gullies which drained to the lower slopes, especially on
the colluviated footslopes on the southwest flanks of Round Hill, are
associated with fans and talus cones, comprising conglomeratic limestone debris
and larger fallen blocks. The distal ends of some of these fans are exposed in
the seacliff to the west of Farquhar‟s Beach as Holocene conglomeratic
beds containing predominantly limestone boulders and pebbles in a reddish,
rendzina-like matrix. The conglomeratic beds contain moderately rare calcified
root remains and calcrete horizons, and also are associated with
semi-continuous paleosol horizons. This suggests that the mass movement and
fluvial processes which formed the fans and talus cones were episodic, and
punctuated by periods where the fans were at least temporarily stabilised by a
vegetation and soil cover. The gastropods within the conglomerates confirms their
terrestrial origin as mass movement and fluvial deposits laid down in a debris
fan and talus cone environment. Generally on all aspects, the base of Round
Hill is marked by an abrupt break of slope, below which are much gentler slope.....
The coastline from the mouth of the Milk River to Farquhar‟s Beach is
a sandy beach backed by mangrove swamps. It is one of several black sand
beaches that occur along the south coast of Jamaica (see above). West of
Farquhar‟s Beach, the coastline is marked by a low seacliff, which is
about 8-10 m high, and exposes the Round Hill beds and overlying distal
fans/talus cones. The cliff is generally poorly stabilised, and many fallen
blocks of both these units litter the beach below. The more stable sections of
the cliff are buttressed by the more resistant components of the Round Hill
beds. Uncommonly, the cliff is broken by gullies, whilst slumped sections occur
to the extreme west of the cliffline. The slumps could be the product of wave
action undermining the base of the cliff, though they may also be related to
groundwater movements to the southwest of Round Hill. For the most part, the
mass movements within the slumped cliff zones can be classified as small-scale
slab and toppling failure, with some rotational components....
“Raised beach‟. Edward Robinson (1967b, p. 46) described this
unit as “... a thin deposit of raised beach sand, containing marine molluscs of
modern aspect”, that he considered to lie unconformably on the Round Hill beds.
We use „raised beach‟ in the broad sense herein, that is, a beach feature
elevated above present sea level, whether this position results from either
uplift of the land or a drop in sea level (Lowe and Walker, 1997, p. 84). At
the time of deposition of the „raised beach‟, the eroded surface which
now forms the unconformity on the Round Hill beds presumably formed a wave-cut,
rocky shore platform. This was subsequently buried by the “raised beach‟
and overlying distal fans/talus cones.
Note: much of Jamaica has raised beaches on the shore.
Fellowship property owned by Jno S. Cooper 1915 HBJ1915
Font Hill,
in St Elizabeth & Westmoreland, named from Font Hill Manor, was owned by
Sir William Beckford, Lord Mayor of London, an absentee landlord of sugar
plantations in Jamaica in the 18th Century. DPNJ.
This was a big Estate in the SW corner of St Elizabeth owned by the Beckford
family until they went bust in 1821, when it passed from the family. Octavius
M. described at his burial in 1840 as a Planter, resident at Font Hill. A
Samuel M married Camilla Beckford, both of Font Hill, in 1850.
In April 2002, the Font Hill estate is a research forestry plantation owned by
Petrol Company of Jamaica: the original greathouse has disappeared.
Fullerswood (Salmon):
"Jamaica Surveyed" by BW Higman describes a
plantation called Fullerswood which in 1860 was owned by John Salmon: it is on
the East bank of the Estuary of the Black River in St Elizabeth: this John
Salmon was probably the Executor of Francis M.'s will.
Seen in April 2002, but now a relatively modern house of little interest: could
be seen to have been originally an attractive entrance. Repainted entrance
walls 2/2022.
Palisadoes
is a ten mile strip which links Port Royal to the mainland.
The peninsula was formed when a group of cays, swept by currents and winds,
eventually merged. At first Port Royal could only be reached by a boat from Kingston Harbour, but there is now a road to it which also takes travellers to Norman Manley -
originally Palisadoes - Airport, which is situated on a bulging section of
Palisadoes and is Jamaica's principle airport. Of interest as this was a major
burial ground, where Frederick Lewis Maitland's mulatto mistress was
buried.DPNJ.
Port Royal
(extract) ... It became famous as a port at which naval
celebrities were stationed. Among these were: George Brydges: Lord Rodney
(1739-42) Vice-Admiral John Benbow, who was stationed in Jamaica in 1702
Admiral Edward Vernon (1739-42), C in C West Indies Admiral Sir Peter Parker,
Bt (1778-82) and Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson (1779-1805). ..... At that point
chiefly a resort for seamen, Port Royal was again nearly demolished, this time
by a violent hurricane on the 28th August, 1772. ..... DPNJ.
Roses Valley,
in St Elizabeth, is named after the first owner, William
Rose (Jamaica Almanacks, 1811) of this now defunct estate. Roses Valley is now a village in the centre of which is a Baptist Church, There is also Roses
Valley Post Office. DPNJ.
Dictionary of Place-Names in Jamaica (extracts) Inez Knibb Sibley (Institute of
Jamaica 1978).
Chew Magna,
in St Elizabeth, near Balaclava, was named by the Roberts
Family after the place in Keynsham, England from which they came.
Fort William
near Savannah la Mar, was part of an estate owned by William
Beckford, an early English settler, and named after him.
Morningside
is in St Elizabeth. The place name originates in Edinburgh, Scotland. Many Scotsmen were early settlers in St Elizabeth.
Greenwich Estate
London Times 25 June 1805:
Greenwich Estate, Jamaica, by Mr Farebrother
At such Place and Time as shall hereafter advertised
The highly valuable estate of Greenwich situate in the Parish of Vere, on the
south side of the island of Jamaica consisting of extensive plantations, in the
most improved state of cultivation, with the stock of negroes etc. Particulars
will be given in due time, and information obtained by application to GJ
Robinson, Esq, Lincoln’s Inn New square and at Mr Farebrother’s Office, 7
Beaufort buildings, Strand.
Jamaica Vere 29 (Greenwich)
Claim Details & Associated Individuals
2nd Nov 1835 | 107 Enslaved | £2359 2S 0D
CLAIM DETAILS Claim Notes
Parliamentary Papers p. 19.
T71/858: claim from Boddington & Davies, of Vere, as owners. 'Stand over
for explanation as to reasons Registry in name of heirs of Ratcliff'. Documents
were produced including an assignment from Geo. Ratcliff to Samuel Boddington
and Geo. Adam Davies, dated 1822. Awarded to Samuel Boddington as surviving
trustee under these deeds [?].
Times 05/10/1864 p. 16: Greenwich estate was auctioned off with Friendship
estate by the executors of Samuel Boddington.
The South Australian Advertiser (Adelaide, SA ) Monday 4 July 1859
THE LAST MAIL.
AN ESTATE DESTROYED.-By the West India mail, we learn that
the Greenwich estate, at Vere (Jamaica), the property of the Hon. Edward
Thompson, had been destroyed by fire, with all the cane pieces, except one, and
200 hogsheads of sugar. (nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1194761)
Harmony Hall
1845: 1337 acres heirs of W McKenzie
Jamaica Vere 37 (Harmony Hall)
Claim Details & Associated Individuals
5th Oct 1835 | 159 Enslaved | £3018 16S 11D
CLAIM DETAILS
Claim Notes
Parliamentary Papers p. 19.
T71/858: claim by Mrs Mary McKenzie, as owner in fee (withdrawn). Counterclaim
by Joseph Brooks Yates, as 'assignee of certain mortgages for £5000'.
Counterclaim included also Rev. (?) George Stevens Byng and his trustees (the
Duke of Richmond and the Earl of Wiltshire), claiming 1/3rd of the estate and
an annuity of £300 per annum charged upon the estate subject to the mortage of
£5000 vested in Messrs. Brooks Yates.
Jamaica Almanac: Harmony Hall is shown as owned by the heirs of P. Mackenzie
(1815) and by Mary Mackenzie (1833).
T71/1185: counterclaim from the Rt. Hon. George Stevens Byng and his trustees,
namely the Duke of Richmond and the Rt. Hon. John Earl of Wilts, in reversion
expectant on decease of Mary Mackenzie. Mary Mackenzie, of Twickenham, was the
widow of Peter Mackenzie (and grandmother of George Stevens Byng).
Monymusk
Owned by the family of Archibald Grant of Monymusk,
Aberdeen, 1696-1778.
The Monymusk Estate in Jamaica came into the Grant family with Elizabeth
Clark's daughter, Mary Calender. Elizabeth was the widow of a doctor in Jamaica
who married the first Sir Archibald as his 3rd wife. Her daughter Mary married
Sir Archibald's son (3rd Bt.) by his 2nd wife in 1755.
GRANT, Archibald (1696-1778), of Monymusk, Aberdeen.
b. 25 Sept. 1696, 1st s. of Sir Francis Grant, 1st Bt., of Cullen of Buchan, Banff,
Lord Cullen, S.C.J., by his 1st w. Jean, da. of Rev. William Meldrum of
Meldrum, Aberdeen
bro. of William Grant. educ. adv. 1714 L. Inn 1725.
m. (1) 17 Apr. 1717, Anne, da. of James Hamilton of Pencaitland, E. Lothian
2da.
(2) c.1731, Anne (d. bef. 1744), da. of Charles Potts of Castleton, Derbys.,
1s.
(3) 18 Aug. 1751, Elizabeth Clark (d. 30 Apr. 1759), wid. of Dr. James
Callander of Jamaica, s.p.
(4) 24 May 1770, Jane, wid. of Andrew Millar of Pall Mall, publisher and
bookseller, s.p. suc. fa. as 2nd Bt. Mar. 1726.
Surinam
Quarters & James Bannister
Major General James Bannister:
Calender of State Papers 1670:
April 6. 169. Warrant to the Duke of York. Whereas Major James Bannister,
late Governor of Surinam, having bought a vessel of 80 tons for the removal of
his family and estate thence, in attending his Majesty's pleasure has kept the
vessel six months at his great charge, it is his Majesty's pleasure that his
Royal Highness deliver to said Major Bannister provisions for 15 men for six months,
with ropes and a mainsail, to encourage him towards the voyage. 1 p. [Dom.
Entry Bk., Chas. II., Vol. 25, p. 154 đ.]
April 6. 170. Warrant to the Commissioners of Ordnance. To deliver to Major
James Bannister, late Governor of Surinam, six small guns, each weighing about
7 cwt., with their furniture, six barrels of powder, and a proportionable
quantity of shot. 1/2 p. [Dom. Entry Bk., Chas. II., Vol. 25, p. 155.]
Nov. 6. 316. Commission appointing Major James Bannister Major-General of
all the forces in the island of Jamaica, under the orders of the Governor and
Lieutenant-Governor. Also note of the provisions necessary for victualling his
ship. Endorsed, Mr. Ranger's note for provisions and other necessaries for
Major Bannister's vessel, and with notes by Williamson. 50l. or 60l.. given to
Major Bannister for providing himself with these things. Two papers. 3 1/2 pp.
[Col. Papers, Vol. XXV., Nos. 84, 85.]
Nov. ? 317. Draft in Williamson's hand, with corrections, of the above
commission to Major James Bannister. 1 p. [Col. Papers, Vol. XXV., No. 86.]
Nov. ? 318. Copy of commission to Maj. Bannister, not so full, but to the
same effect as the above. [Col. Entry Bk., No. 27, p. 84.]
Nov. 6. 319. Names of the persons agreed unto to be inserted in the
commission and instructions for fetching off the English from Surinam, viz.,
Major James Bannister, Capt. Francis Yates, Thomas Stanter, Lieut. Henry Masey,
Capt. James Maxwell, Lieut. Tobias Bateman, Capt. Christopher Reader, Henry
Ayler, Master of the America, Richard Colvile, Master of the Dutch Flyboat, and
John Ranger, Master of Major Bannister's Flyboat; any three to be a quorum, of
whom Bannister, Yates, or Ayler to be one; to whom only the additional
instructions (after shipping the English from Surinam) are to be directed,
impowering Bannister (and in case of death or absence, Yates and then Ayler) to
give orders to the masters of the two merchant ships. Lord Arlington promised
to speak to the Duke of York about the instructions to the masters of the hired
merchant ships. 1 p. [Col. Papers, Vol. XXV., No. 90*.]
Nov. ? 320. Draft commission to Major James Bannister and others [names
not given in this copy, see preceding] for removing the English and settling
all disputes at Surinam. Refers to the Articles of Surrender of Surinam between
Col. Wm. Byam and Admiral Abraham Crynsens, which were confirmed by the Treaty
of Breda, and afterwards ratified by said Crynsens and others on 20/30 April
1668; also the orders of the States General of the 4th and 21st August past, to
Commander Lichtenberge, Governor of Surinam [see ante, No. 219]. For the better
execution whereof, and that all disputes may be fairly settled, his Majesty has
appointed the aforesaid Commissioners to demand and treat with Commander
Lichtenberge concerning the execution of all that has been agreed upon or
granted to his Majesty's subjects in that Colony, particularly as to their
liberty of departing thence with their slaves and goods. Draft, with
corrections in the handwriting of Williamson, who has endorsed it, Minute,
1670. 4 pp. [Col. Papers, Vol. XXV ., No. 87.]
Nov. 6.
Whitehall. 324. Instructions to Major James Bannister, Capt. Francis Yates,
Thomas Santer, Lieut. Henry Masey, Capt. James Maxwell, Lieut. Tobias Bateman,
Capt. Christopher Reader, Henry Ayler, Richard Colvill, and John Ranger, the
King's Commissioners for bringing off from Surinam his Majesty's subjects,
their families, and estates. Calendared ante, No. 304. 3 pp. [Col. Entry Bks.,
No. 77, pp, 29–31, No. 78, pp. 80–84, and No. 93, pp. 11–12.]
Nov. 6.
Whitehall. 325. Additional instructions to Major Jas. Bannister, Capt. Fras.
Yates, and Henry Ayler. As soon as they are freed from Surinam to sail for
Barbadoes, St. Kitts, or any of the Leeward Isles or Jamaica, and suffer such
people as desire it to settle there. To send home an account of their
proceedings, and whether the Articles for the first surrender of Surinam made
by Col. Byam have been observed. 1 p. [Col. Entry Bks., No. 77, p. 32, No. 78,
pp. 85–86, and No. 93, p. 13.]
Nov. 6.
Queen Street. 326. H. Slingesby, Secretary to the Council of Trade, to
Joseph Williamson, Secretary to Lord Arlington, at his lodgings in Scotland
Yard. Having notice that Sir Philip Frowde's son, one of his clerks, whom he
ordered to call upon Williamson for copy of the Articles of Surinam had
misbehaved himself, and left a note about said Articles in a slighting way,
begs to have a copy of said paper, with an account of his clerk's carriage in
the business. Yesterday, upon Major Bannister's motion for leaving out of his
commission and instructions some of the English planters at Surinam, who might
be unwilling to leave the place, it was ordered by the Council that Thomas
Stanter and Lieut. Tobias Bateman be left out, and one Gerrard Marshall, Master
Mate of the America, put in; which Williamson will be pleased to have done. 1
p. [Col. Papers, Vol. XXV., No. 90.]
PARISH INFORMATION
Parish Records:
St Elizabeth lists few Base born children before about 1750, the use of the
phrase “reputed” (child) of the father did not appear until the later half of
the 18thC.
Burials in St Elizabeth only recorded the whites.
Clarendon only has burials from 1805.
Kingston records only from 1722 “since the dreadful storm which happened on the
28th August 1722”.
Vere records missing from 1720-1730.
Clarendon
Clarendon Capital & Parish Church
The Gleaner, 9 January 2012:
With respect to a story in The Gleaner of Saturday, January 7, titled 'How
Clarendon's first capital got its name', your writer, Christopher Serju,
referring to Chapelton, begins his story with the statement: "Its claim to
being the first capital of Clarendon is undisputed." Chapelton is, in
fact, the second capital of Clarendon, and May Pen is the third.
The parish of Clarendon was created in 1664 and named after Sir Edward Hyde
(1609-1674), Lord High Chancellor of England (1657-1667), who was made the
first Earl of Clarendon in 1661. His family motto was 'The Cross, the Test of
Faith', and so the capital of the new parish was named 'The Cross', and its
position in the southern part of the parish is noted on old maps of Jamaica on
the main road from Old Harbour travelling west, after passing through Colbeck
and Rosewell.
The first parish church of Clarendon (The Church of the White Cross) was the
third Anglican church built in Jamaica (after Spanish Town and Port Royal).
Elections for the first Jamaica House of Assembly were held there in 1664. The
church was built of brick in the shape of a cross the Rectors lived there with
their slaves who worked the glebe. Its ruins may be seen in the bushes at The
Cross (not to be confused with Palmer's Cross, which is nearby) and I recommend
that it receive some protection as a heritage site.
In 1774, Edward Long wrote: "The hamlet, or village of the Cross, is
situated about six miles from Old Harbour Bay, on the great roads leading, one
to leeward, the other to Old Woman's Savannah. It consists of about 10 houses,
near the parish church, which is a handsome brick building, of four ailes.
Hard-by, likewise, stands the skeleton of the parsonage house, which at present
is converted into a cooper's shop a metamorphosis that is not at all wonderful
for the inhabitants of this hamlet, being mostly Jews and Mulattoes, afford no
very agreeable neighbourhood to a Protestant divine."
Cross church set precedent
Beyond the Cross Church, the main road forked, one branch going towards the
north coast (through the Pedro Valley) and the other going along the south
coast (around Round Hill).
As cultivation in Clarendon shifted further inland, a chapel of ease (St
Paul's) was built by the military barracks in the northern part of the parish
at first the settlement around it was called 'Chapel', then 'Chapel Town', and
now 'Chapelton'. Later, Chapelton became the parish capital, but 'The Cross
Church' remained the parish church, until it was finally destroyed in 1815,
whereupon St Paul's became the parish church for Clarendon.
May Pen was a small hamlet until the coming of the railway in 1885, which
spurred its development. It became the third capital of Clarendon in 1938, but
it is the only parish capital without a cenotaph, as the one for Clarendon was
built when Chapelton was the capital.
PETER ESPEUT
CORNWALL - General Information
1784 Almanac:
The County of Cornwall contains 1,522,149 acres, has 5 Parishes, and 10
Towns or Villages.
General state of the County of Cornwall:
388 sugar plantations
561 other settlements
above 93,000 slaves
and the produce in sugar about 67,000 hogsheads,
and about 69,500 cattle
REVIEW OF THE STATE OF THE WHOLE ISLAND
Total
Negroes 255,700
Sugar estates 1061
Produce 105,400 hogsheads of sugar
Other settlements 2018
Cattle 224,500
20 Parishes, in which are 36 Towns and Villages, 18 Churches and Chapels, and
about 23,000 white inhabitants.
ST ELIZABETH PARISH INFORMATION
Extracts 1784 Almanac: ST. ELIZABETH
The town of Lacovia does not contain more than 20 houses: here the
Quarter Sessions and Petty Courts for the parish are held. Black River
has about 50 houses, and a fine Bay for shipping. This parish has 39
sugar-works, 190 other settlements, and 16,000 slaves.
Lacovia, in St Elizabeth, is said to have been the La Caoban of the
Spaniards, in the early days referred to by the inhabitants as
"Coby". Lacovia was the first capital of St Elizabeth. DPNJ.
Middle Quarters is in St Elizabeth. The reason for the name is uncertain.
It is claimed in the old days the Quarter Session of the court was held here
and that might have something to do with the name. Middle Quarters in now the
location of a large-scale shrimp trade conducted by the villagers.
DPNJ.
Miss Parchments shown between Jack's Holt & White Horse of South coast.
MAP1804.
PRO Jamaica "Blue Book" of Government Statistics, 1823.
Rector of St Elizabeth Rev Williams, appointed 21/5/1821.
Pay: £270 stlg, 378, Currency + fees 326-10-2.5d = £C704-10-2.5d.
1823 population: 697 whites, 1918 free, 18802 slaves.
Downloaded from internet 13/5/2003
Parish Information
Population 148,900 (1999)
Literacy Rate 67.5% (1994)
Educational Institutions 1999/2000 (M.O.E.C)
Public Independent
Tertiary 1
Tertiary - Vocational/Agricultural 1 Vocational/Agricultural 1
- - Business Education -
Technical High 1 - -
Comprehensive High 5 - -
Secondary High 4 Secondary High 1
- - Secondary High
(with preparatory department) 1
Special - Special -
Junior High - - -
Primary and Junior High 5 - -
All Age 35 - -
Primary 35 - -
Infant - Kindergarten/Preparatory 5
Other Agencies providing education and training are Basic Schools and H.E.A.R.T
NTA.
GENERAL
POSITION/SIZE/DESCRIPTION
St Elizabeth is in the south-western section of the island.
It has an area of 1212.4 square kilometres (468.1 square miles). There are
three mountain ranges - the Nassau Mountains to the north-east, the Santa Cruz Mountains which, running south, divide the wide plain to end in a precipitous drop
of 1600 feet at Lovers' Leap, and the Lacovia Mountains to the west of the Nassau Mountains.
The Black River is the main river supported by many tributaries including Y.S.,
Broad, Grass and Horse Savannah. It is the longest river in Jamaica {53.4 kilometres (33 0 miles)} and it is navigable for about 40 kilometres (25 miles). It
has its source in the mountains of Manchester near Coleyville where it rises
and flows west as the boundary between Manchester and Trelawny then goes
underground near Troy. It reappears briefly near Oxford and goes underground
again for several miles to reemerge near Balaclava and tumbles down gorges to
the plain known as the Savannah, through the Great Morass and to the sea at
Black River, the capital of the parish.
Because of the limestone formation there are 44 caves in the parish. They
include Mexico, the longest in the island. Yardley Chase Caves near the foot of
Lovers' Leap, Wallingford Caves near Balaclava, famous for the fossil remains
of large extinct rodents and Peru Cave near Goshen which has impressive
stalactites and stalagmites. Preservation areas and wetland sites include:
National Park: Cockpit Country
Lower Black River Morass Wetland Sanctuary: Luana Point Swamp
Lower Black River Morass Wildlife Sanctuary: Luana Font Hill
Scientific/Nature Reserves: Holland Swamp Forest.
Much of the land in the parish is dry grassland called savannahs, marsh and
swamp, forests and scrub woodlands. The land is used mainly for agriculture and
the farmers here who produce a variety of crops are noted for their skilful
farm practices. Earlier the land was used to grow sugar cane and for pasture.
It still has one sugar factory on Appleton Estate which is noted for its fine
blends of rum. To the north of Appleton lies the Cockpit Country which crosses
into Trelawny.
Mineral deposits include bauxite, antimony, white limestone, clay, peat and
silica sand which is used to manufacture glass.
BRIEF HISTORY
It is believed the parish was named after the wife of Sir
Thomas Modyford, the first English Governor of Jamaica. It originally included
most of the south-west part of the island but in 1703 Westmoreland was taken
from it and in 1814 a part of Manchester.
The Tainos/Arawaks also lived in this part of the island. There is evidence of
their occupation in the cave at Pedro Bluff. When the Spaniards came they
established ranches on the savannahs. The walls and wells they left are
reminders of their presence.
When the English settled on the island after its capture from the Spanish in
1655, they concentrated on planting sugar cane but the ranches had been so well
developed that the tradition continued. In some places buildings with 'Spanish
wall' (masonry of limestone sand and stone between wooden frames) can still be
seen. St Elizabeth became a prosperous parish and Black River an important
seaport. In addition to shipping sugar and molasses Black River became the
centre of the logging trade. Large quantities of logwood were exported to Europe to make a Prussian-blue dye which was very popular in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Synthetic dyes have now replaced natural dyes so although there are still large
quantities of logwood growing wild in some areas there is no longer any demand
for it. Today, however, it still supports the honey industry as honey made from
logwood blossoms is very popular.
Because of its prosperity electric power was first introduced in Jamaica in a house called Waterloo in Black River in 1893. In 1903 the first motor car to come to Jamaica was imported by the owner of Waterloo. In those days the town had a horse-racing track, a
gambling house and a mineral spa for the well-to-do at the west end of the
town.
St Elizabeth probably has the greatest racial mixture in Jamaica. When the Miskito Indians came from Central America to help track the Maroons in the 18th
century they were given land grants in this parish. In the 18th century too,
Loyalists from the Carolinas settled in the Great Morass and attempted to grow
rice. In the 19th century Scots and Germans migrated to the parish and this
accounts for pockets of distinct racial mixtures in the parish. However, in the
20th century there was steady emigration from St Elizabeth and other parts of Jamaica to Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Cuba to work on railway construction and banana
plantations.
With the closure of the port in Black River in 1968 the parish could have
become a backwater had bauxite not been discovered. More recently efforts are
being made to develop a different kind of tourism in which the community is
more involved and which can show off the many ecological features of the
parish. The parish lends itself to this kind of development and the annual St
Bess Homecoming is enticing its sons and daughters to invest there. In addition
to a strong farming base, craft is also being revived and the future looks promising.
Munro College for boys and Hampton School for girls were established by the
Munro and Dickenson Trust in1856 and 1858 respectively. Several secondary
schools have been built in the last 50 years.
POPULATION: 148,900 (1999)
CAPITAL: Black River
MAJOR TOWNS: Santa Cruz, Malvern, Junction, Balaclava
MAJOR INDUSTRIES/SOURCES OF EMPLOYMENT
Sugar: This is one of the oldest industries in the parish. The one remaining
factory is the Appleton Estate which has given its name to the fine blends of
rum it produces.
Bauxite: When bauxite deposits were discovered in the parish, Kaiser Bauxite
company began mining in the early 1950s. Alpart started mining and alumina
manufacturing at Nain. This was closed in 1975 but the mining of ore continues.
Fishing: River fishing is unequalled in Jamaica and sea fishing is also very
good. Middle Quarters is known as the Shrimp Capital of Jamaica. Vendors sell
pickled crayfish to passing motorists and the industry is said to earn
$3.000.000.00 a year.
Crafts: St Elizabeth is noted for its straw work - hats, bags, baskets, mats,
etc. Sisal and thatch are grown locally to support this.
Agriculture: This is the mainstay of the parish noted for its watermelons,
seasoning, tomatoes, onions, cassava, pineapples etc. It is one of Jamaica's 'bread baskets'. Its farmers constantly work against drought conditions in some
places.
Food Processing: There is a food processing plant at Bull Savannah for
tomatoes, carrots and pineapples which are distributed under the brand name
Village Pride. There are pimento leaf oil factories at Giddy Hall. Bogue and Braes River.
Tourism: St Elizabeth has significantly increased its room capacity for
tourists and is strongly pushing a tourism package with a difference -
community tourism which would include eco-tourism. There are indications that
over a half of the estimated 1,000,000 tourists who visit the island each year
over a half are interested in what the south coast has to offer.
Other industries: Glass, abrasives, Hodges Ceramic Supplies Ltd and Silica
mines.
MAJOR
HISTORICAL/CULTURAL/RECREATIONAL/ECOLOGICAL SITES
The Great Morass: This is the island's largest wetland which has an area of 125
square miles. The lower morass extends from the Black River to Lacovia and the
upper morass is above Lacovia. It is a complex eco-system and a preserve for
more than 100 bird species. It is a refuge for about 300 crocodiles. Fed by the
Black River the morass has plenty of crayfish and fish including the God-a-me
that can live out of water in mud and moist leaf litter. Sometimes a manatee
can be seen near the river estuary. The morass provides a livelihood for the
'shrimp' sellers at Middle Quarters. There is now evidence of pollution and the
Black River and Great Morass Environmental Defence Fund is attempting to have
the area declared a national park.
YS Falls: These falls are considered by many to be Jamaica's most spectacular
waterfalls. Eight cascades separated by pools ideal for swimming fall for120
feet. Limestone cliffs and towering lush vegetation enhance the scene. It is on
private property but is open to the public for a fee. There is a picnic ground
and transportation to the falls. The estate raises racehorses and Jamaica Red
cattle
Bamboo Avenue: This two and a half mile 'avenue' of bamboos on the main road
between Lacovia and Middle Quarters was planted by the owners of Holland Estate
in the 17th century to provide shade in the heat of the savannah. A former
owner was John Gladstone, father of the famous British prime minister. It was a
sugar estate and the factory has only recently been closed. Although battered
by hurricanes and the occasional fires it is still attractive. It is maintained
by the staff of the Hope Botanical Gardens in Kingston.
Font Hill Wildlife Sanctuary: The Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica owns this 3150 acre wildlife reserve. It has two miles of coastline. Scrubby acacia and
logwood thickets cover much of the area. Near to the coastline are
interconnected lagoons and swamps. It is a haven for birds. Eight endemic
species can be seen there including the pea dove, the white-bellied dove and
the ground dove, the smallest dove in the world. It used to be a cattle ranch
earlier.
St John's Parish Church: Although a tablet on the tower notes the laying of a
foundation stone in 1837 it is believed that this yellow brick church is much
older. The church has a pair of monuments erected in 1828 to the memory of
Robert Hugh Munro and his nephew Caleb Dickenson. Munro bequeathed his estate
in trust to his nephew and the church wardens and their successors to form a
free school for the poor children of the parish. This bequest formed the Munro
and Dickenson Trust which opened the Munro and Dickenson Free School in Black River in 1856, fifty-nine years after Munro's death and eventually Munro School for boys and Hampton School for girls, the oldest public educational institutions
in the parish. The tombstones outside the west entrance are for Duncan Hook
(1741 -1779) and his four children by a 'free mulatto' who lies beside him. He
had to have a special act of Assembly passed to give his mistress and their
children the same legal status as white people. Without it they could not have
been buried in the churchyard.
Lacovia Tombstones: At the junction of the Lacovia main road and one of the roads
to Maggoty lies two tombstones. On one is a large marble slab with the
inscription "To Thomas Jordan Spencer". The other is unmarked. The
story goes that a duel at a nearby tavern resulted in the death of both men.
The engraved coat of arms has been traced to Spencer of Anthrop, an ancestor of
the late Sir Winston Spencer Churchill of World War 2 fame.
Appleton Estate: Tucked in the Siloah Valley between the Nassau Mountains and the Cockpit Country lies Jamaica's oldest rum distillery on the Appleton Estate.
The rums bear the estate's name and have been produced there since 1749. The
estate is now owned by J.Wray & Nephew, Jamaica's largest producers of rum.
Pondside Lake: This is the largest fresh water lake in the island situated
about six miles from Black River on the road to Mountainside. It is officially
known as the Wally Eash Pond. According to legend this pond was once a district
which, like the Yallahs Ponds in St Thomas, mysteriously disappeared leaving a
pond in its place. A man and his dog left the district at night and as he was
returning to the spot where the house should be he stepped into water. The
district had sunken while he was away and he was the only one saved.
Accompong: Situated on the south side of the Cockpit Country, Accompong is the
only remaining village in western Jamaica inhabited by the descendants of the
Maroons. It was reputedly named after the brother of the great Maroon leader
Cudjoe, and it was a common name among the Akan speaking tribes of West Africa. The settlement was formed after the treaty between the Maroons and the English
in 1739. When the second war with the English broke out in 1795, the Accompong
Maroons remained neutral and were left untroubled at the end of the war when
all the other Maroon settlements were destroyed. On the 6thof January each year
a traditional ceremony is held to commemorate the signing of the treaty with
the English in 1739 which gave them their freedom. Their head of government is
the Colonel who is elected by secret ballot every five years. He is assisted by
a council which he appoints. Most of the Maroons have gone to other parts of Jamaica to live but they are still proud of their African heritage.
Savanna-la-Mar
Extracts 1784 Almanac: WESTMORELAND
….is the county town, where the Assize courts are held for the county of Cornwall, the last Tuesday in March, June, September, and December: it has lately
been ornamented by an elegant court-house, and contains about 100 other houses.
In the parish are 89 sugar estates, 106 other settlements, and 18000 slaves
St Thomas in the Vale
EMANCIPATION IN JAMAICA – New York Times
1860
Times Past and Times Present.
Published: January 27, 1860
KINGSTON, Jamaica, December, 1859
As briefly as possible--for the theme is threadbare--I must endeavor to give
your readers an approximate idea of the decline of Jamaica, ere I attempt to
explain the causes of that decline or point out the political and social abuses
and anomalies for whicih, it seems to me, a remedy must be found before the
island can be restored to its ancient prosperity. I do not think it can be
disputed -- if history and statistics are to be believed -- that, since the
abolition of the Slave-trade fifty-two years ago, Jamaica has never for a
moment paused in her downward career. I do not think it can be disputed -- if
actual observation is to be relied upon -- that she has not, even yet, reached
the lowest point of possible depression. Lower still she can sink -- lower
still she must sink, if her people are not imbued with a more pregnant
patriotism -- if the governing classes are not stimulated to more energetic
action, and are not guided, by more unselfish counsels.
I know of no country in the world where prosperity, wealth, and a commanding
position have been so strangely subverted and destroyed, as they have been in
Jamaica, within the brief space of sixty years. I know of no country in the
world where so little trouble has been taken to investigate the causes of this
decline, or to remedy the evils that have depressed the colony. The partisans
of Slavery, it is true -- the sufferers, who have commanded the ear of the
world and have enlisted its sympathies in their behalf -- have represented, and
with a large coloring of reason, that all this widespread ruin is to be
attributed to Emancipation only. But thinking and intelligent men are no longer
convinced by these state complaints. They cannot now be brought to believe that
the liberation of 350,000 slaves, whatever may have been its first effect, is
the origin, and only origin, of the poverty and distress that prevail in the
island at the present day. British Emancipation may have been unwise regarded
as a great social revolution, the manner in which the scheme was executed must
be utterly condemned private rights were violated, and their sacredness was
eclipsed by the splendor of an act which gave freedom to a people who never
knew what freedom was -- but the ruin attributed to it is, in Jamaica, too
broad and too deep to be set down any longer as the effect of that one solitary
cause. No other English island has the natural advantages that Jamaica
possesses no other English island exhibits the same, or anything like the same,
destitution yet all have passed through the same experience -- all have
undergone the same trial.
Tempora mutantur should be the Jamaican motto. Tempora mutantur with a
vengeance! Only sixty years ago, and the dream of Emancipation had not been
dreamt even by a Wilberforce, and the then greatest slave-trading country in
the world was but opening its national eyes to the iniquity of the accursed
traffic. How vehemently the planters stood up for their right (who dare dispute
it?) to steal Mandingoes and Eboes from the African coast! How forcibly, in
those days, did they represent the unfriendliness of Slavery to population, and
groan over an annual diminution of slave property which only the African trade
could keep up to the scanty figure of a bare sufficiency! Their representations
had, at least, the merit of being true for though 600,000 slaves, at the lowest
estimate, were brought to Jamaica during the Eighteenth Century, it is well
known that, at the end of that period, the slave population of the whole Island
was not much more than one half of that amount. It was computed by the
political economists of the day that Jamaica required an annual supply of
10,000 slaves to provide against the wear and tear of life and the statement
will appear by no means incredible to those who have examined the statistics of
Cuban Slavery at the present time. In spite of this immense traffic, ruthlessly
and recklessly carried on, Jamaica was never adequately supplied with labour.
The slaves were overworked to satify their masters' lust for gain, and to this
the great mortality has been mainly attributed. That great mortality ceased
with the extinction of the Slave-trade, for the planters found it incumbent
upon them to take more care of their property nevertheless, in spite of all
their precautions, the decrease of slaves each year by death, without reference
to the decrease by manumission, was considerably larger than the increase by
birth and the deficit, now, could not be supplied.
There are many who believe that great crimes against society, in nations as in
individuals, are followed by certain punishment and, to such, the impoverished
condition of the Jamaica planters of the present day will seem but a natural
consequence of a long reign of avarice and cruelty, of extravagance and
oppression. I do not seek to take up this parable against them. But, it is not
to be denied, that they are the chief if not the only sufferers. The large
landed proprietors and merchant potentates of the island -- these are the men
who have fallen from their high estate. The slaves of other days, the poor, the
peasantry -- these are the men who have progressed, if not in morality, at
least in material prosperity, as in subsequent letters I shall have ample
opportunity to show. If the change could be traced solely to emancipation, I
should be loth to justify emancipation, believing as I do that it would be
wholly inconsistent with morality or the dictates of a sound policy, to degrade
that portion of the population which controlled the elements of civilization,
in order to enrich an ignorant and undisciplined people. But the decline of
Jamaica has been so stupendous as of itself to create a doubt whether it can be
laid, in whole or even in part, to the emancipation of the slaves. A witness
can prove too much and the advocates for a slave system for Jamaica have
appealed to a testimony which places their case in this very category.
It will be found upon examination that the most prosperous epoch of Jamaican
commerce was that embraced in the seven years immediately preceding the
abolition of the Slave-trade. Yet even then it is a notorious fact, to be proved
by Parliamentary Blue Books, that over 150 estates on the Island had been
abandoned for debt. During the seven years indicated -- that is from 1801 to
1807 -- the sugar exports of Jamaica amounted annually to an average of 133,000
hhds. During the seven years succeeding the year in which the Slave-trade was
abolished -- from 1807 to 1814 -- the annual exports fell off to an average of
118,000 hhds. During the next seven years -- from 1814 to 1821 -- the annual
average was about 110,000 hhds. from 1821 to 1828, it was 96,000 hhds., and
from 1828 to 1835 it was 90,000 hhds. -- thus showing a steady decline, not so
alarming, it is true, as the decline of subsequent years (for the whole sugar
exportation of Jamaica is now only 30,000 hhds.) but sufficiently serious to
demonstrate that Jamaica had reached its maximum prosperity under Slavery, and
had commenced to deteriorate nearly thirty years before the Emancipation act
was passed, and many years before the design of such a measure was conceived,
or Mr. CANNING's note of warning was sounded in West Indian ears. A comparison
of Jamaican exports in 1805, her year of greatest prosperity, with her exports
in 1859, must appear odious to her inhabitants. In the former year the Island
exported over 150,000 hhds. of sugar, and in the latter year she exported
28,000 hhds. The exports of rum and coffee exhibit the same proportionate
decrease. The exportation of pimento only has increased -- to be explained by
the fact that a large number of small settlers cultivate this article for sale.
If the City of Kingston be taken as an illustration of the prosperity of
Jamaica, the visitor will arrive at more deplorable conclusions than those
pointed out by commercial statistics. It seems like a romance to read to-day,
in the capital of Jamaica, the account of that capital's former splendour. Its
"magnificent churches" -- now time worn and decayed -- are scarcely
superior to the stables of some Fifth-avenue magnate. There is not a house in
the city in decent repair not one that looks as though it could withstand a
respectable breeze not a wharf in good order not a street that can exhibit a
square yard of pavement no sidewalks no drainage scanty water no light. The
same picture of neglect and apathy greets one everywhere. In the business part
of the town you are oppressed with its inactivity. Clerks yawn over the,
counters, or hail with greedy looks the solitary stranger who comes in to
purchase. If a non-resident, he is made to pay for the dullness of the market,
and leaves a hotel, a store or a livery-stable, tolerably well fleeced-Prices
that in New-York would be deemed exorbitant, must be paid by strangers for the
common necessities of life. The Kingstonians remind me much of the Bahama
wreckers. Having little or nothing themselves, they look upon a steamer-load of
California passengers, cast away in their harbor for a night or a day, as very
Egyptians, whom it is not only their privilege but their duty to despoil.
There is nothing like work done in Kingston, except perhaps in the establishments
of a few European or American merchants, or on the piers, now and then, at the
loading or unloading of vessels. The city was originally well laid out, but it
is not ornamented with a single tree, and the square, in a central location, is
a barren desert of sand, white-hot with exposure to the blazing sun. The
streets are filthy, the beach lots more so, and the commonest laws of health
are totally disregarded wreck and ruin, destitution and neglect. There is
nothing new in Kingston. The people, like their horses, their houses, and all
that belongs to them, look old and worn. There are no improvements to be noted,
not a device, ornament, or conceit of any kind to indicate the presence of
taste or refinement. The inhabitants, taken en masse, are steeped to the
eyelids in immorality promiscuous intercourse of the sexes is the rule the
population shows an unnatural decrease illegitimacy exceeds legitimacy abortion
and infanticide are not unknown. Kingston looks what it is, a place where money
has been made, but can be made no more. It is used up and cast aside as
useless. Nothing is replaced that time destroys. If a brick tumbles from a
house to the street, it remains there if a spout is loosened by the wind, it
hangs by a thread till it falls if furniture is accidentally broken, the idea
of having it mended is not entertained. The marks of a listless, helpless
poverty are upon the faces of the people whom you meet, in their dress, in
their very gait.
Have I described a God-forsaken place, in which no one seems to take an
interest, without life and without energy, old and dilapidated, sickly and
filthy, cast away from the anchorage of sound morality, of reason, or of common
sense? Then, verily, have I described Kingston in 1859. Yet this wretched hulk
is the capital of an island the most fertile in the world it is blessed with a
climate most glorious it lies rotting in the shadow of mountains that can be
cultivated from summit to base, with every product of temperate and tropical
regions it is mistress of a harbor where a thousand line-of-battle ships can
safely ride at anchor.
The once brimming cup of Kingston's prosperity has been indeed emptied to the
dregs. It offers no encouragement that this splendid island inheritance, wasted
through riotous living in times past, will ever be redeemed. You must look
beyond Kingston for the grounds of such a hope. You must escape from its sickly
atmosphere and the listless indifference of its people. You must learn, as you
can learn from the most casual observation, that the Island, unlike others that
can be mentioned, is in no exhausted condition but is fresh and fair, and
abundantly fertile as ever, with every variety of climate, and capable of
yielding every variety of product. Up in these tremendous hills you may enjoy
the luxury of a frosty night down upon the plains you may bask in the warmth of
a fiery sun. There you can raise potatoes, here you can raise sugar cane. There
you will find interminable forests of wild pimento, here interminable acres of
abandoned properties -- a mass of jungle and luxuriant vegetation choking up
the deserted mansions of Jamaica's ancient aristocracy. Scenes most wonderfully
fair, moat picturesque, but most melancholy to look upon scenes that a limner
might love to paint, but from which an American planter would turn in disgust
and contempt.
This magnificent country -- wanting nothing but capital and labour for its
complete restoration to a prosperity far greater than it ever yet attained --
is now sparsely settled by small negro cultivators, who have been able to
purchase their plots of land for £2 and £3 an acre. With a month's work on
their own properties, they can earn as much as a year's labour on a sugar
estate, would yield them. They are superior, pecuniarily speaking, to servitude
and by a law of nature, that cannot be gainsaid, they prefer independence to
labor for hire. Why should they be blamed? But the fact remains that the island
is nearly destitute of labor that through want of labor it has been reduced and
by an adequate supply of labor can it only be restored. Covering an area of
four millions of acres, Jamaica has a population of 378,000, white, black and
mulatto. This makes about eleven acres to each person. In the flourishing
island of Barbados the proportion is nearly one and a half persons to each
acre. If Jamaica were as thickly populated as Barbados, it would contain over
five millions of souls, and would export a million hogs, heads. Till its
present population has been doubled and trebled, no material improvement can be
looked for. But where is the money -- where are the vigor and the energy
necessary to obtain this population? Whose fault is it that these are wanting,
and that Jamaica, with far greater advantages than Trinidad or Guiana, has
failed to follow the footsteps of their success? Is this also the result of
emancipation?
I propose to visit the interior of this Island, and to describe in subsequent
letters, and within such compass as your space will permit, the civil and
social condition of the people, who are generally supposed, by their indolence
and improvidence, to have plunged themselves and their island into hopeless
ruin. And while I do not expect to find that freedom has produced that
millenium, even for the negro, that Abolitionists pretend -- while I know that
I shall find a people falling far short, very far short, of the European or
American standard of morality, or education, yet I think I shall prove that
other evils besides their emancipation have contributed to the decline of the
Island that other wrongs besides emancipation must be righted before a change
for the better can take place and that a restoration of Slavery, were that
within the bounds of possibility, would not only fail to restore Jamaica's
prosperity, but would sink her in deeper destruction. W.G.S.
EMANCIPATION IN JAMAICA.--II. A Tour of Observation--Spanish Town--St.
Thomas-in-the-Vale--Mount Diabolo--The Moneague.
From Our Own Correspondent.
New York Times: Published: February 3, 1860
KINGSTON, Jamaica, January, 1860.
I don't think I can do better, in the discussion of this West India Labor
question, than describe, as concisely as possible, a somewhat extended tour
that I hare recently made through the interior of Jamaica. The impressions
formed by this trip are certainly not unfavorable to an ultimate revival of the
Island's prosperity nor to the industry and capacity of its peasantry, when
properly trained and directed. In spite of the desolation that has overtaken
the Colony, I sincerely think that, consistently with truth, the prospects of
the Island under free labor can be spoken of much more hopefully than native
and foreign depreciators love to represent. Now, I am not seeking a
controversy. I simply express an opinion, (which I believe to be an unbiased
opinion.) after having given all the attention in my power to the subject. That
opinion, right or wrong, can only for taken for what it is worth. Furthermore,
I do not for a moment pretend that Jamaica is free from idleness and vice. I do
not for a moment pretend that her peasantry are as laborious as you will find
men in New-York, New-England or an Old England agricultural district. It is not
natural that they should be so. But as far as my experience goes -- and this is
all I wish to assert -- industry among the free population of Jamaica is the
rule and not the exception and if idleness be an exception broader than we
could wish -- larger than any North American county presents -- we must look
for the cause, not to the intractable disposition of the negro, but to faults
of discipline or absence of education for which the governing classes are
responsible and, in no small degree, to to the overwhelming temptations that a
West Indian climate offers to all, white and black, to enjoy their otium cum
aut sine dignitate.
There is a railway between Kingston and Spanish Town, the principal sea-port
town and the seat of the Jamaican Government. The distance -- about, twelve
miles -- is performed in three-quarters of an hour. There are first, second and
third classes. The prices are reasonable, being two shillings, one shilling,
and sixpence sterling respectively. The cars are comfortable and the road is
good. It is indeed a blessing -- this little line of railway -- by means of
which you can be hurried in a brief space of time from the stupor of Kingston.
As soon as I heard the familiar whistle and felt the air rushing by me, I began
to breathe again. This minute effort of enterprise is, nevertheless, a
perpetual reminder to Jamaicans of the depreciated credit of their Island, and
of the low estimate at which its most solemn engagements are rated in the
Mother Land. Last year a bill passed the Legislature for the extension of the
railroad from Spanish Town to the sea-port of Old Harbor, a distance of some
ten miles. The Colonial Government guaranteed an interest of six per cent. on
the money to be expended in the work yet neither in the Island nor yet in
England would capitalists advance money, and up to the present time not a
single dollar has been raised to further so important an undertaking.
The country between Kingston and Spanish Town is low, marshy, and covered with
forest and underwood. If it were not for the difference in foliage you might
fancy yourself, on some ferocious Summer's day, passing through the New-York
Wilderness. You get a glimpse here and there of a rough settlement, or an acre
or so of poor pasturage, deeply shaded, but there are few attempts at higher
cultivation. I saw upon the route three plots of guinea corn in a tolerably
flourishing condition.
I need not make a long pause to describe Spanish Town, or St. Jago de la Vega
as it was formerly called. Yonkers is a metropolis to it. A coup d'oeil, if
such could be obtained, would present a collection of antique relics, a
Caribbean excavation of grotesque architecture, half hidden among plantains and
cocoanut trees. I don't know exactly where the historian of fifty years ago
stood when he looked upon St. Jago de la Vega, and described it as "a city
of imposing appearance, built in the magnificent style of Spanish
architecture." Inspected in detail, Spanish Town will be found to possess
two big buildings, facing each other in the central square of the
"city" one the residence of the Governor, called the King's House,
and the other the House of Assembly and Public Offices. Both are creditable
buildings. Upon further scrutiny some neat, quiet little private residences may
be found, and one inn, such as the adventurous traveler might expect to meet
with on the outskirts of John Brown's Tract. The floor of that inn is highly
polished, everything is neat and clean, and the table is furnished for the
benefit of guests with several volumes printed in the last century. The
population of Spanish Town is about 5,000, nine-tenths of whom, I presume, gain
their living by supplying the wants and necessities of Government hangers-on,
who constitute the other tenth. It is not, on the whole, an uninteresting
place. The atmosphere is cooler than it is on the Southern coast, and the
streets, though very narrow, are cleaner and far better regulated than the
streets of Kingston. Both Houses were in session when I passed through Spanish
Town but as I shall hereafter have occasion to explain the franchise and the
effect of recent legislation in the island, I lay up the subject for further
experience. Nor will I do unto others as I was done by, and victimize the
reader with the debates of the Jamaica Assembly. The ability of members, with
one or two exceptions, did not seem to me to reach even a provincial standard
of mediocrity, and the subjects discussed were, of course, most uninteresting
to a stranger. I pass from this topic the more readily, as I think it unfair to
criticize with severity the representatives of an impoverished and isolated
colony like Jamaica, and especially as these representatives are on the eve of
abandoning their seats under a new Election law. With education in its infancy
over the whole island -- in some districts almost struggling for existence --
the people are largely represented. I think a majority of them are intelligent
enough to exercise the right of voting to their own advantage and to the
advantage of this great Dependency of the British Crown, but it is an
experiment not yet fully and fairly tried. It is an experiment which will
entirely remove the government of the island from the control of the planters
-- a control which for some time they have seemed utterly indifferent about
possessing. The Plantocracy of Jamaica is a thing of the past, and in its stead
Democracy is lifting up its head. I am not so enthusiastic a Democrat as to
believe that the principals of our political faith will flourish in any soil or
in any climate. The untutored negro, of all people in the world, is most easily
influenced by a bribe, and demagogues and office-hunters are plentiful in
Jamaica.. If the experiment of popular representation, under certain doubtful
restrictions imposed by the new Constitution of Jamaica, should prove a
failure, there will he no recourse left but to establish here such a Government
as exists in the Crown Colonies of Trinidad and British Guiana. The one is
ruled by a Council, the other by a Court of Policy -- synonymous terms for a
go-ahead despotism, which Canada or Australia would not tolerate for an
instant, but which appears to answer very well for an embryo civilization and a
mixed population.
These are reflections that belong to the air of Spanish Town. Having emerged
from that quaint collection of ancient domiciles as the rising sun is tinting
the hill-tops, on a first rate road, in a comfortable buggy, and behind a pair
of excellent travelers, politics grow dim, and one begins to feel that
exhiliaration of spirits which the atmosphere of Jamaica is truly said to
produce. The road lies through a wooded and rather swampy district and if it be
a Saturday morning, the traveler will encounter, for several miles, a
continuous stream of sturdy, good looking wenches, carrying on their heads to
the Spanish Town market most marvelous loads of fruit and vegetables. A few of
them more fortunate than their fellows, have donkeys with well-filled panniers,
but they do not, on this account, neglect the inevitable head-load. Considering
the distance they come, the heat of the weather, the size of their burdens, add
the paltry remuneration they get at market, the performance is highly
creditable -- to the enterprise, energy, and activity of Jamaica negro women. I
doubt whether our laboring men could execute the same task they certainly would
not undertake it for the same consideration. I stopped and asked some of these
women where their husbands and brothers were. They seemed surprised at the
question, and grinned broadly. "Were they at home?" No. "Were
they at work?" Yes.
The descent from St. Catherine's Parish, to which Spanish Town belongs, into
the Parish of St. Thomas-in-the-Vale -- through, the "Bog Walk" so
called, -- is picturesque and grand. The road winds along a stream, from whose
banks the hills rise precipitously and form a narrow gorge. Every furlong
furnishes some new variety to the scenery. You look back and trace a silvery
thread of water through the graceful plumage of a bamboo cluster -- now it is a
grove of plantains, or some huge gaunt cotton tree, rising above its compeers,
and stretching its arms from hill to hill, that forms the foreground of the
picture. Mountains on every side and the passages among them are at times so
narrow and the precipices so steep, that the traveler involuntarily hurries on,
fearful lest some sudden catastrophe in this land of untoward convulsions
should bring the hills together and fill up the chasm forever.
The valley soon widens. Linstead, the principal village in
St.Thomas-in-the-Vale, lies in the centre of an almost circular hollow, shut in
by mountains. The road-side is studded with the cottages of small settlers. I
entered one or two of the most ragged and dilapidated, and they were invariably
clean. Some were a mere frame-work of bamboo, with a thatched roof of cocoa-nut
leaves. Still they looked comfortable. They kept out the rain and let in the
breeze, and this is all that is needed in a West India climate. They were more
tasteful and far cleaner than the dwellings of North American Indians.
Supposing the advantages of education equal, I should not hesitate to declare
in favor of the superior intelligence, honesty, industry and sobriety of the
West India negro, when compared with any specimen of the American Indian that
could be produced, though it has been the fashion to regard the latter as
belonging to the superior race.
I did not reach Linstead, of course, without passing abandoned sugar
properties. I don't think that five miles can be traveled, on any road in
Jamaica, without seeing one deserted estate at the very least. They are
anywhere and everywhere a melancholy sight to look upon, and need no particular
description to be readily identified. Some two, four, or eight hundred acres,
as the case may be, of splendidly fertile land overgrown with brushwood and
rank weeds: the plantation house looking like one of the ruins in the Swiss
Valley of the Rhine patches of corn and vegetables, or a group of plantains,
dotting the space once filled by an uncheckered field of sugar cane. Negro
settlers are always to be found clinging round these deserted plantations. They
were probably born on them and are loth to leave. They buy or hire their little
plots of ground from the owners of the estate or their agents. I have conversed
with many of these people, and I have been amused at their utter ignorance of
the fact that the world at large holds them responsible for the ruin of
Jamaica. While proprietors say that the negroes are too independent to work the
negroes say that proprietors are too poor to pay, or that they won't pay
regularly, which is a great grievance to a people that live from hand to mouth.
There is, doubtless, truth in both assertions. But when I see an abandoned
estate still surrounded by industrious settlers and laborers, I think it
something like prima facie evidence that the proprietor in England has
abandoned them -- not they the proprietor.
Linstead is a pleasant little village -- lively enough on Saturday mornings,
when its only street which is also its only market-place, is thronged with
peasants who have come in to buy or to sell Commend me to a West Indian market
as a fit illustration of Babel, after the confusion of tongues. These people
are quite as anxious to sell as the progeny of Noe were to build. The sum of
their ambition is to get rid of the little lot of yams and oranges that they
have brought many a weary mile. They get a shilling or two for their produce,
and return as happy as though they were millionaires. I never lived among a
more cheerful or a more civil people. Each man, woman or child that you meet
along the road -- I speak exclusively o the peasantry -- gives a hearty
"Good mornin'' massa," and a respectful salutation. Their spirits are
buoyant, and they are ever ready for a joke or a laugh, if you are disposed to
bandy words with them. The crowd collected in the Linstead market-place may be
heard a mile off but there is no quarreling of any kind. It is their fashion to
make a noise and talk incessantly -- as why should they not? Their exuberance
of spirit needs an outlet, and their only amusements are to laugh and gossip.
There is a police force stationed in every village of the Island, and the white
uniform and black visage of an officer can be distinguished here and there
among the Linstead crowd. They fraternize with the people, but, more ornamental
than useful, their official services are seldom required.
Leaving Linstead, we travel through the parish of St. Thomas-in-the-Vale, in a
northerly direction. We pass the huts of many more settlers, several abandoned
properties, and one or two estates still in sugar-cane, but cultivated
negligently. It seemed to me, without any finish, as though Poverty was
cramping the proprietors, and preventing them from making the barest outlay
necessary for moderate returns. One estate, lying at the base of Mount Diabolo,
had been abandoned, I was informed, because the owner, who lived in England could
not afford to pay for labor. I am not able to say, of my own knowledge, whether
labor could be procured in the neighbourhood, but my informant said it could.
There was, at least, an abundance of settlers.
At this point the ascent of Mount Diabolo is commenced. The hill is well named.
You enter now a region of primeval forest, and, for four miles, the journey is
extremely toilsome. The huts of settlers are thick as heretofore, and are
buried in the trees -- often not to be distinguished at all, except by the
peculiar foliage of the plantain and the cocoa-nut trees which invariably
surround them. These mountain settlers also grow pimento, coffee, and corn.
Most of them have their horses, and are really as independent and well off as
one would wish to see any people in the world. Half way up Mount Diabolo a
splendid view can be obtained of nearly the whole Parish of St.
Thomas-in-the-Vale. It gives a stranger some insight of the true state of
Jamaica cultivation. This parish -- with the exception of three the most
densely peopled in the Island -- presents, when seen from an elevation, merely
a wild woodland, interspersed here and there with small specks of cultivation.
Its general character is that of unredeemed forest yet its fertility is so
great that it is fully capable of sustaining 200,000, instead of the 16,000
people who now inhabit it. St. Thomas-in-the-Vale has, as I have stated, more
people to the square mile than any other parish in the Island, except Kingston,
Port Royal and St. Andrew -- in which, be it remembered, large towns are
located. It is a fact, therefore, worthy of notice, that in this comparatively
populous district there are far fewer sugar estates in present cultivation than
in parishes less favorably situated with regard to labor. St. Thomas-in-the-Vale
has a population of 125 to the square mile, against a population of 79 to the
square mile in Westmoreland, one of the principal sugar exporting parishes in
the Island, of 102 in Trelawny, the largest sugar-growing parish, and one that
includes the populous town of Falmouth, and of 28 in Vere, another flourishing
sugar district. These are facts which seem to require an explanation from those
who insist that want of labor is the sole cause of the abandonment of sugar
cultivation in Jamaica. I admit, and shall prove, that want of labor has been
one cause of the Island's depreciation, but if it were the sole cause, or even
the preponderating cause, it would be only reasonable to expect that those
parishes most sparsely populated would be the first to abandon the cultivation
of the cane. The reverse, however, happens to be the case.
A projecting cliff shuts out the parish of St. Thomas-in-the-Vale from our view
as we continue to ascend the steep sides of Mount Diabolo. The clouds now rest
on the summits of mountains at our feet the wind that rushes to meet us feels
cold and bleak: we have entered a region of eternal mist and rain. The
transformation to this atmosphere from the hot valley below is too sudden to be
comfortable. I was, therefore, glad to find myself descending the opposite side
of the mountain -- once more in the sunshine, and at a sufficient elevation to
make the air deliciously cool. The scene, too, has changed. The forest has
disappeared, and coffee and pimento plantations have taken its place the houses
of proprietors look no longer dilapidated the pens and pasturage lands might be
mistaken for New-York farms. At the Moneague, a village lying on the northern
slope of the mountains just crossed, the traveler will pause to sleep, if it be
late, but to feed under any circumstances, for the hotel, built only ten years
ago, (wonderful fact for Jamaica!) is the best in the island.
The Moneague is in St. Anne's -- a very charming parish, that grows very little
sugar. I protest against the West Indian valuation of a place by the quantity
of sugar that it actually produces. There is not a sugar estate near the
Moneague, but settlers, of whom there are many, have to pay $6 to $10 an acre a
year for land -- a sum that would purchase land out and out in other districts
quite as fertile as this. But the climate here is healthy the grass can almost
be seen growing the horses are strong and the oxen fat vegetables are plentiful
fruit is luxuriant and everything seems to thrive. I don't wonder, when the
inhabitants of Moneague declare that no money would induce them to live
anywhere else.
I passed a Sunday in the Moneague, and it was a model of quiet and
respectability. The churches were filled with well-dressed and attentive
congregations. There was no drunkenness or debauchery, or assemblage of idlers
in the village during the entire day. But church attendance and Sabbath
observance are no proofs, among a negro population at least, of moral
rectitude. It is upon other grounds than these that I have combated the
ridiculous assertion that these people are either physically or morally
incapable of being brought up to the level of the Caucasian race. I deny
altogether the statement that they will not work for hire, or that they will
not work as well as any people in the world, under a proper training and a
wholesome stimulus. They are perfect paragons in their outward observance of
the Sabbath. They sing psalms they quote Scripture and listen, without a yawn,
to sermons that would hurry sages to the land of Nod. But emancipation has not
done everything. It has not cured the negro of a certain partiality for his
neighbor's wife it has given to the wife, as a general rule, no sense of shame
to see her six children the offspring of half a dozen different fathers it has
not impregnated the laboring classes with any more reverence than they had in
times past for the law of Meum and Tuum. "The lingering curse of
Slavery," says Rev. Mr. Piouseyes. No, Sir Philanthropist! I cannot go in
bodily for your pet theories. I am not Sambo's champion, right or wrong. I
record what I find peculiar in his character, and let others draw their own
conclusions.
W.G.S.
EMANCIPATION IN JAMAICA.--III. A Tour in the Interior
Continued--Laborers on the Roads--St. Anne's--Dry Harbor-- Rio Bueno--Trelawny.
From Our Own Correspondent.
Published: February 8, 1860
KINGSTON, Jamaica, January, 1860.
I resume the description of my tour through the interior of Jamaica, at the
point abandoned in my last letter.
From the Moneague village to a place called "The Finger Post," on the
route to the north side of the Island, the road winds, for several miles, round
the summits of hills -- now up, now down -- bad enough in this dry season, but
axle-deep during rainy weather, in a red, slimy mud. The Macadamizers are at
work here. Within the memory of living man -- and men among these mountains
live a century -- it was never essayed to repair the road until now. But two or
three years ago and the same remark might be made of all the roads[???] Jamaica
-- showing very conclusively that the Plantocracy of other days were not too
deeply interested in the permanent prosperity of the Island, or too willing to
expend a portion of their revenues in an investment that promised no immediate
return. It was a grave error, as any sound political economist of ancient or
modern times would have told them as they themselves now admit when they find
themselves compelled to abandon the cultivation of sugar, or carry it on at an
extravagant cost and loss of stock, in consequence of bad roads. A simple evil,
it may be said, and requiring a simple remedy nevertheless the fact is not
without significance, that the first attempt to make decent roads is under a
Democratic regime.
I had a good opportunity to see the laborers of both sexes on these and other
roads in different parts of the country. Most of the male labourers were
strapping young fellows of twenty, or thereabouts, who seemed to do good
service -- who must have done good service, to judge by the amount of work performed.
They belong to the new race of freemen born -- how superior to the old race,
born in slavery, and fast dying out, I need not say. The overseers on these
roads make no complaints against the men under their charge, that they are idle
and unwilling to work and, what is of more importance, they make no complaint
of an insufficiency of hands. They have succeeded in getting a larger supply of
labor than most people deemed possible, and their success has excited some
surprise in districts where the planters have long and bitterly complained that
they could get no labor at all.
"Expound to me the riddle," I say to the planter.
"Oh," he answers, "the people are too independent -- too well
off, here -- too fickle, arbitrary, and uncertain as to when they will work and
when they won't work. They just do as they please. They work on the roads for a
month, and then give it up. Then they take to something else and give that up.
This is the way they have treated us. They ride upon our backs, Sir. They work
for us only four days in the week, and hang about their own properties, or go
to market, on the other two. We cannot improve our estates without a full
week's labor. Our properties deteriorate every year for want of contract or
continued labor. Now, to illustrate the character of the negro, I should like
to show you in what style a body of of men would clear fifty acres. They would
work as well and as cleverly as American backwoodsmen. 'These men lazy?' you
would say. 'Pshaw! They are heroes. Vive chamero[???]zow!' But if I wanted
their services for six months I could not get them they would insist on going
back to peddle on their own properties I would be unable, for want of labor, to
plant the land I had cleared the capital I had expended would be wasted, and my
plans utterly frustrated." Sic loquitur.
There is a great deal of truth in all this.
"Expound to me the riddle," I say to the overseer on the road, to the
merchant, the small proprietor, or to any one whom I suppose to be partial to
the negro in the controversy between the labouring and the proprietary
interests. "Surely it is a work less severe to hoe in a cane field than to
hammer stones on the road-side?"
"Well, you see as how the laborers on the road are paid regularly once a
week, while laborers on the estates often have to go two and three months
without their wages and the men don't like that. Sometimes, too, they lose
their pay altogether."
Here was something to think about and I did think about it -- making a note
thereof, and many notes thereafter, to the same effect. I found that there was
much truth in what I was told -- that many proprietors of sugar estates are
really unable to pay for labor that, although want of labor -- that is, want of
such a competition as would prevent labor being tyrannical -- is one cause of
the Island's scanty cultivation, yet another and more serious cause is want of
capital. Money is the one essential thing needed by the Jamaica proprietary.
They have no money they have no credit. The post obits, drawn in the days of a
flourishing Plantocracy, have been long since due, and they exceed in amount,
by a thousand per cent., the actual value of the property pawned. Money cannot
be raised in Jamaica, and without money, or its equivalent, a country in these
days is without labor, life, learning, religion. Everything must be paid for.
Potatoes and principles have their market value. When the millennium comes we
may hope to get things for love.
The path that I laid down for myself in this letter was one
of description, and I have wandered somewhat. I return to the "Finger
Post" in the parish of St. Anne. The district through which I have been
traveling is composed entirely of pasture land. All the settlers own a horse
and stock of some kind. Their cottages are very neat and tidy, and are shrouded
with cocoas and plantains. Most of the interior ones have but a single room.
The pitch-pine floor is carefully polished a bed stands in one corner, or it
may be that the inhabitants make up their couches at night on the floor a table,
bearing all the crockery of the establishment, occupies another corner -- for
the mysteries of a closet are unknown there are no glass windows, but blinds,
placed cunningly for purposes of ventilation there may be, perhaps, a chair and
another table in the apartment, and the table, in the better class of huts, is
sometimes a piece of fine old mahogany. The negroes seldom enter their huts
except when they retire for the night. They congregate at evening outside the
door, and do all their cooking in the open air. Their habits of life are
singular and very irregular. They eat when they are hungry, and seldom sit down
to a family meal. Hence the frightful mortality among them during cholera
visitations. In the better class of cottages, I have invariably found books --
a [???]ways the Bible, and not unfrequently the ponderous works of one WILLIAM
WILBERFORCE, the West Indian's demi-god.
Within an hour's drive from the "Finger Post," the northern limit of
the St. Anne plateau is reached. A large weather-worn cotton-tree, seen from
afar, is the spot whence the first glimpse of the ocean can be caught. It is a
wonderful picture. The road can be traced winding cautiously round the
hill-sides, and descending in slow graduations till it is lost among the specks
of houses on the beach. But the precipice upon which we stand, and along whose
very brink the road runs, breaks away with appalling abruptness, and exposes to
view a valley swept out, between a fork of mountains, to the sea. The valley is
an uncheckered woodland, except where lingering traces of former cultivation
can be detected, and where splendid cane-fields cluster round the distant
seaport of St. Anne's. The road descends through forests of pimento, through
groves of plantains or of cocoas, or under archways of gigantic bamboo, and
while, on the right, we get occasional views of the valley I have described, on
the left the hills grow steep and steeper, and the trees upon their [???]ides,
entangled and knitted together by wild vegetation, draperied with vi[???]s, and
ornaments with the most splendid parasites, look like a to[???] foliage rushing
down from the mountain-top. [???] cottages seen on this long descent are
supe[???] those on the southern slope of the hills. They seem to improve with
the commencement of the [???]ich pasture-land at the Moneague, and St. Anne's
Bay, on the north coast, has every appearance of being a flourishing village.
Flourishing, that is, for Jamaica. I cannot compare it with any village of
equal size in the United States, and call St. Anne's flourishing. Perhaps I
ought not to call it flourishing at all, in sight of dismantled wharves and
other indications of a large trade in days gone by -- contrasted now by the
presence of two solitary schooners, from whose peaks the American ensign droops
in the utter stillness of everything around. I can say, however, with perfect
truth, that in the immediate vicinity of St. Anne's Bay there are cane lands in
high cultivation that the houses in the village are neat and well-built that
the road, or street, as it should be called, is in proper repair that shops are
plentiful, and buying and selling going on at a fair rate for a village of a
thousand inhabitants. Under any circumstances St. Anne's is a proper
halting-place for a tourist. It has a couple of inns, and the sugar estates in
the neighborhood are at least worth visiting.
We have now reached the north side of Jamaica, and purpose travelling west as
far as we can. From St. Anne's Bay to Dry Harbor -- a distance of seventeen
miles -- the hills trend along the coast, leaving between them and the beach a
spacious and well-cultivated slope. For seven miles west of St. Anne's Bay, a
continued succession of luxuriant cane pieces will be passed. They are on both
sides of the road, and have every appearance of being highly cultivated. The
fences are of stone or logwood, and are well kept up. The hills which, for the
most part, are covered with their native forest, are here and there marked with
pasture, and with the peculiar foliage of the plantain and the cocoanut tree --
a certain sign, even where a hut is invisible, of the presence of settlers.
Passing the sugar estates, we come to more pens and pasturage then to woodland
and to denser settlements. The cottages are rudely built, but clean. I entered possibly
a dozen that were grouped together. They were in charge of one old woman. The
girls and boys were away at work -- some in the cane fields, some on the roads,
and some on their own emplacements. Quite close to this group of cottages stood
a neat little Baptist Chapel, built by the laborers at their own expense. A
large majority of the Jamaica Creoles dissent from the Church of England, which
is the established church in the West India colonies, and the dissenters, even
in sparsely settled districts, are not slow to erect their own places of
worship. These people, who live comfortably and independently, own houses and
stock, pay taxes and poll votes, and pay their money to build churches, are the
same people whom we have heard represented as idle, worthless fellows,
obstinately opposed to work, and ready to live on an orange or banana rather
than earn their daily bread. This may have been the case with those originally
set free, before they comprehended their responsibilities as freemen, and
before their extravagant ideas of liberty had been moderated by a necessary
experience. But now that intelligence and experience have come to them, the
West Indian negroes cannot be indiscriminately thrown aside as a people who
won't work. Since emancipation, they have passed in a body to a higher civil
and social status and the majority of them are too much their masters ever to
submit again to the mastership of others. They cannot be blamed for this and
any unprejudiced resident of Jamaica will indorse the statement here made, that
the peasantry are as peaceable and industrious a people as may be found in the
same latitude throughout the world. The present generation of Jamaican creoles
are no more to be compared to their slave ancestors than the intelligent English
laborer of the nineteenth century can be compared to the serfs of Athelstane or
Atheling.
The village of Dry Harbor, seventeen miles from St. Anne's Bay, is chiefly
inhabited by fishermen and small proprietors. The road thence, continuing west,
lies over a mountain densely covered with orange and pimento trees. As we are
leaving St. Anne's Parish, I may as well say here that Pimento is its great
staple. Jamaica possibly supplies two-thirds of the pimento used in the world
and St. Anne's supplies two-thirds of the Jamaica pimento. It is easily
cultivated, and is said to be best sown by birds. It is, however, a precarious
crop. In 1858 the Island produced nine and a-half millions of pounds, and in
1859 it only produced four and a-half millions. The decline was owing to no
lack of industry or enterprise, but simply to the fact that the season was a
bad one. It is perhaps worthy of remark that the pimento crop of 1858 was the
largest ever reaped in the Island.
St. Anne's is considerably the largest parish in Jamaica. It occupies a
superficial area of 433 square miles. The population, which is 25,823, gives
only 59.63 persons to the square mile. They are almost exclusively pen
proprietors and small settlers. I was charmed with every part of the parish
that I visited -- with its fresh look, fertile soil, and happy, contented, and
independent inhabitants and I certainly thought that if all Jamaica was like
St. Anne's there would be no ground for the commisseration that her condition
has excited in Europe and America.
The Pimento mountain, of which I have spoken, separates Dry Harbor from Rio
Bueno. On descending the western slope, the stream from which the latter
village takes its name (and which is the boundary between the parishes of St.
Anne and Trelawny) can be seen winding through the valley below. It rises from
a spring in the mountain side, falls in cascade, and empties itself into the
ocean, as a Jamaican river of considerable size, a few miles away. The village
itself, like most villages in the island, is situated in a snug little bay. A
vacant hotel, large enough to accommodate fifty guests, well built stone piers,
and dilapidated, tenantless stores, tell the old story of past prosperity and
present decay. The harbor, in which a dozen ships once rode at anchor, is now
without a solitary sail, and but two or three inferior vessels come drifting in
during a whole year's space. There are the remains here of an old fort -- in a
position to sweep a fleet from the bay. It requires some ingenuity to discover
the spot, for rank vegetation entirely conceals it. The ruin possesses some
historical interest, for its walls were built to protect the golden flag, and
the cannon that stretch their rusty throats through the crumbling embrasures
were planted there many years before the United States were a nation born.
Hence the Spanish name, yet retained, of Rio Bueno. I like the village -- a
quaint, quiet spot, with the sea breeze blowing freshly in. Many fishermen live
here, but they find, I fancy, a bad mart even for the best of mullets and
snappers. A fish of 10 Ibs. weight must be sold to ten different persons, for
there is no one, except perhaps the doctor or the parson, rich enough to buy
such a monster entire. In the hotel where I lodged the landlord migrated in
search of a candle to light up, for once probably in six months, his huge
reception room, which still looked quite grand with its polished floor and
pieces of old mahogany that would throw a furniture fancier into ecstacies. Up
in the crazy room where I slept, I lay upon an antique bed in the company of
lizards, old and young, and gazed through holes in the roof upon the twinkling
stars. Providentially it didn't rain.
Between Rio Bueno and the village of Duncan I passed through a magnificent
sugar estate, with its buildings, steam mill, and private wharf in good repair
-- altogether as fine a property as ever I saw in the favored Island of
Barbados. The cane-fields extended over hill and valley, and were carefully
cultivated and finished in all their appurtenances. There is another fine
estate between Duncan and the town of Falmouth, and many pasture lands, large
and small. I continued to find the settlers, without exception, at their work.
I met them in troops at early morning travelling along the read -- every man
and woman ready with their polite greetings. I never met a peasantry more civil
or more ready to oblige. Among these small settlers there are few heads of
families who are not qualified voters, paying either ton [???]ga a year taxes,
or owning land worth [???] a year. Nine out of ten of the settlers -- I [???]ak
generally of the peasantry throughout the whole island -- rely principally upon
their own properties for the support of themselves an their families, but are
willing, nevertheless, to work for the estates or on the roads when it does not
interfere with necessary labor on their own lands. When the choice lies between
the roads and the estates, it is not surprising that they should select the
employer that pays best and most regularly. I do not mean to say for a moment
that the estates have anything like a sufficiency of labor they are entirely
without that continuous labor required, not merely for bare cultivation, but
for extension and improvement. In the remarks I have here made, I merely wish
to give point-blank denial to a very general impression prevailing abroad that
the Jamaica negro won't work at all. I wish to show that he gives as much
labor, even to the sugar estate, as he consistently can, and that it is no
fault of his if he cannot give enough. I wish to exhibit the people of Jamaica
as a peaceable, law-abiding peasantry, with whom the remembrance of past wrongs
has had so little weight that, from the day of emancipation until now, they
have never dreamt of a hostile combination either against their old masters or
the Government under which they live, though insurrections in the time of
Slavery were numerous and terrible, and were only suppressed after much
bloodshed and lavish expenditure. I wish to bear witness to their courtesy.
When I had occasion to ask for cocoa nuts, or oranges, on the way side, the
settler generally refused payment for the fruit, and if he finally took the
money pressed upon him, it was with the understanding, distinctly expressed,
that he wanted no payment for rendering so simple a service. I speak
exclusively of the peasantry, not of the dissolute idlers, loafers and
vagabonds that congregate in Kingston and other towns. They are as different
from their country brethren as the New-York rowdy is different from the honest
farmer in his home in Niagara or St. Lawrence. That the Jamaica peasantry have
grave faults of character and grave defects, which it will take long years of
training to remove, I do not doubt. It will be a part of my task to expose
their vices but this is no reason why they should be denied, the possession of
any virtues. W.G.S.
EMANCIPATION IN JAMAICA--IV. A Tour Continued--Falmouth--Prison
Discipline--Town Labor--Bad Roads and to What They Lead--Montego
Bay--Lucca--Sugar Cultivation in St. James and Hanover.
From Our Own Correspondent. W. G. S.
Published: February 22, 1860
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REPRINTS
KINGSTON, January, 1860.
Having entered the parish of Trelawny, it is proper that I should take the
reader to Falmouth, its chief town, which contains a population of seven or
eight thousand. The town looks more modern than Kingston the houses are well
built, and, being the principal seaport of the largest sugar parish in the
island, the harbor, during crop season, is sometimes thronged with vessels.
Falmouth is surrounded by a morass, and would undoubtedly be a most unhealthy
spot if it were not favored by unremitting sea breezes that bear away the
malaria. I have been told that during the terrible visitation of cholera --
from which and small-pox combined thirty thousand persons are supposed to have
died -- Falmouth suffered less than any town of its size on the Island. It is
on the faith of this, I suppose, that the authorities neglect the most ordinary
rules of health, give the people bad water to drink, and allow the drainage to
stagnate in the streets -- sufficient to breed a pestilence in a much more
favored locality. Next to Kingston, which carries off the palm, Falmouth is the
filthiest town in Jamaica. Report says that when the Penitentiary convicts
worked on the streets they were kept in much better order, but now that the
labor must be paid for, it is neglected. Want of money is certainly epidemic in
Jamaica. No creole seems to possess the commodity, and strangers who are
believed to possess it are made to pay for the general deficiency. If a
traveler appears in the streets of Falmouth, an innkeeper will run after him,
bag him, and make the most of him, for such game only appears once in a season.
Besides want of money in Jamaica, there is a deplorable want of economy and
want of ingenuity to turn things to the best account. Prison discipline here is
a farce and a sentence to hard labor perfect moonshine. I have seen these
"hard labor convicts" moving along the roads in gangs, at a funeral
pace, and looking for all the world as though they were hunting for
cockroaches. They are allowed to stop and talk to girls, and amuse themselves
in any manner they like. There is no fear of their escaping. Many of the
dissipated scamps about town actually steal in order to get into the
penetentiary, they are so well treated there. They have good food, their bath,
and easy exercise every day. No disgrace is attached to a residence in the
Penitentiary. The convict, when released, laughs over his imprisonment and
boasts of his good fare. He does not consider that imprisonment a bar to future
employment, or any reason why he should not be trusted again. I can say, from
my own personal knowledge, that a man who had served his time in the
penitentiary attempted to breakfast at the public table of a hotel in which I
lodged. Luckily there was a Judge present who knew the fellow, and the guests
were spared the risk of having their pockets picked and the landlady the
certainty of having her spoons abstracted. That I may not be thought
exaggerating, I can refer to an article in the Colonial Standard, of the 13th
December, where the writer calls the Island Penetentiary a "house of
sumptuous living, amusement, and sport." "No bread, no beef," say
the convicts, "are equal to that which may be had there." A man,
after twelve months' residence in the penitentiary, grows fat and sleek, and
often expresses regret when his term of imprisonment expires. The writer, to
whom I have referred, instances the "hard labor" of two prisoners
under sentence for felony one had to knead bread and the other polish the
keeper's boots! This is penal labor in Jamaica. The wretched management here
displayed does not need pointing out. The people are taxed, for repairing the
roads, some six hundred dollars a mile -- a sum that might be altogether saved
by making the convicts do the work. They are also taxed a hundred thousand
dollars a year to support convicts who do little or nothing for their own
maintenance Here is "payment at both ends" with a vengeance. And
worse than that, a premium of good lodgings and an easy life is offered to the
idle and dissolute to commit crime. The evil effect of such a system upon the
community is incalculable. Public morality as well as the public purse
inevitably suffers.
I dislike excessively the seaport towns of Jamaica, and can make no exception
in favor Falmouth. All the worst fellows in the Island collect in them, and
give to foreigners a most mistaken idea of the country people. Those who are
not bad soon become so by the force of an example which English and American
sailors in port are not slow to set. Though I think that, morally considered,
the negroes who congregate about the wharves are the very worst class to be
encountered yet I have seen them in Kingston, Falmouth and other parts, work
like very horses in the loading and unloading of vessels. They are usually paid
by the job. A ship's cook will employ a hand as his substitute, while in port,
for two shillings a week and this, while the estates pretend they are willing
to pay one and sixpence and two shillings a day. I don't doubt that many
proprietors really suffer from the partiality of young men to towns but at the
same time, I don't doubt that many of these young men prefer, and very
naturally prefer, the greater certainty of regular payment that town business
offers. I know of waiters in hotels who get only a dollar a week and have to
find themselves and it is not rational to suppose that they would flock to
Kingston if they had to work there at a pecuniary disadvantage. The average
price of field labor in Jamaica is about one shilling sterling a day, or rather
a task of six or seven hours' work and having investigated the subject very
thoroughly, I am compelled to say that, as a rule, the laborers are not paid
regularly. The rule has many exceptions, doubtless I know of exceptions myself
but it will be found that those estates which form the exceptions are in no
danger of going out of cultivation.
While on the subject of town labor, I have something to say about the conduct
of American ship Captains who trade at West Indian ports and what I have to say
is not much to their credit. The same accusation may possibly be brought
against Captains of other nations, British included but with these I have
nothing at present to do' The American Captain seems to think it his special
privilege to treat the Jamaica negroes in his employ far worse than he dare
treat slaves in Southern ports of his own country. It is too common to hear one
of these bullies accost a man with, "You d -- d nigger, if I had you in
New-Orleans I'd sell you" -- and so forth. The negro, who is exceedingly
sensitive about his freedom, passes off the remark very often as a joke, for he
is at work on the vessel and does not like to lose his job, But the feeling
here, and in all the British West Indies, against America and the Americans,
owing to just such bad taste and brutality, is bitter in the extreme. I have
met here intelligent mulattoes -- men well educated, too -- who have expressed
a wish to go to New-York, and have given utterance to genuine fears that if
they did so they might be sold into slavery. If one of the town loafers has a
dispute with his neighbor, his bitterest abuse is to tell him what his market
value would be in Charleston, New-Orleans or Jacksonville -- with which last
town they seem wonderfully familiar. It is probably a very indifferent matter
whether we are liked or hated by the people of Jamaica but it is not an
indifferent matter to have one's country and the principles it professes to
uphold degraded, as far as they can be degraded, by the Captains of the
American vessels which frequent these ports.
Falmouth, from which respectable town I have somewhat digressed, is, as I have
said, the capital of the largest sugar-exporting parish in the Island. I have
seen many of the estates, and should judge them all to be in a condition of
paying cultivation. They extend for fifteen or sixteen miles round the town.
Some properties, formerly cultivated in sugar, but now converted into
breeding-pens and pasturage grounds, lie further back. I know of no estates in
the parish that have been wholly abandoned, though there may be a very few.
Trelawny offers some curious facts in connection with the growth of sugar. The
land here is notoriously poorer for growing provisions than it is in districts
where the cultivation of the cane has been altogether abandoned. The parishes
of St. Mary, Met calf, and St. George, round Annotto Bay, on the north coast,
are examples of splendid soil, formerly cultivated in sugar, but now almost
wholly abandoned, or yielded to small settlers. Trelawny, on the contrary,
continues to export largely.
The success of Trelawny may be partly owing to the fact that the negroes cannot
grow provisions to advantage. But this is not a complete explanation of its
success. It certainly cannot be explained by population statistics, for the
agricultural force of Trelawny is considerably weaker than that of two of the
other parishes named. Leaving out the town of Falmouth, it will be found that
the population in the country districts is only 75 persons to the square mile,
while some parishes, in which sugar cultivation has been given up, have 80, 90,
100, and even 120 persons to the square mile. If, then, Trelawny, with a
comparatively poor soil and a population of 75 to the square mile, retains the
cultivation of the cane, why has not Metcalfe done the same, (I take the parish
at random,) with its rich soil and population of 110 to the square mile. It cannot
be said that the planters of Trelawny had more capital, were more prudent, or
were better managers than others but it can be said that the roads have been
kept in much better condition than those of St. Mary, Metcalfe and St. George.
Bad roads, in some places impassable roads, have helped not a little to
diminish cane cultivation. The conveyance to port of hogsheads, weighing 18 and
20 cwt., has always been one of the planter's most serious items of expenditure
and he has not now the means necessary to supply the constant drain upon his
stock caused by bad roads, nor the capital or the credit to build trainways
that would pay their own expenses in twenty years' time. The estates around
Falmouth have a comparatively easy access to the port of embarkation but on
distant estates, where access is both difficult and expensive, the cultivation
of the cane has been generally abandoned, and this is the case over the whole
Island. Moreover, where the land is rich, the negro is always more independent
and more ready and eager to buy than where it is poor. Thus, again, we have
another cause besides the bare want of labor for the depression of Jamaican
commerce in consequence of the abandonment of sugar cultivation.
It is a long drive from Falmouth to Montego Bay, the principal town in the
adjoining Parish of St. James. The road lies over a sandy beach and is exposed
to the burning heat of the sun. Comparatively few settlers are to be met with.
We passed large quantities of the cochineal plant: the introduction of the
insect would, I doubt not, prove as profitable a speculation here as it has
proved elsewhere.
At "Little River," half way between Falmouth and Montego Bay, there
is a roadside inn. I thanked the gods for the same, and for the opportunity of
escaping for an hour the blazing mid-day sun. The breeze here came up freshly
from the sea. After leaving this halting-place, we passed through some splendid
specimens of Trelawny sugar cultivation, but the estates end with the boundary
line of the Parish. Woodland then after which, having veered round the butt of
a hill, we obtain a full view of Montego Bay and its shipping -- to wit, three
vessels. We enter the town between a race course on one hand and a
burial-ground on the other -- both overgrown with weeds we pass in the shadow
of a crumbling fort and along a crooked street, ornamented with perfect models
of West India houses in the last stage of dilapidation. Leaning like so many
Pisa towers, they, nevertheless, do not fall, and we reach the square and the
lodging-house in safety.
They had a wonderful eye, these old Spaniards, for a good site, as all the
towns they ever planted, both in the Indies and on the Main, fully testify. The
town of Montego Bay, in point of population and size the second in Jamaica, is
no exception to the rule. It sleeps at the extremity of an elliptical bay,
sheltered from storms by an amphitheatre of mountains, and waiting apparently
for the last trump to awaken it. The dreaminess of the place is contagious. You
cannot look upon its quaint old houses, or upon its people moving at a snail's
pace, and feel anything approaching to activity. A sight of the blue waters of
the bay, rippled by the gentlest of breezes, or of a panorama of mountains on
the left, that stretch away to the misty point upon which the town of Lucca
stands, aggravates indolence and converts it into an uncompromising laziness.
The town has still a Spanish look about it, in spite of the lapse of two
centuries since Spaniards were its masters. It wears a smile of contempt for
the frowns of fortune and the cessation of a once flourishing commerce. It is
the chosen retreat of a remnant of the old Plantocracy, and their residences,
if antique, are always picturesque and somewhat symbolic of Jamaica's actual
condition. Lo! an ancient tenement half buried in luxuriant shrub: -- Decay,
which is of man, and the most vigorous kind of life, which is not of man,
progressing side by side. I admit that Montego Bay quite charmed me, with its
clean streets, neat little patches of garden and utter quietude, with its air
of byegone respectability, and the utter complacency of its people, who did not
know or care how they lived from day to day. "Well, massa, we do de best
we can in dese times," was all the answer I got to repeated inquiries for a
solution of the mystery of life in Montego Bay. I have not yet discovered how
10,000 people manage to exist on the trade of the five or six vessels which
annually enter the bay from European or American ports. They certainly make
little out of travelers, for a stranger in Montego Bay is so rare a sight that
he will create as violent an agitation among its inhabitants as a wild
elephant, careering among omnibuses, might be expected to excite in the midst
of Broadway pedestrians. The people here -- that is, those of the laboring
class with whom I conversed -- say that the planters of the parish won't pay or
can't pay for labor. They complain that a great many of the old estates have
been sold to Jews, who are too close to do justice to their workmen. I don't
give this as a fact within my own knowledge, but simply as a report current and
credited by the laboring people of the Parish of St. James. Many people in the
town complain of not being able to get work. St. James has not half the number
of sugar properties in cultivation that Trelawny has, and possessing a large
population to the square mile, it ought not to be worse off for labor than a
neighboring parish.
The road from Montego Bay to Lucea, in Hanover parish, follows the line of
beach, and is winding, hilly and irregular. There is little to see but forest,
and some few sugar estates. I speak of the northern slope of the hills, which
trend along the coast. On their southern side -- a district which I did not
penetrate -- I was told that sugar cultivation was rare, but that small
settlements and provision grounds were plentiful. The pleasantest mode of
traveling from Montego Bay to Lucea is by water. I left with a steersman and
two oars, and we accomplished the distance (about 20 miles) in less than four hours.
When it is remembered that this labor was performed at high noon, that the men
engaged in it never flagged for an instant, and that it was no extraordinary
job for which they had been offered an extraordinary inducement, but a part of
their ordinary every-day work, I deem it no light testimony in favor of the
negro's power to work, and will to work, when he is properly paid. These men
who row their boat to Lucea and back to Montego Bay within the twenty-four
hours -- an effort that white men could not undertake in such a climate --
receive about a dollar each for the trip but they do not get passengers every
day. They are generally professional pilots, but their receipts from the six or
eight vessels that enter port during the year must be very small.
Lucea is an unclean, ragged-looking village, without two houses conjoined, and
without one house in decent repair. Its population must be about 1,500 or
2,000. The road thence to Green Island, and round the western extremity of the
island as far as Savannah-la-Mar, on the south side, is execrable, and passes
through the wildest country that I saw in Jamaica. It took me twelve hours to
accomplish fifty miles. I seldom got the horses out of a walk. Sometimes wading
in mud -- sometimes steering among huge rocks -- sometimes swimming over
rivers. If it is thus in the Dry Season, what must it be in the Wet? The people
on the route look as wild as the aspect of their country. They run away from a
stranger, or glare at him, half in terror, half in curiosity, from behind a
bush.
Immediately after leaving Lucea some fine sugar estates are passed, but they
soon give way to dense woods, and low, swampy lands, where few settlers, even,
have cast their lot. The country breaks into cultivation round the village of
Green Island -- the western ultima thule of Jamaica -- where there are a few
sugar properties. I was told here that the estates still being worked in the
Parish of Hanover were doing well, and that those abandoned had been given up
for want of means to carry them on. An intelligent resident of Green Island,
himself a proprietor, informed me that he knew of no estate in Hanover whose
owner -- possessed of capital, or even out of debt -- had been compelled from
mere want of labor to abandon sugar cultivation. When I have put the same
question to any respectable landholder, in any part of the island, I have, in
nine cases out often, received the same answer. The want of continued or
contract labor is generally deplored as a great evil but it is wrong to suppose
that that want alone has ever compelled resident proprietors to abandon their
estates to ruin. I have no doubt that there are districts where the price of
labor is too high to make sugar cultivation as profitable as the cultivation of
other produce -- where the negroes, in fact, are too well off and too
independent to work for the wages they are compelled to take in Barbados but
this is no justification for the assertion, so widely made and so generally
believed, that they will not work at all. From all that I learnt in the Parish
of Hanover, I came to the conclusion that the settlers would work very readily
if work was proffered them at a fair remuneration.
We have now traveled as far west as it is possible to travel on the north side
of Jamaica. I propose to bring the reader back to Kingston, in my next letter,
by the south side. W.G.S.
EMANCIPATION IN JAMAICA.--V. A Tour Continued--The South Side--Savannah
la-Mar--Christmas Festivities--Black River--Coffee
Cultivation--Manchester--Vere--Back to Spanish-Town--The East End.
From Our Own Correspondent.
Published: February 25, 1860
KINGSTON, Jamaica, January, 1860.
I have taken the reader down the north side of Jamaica, and it is proper I
should now say something of the south side -- the side that more strictly answers
to the original name of the island, Caymaca, or the land of wood and water. For
while, on the north side, wood is plentiful enough, the south side, equally
luxuriant in forest, is watered by a hundred streams.
Westmoreland is the most southwesterly, as Hanover is the most northwesterly
parish in the Island. In the former, sugar is largely cultivated, and from its
chief town, Savannah-la-Mar, the export of the great staple is still very
considerable. On the route from Green Island I passed some very fine sugar
estates, and not a few properties of small settlers cultivated in cane. But the
weeds are abominable, and the expense of transporting heavy hogsheads from this
district to the place of export, must swallow up a large portion of the
planter's revenue. Still, Westmoreland keeps up its reputation as a leading
sugar parish in spite of a scanty population, that numbers only seventy-nine
persons to the square mile. The soil is excellent for the growth of the cane
and some of the largest and most successful planters, since Emancipation, have
their estates in the vicinity of Savannah-la-Mar.
The town of Savannah-la-Mar, as its name indicates, is built on a large morass
that stretches seaward. The creoles call it a healthy place, and P don't know
that it is otherwise but it ought to be unhealthy. A breeze is ever blowing
from the shore, and this perhaps keeps the savannah free from fevers. I liked
the look of the town, with its broad central street, and piers kept tolerably
clean, and houses peeping from among forests of cocoanut trees. Crop-time was
at hand, and a couple of vessels in the bay, forerunners of the fleet that
annually visit Savannah-la-Mar, were waiting for their cargoes of sugar.
It was Christmas eve -- a season at which the West Indian creole goes wild with
excitement. Old drums, trumpets, kettles, bells, and anything that can make a
noise, are brought out dancers dance violently, and fiddlers fiddle violently,
without any regard to time or tune and masquerading and psalm-singing are alternately
kept up until New Year's day is fairly past. No negro will work for love or
money during this carnival time. He is literally demented, and can hardly give
a sane answer to the most ordinary question. All night long, and for eight
successive nights, an infernal din -- a concert of cracked drums, shrill
voices, and fire-crackers -- is maintained. Those, poor devils who cannot enjoy
this species of amusement suffer the most exquisite torture. I passed the whole
season in the country, and saw exhibitions of excitement that made me think the
actors fit subjects for a lunatic asylum but, though I mixed freely among the
people, I was always most civilly treated, and never on any of these occasions
did I see a negro in a state of intoxication. I do not remember having ever
seen a West Indian negro drunk and the temperate habits of the Jamaica creoles
are the more remarkable, as the spirit manufactured in the island can be
obtained for a very trifling cost.
I allude to these Christmas festivities because they afforded me an opportunity
to sec the people in their holiday time, when, if ever, they would be disposed
to be as saucy and insolent as I have heard them characterized. I found them
nothing of the kind. The accusation may be true as far as regards Kingston
loafers, who hang about the wharves for chance jobs, and follow strangers with
annoying persistency but it is not true when applied to the peasantry. The
people are no longer servile, though they retain, from habit, the servile
epithet of "Massa," when addressing the whites but I have ever seen
them most respectful to their superiors and most anxious to oblige. Individual
testimony on this point might be discredited or deemed insufficient, but there
is no discrediting the fact that, since their freedom, no people in the world
have been more peaceful than the creoles of Jamaica. With their freedom they
seem to have forgotten all ancient grievances, and never to have entertained a
thought of retribution. The contrast in this respect between the reign of Freedom
and the reign of Slavery carries its own lesson and its own warning.
Twenty-five years of freedom and not a murmur of popular discontent!
Twenty-five years of Slavery -- I take any period -- and what fears and
anxieties and actual outbreaks! It cost the Government $800,000 to suppress the
single insurrection of 1832, during which six million of dollars worth of
private property were destroyed. But the outbreak from which the planters then
suffered would have been light compared to the one that was ready to burst over
the island when Liberty appeared in the gap and proved its salvation.
I have also heard the Jamaica people denounced for making Christmas their great
gala season of festivity, instead of the anniversary of their emancipation. It
is argued that they can care little for the boon of freedom if they do not keep
it in remembrance, or regard it as a fit opportunity for national rejoicings.
But I do not think that the absence of any general enthusiasm in the West India
Islands on the 1st of August demonstrates at all that the people fail to
appreciate the blessings of freedom. Any one acquainted with these colonies
knows that the reverse is the case. Negroes, very like other people, are
creatures of habit, and in their Christmas festivities they keep up the customs
that they were taught to observe. They have a week's holiday, and they make the
most of it, according to their noisy fashion. Probably they don't reflect on
the great event that the season is designed to commemorate, any more than
civilized people do who drink champagne and eat roast turkeys.
It is a hot drive, along a beach road, from Savannah-la-Mar to Black River. The
country is partly wooded and partly pasture land, with plenty of pimento and
orange trees. American schooners very often come to the bays along this coast,
and load with oranges and other fruit. I did not notice a single sugar estate
on the way. The houses of small settlers were also, comparatively speaking,
scarce, until a more open country in the adjoining parish of St. Elizabeth, if
reached. The hills in the distance are covered with dense forest, but are,
nevertheless inhabited by small proprietors, who grow their own coffee and
pimento for the Black River market.
The town of Black River is situated in a deep bay, looking out upon the setting
sun, and back upon lofty ranges of hills. For a place that cannot number more
than 2,000 inhabitants, it is doing a thriving business, though the parish, of
which it is the only outlet, is by no means a first-class sugar-growing district.
There are few estates in St. Elizabeth, and, I think, only two that send their
sugar over the roads. The remainder send their produce down the river, which,
at a little expense, might be made navigable for boats for a distance of forty
miles. The stream is noted for alligators, which emerge at night from the
mangroves, where they lie sheltered during the day, and come up the beach quite
close to the town. A more fertile district, or more splendid soil for the
cultivation of every article of tropical growth, can scarcely be imagined than
this portion of the Parish of St. Elizabeth, and a conveyance by water is not
the least of its many advantages for the cultivation of the cane. It has been
aptly called the Demerara of Jamaica, and vegetation here is indeed quite as
luxuriant as it is in that wonderful colony. But Jamaica's curse -- want of
capital -- is upon the rich alluvial soil and easy communication of the Black
River country. The forests remain uncleared, and sand and mud are allowed to
choke up the river channel. Yet, in spite of great natural advantages neglected
and thrown away, the richness of this district is not altogether hidden from
view, nor are its resources entirely wasted. The trade of Black River is
principally in coffee, pimento, and different kinds of wood. Some forty or
fifty vessels arrive in port during the year, and many American schooners come
here for return cargoes. I was told that about 200 tons of logwood, fustic and
ebony were daily moved in the Black River market -- including, that is to say,
the wood brought down the river and the wood shipped for foreign and island
ports. The coffee is excellent, and is raised, without an exception, by small
proprietors. It is a fact of some significance that this town and its trade
have grown up since emancipation.
The decline in the exportation of coffee is a great argument in the mouths of
those who urge the necessity of large accessions to the laboring population of
the Island. But I cannot see the force of the argument, for the cultivation of
coffee does not demand anything like the labor required in the cultivation of
the cane. It is an undoubted fact, that the exportation of coffee in Jamaica
has declined from twenty-five and thirty million of pounds to five and six
million but it is also an undoubted fact that where one pound was used in the
island prior to emancipation, ten pounds are used now. What master would ever
have dreamed of giving coffee to his slaves? What settler now-a-days would
dream of depriving himself of his tasse de consolation? I never yet passed a
settler's emplacement, in the mountainous districts of Jamaica, that I did not
see coffee in cultivation and it is my firm conviction that there is no such
great discrepancy between the amount grown now and that grown at the time of
emancipation, especially when the extend of exhausted coffee land is taken into
account. The same statement will apply with much greater force to provisions of
every description. It is undoubtedly true that most of the large coffee
properties, in cultivation prior to emancipation, have been abandoned, or
turned to other uses. But want of capital prevails quite as much among
coffee-planters as among sugar-planters. Coffee, too, like cacao, requires new
land, and the clearance of fifty acres of wood is a sort of Herculean
enterprise that, in these days, a Jamaica planter would not willingly face.
But, whatever large coffee planters may say about their profits and losses, it
is a notorious fact that thousands and thousands of settlers grow the delicious
berry to advantage, as any merchant engaged in the trade will be able to
testify. They come to the towns and villages with one, two, six, or a dozen
bags, and in this way many a cargo is made up for foreign ports. The population
of St. Elizabeth Parish numbers 119 persons to the square mile, considerably
larger, it will be seen, than most of the sugar-growing parishes. But I know of
no locality in Jamaica where labor for sugar cultivation is more needed than
here. The settlers have their own properties to look alter, and it would be
surprising indeed if they neglected them to hire themselves out as field
laborers at a shilling a day.
We leave Black River village and St. Elizabeth Parish, and soon after begin to
ascend the Manchester mountains. Fresh horses are advisable, for the long miles
of this day's traveling would make twenty Sabbath days' journeys. Possibly we
reach the summit of the May-Day Mountains about sunset, and then one of the
finest spectacles in all Jamaica can be witnessed. That last hill over a mile
above the level of the sea, was killing work, and so steep that no animals but
stout Jamaica ponies, accustomed to such travel, could ever have dragged us up.
We pause for breath, and can look back at the country through which we have
lately passed. We are upon a ridge of hills running north and south a parallel
ridge rises up in the distance, standing out black against the sun now slowly
setting beyond it. The valley below, full twenty miles broad, resembles, from
this height, a vast plain but, having so lately traversed it, we know it is no
plain, but an uneven country, covered with formidable hills, that have shrunk
away to seemingly a level surface. The vast meadow lands that we crossed, and
which were filled with stock, have dwindled down to specks of light -- cases of
cultivation in a wilderness of wood -- and the huge cotton trees that flung
their shelter over a hundred oxen, can scarcely be distinguished even at our
feet. Hills piled on hills, and thunderclouds upon hills, are massed together
on the right. On the left, over a mountain-top, there lies a line of sea in
which the sun is preparing to make a golden set. The valley now is dark, its
light has gone out, but the crests of the hills are all ablaze. Night comes on
apace, and there are yet ten miles of bad road to travel before a village can
be reached, The air, at this height, feels bleak after sunset, and a cloak is
not to be despised.
The sun never rose upon a more picturesque village than that of Mandeville, the
capital of the Parish of Manchester. It reminded me a little of a newly located
town in an American Territory, for the houses did not look very old, nor were
the streets out of repair -- two exceptions to very general rules in Jamaica.
Though a mile above the level of the sea, Mandeville lies in a hollow,
surrounded by hills. The air is fresh and the climate wholesome. This parish is
the only one that entirely escaped the cholera.
There is no sugar cultivation in Manchester. Coffee, pimento and provisions are
raised in great abundanue by the settlers but pens and pasture lands form the
principal feature of cultivation. Immense herds of cattle may be seen grazing
together, but the business is not as profitable as "a stranger might be
led to suppose. Like most other pursuits in Jamaica, that of stock raising
depends very much on the sugar crop. If sugar planting is abandoned, or if the
planters are in reduced circumstances, there is a diminished demand for stock,
and the breeders suffer in proportion. The fact is thus: though it is
singularly illustrative of prevailing apathy that, possessed of a soil that
cannot be outrivaled for richness, and of a climate that favors the growth of
temperate as well as tropical products, the Jamaica proprietary should submit
to destitution because they have not the money, or the means, or the
protection, or the labor, or whatever else it may be that is wanted to
cultivate the cane. I have no patience to listen to their complaints, when I
look at the unbounded wealth and wonderful resources of the country. They cry
out at the high price of labor, and pretend they cannot grow corn, when corn is
grown at five times the cost in the United States and expected to Jamaica at a
handsome profit. They import beef, and tongues and butter, though this very parish
of Manchester offers advantages for raising stock that no portion of America
possesses. They import mackerel and salmon, and herrings and codfish, though
Jamaica waters abound it, the most splendid kind of fish. They import woods,
though Jamaica forests are unrivaled for the variety and beauty and usefulness
of their timber. They import tobacco, though their soil in many districts is
most excellent for its growth. The negroes, who have never been taught these
things, are learning them slowly by experience, and a gradual decline in
certain articles of import demonstrates that they now raise on their own
properties a very large proportion of their own provisions.
In a parish like Manchester, where there are no estates, the settlers grow
provisions not merely for themselves, but for the supply of neighboring sugar
parishes, where the inhabitants are principally engaged in field labor. Thus
Portland supplies St. Thomas-in-the-East St. Anne supplies Trelawny, and
Manchester supplies Clarendon and Vere. In Manchester, at the time I write, so
far from there being any want of labor, there are a number of people in quest
of labor and cannot get it. This is, doubtless, to be accounted for by the fact
that there are no sugar estates in the parish for it is the cultivation of the
cane alone that demands that extraordinary force which the planters say they
are unable to obtain. A Clarendon planter recently offered employment to five
hundred Manchester negroes if they would change their residence with what
result I have not ascertained, but I have no doubt that the offer will be
refused. The negro has an invincible dislike to move his household gods. It
seems an unaccountable prejudice but, throughout the whole island, the people
may be found clinging to the plots of ground upon which they were born and
their fathers before them.
The road from Mandeville, in Manchester, descends into the parish of Clarendon.
Neither this parish, nor the one contiguous to it, St. Dorothy, need any
special notice. Sugar cultivation in both is small, for the soil is not very
favorable for the growth of the cane. The sugar lands in the former parish lie
to the north of the Mocho Mountains. In the latter, the smallest parish after
Kingston and Port Royal, there are only one or two estates in cultivation. The
population of Clarendon is 54, and of St. Dorothy 91 persons to the square
mile, and the settlers grow provisions and minor articles for export. At the
small village of Lime, Savannah, some distance from the sugar properties of
Clarendon, the people are about building an Independent church.
The Parish of Vere, forming the most southern promontory of Jamaica, when seen
from the hills of Clarendon, which it adjoins, presents a rich alluvial country
something like Barbados, which it nearly equals in size, but without the
garden-like appearance of that exquisite island. Some of the best estates in
Jamaica are situated here and they occasionally suffer from severe drouth. If
money, enterprise and labor were forthcoming, it would not be an impossible,
nor yet a very expensive undertaking, to turn some of the mountain streams into
the parish, and save the vast sums that planters not infrequently lose from dry
weather. But there must be a great change in Jamaica before money, enterprise
and labor are readily found there. It is worthy of remark, as proved by this
and other parishes, that only first-class estates, or in other words, estates
that have had means at command, are now in cultivation. Here, again, we have,
as an explanation of the prevalent ruin, want of capital, for if it were solely
want of labor, the large estates that required most labor would be the first to
suffer. In a precarious business like sugar cultivation, where the loss of an
entire crop must now and then be expected, the Jamaica planter who could
command neither capital nor credit had no resource but bankruptcy when an
unfavorable season overtook him. He was accustomed in times past, as some are
accustomed even to-day, to hope against hope, that a sudden rise in sugar, or
some other lucky stroke of fortune, would free him from trouble and his estate
from an in-cumbrance ten times its actual value. One in a hundred, perhaps,
realized his dreams, and, warned by experience, either prudently withdrew, or
curtailed his extravagance and altered his plans so as to meet the new order of
things introduced with emancipation. The other ninety-nine met the fate that
must inevitably overtake the desperate gambler, who, with a few shillings in
his pocket, plays against the certain chances of a bank.
This want of capital -- wholly irrespective of a want of labor, which I admit
to exist -- has been a most fruitful cause of the abandonment of sugar
cultivation. The most hasty tour through the island will convince any one that
contract or permanent labor -- wholly independent of the valuable but transient
work of the negroes, who have their own properties to look after -- is
absolutely needed before the cultivation of the cane in Jamaica can be largely
extended or real estate command its actual and positive value. I do not believe
that the absence of this contract labor explains the present great depression
of Jamaican industry. My belief is, that the contract or permanent labor of
coolies is needed, as a supplementary labor to that of the creole, alike on the
richest and the poorest estates. There is sufficient labor in Jamaica now for
the bare wants of its actual cultivation, if the planters had means enough to
pay his laborers, fairly and punctually, the wages they have earned. Those
wages are not too high, for they are not one-fourth of what a day-laborer can
command in America. This I state unhesitatingly. But, at the same time, I
state, with equal confidence, that, in Jamaica, permanent labor, that is, daily
labor throughout the year -- that land of labor which will enable the planter
to improve his property or even prevent it from deteriorating -- is wholly
wanting, and it seems to me that, without it, neither capital nor confidence
will ever fully return to the island. The point I make is this: Jamaica wants
labor but that want, is not the preponderating cause of her decline. In this
parish of Vere, large estates are now in flourishing cultivation yet its entire
population is only twenty-eight to the square mile, considerably less than that
of any other parish in the island.
Returning from Vere, the road joins a turnpike highway near the village of Old
Harbor, in the Parish of St. Dorothy. From thence to Spanish-Town, through St.
Catharines, it is luxurious traveling, after recent experience of Jamaica
roads. A few sugar estates are passed, but the main features of the cultivation
are pasture and provision grounds.
My account of a tour through the interior of Jamaica is already sufficiently
long, without, adding a detailed description of the Eastern parishes that I
visited. W.G.S.
EMANCIPATION IN JAMAICA. NUMBER SIX. THE OLD PLANTOCRACY.
From Our Own Correspondent.
Published: March 13, 1860
KINGSTON, Jamaica, January, 1800.
The Planters of Jamaica constitute no longer the over-ruling oligarchy, or
"Plantocracy," that they once actually were, and are still somewhat
insolently designated in the bitterness of party spirit Poverty may not have
humbled their pride or changed their belief in their own homes and on their own
estates, and in public whenever an opportunity offers, they wage, under
different guises the old war against free labor. But as a political body, with
power to sway the destinies of the island, they no longer live. One after
another the relics of the system of coercion to which they clung have been
swept away. Their complaints have been disregarded -- their petitions have been
ungranted -- until, in despair or disgust, they have almost altogether retired
from the contest, and left the field open to their undisguised and uncompromising
opponents.
The Planters of Jamaica, it may be thought, have not had a full measure of
justice meted out to them. They, especially, and far beyond all other West
India planters, have had to bear the brunt of the Anti-Slavery attack. But this
is not a little owing to the persistency of their own hostile attitude, to
their misrepresentations, to the selfishness of their aims, and to the mistakes
of their policy.
It is a curious and instructive study to track the decline of the old West
Indian plantocracy and though I have attempted such an invidious task in a
former letter from Barbados, I must, to make myself understood, attempt it
again with special regard to the Jamaica proprietary. Throughout many changes,
social and political, the same selfishness will be found at the root of all
their schemes the same disregard of truth in their statements the same
opposition to popular freedom, progress and enlightenment in their acts. It was
on the grounds of humanity that, in the commencement of the present century, they
opposed the abolition of the Slave-trade. They urged that there was an annual
decrease of two and a half per cent, among the negroes, and that if the same
quantity of labor should continue to be exacted as the number of slaves
diminished, the loss would be greater every year, and would augment with
accelerated rapidity. The unfriendliness of Slavery to population was a strong
argument in the mouths of slave traders. If the Slave-trade was abolished the
sugar estates of Jamaica, it was prophesied, would be dismantled within thirty
years, and the 130,000 negroes, then engaged in the culture of the cane, would
be utterly extinct! The planters of the day, when they petitioned Parliament,
based their grounds for r[???]dress on the expense of the Slave system which
prevented them from competing, without a constant supply of fresh labor, with
those colonies and countries in which the African Slave-trade had not been
abolished.
Twenty-five years later -- when Parliament, in obedience to the tremendous
pressure of public opinion at home, formally declared its determination to
abolish Slavery in the West Indies -- the planters essayed to demonstrate the
cheapness of slave labor as compared with the free labor about about to be
introduced. Emancipation, they said, would ruin them, and preclude any
competition with countries where Slavery continued to exist It is not to be
wondered at that the planter thus argued. He was the owner of the slaves who
cultivated his property. It was a matter of doubt whether he would be
compensated for them at all in the event of abolition. Under the old regime be
was not compelled to make the weekly disbursements that the new order of things
would demand and he could still go on hoping that a rise in sugar would furnish
him with means to liquidate his most pressing debts. He dreaded a change that
would certainly expose his bankruptcy.
During all this time the prosperity of Jamaica was on the decline. The
exportation of sugar had gradually decreased from 150,000 hhds., in 1805, to
86,000 hhds. in 1833. It was not emancipation or the thought of emancipation
that dragged down the island so suddenly from the pinnacle of its prosperity.
The deterioration progressed slowly. Between the years 1814 and 1832 the coffee
crop was also reduced one-half and during the fifty years that preceded
emancipation it is estimated that 200 sugar estates were abandoned. The
planters say that the fear of impending abolition induced them to withdraw
capital from their estates. But abolition was not dreamt of when the decline of
Jamaica set in. While the Slave-trade was yet in operation over 100 properties
had been deserted -- deserted, too, for the same cause that compelled their
desertion in later years -- debt and want of capital.
Sugar cultivation, it is hardly necessary to say, to be carried on with profit
to the proprietor, and ordinary chances of ultimate success, requires an
enormous capital -- not only at the outset, but to provide against the losses
that unfavorable seasons very frequently entail. I cannot do better than
transfer here, from Mr. EDWARDS' History of the West Indies, a picture of
Jamaica sugar cultivation sixty years ago. Himself a planter, a slaveholder,
and opposed to the abolition of the Slave-trade, the author represents that the
estates at that time were very much understocked with slaves, and speaks of a
West-India property "as a species of lottery," giving birth to a
spirit of adventure, and awakening extravagant hopes, too frequently
terminating in perplexity and disappointment. Mr. EDWARDS proceeds to say:
"The total amount of the annual contingent charges of all kinds (on an
estate yielding 200 bids, of sugar) is $#1632,150, which is precisely one-half
the gross returns, leaving the other moiety, or $#1632,150, and no more, clear
profit to the planter, being seven per cent. on his capital, without 5
charging, however, a shilling for making good the decrease of the negroes, or
for the wear and tear of the buildings, or making any allowance for dead
capital, and supposing, too, that the proprietor resides on the spot for, if he
is absent", he is subject in Jamaica to an annual tax of £6 per cent. on
the gross value of his sugar and rum for legal commissions to his agent. With
these and other drawbacks, to say nothing of the devastations which are
sometimes occasioned by fires and hurricanes, destroying in a few hours the
labor of years, it is not wonderful that the profits should frequently dwindle
to nothing or, rather, that a sugar estate, with all its boasted advantages,
should sometimes , prove a mill-stone about the neck of its unfortunate
proprietor, which is dragging him to destruction. * * * It were to be wished
that people would inquire how many unhappy persons have been totally and
irretrievably ruined by adventuring in the cultivation of these islands without
posscssing any adequate means to support them in such great undertakings. On
the failure of some of these unfortunate men, vast estates had money at command
men there are who reflecting on the advantages to be derived from this
circumstance, behold a sugar-planter struggling in distress with the same
emotions as are felt by the Cornish peasants" in contemplating a shipwreck
on the coast and hasten with equal rapaciousness to participate in I tie spoil.
Like them, too, they sometimes hold out false lights to lead the unwary
adventurer to destruction, more especially if he has anything considerable of
his own to set out with. Money is ad[???]eed and encouragement given to a
certain point, but a skillful practitioner knows where to stop he is aware that
very large sums must be expended in the purchase of the freehold, and in the
first operations of clearing and planting the lands and erecting the buildings,
before any return can be made. One-third of the money thus expended he has,
perhaps, furnished but the time soon arrives when a further advance is
requisite to give life and activity to the system by the addition of the
negroes and the stock. Now then is the moment for oppression, aided by the
letter of the law, to reap a golden harvest. It the property answers
expectation and the land promise great returns, the sagacious creditor, instead
of giving further aid, or leaving his too confident debtor to make the best of
his way by his own exertions, pleads a sudden and unexpected emergency, and
insists on the immediate repayment of the sum already lent. The law on this
occasion is far from being chargeable with delay -- and avarice is inexorable.
A sale is hurried on and no bidders appear but the creditor himself. Ready
money is required in payment, and every one sees that a further sum will be
wanting to make the estate productive. Few therefore have the means, who have
even the wish, efficaciously to assist the devoted victim. Thus the creditor
gets the estate at his own price, commonly for his first advance, while the
miserable debtor has reason to to thank his stars if, consoling himself with
only the loss of his own original capital and his labor for a series of years,
he escapes a prison for life.... At the same time it cannot be denied that
there are creditors, especially among the British merchants, of a different
character from these that have been described, who, having advanced their money
to resident planters, on the fair ground of reciprocal benefit, have been
compelled, much against their inclination, to become planters themselves being
obliged to receive unprofitable West India estates in payment, or lose their
money altogether. I have known plantations transferred in this manner which arc
a burthen instead of a benefit to the holder and are kept up solely in the hope
that favorable crops, and an advance in the prices of West Indian produce, may
some time or other invite purchasers. Thus oppression in one class of
creditors, and gross injustice towards another, contribute equally to keep up
cultivation in a country where, if the risks and losses are great, the gains
are commensurate.... In this, as in all other enterprises where success depends
in any degree on human sagacity and prudence,though perhaps not more than one man
in fifty comes away fortunate,every sanguine adventurer takes for granted that
he shall be that one. Thus his system of life becomes a course of experiments
and if ruin should be the consequence of his rashness, he imputes his
misfortune to any cause, rather than to his own want of capacity or
foresight."
This is a picture of Jamaica cultivation sixty years ago, when sugar was sold
for treble the price that it will now command. Nor is it so unlike the
cultivation of the present day that it cannot be recognized, for half a century
has brought to the Jamaica planter but little knowledge of the labor-saving
arts. The evils, however, which were then only taking root, have since
overshadowed the Island. Hypothecation, rendered necessary by the expenses of
the Slave system, and the extravagance of the planters, increased so fast that
nine out of ten estates, at the time of Emancipation, were mortgaged far beyond
their value. The creditors were English merchants who vainly tried to keep up
the cultivation of the property that reverted to them. How could they do so?
Estates that yielded an average annual income of seven per cent., with the
proprietor resident, could not, with the proprietor absent, pay attorneys and
overseer, and still be worked at a profit. Many proprietors tried the
impossible experiment and failed, while their agents and overseers made money,
or ultimately bought in the estate at a nominal cost. Many proprietors have
since tried the experiment, and have failed, and will continue to fail as long as
they neglect the common teachings of experience. They will attribute their
failure to any but the right cause. They shut their eyes to the fact that, in
times past and in times present, the successful estates in Jamaica have always
had, and have still, resident proprietors. Absenteeism, it is true, is lees
prevalent now than it was about the period of Emancipation. A resident
proprietor may be found to-day for every non-resident But the seeds of the evil
were sown years and years ago, and the fruit must be reaped. No country, since
the world was made, were its resources tenfold greater than those of Jamaica,
could continue to prosper with the large body of its landed proprietary
permanent absentees. And even those who were nominally residents usually passed
half the year in Europe, and spent their money there. England was always their
home, and Jamaica merely a place out of which the most was to be made. I feel
it almost a p[???]agiarism to enumerate these causes of the decline of Jamaica,
they have been so often[???] spoken of by other writers -- they are so
perfectly obvious to any unprejudiced inquirer after truth, They were evils
sufficiently serious to ruin the Island had Emancipation never taken place.
They exhausted capital and destroyed credit, and without these it would be
impossible for any country to flourish. Since Emancipation, this want of
capital has been the chief cause of an unceasing depression. The sum received
by the planter for his slaves was insufficient to pay off his mortgages he had no
money to improve his estate or keep it up in bare cultivation he had no money
to keep roads in repair or build tramways he had no money to pay for labor he
had no money to meet misfortune. What was the inevitable consequence? His
mortgages were foreclosed he reduced his cultivation he sold small lots to
settlers to meet pressing wants the roads were so bad that the transportation
of sugar to the shipping port became one of his heaviest items of expenditure
the laborers whom he neglected to pay went elsewhere the day of misfortune came
and overwhelmed him with ruin. He was bankrupt before Emancipation but it was
Emancipation hat [???]ore down the veil which concealed his wretched poverty. I
speak generally, for I do not doubt that there were many exceptional cases.
Many of the three hundred estates in cultivation at the present day are
exceptions. There were planters who continued to cultivate sugar after
Emancipation -- who were successful then and are successful still -- and since
1853, when the general abandonment of estates may be said to have ceased in
Jamaica, the number of these successful planters has considerably increased. I
need not pause to explain that they were all man of capital, and that their
properties were economically managed, for both assertions are proved to
demonstration by the fact that only first-class estates arc in cultivation
to-day.
But the old Plantocracy steadily and fatally ignored, in early as in later
times, the real causes of the island's decline. They shrunk from the idea of putting
their own shoulders to the wheel. In the days of their prosperity they never
faced labor in the days of their adversity they did not face misfortune.
If they thought freedom the worst system of labor in the world, their manhood
should have taught them to make the most of what was done and could never again
be undone. They would not give it a fair trial, but preferred to gee their
heritage pass away without a living struggle to redeem it. They have complained
loudly enough, and have waited in the modest expectation that the Government of
England would wrong the people of England to relieve them. They expected a
restoration of protective duties on sugar, and the imposition of a heavy tax on
the British nation, in order that they, who gave nothing in return, might live
in sumptuous and easy luxury. They have iterated and reiterated the false
accusation that the negro won't work, in order to raise up a seeming
justification for themselves, and they have done all they could to bring him
again under a yoke of coercion. By these means they succeeded in keeping
morbidly alive the Anti-Slavery spirit of the British people, and of fanning
into flame a philanthropic zeal that, I do not hesitate to say, has proved
injurious to the best interests of Jamaica. If, instead of toying to create
sympathy for their class by the false assertion that the negro would neither
work for love or money, they had simply urged a want of labor, there cannot be
a doubt that, like the Mauritius, Guiana, or Trinidad, Jamaica at this day
would have an ample population.
I don't deny that the planters of Jamaica have had misfortunes to contend with.
It was their misfortune that they inherited a system of labor that demanded
extravagant expenditure. It was their misfortune that Slavery so deeply
degraded labor, that, even under Freedom, the effect of such a curse could not
speedily be removed. It was their misfortune that, within the century prior to
Emancipation, there were over thirty servile insurrections in the Island, each
one of which entailed a heavy expense upon the proprietary, and, in some cases,
brought them to the verge of ruin. It was their misfortune that, with the rise
and progress of the United States, Jamaica lost the prominent position the once
occupied as a depot for the trade between Europe and the Spanish Main, and that
a large amount of commercial capital was thus withdrawn from the Island. It was
their misfortune that their expenses were aggravated by the mistaken policy of
the Imperial Government, which placed restrictions and prohibitions on the
Colonial trade with the American Republic. It was their misfortune that they
were never adequately paid for their slave property. It was their misfortune
that they found themselves compelled to mortgage their estates -- that their
debts continued to increase -- and that when an unfavorable season overtook
them they lifted up their eyes in hopeless bankruptcy. It was their misfortune
that among the Island merchants they found too many like those whom, sixty
years ago BRYAN EDWARDS likened to Cornish wreckers. It was their misfortune
that, between 1815 and 1825, the price of their great staple fell twenty-five
per cent. -- that between 1825 and 1835 it fell another twenty-live per cent.
-- and that between 1835 and 1850 it fell twenty-live per cent. yet again. It
was their misfortune that the British nation would no longer consent to be
taxed to support them, and that the protective tariff upon West India sugars
should have been abolished by the law of 1846. It was their misfortune to have
been distrusted at home and abroad, and to have been the victims of a jealousy
that refused for years to Jamaica, alone of all the British West Indies, the
privileges and the advantages of a wholesome immigration.
But it was their fault that, under the most expensive system of labor known,
they were ever reckless and improvident. It was their fault that they
prosecuted a precarious business in the spirit of reckless gamblers. It was
their fault that they wasted this substance in riotous living. It was their
fault that they obeyed not. the commonest rules of political economy -- that
they saved no labor and spared no land. It was their fault that they faced not
labor themselves, but were absentees from their estates, and followed a road
that could lead to no possible end but ruin. It was their fault that they
listened to no warning -- that they heeded not the signs of the times -- that
they refused all schemes for gradual emancipation, and even for ameliorating
the condition of the slaves, until the crushing weight of public opinion broke
the chain of Slavery asunder, and threw suddenly upon their own resources an
ignorant and undisplined people. It was their faults of policy and government
that drove the Creoles from plantations, that left the population in ignorance,
that discouraged education, and kept morality at the lowest ebb. It is their
fault that, under a system of freedom from which there is no relapse, they have
made no brave attempt to redeem past errors and retrieve past misfortunes, but have
been content to bemoan their fate in passive complaint, and to saddle the negro
with a ruin for which they themselves are only responsible.
This was the old Plantocracy -- the generous, hospitable, improvident,
domineering Plantocracy of Jamaica. Their power no longer predominates. They
command no credit and no respect, and they obtain but little sympathy in their
misfortune. Even from domestic legislation they have sullenly retired, and
their places are being fast filled by the people whom they have so long and so
vainly tried to keep down. I am not going to rush into extravagant admiration
at the change, or at popular government as developed in Jamaica. The mass of
the inhabitants are still too ignorant to exercise the franchise with
discretion, and all are more or less imbued with the prejudices of caste. But
imperfect and defective as it is, Representative Government in Jamaica is
greatly preferable to the oligarchy of a Planter's reign. The interests, moral,
political, and educational, of the people, are more cared for, and in their
progress, much more than in the success of large plantations, the permanent
prosperity of the Island most assuredly depends.
Nor are the new class of resident planters who have appeared in Jamaica within
ten years past by any means to be passed over in silence. They work their
estates with prudence and economy, though they lack the advantages that
latter-day science has given to American and Cuban proprietors. Capital and
labor are both needed, but the art of economizing labor is needed still more. A
Louisiana planter makes twice the quantity of sugar from an acre of land that a
Jamaica planter does. Nevertheless, it is a fact, of which I have had ample
proof in all carta of the Island, that many Jamaica planters who look after
their own business have relieved their estates from incumbrance, and are, even
now, malting handsome fortues. Since 1858 as many properties have been
resuscitated as abandoned and I regard it as one of the most favorable signs of
improvement that the work of regeneration, however small its commencement, has
been at least inaugurated by NEW MEN.
W.G.S.
8
JAMAICA ALAMANACS, HANDBOOKS & NEWSPAPERS ETC
4 volumes (1824, 1826, 1840 & 1845) were examined in the Royal Commonwealth
Library collection now in the University Library, Cambridge (7/2000). The
remainder of the extracts were from a website on Jamaica Genealogy
(jamaicanfamilysearch.com)
The local Government in those days, was called the “Justices and Vestry.” It
comprised the Custos Rotulorum (Chairman), four senior Magistrates, the Rector
of the Anglican Church and the two Church Wardens with ten Freeholders who were
to be elected annually as Vestrymen.
1751 Civil List: no sig
1776 Civil List: John Wedderburn, Magistrate, Westmoreland
John de la Roach, magistrate, St E
Dr William Wright, Surgeon General to Navy
Hanover: George Spence
St Elizabeth: John James Swaby
1779 Magistrates:
Hanover: George Spence
Westmoreland: John Wedderburn
St Elizabeth: John James Swaby
1784 Magistrate
Hanover: Custos Hon George Spence
Westmoreland: John Wedderburn, Thomas Thistlewood
St Elizabeth: John James Swaby
Militia
St Elizabeth:
William B Wright, Major Charles Wright, Lt Robert Wright, Lt
Westmoreland:
John & William Tomlinson, Ensigns
Hanover:
Henry Scrymgeour, Lt
1790 Magistrates:
Westmoreland: John Wedderburn, James Robert Tomlinson
Militia
St Elizabeth:
William B Wright, Major Robert B. Wright, Lt
Westmoreland:
William Tomlinson, Lt.
Hanover:
Henry Scrymgeour, Lt
1793: (Royal Gazette)
Andrew Wright Vestreyman, St Elizabeth
CAVEATS entered in the Office
Jan 31 Wright, Alexander by William Hislop
1794, July, died:
In this town, Mr. Charles Wright, lately of Europe
1796:
Westmoreland:
Magistrates:
Also of the Quorum
James Robert Tomlinson
James Wedderburn
Commissioner of Workhouse: James Wedderburn.
St Elizabeth
Coroner: JB Wright
Horse Militia
Hanover Windward: William Sinclair, Lt.
Militia
St Elizabeth:
Robert B. William & Andrew Wright, Capt
JC Wright, Ensign Robert Wright, Lt
1802 Westmoreland:
Magistrates:
Also of the Quorum
James Robert Tomlinson
James Wedderburn
Commissioner of Workhouse: James Wedderburn.
St Elizabeth
Coroner: JB Wright
Horse Militia
Hanover Windward: William Sinclair, Lt.
Militia
St Elizabeth:
Robert B. William & Andrew Wright, Capt
JC Wright, Ensign Robert Wright, Lt
1808 Civil list
Richard Pusey, attorney at law
Alexander Rose, JP, St Elizabeth
1811 (Property/slaves/stock)
St Elizabeth Brooks, George -Burnt Ground, 40/10
Barnes, Jonathan, decd - Rosely Hill, 43/31.
Cerf, Henry - Berlin & Potsdam, 50/176
Campbell, Peter - Holland, 421/202
Maitland, Francis - Giddy Hall, 74/140
Royal, Joseph - Lower Works 29/323
Rose, Alexander - Mount Lebanon, 38/42
Smith, John - Mount Charles, 66/12
Sinclair, Alexander - Prospect, 85/-
Wright, Andrew, decd - Mitcham, 116/174
Wright, William B - Cornwall, 79/-
Wright, John - Meribah, 79/134.
Wright, Robert B - Southampton, 48/126.
Williams, Thomas J. - Mount Olivet, 100/28.
Vere Booth, JG - Farm, 62/13
Booth, JG Decd - Mount Pleasant, 58/12
Booth, Samuel - Asia, 41/19
Edwards, J P, - Pusey Hall, 360/157
Wint, John P - 50/-
Wright, James, decd - Streten Hall, 82/56
Westmoreland Watkins, Hannah - Logwood, 46/6
Wedderburne John, Spring Garden etc, 1,524/ 1,877
Wedderburn Sir David & Andrew,
Blue Castle and Blackheath 602/ 633
Leslie Hon. William, Lindores 59/ 41 (cf Margaret
Dick)
Clarendon: Wint, Thomas - Bellmont, 75/87
1812:
slaves/stock
Westmoreland: Tomlinson W., deceased, Culloden 31/ 97
Tomlinson, Thomas, Bluefields 116/123
Wedderburn, John, Spring Garden etc. etc., 2322/1285
Wedderburn, Sir D., Black Heath etc. 686/ 353
Watkins, Hannah, Logwood penn 35/ 5
St Elizabeth: Angel, Sarah, Providence 43/ 11
Angel, Thomas M., Lookout 33/ 50
Brooks, George, Burnt Ground 37/ 36
Brooks, Martha, Rocky Mount 25/ 3
Cerf, Henry, Berlin etc., 602/ 214
Campbell, Peter, Holland 409/ 30
Maitland, Francis, Giddy Hall 74/ 142
Royal, Joseph, Lower Works 29/ 331
Rose, Alexander, Mount Lebanon 57/ 89
Sinclair, Alexander, Prospect 41/ 30
Smith, John, Mount Charles 68/ 15
Wright, Andrew, deceased, Mitcham 118/ 169
Wright, John, Meribah 54/ 76
Wright, Charles, ___ 30/ 30
1815
St E. Cerf, Henry - Potsdam, Berlin & Malvern Well, 643/-
Maitland, Francis - Giddy Hall & Mitcham, 197/456
Smith, John - Mount Charles, 22/13
Sinclair, Alexander - Prospect, 53/60
Wint, Mary - Caen-Wood, 43/10
Wright, John - Meribah, 56/42
Vere Booth, John Gaul, heirs of - Mount Pleasant, 42/20
Booth, Samuel, - Asia, 24
Brooks, George - Blenheim
Edwards, Hon John P, Pusey Hall - 303/232
Wint, John Pusey, - Ryde, 131/15
Wright & Glasgow, exec of, - Stratton Hall, 72/112
Wright, Robert Benstead, - Kensworth, 45/12
Wright, William Burt, - Enfield, 103/16
Westmoreland Thompson, Mary - Truro 49
Wedderburn, John, Spring Garden 467/319 [?]
.............Jerusalem 273/ 267 [last digit torn]
..................Mint 248/ 213
.................Retreat 368/ 261
.................Moreland 230/ 232
.................Paradise 154/ 476
.................Mount-Edgecumbe 260/ 246
Wedderburn, Sir David, Blue-Castle 300/ 385
1816:
St Elizabeth: Maitland, Francis - Giddy Hall & Mitcham, 197/450
Delaroche, John, Carisbrook 150/ 250
Sinclair, Alexander, Prospect 53/ 60
Burton, Zechariah, Lucky-Valley 25/ 4
Burton, Elizabeth, Content 65
Vere: Wint, John Pusey, Ryde 131/15
Wright & Glasgow, executors of, Stratton-Hall 72/ 112
Wright, Robert Benstead, Kensworth 45/ 12
Wright, William Burt, Enfield 103/ 16
1817:
St Elizabeth:
Maitland, Francis, Giddy Hall, T(orn) & Mitcham, T
Burton, Zachariah, Lucky Valley, 25/T
Burton, Elizabeth, Content, 70/T
Burton, Francis, 16/30
[Burton, Francis B.] Trahen, 12
[Rose, Alexander], Mount Lebanon, 54/85
Wint, Mary, Caen Wood, 44/10
Health Officer at Black River, Dr. Alexander Rose
1818
St Elizabeth: Maitland, Francis - Mitcham, 114/185
Maitland, Francis - Giddy Hall, 75/224
Smith, John, Mount Charles, 29/14
Burton, Elizabeth, Content, 71
Burton, Francis, 16/30
Burton, Francis B. Trahen, 4/7
Burton, G. William, 8/49
Burton, Hannah, 8/10
Burton, John, junior, 4/1
1820
Manchester:
Booth, John Gall - Farm, 74/30.
Booth, John Gall heirs of - Mount Pleasant, 35/4
Maitland & Roberts - 80 (prob Silver Grove)
Wint, John Pusey - Ryde, 115/12
Wint, Mary - Caenwood, 64/31
Wright, William Burt, - Enfield, 137/17
Wright, Robert Benstead, Kensworth - 61/8
Sinclair, Alexander, Prospect 73/ 8
St Elizabeth:
Cerf, Henry - Berlin, 409/13
Corby Castle, 96
Nile, 40
Potsdam, 251/28
Cohen, Abraham S - 2/1
Cohen, David - 6
Maitland & Roberts - 42/179 (prob Mitcham)
Maitland, Frances - Giddy Hall, 71/240
Nembhard, Ballard B, decd Hounslow 85/440
Sherman, Judith - 13/9
Smith, John - Mount Charles, 28/5
Wright John - Meribah 79/4
Wright, Nathaniel - 24/3
Wright, Thomas - 2/2
Vere: White & Levys - Stretton Hall, 81/22.
Brooks, George - Blenheim, 118/20
Westmoreland:
Wedderburn, James, 8/ 1
Wedderburn, John, Endeavour 15/ 4
Wedderburn, John, Jerusalem 291/ 213
................, Mint 224/ 197
........., Moreland 216/ 210
........., Mount Edgcumbe 241/ 450
........., Paradise 140/ 183
........., Spring Garden 418/ 310
........., Retreat 354/ 250
Wedderburn, Sir David, Blue Castle 263 330
Wright, Catherine, 5
1821
St Elizabeth: Maitland & Roberts - Mitcham?,38/194
Maitland, Francis - Giddy Hall, 70/217
Smith, John, Mount Charles 30/ 20
1822
Manchester:
Maitland & Roberts - Silver Grove, 80
Wint, John Pusey - Ryde 112/11
Wint, Mary - Caenwood, 71/2
Wright, Robert B, estate of - Kensworth, 70/20
Wright, William Burt estate of - Enfield, 174/27
St Elizabeth
Cohens & Co. - Heathfield 96/4
Maitland & Roberts - Mitcham, 41/219
Maitland, Frances - Giddy Hall, 66/220
Smith, John - Mount Charles, 28/5
Sherman, Judith - 12/4
Wright, John - Meribah, 80/76
Wright, Nathaniel - 12/3
Westmoreland:
Wright, Catherine - 5.
Vere: Brooks, George - Blenheim, 134/17
1823:
Manchester:
Maitland & Roberts – Silver Grove, 79
Wint, John Pusey – Ryde, 107/17.
Wint, Mary – Caenwood, 70/26.
St Elizabeth:
Maitland & Roberts - Mitcham, 41/266
Maitland, Frances - Giddy Hall, 67/298
Smith, John - Mount Charles, 28/5
Sherman, Judith – Twickenham, 12/4
Wright, John - Meribah, 81/84
Wright, Nathaniel - 12/3
Wright, Rebecca, 5
Wright, Robert, 10/ 4
Wright, Robert B., 10/ 4
1824: (Hardcopy & web site)
Name Property Slaves/Stock
St Elizabeth: Maitland & Roberts: Mitcham 43/224
Maitland Frances Giddy Hall 68/320
Burlton James E. Mount Charles 55/15
Spence George Bloomsbury 50/20
Williams Thomas John Mount Olivet 103/24
Manchester: Maitland & Roberts: Silver Grove 81/0
St Elizabeth: Wright John Meribah 100/100
Wright Nathaniel ----- 12/2
Wright Rebecca ----- 5/0
Wright Robert ----- 7/0
Wright Robert B ----- 10/4
Manchester Brooks, George Blenheim 33
Wright Robert B, est of, Kenilworth 85/0
Wright Wm Burt, est. of, Enfield 190/00
1824:
St Elizabeth Burlton, James E - Mount Charles 55/15
Cerf, Henry - Berlin, 457/14
Corby Castle, 107
Potsdam, 247/9
Cohens & Co - Heathfield, 96/4
Maitland & Roberts, - Mitcham, 43/234
Maitland, Francis - Giddy Hall, 68/320
Sherman, Judith - Twickenham, 13/5
Wright, John - Meribah, 100/100
Wright, Nathaniel, 12/2
Wright, Rebecca, 5
Wright, Robert, 7
Wright, Robert B, 10/4
Manchester Maitland & Roberts, - Silver Grove, 81
Wright, Robert B estate of - Kensworth 85
Wright, William Burt, est of - Enfield 190
Wint, John Pusey - Ryde 99
Wint, Mary - Caenwood, 73/2
Booth, John Gall - Farm, 115/23
Vere Booth, Robert W - 3/19
Booth, Samuel - Rest 25/4
Westmoreland Wright, Catherine, 7
1825
St Elizabeth: Maitland & Roberts - Mitcham, 42/274
Maitland, Francis - Giddy Hall, 76/300
1826:
St Elizabeth: Maitland & Roberts: Mitcham 42/245
Maitland Frances Giddy Hall 72/231
Burlton James E. Mount Charles 48/32
Sherman Judith Twickenham 9/4
Earl John ----- 3/0
Nembhard, Ballard B, decd Hounslow 81/442
Spence George Bloomsbury 45/6
Rose Alexander dcr Mount Lebanon 48/26
Manchester: Maitland & Roberts: Silver Grove 85/0
St Elizabeth: Wright Ezekiel ----- 30/0
Wright John Meribah 70/23
Wright Rebecca ----- 10/0
Wright Robert ----- 11/0
Wright Robert E ----- 20/10
Manchester Wright Robert B, est of, Kenilworth 85/3
Wright Wm Burt, est. of, Enfield 167/21
1827:
St Elizabeth:
Burlton, James E., Mount Charles, 50/50
Maitland, Frances, Giddy Hall, 74/228
Maitland and Roberts, Mitcham, 41/264
1828:
St Elizabeth: Maitland, Ann, 72/226
Maitland and Roberts, Mitcham, 40/241
Burlton, James E., Mount Charles, 41/36
Rose, Alexander, deceased, Mount Lebanon, 36/37
Wright, Ezekiel, 2/1
Wright, John, Meribah, 69/23
Wright, Rebecca, Friendship, 5
Wright, Robert B., 7/2
Manchester: Roberts, George, Silver Grove, 86
Westmoreland: Wedderburn, James, Mint, 335/37
..ditto, Moreland, 316/27
..ditto, Mount Edgecumbe, 251/380
..ditto, Paradise, 115/670
..ditto, Retreat, 326/38
..ditto, Spring Garden, 374/49
Wedderburn, James, 10/5
Wedderburn, Sir David, Blue Castle, 217/112
1829:
St Elizabeth:
Burlton, James E., - Mount Charles, 77/55
Maitland & Roberts - Mitcham, 37/244
Maitland, Ann - Giddy Hall 78/197
1830:
St Elizabeth:
Maitland & Roberts - Mitcham, 39/247
Maitland, Ann - Giddy Hall 77/145
1831:
St Elizabeth: Burlton, James Edward, Mount Charles, 79/118
Maitland and Roberts, Mitcham, 39/247
Maitland, Ann, Giddy Hall, 77/145
Wright, Charles, 13
Wright, John, deceased, Meribah, 67
Wright, Nathaniel, 13/4
Wright, Rebecca, Friendship, 5
Wright, Robert B., Friendship, 7/2
Manchester: Roberts, George, Silver Grove, 90
Wint, Mary, Cowick Park, 82
..ditto, Look Out, 56/48
Wright, Mrs., Kensworth, 86/4
Westmoreland: Wedderburn, James, Mint, 323/42
..ditto, Moreland, 296/17
..ditto, Mount Edgecumbe, 258/358
..ditto, Paradise, 106/557
..ditto, Retreat, 327/47
Wedderburn, James, 43/8
Wedderburn, Sir David, Blue Castle, 221/114
1832:
St Elizabeth:
Burton, Bonilla, 4
Burton, Elizabeth, Content, 100
Burton, Frances, Spanish Quarters, 21
Burton, John, Lorn Hill, 10/ 10
Facey, William, 7
Maitland and Roberts, Mitcham, 50/ 300
Maitland, Ann, Giddy Hall, 77/ 216
Rose, Alexander, deceased, Mount Lebanon, 72/ 70
Rose, Mary, 4/ 4
Rose, William A., Fort Rose, 20/ 20
Sherman, Judith, Twickenham, 8/ 5
Manchester:
Sinclair, Alexander, estate of, 100
Sinclair, James, Prospect, 14
Sinclair, Sarah, 16
Sinclair, Susanna, 18
1833:
St Elizabeth (slaves/stock)
Burlton, James Edward - Mount Charles, 92/225
Campbell, Holland, 322/200
Cohen, Judah - Potsdam 317/40 - Corby Castle, 117
Cohen, Hyman - Berlin 452/35 - Heathfield, 21
Earl, John - 6
Maitland & Robert - Mitcham, 60/350
Maitland, Ann - Giddy Hall 100/300
Nembhard, William - Kensington, 77
Rose, Alexander, decd, Mount Lebanon, 72/70
Sherman, Judith - Twickenham 10/10
Wright, John decd - Meribah 53
Wright, Rebecca - Friendship 5
Wright, Robert B - Friendship 7
Wright, Nathaniel - 12/5
Wright, Charles - 50.
Westmoreland
Wright, Elizabeth, 4
Wedderburn, James, Mint 332/ 53
...................Moreland 279/ 15
...................Mount Edgecombe 263/ 319
...................Retreat 311/ 37
...................Spring Garden 346/ 41
Wedderburn, James, Paradise 99/ 558
Wedderburn, Sir David, Bluecastle 222/ 121
Manchester Roberts, George - Silver Grove 180
Wint, Mary - Look-Out 55/61
Wright, N - Kensworth 89/3
1838: (with numbers of "apprentices")
Manchester Wint, Mary - Cow Park etc, 119
Wright, N - Kinworth 91
Wright, WB, decd - Enfield 154
Cohen, Hyman - Apropos 39 - Albion 227
Cohen, H&J - Isle 53
Cohen, Judah - New Heathfield, 53
- Chatham & Bath, 79
- Berwick, 50
St Elizabeth (apprentices)
Maitland, Ann decd - Giddy Hall, 76
Sherman, Samuel - Mitcham 44
Burlton, James E - Mount Charles, 88
Cohen, Judah - Potsdam 271 - Corby Castle - 101
Cohen, Hyman - Berlin 332
Gladstone, John, Holland, 250
Nembhard, Eliza P - Kensington, 62
1838
Civil Lists:
St Elizabeth Vestrymen: James E Burlton, James Mullings, Matthew
Farquharson, John Maitland, Theodore Stone, F Hendricks, Edward
F Coke, John Earl, Alexander Cowan, Michael Myers
Militia: St Elizabeth,
Quartermaster Samuel Sherman
Asst Surgeon AW Maitland
1839:
St Elizabeth Vestreymen: John Maitland
1840: (hard copy & website)
St Elizabeth: Maitland Andrew dcr Giddy Hall 2000 acres
Sherman Samuel Mitcham 807 acres
Burlton James E Ashton & Mount 1002a
Charles
Wright Nathaniel South Valley 115 acres
Spence Joan Lean Bloomsbury 226
Spence George B Upland 82 acres
Cohen, Judah Potsdam, 1710a
Cohen, Judah Colby Castle, 328a
Cohen, Hymen Berlin, 1412a
Earl, John Chelsea, 180a
Earl, John Mount Olivet, 502a
Earl & Muirhead Roseberry, 802a
Nembhard, Eliza P Kensington, 202a
Gladstone, John, Lacovia estate 2212 &
Holland, 4548.
Cooper, David, Lyndesaye-Lodge,
118
McClymont, John, Unity, 1000
Wallace, Jane, Mount Unity, 188
Solomons, Eve, Mount Lebanon, 1500
Manchester - Cohen, H & J - Isle, 397a
Cohen, Judah - Heathfield, 348a
Cohen, Hymen - Apropos, 60a
Cohen, Judah - Maidstone, Bath & Chatham, 1058a
Cohen, Hymen - Albion 1350a
Cohen, Judah - Berwick, 700a
Roberts, George - Silver Grove, 1200a
Sweetman - Pusey Hill 403a
Wint, Mary - Lookout, Caen Wood & New Hall, 951a
Cowick Park, 400a
Wint, Diana - Content, 10a
Wint, James - Mahogany Grove, 1000a
Wright, Nicola - Kensworth, 500a
Wright, Robert J, - Halsham, 50a
Vere Booth, R.W. Estate of, 300a
Burrwell, Geo P, exor of Booth, 137a.
Westmoreland:
Wedderburn, --, heirs of, 3453
---Same, 1800
---Same, 2767
---Same, 1825
---Same, 1742
---Same, 1841
Wedderburn, Daniel, 2131
Wedderburn, James, 340
Wedderburn, Eliza, 36
Wright, F, 16a
St Elizabeth Civil List:
Vestreymen: John Earl, Jno Maitland, Frederick Hendricks
Militia Assistant Surgeon: AW Maitland.
Also in this volume was a description of a new electric rotating machine,
demonstrated in New York in 1837.
1845:
St Elizabeth: Maitland J Kensington 300 acres
Giddy Hall 1150 acres
Rosehill 130 acres
Sherman S Mitcham 843 acres
Sherman J Mahogany House 10 acres
Burlton James E, est of, Ashton & M/C 1209 acres
Black River &c 250 acres
Earl J heirs of Mount Olivet 497 acres
Wiltshire 600 acres
Cooper J. Sportsman Hall 10 acres
Cooper B & Co Newport & Black River 13 acres
Cooper F Pleasant Hill 50 acres
Spence Joan L Bloomsbury 226 acres
Swaby JJ Montpellier 3000 acres
Swaby Ann Spice Grove 26 acres
Gladstone A, Holland, Maybole & Stonehenge, 5185.
Hewitt, W. K. Fellowship,
700
Barnes, N. A. Middlesex, 15
Bent, J. Middlesex, 117
Rickard, J. Watt’s Middlesex, 530
Salmon, J. Magotty and Middlesex, 1440
Solomon, Eve, Mount Lebanon, 750
Finlay, W. Mount Unity and Good Intent, 38
Parchment, W. Mount Unity, 41
Swaby, Ann, Brownshill, 100
_Same, Mount Unity, 25
Segre, J. Mount Unity, 25
Wallace, Jane, Mount Unity, 180
Manchester: Roberts George heirs of Silver Grove 1400
acres
Westmoreland: Maitland R. Carpenter Hall 11 acres
St Davids: Maitland C Claugh na Cate 10 acres
St Elizabeth Civil List:
Assistant Justices & Magistrates: John Maitland
Militia Quartern Samuel Sherman
Militia Assistant Surgeon: AW Maitland
District Prison (Black River) Surgeon: AW Maitland.
1846:
This issue did not contain any returns of properties.
College of Physicians and Surgeons, Qualified Practitioners,
being fellows, Manchester:
Maitland, Andrew Wright, Lic Ap. Cy. London
Militia St Elizabeth Assistant Surgeon: AW Maitland.
1851:
Magistrate: St Elizabeth John Maitland
Surgeon: A Maitland also physician to the poor.
1860 Voters:
St Elizabeth, Cooper, John M.
1861:
Magistrates St E, John Myers Cooper, Black River
1878 Trade Directory.
St Elizabeth,
Black River, Maitland AK, propr Mt Charles Pen.
Wedderburn, AA Inspector of Constabulary.
Goshen, Cooper Wright, postmaster and planter of Santa Cruz.
Wright JC prop Friendship Pen.
Lacovia, Tomlinson, WJ, propr Cornwall Pen.
1878 Directory of Properties:
Ashton, J. W. Earle proprietor, Black River
Mount Charles, A. K. Maitland proprietor, Black River
Farm, J. M. Cooper proprietor, Middle Quarters
Giddy Hall, J. M. Cooper proprietor, Middle Quarters
New Shaftson, A. N. Sinclair proprietor and manager, Bluefields
1891: St Elizabeth,
Middle Quarters, Cooper J & WS, Giddy Hall Pen
Balaclava: Sherman & Roberts, storekeepers
Handbook of Jamaica, 1881: (OP 38520.972.01)
This was checked , but contained nothing of detailed interest.
Search of Jamaica Site:
William Rhodes Petgrave Wright listed with descendants, b abt 1835
Wint, Mary met Mr John Webb, she b abt 1773
Militia 1808: Westmoreland Artillery Lt M Wright.
St Elizabeth Regt Ensign C Wright.
Seaman deaths:
1775, John Maitland, St Elizabeth, master of the "Atlantic".
1782: PDF copy held.
Findmypast has the Jamaica Mercury & Kingston Weekle Advertiser
PRO, CO 141
/1 1794
1809 BNA 1 issue.
1811 – BNA 1812 BNA
/2 1813 1st done /3 1813 2nd done
/4 1814
/5 1815 1st /6
1815 2nd
/7 1816 1st /8 1816 done
/9 1817 done /10 1817 done
/11 1818 done /12 1818 done
/13 1819 done /14 1819 done
/15 1820 ist /16 1820 2nd
/17 1821 /18 1821 2nd
/19 1822 all done /20 1823 all done
/21 1824 May Dec done /22 1825 all done
/23 1826 Feb-Dec done /24 1829 all done
/25 1830 all done /26 1831 all
/27 1832 all done /28 1833 all done
/29 1834-35 /30 1836 all (BNA 4 early ones)
BNA British Newspapers Archive (British Library Collection).
From Jamaica Family Search:
5/1/1793-27/4/1793
12/1/1793:
St Elizabeth Vestreyman: Andrew Wright
3/3/1793:
Hanover vestreyman: William Sinclair.
23/3/1793
On Tuesday the 22nd a subscription purse, for two years old, two mile heats,
was run for over the Race course at Lacovia, by Mr. Andrew Wright’s Bay Colt,
and Mr. Salmon’s Pepper Filly, Brunettes. The first heat was won by the Colt,
but in the second he ran out of the course and was distanced
April 6, 1793
Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies
PERSONS LEAVING THE ISLAND:
Mar 20 Joseph Cameron, Trelawny
“ Charles Murray, St. Thomas in the East
“ Archibald Sinclair, ditto
“ John Synes, St. Mary
Apr 3 Robert Boyd, Westmorland
Alexander Burton, Kingston
May 4, 1793
Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies
PERSONS LEAVING THE ISLAND:
William Sinclair, Hanover
13/4/1793:
The following is a copy of an Address from the Grand Inquest of the county of
Cornwall, at the Assize Court, held in and for the said county, on Tuesday the
second day of April, 1793, before the Honourable George Murray, Esq., one of
the Assistant Judges of the Supreme Court, and one of the Justices of the
Cornwall Assize , and his Associates, then sitting in the said Court of Assize,
presented by them to the Court, previous to their being discharged:
Jamaica - Westmoreland
WE, the Grand Jurors for the County of Cornwall, having had presented to us, by
the Honourable the Custos, a letter from the Right Honourable Henry Dundas, one
of his Majesty's principal Secretaries of State, announcing that war had been
declared by the supreme authority of France against his Majesty's kingdoms of
Great Britain and Ireland, and its dependencies, beg leave to return our thanks
for the communication, and to express our perfect attachment to our King and
happy Constitution, and readiness to exert our utmost abilities in the defence
of the same and that we will collectively, as well as individually, use every
endeavour to detect and apprehend all suspicious and seditious incendiaries who
may attempt to disturb the peace and unanimity of this island, or this county
in particular. -
James Wedderburn, Foreman. J. Hering, Wm Brown, D. Connell, Hugh Fraser, Robt.
Minto, John Simpson, Henry John Wisdom, Joseph Hardy, James Stewart, Robert
Boswell, Thomas Minto, G.F. Clarke, Sam. Cuninghame, Matthew Henegan, David
Innes, James Berry, F. R. Tomlinson, Archibald Duthie, Thomas Robertson, James
Jack, John Graham, Andrew Black.
At the same Court, Thomas Bullman was indicted for speaking seditious words
against the King and Constitution, and, after a most impartial hearing, he was
found guilty, and sentenced to lie three months in jail, and on the King's
birthday, to stand one hour in the pillory.
June 29, 1793
Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies
PASSENGERS ARRIVED:
On the Alexandre, Mr. D'Aguilar, Mr. Cuthbert, Mr. and Mrs. Brodie, Mr.
Dasseray[?], Mr. Brown, Mr. Alves, Mr. McIntosh, and Master Ballin.
On the Jupiter, the Hon. Major Maitland of the 62nd regiment, Major McLachlan
of the 10th regiment, Captain Ramsay of the Royal Artillery, Mr. James
Maitland, Mr. Charles Fuhr, Mr. John Kelly, Mr. M. Geohagan, and Mr. Hugh
O'Connor.
1794 Died
At Martha Brae, on the 18th last, Captain Benjamin Wright, of Rhode Island. He
was for a number of years a reputable Merchant at Savanna la Mar
9/9/94 promotions:, Hon. Thomas Maitland, 62nd foot
Jamaica Royal Gazette Extracts:
1782:
Center for Research Libraries - Global Resources Network,
6050 S. Kenwood Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637-2804 USA
2/2014: downloaded most issues as PDF.
http://dds.crl.edu/CRLdelivery.asp?tid=8921
Extracts from Jamaica Family Search (1793).
Notices etc:
Notices were inserted for a number of weeks, so appear often.
Runaway slaves: 28/11/1781: Titus to Old Hope Estate, MW
13/3/1781: John Vassall dcd sells 840 acres near YS in St E.
8/6/1780: inter alia Burtons wanted slaves to rent, St TiV (V142-5, P24).
Votes of the House of Assembly
30/1/1800:
The sum of 100/. to the order of Thomas Anderson, John Pusey Edwardes, Robert
Porter, Francis Badley, and Andrew Wright, or any three of them, towards
repairing the road from the King's road, at Cocoa-Walk, to Calabash-Bay, in the
district of Carpenter's Mountains, in the parish of Vere.
Cocoa Walk is about 8 miles East of Alligator Pond and the road is shown on
Liddell 1888 map. It leads direct towards Andrew Wright’s Single Rock property
on the old leeward road.
17/11/1802:
The sum of 250/. to the order of John Pusey Edwards, Alexander Schaw, Caffillis
Schaw, Robert Porter, David Hutchinson, and John Pusey Wint, or any three of
them, towards repairing the road from the King's road at Cocoa- Walk, to
Calabash-Bay, in the district of Carpenter's Mountains, in the parish of Vere.
3/12/1802:
The sum of 150/. to the order of Alexander Schaw, John Pusey Edwardes, Robert
Porter, John Pusey Wint, and Andrew Wright, or any three of them, towards repairing
the road from Calabash-Bay to the interior of Carpenter's mountains.
6 March 1801:
The sum of £100 to the order of James Stewart, John Chamber, William
Kellit Hewitt, Robert Muschett, Andrew Wright, and
Richard Boucher, or any
three of them, towards making a new road from Mitcham
pasture in the parish of St. Elizabeth, through sundry new settlements, to Mr.
Hewitt's Wilderness, in said pariah.
Wilderness is East of Silver Grove, Liddell shows a road up the side of the
hill from Mitcham in the direction of Wilderness. It is shown on the modern
maps as a dotted line.
3/12/1801:
The sum of £5. to the order of James Stewart, Matthew Smith, John Chambers
William Kellit Hewitt, Robert Muschett, Andrew Wright, and Richard Boucher, or
any three of them, towards carrying on the road from Mitcham pasture, in St
Elizabeth, through sundry settlements to Mr Hewitt's Wilderness, in said
parish.
17/11/1802:
A petition of sundry coffee-settlers in St. Elizabeth was presented to the
house, and read, setting forth, "That the sum granted by the house last
year, on the road from Mitcham pastures to the Wilderness, has been duly and
economically worked out; but the same is insufficient for completing said
road."
This looks as though it passes through Silver Grove to Mitcham, the remains of
which are on the 1:50K 1950’s map as dotted.
The Columbian 1796/7
Columbian 1 Jan 1797:
Yesterday was killed by Mr Robert Benstead Wright, at his butchery near Goshen,
a six year old Ox, of the Bakewell Breed, bred at Long Hill, and fattened on
Goshen Pen, in St Elizabeth’s, the properties of Francis George Smyth esq, the
four quarters weighed 1251 lbs. Goshen bounds northerly on Mitcham.
July 8 1826:
180R PUBLIC SALE, at Goshen Pen, St, Elizabeth’s, on Monday tbe 21 st day of August,
if not previously sold, of which (in such case) timely Public Notice will be
given, the whole of
THE BREEDING STUD,
consisting of Twenty-Five or Thirty Mares, of the best
Strain of Blood, being descended from those well-known Horses Charlemont,
Shovel, Drumater, the Knox Arabian, Omen, Hannibal, Barbarossa, and others,
together with their Followers Of the present Year, got by Phantom and
Hephaestion, to whom the Mares are again supposed to be stinted; also the two last
- named Stallions; and Twenty to Twenty-Five Fillies, of the same Blood.
Terms of Sale—Cash, or approved Orders or Acceptances,
previous to removal of the Stock, which is not to be delayed beyond four weeks,
and a Deposit of Twenty per Cent. will be expected at the Sale.
To commence at the Hour of Ten in the fore-noon precisely.
J. GRIFFITH.
SUGAR ESTATES IN CULTIVATION IN JAMAICA:
WESTMORELAND
Albany , Charlottenburg and Masemure - Anthony Charley
Belleisle - Heirs of Wm. Vickers (S. H. Morris)
Blue Castle - Samuel H. Morris
Jamaica Hurricane of 3 October 1780
(NB there was another, almost as devastating on 1 August 1781, when John
Maitland lost his ship – see below).
(found in PRO CO142?)
It is said, a mighty wave rose out of the boiling sea and swept over the coast
for a mile.
The morning of October 3, 1780, dawned crisp and clear - a typical Jamaican
day. In the southwestern part there was a slight wind and a few intermittent
showers, but all in all things were calm and looking to remain so. By midday,
all that changed. Here is how the Governor, Colonel John Dalling described this
change of events in his official report to London:
"The sky on a sudden became very much overcast, and an uncommon elevation
of the sea immediately followed. Whilst the unhappy settlers at Savanna-la-Mar
were observing this extraordinary Phenomenon, the sea broke suddenly in upon
the town, and on its retreat swept every thing away with it, so as not to leave
the smallest vestige of Man, Beast, or House behind." (Black, 1965, p.
109).
That was only the beginning of the destruction. The catastrophe Dalling
described above was followed by what many called the most devastating hurricane
to have hit the island up to that point in its history. By midday buildings on
the southwest coast of the island began to sway back and forth as if they were
balancing on a tightrope. Fires broke out and spread. By 4 p.m. the full force
of the hurricane had arrived and the town of Savanna-la-Mar lay directly in its
path. It is said, a mighty wave rose out of the boiling sea and swept over the
coast for a mile. Along with the debris of the homes and businesses, two ships
and a schooner were carried along and left stranded among mango trees.
By nightfall, not one building was left standing in the town or for 30-40
miles on either side. In addition, all building in the parishes of Westmoreland , Hanover, and some in parts of St. James and St. Elizabeth, were demolished.
Property owners were unable to identify their estate boundaries. Slave
provision grounds were demolished. Trees and plants were blown away and
flattened, mountains and valleys, denuded, the majority of its population,
drowned or crushed to death.
Rivers were running through new channels large lakes were seen in
districts which a day before had been covered in cane fields huge rocks were
hurled down from the highest mountains deep ravines formed across the roads,
which were everywhere impassable (Gardner, History of Jamaica).
In the days that followed, husbands looked for wives, mothers for sons,
sisters for brothers, to no avail. It is impossible to tell just how many lives
were lost. The dead lay unburied and disease began to spread.
The destruction of the food crops resulted in a famine, and because the
American War of Independence was being waged, none could be imported from the
nearby colonies. Thousands of slaves starved to death.
In Kingston citizens raised 10,000 pounds to help their countrymen in the
west. The British government sent an additional 40,000 pounds. The damage,
however, was estimated at 700,000 pounds.
Plato the Wizard
FOLKLORE PINS the devastation of this western town as the work of the runaway
slave known as Plato the Wizard, from beyond the grave. Just before his 1780
execution, the renowned obeahman pronounced a curse on Jamaica - predicting that his death would be avenged by a terrible storm set to befall the island
before the end of that same year.
It is said that Plato and his band of other runaways kept the parish of
Westmoreland in a state of perpetual alarm from his stronghold in the Moreland Mountains. Plato warned that whoever dared lay a finger on him would suffer
spiritual torments. It is not surprising that no slave would set traps for
Plato even though the reward for his capture was great.
Plato, who like Tacky was an example of the type of spirit slavery could not
hold, did have one weakness - rum, and it was to prove his downfall. During a
time when his usual supplies were curtailed as a result of a massive hunt on
for his arrest, he arranged with a watchman he knew well, to go out and get him
some rum. The watchman decided to use the rum as bait. It was easier than he
expected. Soon after he handed Plato the rum, he fell into a drunken stupor and
right into the watchman's trap. Plato was captured, tried and immediately
sentenced to death. In response, he coolly cursed any and everything in sight
as a dreadful power is said to have descended on him. Plato terrified the
jailer who tied him to the stake by announcing that he had cast an obeah spell
on him and he did not have long to live. Soon after Plato's death, the jailer
fell ill and died. Before the year was over, Plato's other curse came true -
the island was hit by what was described as the "most terrible hurricane
that ever spread death and destruction even in West Indian Seas." The region where Plato the Wizard had roamed free and died in betrayal was hardest
hit.
Wrath of Plato's Spirit
Jamaica was not the only island to suffer the effects of
the hurricane of 1780. Martinique lost 7,000 people and Barbados, 4,300. Jamaica was ravaged again by another massive hurricane in the following year. Over
a hundred ships were driven ashore, and all newly-planted provision grounds,
destroyed.
More hurricanes followed in that decade alone - 1784, 1785, 1786. Could it be
that Plato's spirit continued to hover over the island?
Hurricanes also swept Jamaica in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in the
following years:
1804, 1815, 1818, 1830, 1832, 1844, 1874, 1879, 1880, 1903, 1916, 1917, 1944,
1951 (Charlie which damaged Kingston, Port Royal and Morant Bay) 1963, (Flora) and 1988 (Gilbert)
Sources: Gardner, W. J. (1971). A History of Jamaica. London: Frank Cass &
Co. Ltd. Robertson, C. (1987) Fight for Freedom. Kingston: Kingston Publishers
Ltd. Black, C.V. (1965) The Story of Jamaica. London: Collins.
From Colonial Office files, CO137/79:
I am sorry to be under the disagreeable necessity of informing your Lordships
of one of the most dreadful calamities that has happened to this colony within
the memory of the oldest inhabitant.
On the morning of the 2 instant, the weather being very close, the sky sudden
became very much overcast, and an uncommon elevation of the sea
.........
Then the quotation given above
......
This most dreadful catastrophe was succeeded by the most terrible hurricane
that ever was felt in this country, with repeated shocks of an Earthquake which
has almost totally demolished every building in the Parishes of Westmoreland,
Hanover Part of St James and some parts of St Elizabeth's and killed, members
of the white Inhabitants as well as of the negroes. The wretched inhabitants
are in a truly wretched situation not a house standing to shelter them from the
inclement weather not clothes to cover them, every thing being lost in the
general wreck. And what is still more dreadful Famine staring them in the face.
Kingston merchants £10000 value of different kinds of provisions etc.
W/mland £950000 loss. Hanover 1/4 property lost.
from Governor Dalling to Lord George Germaine.
Letter dated 8 Oct to General Dalling (extract).
.... The weather had appeared very indifferent for some days before, but that
morning the wind became more violent than usual, with a most terrible swell of
the sea, which by after noon, increased to such a degree, that it has not left
the wreck of six houses on both the bay & Savanna and not less than 300
people of all colours were drowned or buried in the ruins,....
Line of destruction, from Bluefields northwards.
Signed by inter ALIA, Thos Thistlewood, Thos & John Tomlinson.
Letter from John Campbell of Salt Spring, Hanover.
Letter from Montego Bay re destruction.
From the PRO, Kew, CO137/79 Page 41 on:
A report on the October 3 1780 Hurricane, Jamaica.
Extract from the Supplement to the Kingston Gazette, 14 Oct 1780.
St Jago de la Nega, Oct 12.
At Savanna la Mar on the afternoon of Tuesday the 3rd Instant, about 3
o'clock, the wind began to blow very hard from the South-east, accompanied with
heavy rain and by four had acquired such strength as to tear the trees up by
the roots and strip houses of their shingles. Between five and six the sea
began to rise and continued for near an hour to swell to a most amazing height,
over flowing the ill fated town of Savanna la Mar and the low lands adjacent.
From this time until eight o'clock, the force of the wind and the impetuosity
of the waves, overthrew and demolished every house in that unfortunate place,
and buried most of the inhabitants in the ruins. A little after eight it began
to abate, but never the less continued to blow very hard until midnight, when
the wind veered round to the westward. No pen can describe the horrors of the
scene which morning presented to the sight of the few who survived to lament
the fate of their wretched neighbours the earth strewed with the mangled bodes
of the dead and dying, some with broken limbs, who, in that situation, had been
tossed about during the storm, and afterwards left on the wet, naked earth to
languish out the night in agonies with nor hand to help, or even pity them.
Humanity recoils at the contemplation of such unheard of calamities and every
feeling heart must melt at the dear recital.
The names of the unhappy sufferers which we have yet been able to learn
are: The Comptroller of that Port, Mr McDowal, Dr King, his wife and two
assistants, Misses Forbes and Dallas, and four children, Mr Nesbit a carpenter,
Mrs Allwood and three children, Mrs Gibson and two children, Mr John
Fotzgerald, Dr Lightfoot, Mr William Antrobus junr, Messrs Aaron Touro and
Moses Nunes, and the nephew of the latter, Miss Pesoa, a child of Mr Payne, Mr
W McLean, his wife and children, Mr Slap, Mr Little, three quadroon children,
and a great number of negroes. We are informed by Gentlemen who are just
arrived from that quarter, that bodies of eighty white persons have already
been found, and many more are expected to be dug out of the ruins, and it is
thought not less than 400 whites and negroes must have perished in and about
Savanna-la-Mar.
The ships Henry, Princess Royal and Austin Hall, then at Anchor in the
harbour, with two or three Doggers, were driven from their moorings, and
carried a considerable way up into the Morass from whence it will be impossible
to get them off. The Princess Royal had four anchors out, and the crew were
attempting to get out a fifth, when the wind carried it fairly off the deck
some distance into the sea. One of the ships went over the Fort, the parapet of
which, at other times is about fifteen feet above the level of the water. The
Trimmer, a packet from Rattan, which lay at Bluefields, was likewise sent
ashore, but all hands were saved, though some belonging to the other vessels
were lost.
Throughout the whole Parish of Westmoreland, from the best information we
can obtain, there is not a dwelling house, outhouse or a set of works on any of
the estates left standing. The Canes, Corn, Plantain trees and every production
of the earth destroyed. At one estate, Blue Castle, report says, that 200
negroes were killed in a boiling house whither they had fled for shelter:
along the sea coast many dead bodies scattered about, probably driven ashore
from some wreck, meet the eye of the passenger and one uniform scene of
desolation and devastation overspreads the face of that part of the country.
From St Elizabeth, our accounts are much more favourable. Some estates
there have suffered, but in a far less degree than those in Westmoreland, Hanover and St James, over which the greatest force of the hurricane seems to have passed.
At Black River, a few houses are overthrown, but none of any consequence. Some
plantain walks, cane and corn pieces are likewise destroyed.
A letter from Lucea says that upwards of 400 persons, white and black,
perished in that Town and neighbourhood.
A Gentleman from Savanna-la-Mar gives the following relation of the fatal
catastrophe of that devoted town.
On Tuesday the 3rd Instant about one o'clock in the afternoon, the gale
began from the S.E. and continued increasing with accumulated violence until
four when it veered to the South and became a perfect tempest, which lasted in
full force till near eight it then abated. The sea, during the last period,
exhibited a most awful scene the waves swelled to an amazing height, rushed
with an impetuosity not to be described, on the land, and in a few minutes
determined the fate of all houses on the bay. Those whose strength or presence
of mind enabled them to safety in the Savanna took refuge in the miserable
remains of the habitations there, most of which were blown down, or much
damaged by the storm, as to be hardly capable of affording a comfortable
shelter to the wretched sufferers. In the Court House, forty persons, whites
and of colour, sought an asylum, but miserable perished by the pressure of the
roof and sides, which fell upon them. Number were saved in that part of the
House of Mr Finlayson, that luckily withstood the violence of the tempest, -
himself and another Gentleman, had by it (?), when the wind forced open the
door, and carried away the whole of the lee side of it, and sought safety under
the wall of an old kitchen, but finding they must inevitably perish in the
situation, they returned to the house, determined to submit to their fate.
About ten, the water began to abate, and at that time a smart shock of an
earthquake was felt. All the small vessels in the bay were drove on shore and
dashed to pieces. The ships Princess Royal, Captain Ruthwin, Henry Richardson
and Austin Hall, Austin were forced from their anchors, and carried so far into
the morass, that they will never be got off. The earthquake lifted the Princess
Royal from her beam ends, righted her, and fixed her in a firm bed this
circumstance has been of great use to the surviving inhabitants for whose
accommodation she now serves as a house.
The morning ushered in a scene too shocking for description - Bodies of the
dead and dying scattered about the watry plains where the town stood, presented
themselves to the agonizing view of the son of humanity whose charity lead him
in quest of the remains of his unhappy fellow creatures! The number who have
perished, is not yet precisely ascertained, but it is imagined 50 whites and
150 persons of colour are lost. Among them are numbered Dr King his wife and
four children, his partner, an assistant, Mr Nesbit, a Carpenter and 24
negroes, all in one house. Dr Lightfoot, an Mr Antrobus were found dead in the
streets. In the whole parish, it is said, there are not five dwelling houses,
and not one set of works remaining the plantain walks all destroyed every
canepiece levelled several white people, and some hundreds of negroes killed.
In the adjoining parish of St Elizabeth, altho' the face of the country
wore a less horrible aspect than at Westmoreland, much damage was done and
several lives lost.
Our accounts from Lucea, though not particular, are terrible indeed - the
Town, except two houses, those of Messrs A & D Campbell and the adjoining
tenement of Mr Lyons, levelled to the ground many lives lost, and in the whole
parish of Hanover, but three houses standing - not a tree, bush or cane to be
seen - universal desolation prevails! Of the wretched victims to this violation
of the course of nature, we can only as yet name Messrs Aaron & Salmon Dias
Fernandez, two ancient Gentlemen of the Jewish nation, one aged 81, the other
80, of respectable and venerable characters. Three young ladies, Misses
Samuels, at Green Island - The elegant house of John Campbell Esquire at Salt
Spring Kendall and Campbell town and of that of Mr Chambers, at Batchelors
Hall, no longer adorn that rich and fertile parish - Captain Darling, Mrs
Darling, and Mr Maxham, were dragged out, barely alive, from the ruins of an
arch that supported a flight of steps, under which they had sheltered
themselves - Fourteen or fifteen people of colour were buried in a store that
fell in upon them.
Petition from the Inhabitants of Westmoreland to the Governor
October 1780
Sir,
The remaining distressed inhabitants of the place where Savanna –la – Mar once
stood beg leave to acquaint your Excellency of a most dreadful disaster which
befell that unhappy town on Tuesday the 3rd inst. The weather had appeared very
indifferent for some days before, but that morning the wind became more violent
than usual with a most terrible swell of the sea which by afternoon increased
to such a degree that it has not left the wreck of six houses in both the Bay
and Savanna and not less that 300 people of all colours were drowned or buried
in the ruins – such havoc never was seen in the memory of the oldest person
living , nor can words or writing convey an idea suitable to the dismal scene.
Our account from the country and also from Hanover are equally melancholy,
scare a house standing or any estate, and all the provisions destroyed. It is
some comfort however to understand that the violence has not extended very far
and that a line may perhaps be drawn from Bluefields directly northwards. What
claims us most at present is the dread of famine, which stares us in the face,
and it we have not some speedy relief of bread kind, the few that have survived
that unfortunate day will most probably fall victim to the more terrible fate
of perishing with hunger.
In this distress we must look to the town of Kingston for relief – their
humanity it is to be hoped will not suffer us to perish for want nor take any
advantage of our misery and wretchedness which God knows is nearly as bad as it
can be. For the calamity has been so general this way that no one can help his
neighbour, nor have many of us shelter for our heads from the inclemency of the
weather or cloaths to cover us, even fire, dreadful as it is, is nothing to
what we have so lately experienced.
We have likewise addressed the Admiral on this occasion,
