The descendants of Francis Maitland of Jamaica
Issue Date: 22/01/2024 (change history at end)
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The Jamaican Wright Family
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Private information as endnotes (removed before websave).
Images are referenced to another file in which they are shown
n high resolution (prefix M for Maitland file and W for Wright file)
1. THE JAMAICA MAITLAND FAMILY IN SUMMARY
3. Francis Maitland 1 Descendants (except Francis 2)
1/1. Frances Ann Maitland - 1807
1/2. Andrew Wright Maitland - 1809
1/6. Emma Rebecca Maitland - 1815
1/8. Alexander Maitland - 1819
1/9. Septimus Maitland - 1821:
1/10: Octavius Maitland - 1823:
4. FRANCIS MAITLAND 2nd: - 1811
1/1. Francis Maitland (1836) AM05/01
1/3. John Andrew Maitland – abt 1838
The Topsham Carpenters & Mugfords
The Proceedings of the Old Bailey Ref: t17561020-44
John Sherman interview Feb 2022:
7. The Wives of the Andrew Wright Maitlands
COOPERS of COOPER'S HILL, Jamaica
COOPER FAMILY of Edzell & Giddy Hall
Coroner’s Inquest, September 1830
10. Frank J Maitland - Daybreak
"DAYBREAK.": BY ONE WHO KNOWS HIM
JAMAICA MAITLAND PARISH RECORD EXTRACTS
PORT ROYAL parish records (film 1291768):
APPENDIX – DESCENDANTS OF THE HON. JOSEPH JAMES SWABY
10. ANN MARGARET ELEANOR SWABY
Appendices In Jamaica General Volume:
SLAVE REGISTRATION RECORDS
MT:
The information has been derived initially from an original handwritten
Maitland family tree, starting with Francis Maitland (1), continuing in various
hands to NG Maitland and others. This has been confirmed and expanded from
Parish Records held by the LDS and from wills and other sources. This tree was
probably compiled by the Maitlands in the Far East about 1900 and amended
later.
MB/PJR:
A copy of what appears to be a Bible entry held be Peter Rushbrooke confirms
the earlier details of the Maitland Tree: From the handwriting, this manuscript
was probably written by Andrew Wright Maitland, snr. (1809-56), Peter’s great
grandfather. The last entry was John’s death in 1853. A transcript was also
made by his grand child, probably by Catherine Maitland, mother of Peter
Rushbrooke. The extra entries by the grandchild of AWM were probably correct as
they would have come via AWM 2 and his wife, Emma who did not die until 1968.
This particularly applies to the origin of Ann Katherine (Tomlinson) Maitland.
1: JPR: Jamaica Parish Records
2: PR: English Parish records
3: Cxx: English Census, xx being the year.
4: PJR: Peter J. Rushbrooke papers.
JA: Jamaica Almanac.
DPNJ: Dictionary of Place-Names in Jamaica (extracts) Inez Knibb Sibley
(Institute of Jamaica 1978).
BM: Further information from Beth (Newbery) Maitland[i]
11/14/00, living near Towcester.
JFS: Jamaica Family Search site, a lot of valuable peripheral, background
information.
BAH: Brett Ashmeade Hawkins, a Florida resident, who has made a study of
the Mitcham and Giddy Hall families and sent me some good emails in 2006.
LL: Lloyds List of shipping
NCH: North China Herald: The English North China
Herald is universally acclaimed as the prime printed source in any language for
the history of the foreign presence in China from around 1850 to the 1940s [1st
issue about 1 August 1850]. The paper was found online from the early days
until about 1926, coincidentally just covering NG Maitland’s departure.
Directory of Scottish Settlers in North America, 1625-1825 by David Dobson: Vol
III: James Maitland, planter died Jamaica, Sept 1773.
Scots Magazine, Issue 35 p 559, Nov 1773, National Library of
Scotland checked June 1995: no further information. This
information however started me looking further for Francis (1)
antecedents.
Jamaica General has property and other
miscellaneous information.
Who was: Vol 4 - Extracts from the Columbian Magazine
1797 Nov: died at Golden Grove Estate (Trelawney) Mr Robert Maitland,
millwright.
1784: Francis 1 Born Jamaica
1788: Jamaica – Ann Wright birth Jamaica
1794, March: John & William Salmon notice to leave the Island
William Salon died on passage of the August fleet to England (JG 20/12/94)
1799, March: Andrew Aright and lady arrived Jamaica.
1804, July: newspaper ref to Mrs Francis Maitland, Bristol
1804, November: Rebecca Wright made her will in Bristol.
1805, May: Rebecca Wright probate.
1806, February: Andrew Wright died Surrey.
1806, July: FM/AW married, London.
1807, May: Frances Ann Maitland born.
1808, February: Frances Ann Maitland ch Camberwell.
1808: Travel – FM crossing 2/08-4/08.
1808, March: FM buys Giddy Hall, maybe via attorney John Salmon.
1809, March: sold house in BR
1809, April: Son Andrew born Jamaica
1809, Nov: sold 2 houses in BR.
1809, July: sold The Cove.
1810, Aug: Son John born Giddy Hall
1811, Dec: Son Francis born Giddy Hall, Ch St E Apr/14
1813, Aug: Son Richard born Giddy Hall
1813, June: Jack a congo from Cl’don workhouse to FM Alligator Pond
1814, April: Baptisms: AWM, JM, FM, RM, St Elizabeth.
1814, Aug: Son Richard died
1815, Mch: dau Emma born, Giddy Hall
1816, Nov: George Roberts married Rebecca Wright, Hackney, London.
1817, Aug: Edward Roberts b Giddy Hall, ch Camberwell, Aug 1818.
1818, Apr: Son George born Giddy Hall, ch ST E, Mch/21
1818: FM leaving notice to sec office 27/3/1818.
no sailing found to end 1818,
probably both Francis & George sailed from Black River and no gazette
record.
George Roberts 1 May Leaving notice to sec's office.
1818, Dec: Dau Frances died Bristol, bur Westbury on Trim
Baptists.
1819: Travel – FM between Jan & May 1819 from Bristol to Jamaica –
No newspaper entries found, Jan to June.
1819, May: Alexander Maitland born at Giddy Hall 31 May
1819.
1821, January: FM buys 300 acres adjoining Giddy Hall.
1821, January: Septimus Maitland born Giddy Hall Jan 1821
1821, Feb: Agreement between George Roberts & Francis re Mitcham etc
1821, March: George, Alexander & Septimus baptised St E.
1823, March: Octavius Maitland born Giddy Hall.
1823, April: FM bt 4 slaves
1823, November: FM will, prob made in Jamaica, (witness John Racker Webb)
1824, January: FM & GR sold Ramsgate to Elizabeth (Wint) Wright.
1823/4: FM to England for health.
Gazettes chkd Nov & Dec 23, Jan-Apr 24 not available.
1824, March: AWM enters Guy’s.
1824, August: FM dies, The Strand, London
1825, Jan: JG entry of his death
1825, January: Ann Maitland res 5, Commercial Place, Lambeth.
1825, December: Octavius Maitland baptised, Kennington.
1826, 10 May: Ann M made her will, then of Chester Pl., Lambeth.
1826, June: Mrs M & 2 children landed Black River in the Frederick.
Mrs Ann Maitland – Mrs Sarah Hastings – Mr John Maitland and Master Octavius Maitland came to Jamaica on the Barque Frederick, Capt Curtis – arrived in Black River in twenty seven days from Gravesend – December 1825. (AWM journal date, but Gazette & Lloyds has June).
1827: AWM at Guy’s.
1830: AWM at Guy’s.
1831, November: Andrew Maitland returns to Jamaica on Volusia.
1832, January: Emma Maitland arr. Jamaica with AWM.
1832, November: Emma Maitland married Samuel Sherman.
1833, July: George arr. Jamaica 28 July at PR “of Black River”.
1833, Oct 23: Ann (Wright) Maitland dies, Giddy Hall.
1834, February: FM2 & HC marry, London.
1835: Alexander Maitland dies (Appleton).
1836, January: FM2 sails to Port Royal
1836, September: FM2 Arr London from Port Royal.
1836, September: FM3 baptism, then resident MEOT.
1838: FM2 son JAM born 15/7/1838, Jamaica.
1840, October: Octavius died, Font Hill, Jamaica.
1841: London – Septimus resident Commercial Rd, MEOT (Stepney).
1842: London – February, FM2 makes will before sailing.
1842: London – February, FM2 for Rio.
1842: Jamaica – Jas Francis Maitland b St E, bap 6/1843
1842: London – August, FM2 from Rio to Hamburg
1842: Newcastle – Nov FM2 sails to death.
1842: Jamaica – November, Maitland, lady & child, Port Royal from
Portsmouth.
1845: Jamaica – John Maitland supposed owner of Giddy Hall (In will 75%).
1845: George M sells out of Giddy Hall to 4 other parties
1847: Jamaica – AWM Married
1848: Jamaica – John Maitland married
1850: Jamaica – George Maitland died
1850: AWM sold his share to John.
1850: Jamaica – November, AWM bought Mount Charles
1852: Jamaica – June, John Maitland will before crossing.
1853: London – February John Maitland died.
1856: Augusta M, widow of John, married JM Cooper
1856: Jamaica – AWM buried
1859: Septimus sold his share in GH to Cooper
1869: Francis 3 sold his 1/8th share in GH to Cooper
1870: JA Maitland sold his share in GH.
Francis Maitland Travels
1805, Bef mid 1804, Wrights and Maitlands to London
1808-09: FM to Jamaica, prob bef May 1808.
1818 – 3/18 – notice to leave, FM to England – no sailing found to end 18
1819: between Jan & May 1819 from Bristol to Jamaica
1823/11 – 08/1824 To London to die.
AWM to London.
1826, June - Ann & 2 children return.
George Roberts Travels:
1816, Bef Nov, GR to London (or was he already in London?)
11/1816 – 8/1817 To Jamaica
1818 May 1: Notice to leave no sailing found.
11/1818 – 04/1822. GR In England
4/1822 – Jamaica – 7/1827
Bristol Connections:
John Racker Webb, Wint/Angell connection b Keynsham
1800: Francis articled lawyer, Bristol.
1804, July: Advert re Mrs Francis Maitland, 2 Alfred Rd, Bristol.
1805 - Rebecca Wright died there.
1818 - Frances Ann Maitland died & buried Bristol.
Firstly, due to the plethora of Francis Maitlands in this story, they are
numbered, 1-3 (and 2 more in later generations!
From the perspective of the descendants of my great grandfather, Francis
Maitland 3 (baptised 1836 in London), nothing was known in our branch about the
Jamaica connection until, by a lucky chance, I, Antony Maitland established the
connection. We had a copy of a hand written tree showing the family back to
Francis, born 1784, with dates of birth, but no places. It was probably drawn
up very early in the 20thC perhaps when the family were all together
in the Far East. As it happens, Francis & Ann’s marriage was in London and
on the Mormon’s early database, so I went to look you the records of St Clement
Danes. It transpired that he was also buried there, so still no Jamaican
connection. Finding his death duty record describing him as of Jamaica was the
first lead to Jamaica.
My father certainly knew nothing of Jamaica, but his father, NGM must have
done, but it seems never to have been mentioned; he even described himself as
of Scottish descent on entry into the US in about 1920. My suspicion is that he
and his wife kept it quiet so as not to upset her American relatives: the civil
war must still have been a vivid memory in 1878! It is interesting that Peter Rushbrooke,
who descended from Andrew Wright, eldest son of Francis 1, knew all about the
story from his grand mother, who did not die until 1978 (compared to her
brother-in-law’s son, Francis my G-grand father who died in 1901).
The Jamaica Maitlands are descendants of Richard Maitland, a mariner of
London, whose will was drafted in 1740, but proved in 1779; he may have been
connected with the family of Maitlands who were merchants in the City of London in the mid to late 18thC, but his wife, Sarah, called him a native of Ireland[1];
more recent DNA evidence suggests a family at Oyne, west of Aberdeen. His son, John,
was also a mariner, and later a planter and merchant of St Elizabeth. John
arrived more permanently when he was shipwrecked in Black River Bay[2]
in 1781 in a Hurricane, it is not known if he ever went back to England. John’s
planter descendants are probably responsible for most of the Maitlands in Jamaica, either "directly" or by freed slaves taking the employer's surname. The Sherman family of St Elizabeth are also descendants of John Maitland's grand-daughter.
The Maitland family were twice connected with the long established and
extensive Wright, Burton, Booth and Sinclair families,
who are described in a separate volume.
This branch of the family became "pen-keepers" around Black River in
St Elizabeth Parish in the South West of Jamaica. "Pens" were
livestock farms in Jamaica, although they often produced other crops such as
pimento (allspice berries) and coffee. They were not as wealthy as the sugar
barons, and tended to be regarded as a lower social level than the barons. As
the sugar industry declined after the emancipation of the slaves and the
introduction of sugar beet in Europe, the pen keepers became the old
"squirearchy" of the Island.
The family of Francis Maitland 1st were brought up at Giddy Hall
Pen in St Elizabeth and spread out from there. It was only in the family for
about 50 years, but was the origin of them. The Jamaica Handbook, of 1891-2
describes the Church of Giddy Hall as about 7 miles north of the town of Black River. The ground and the materials and a certain amount of endowment were granted
by the late J. S. Cooper; while the work that was necessary for the erection of
the building was very cheerfully given by the large congregation that now
assembles in the Church. The Cooper family lived at Giddy Hall until the mid
1920's, but by then had exhausted the estate and it left this branch of their
family.
One thing that has come out of the story is, relatively speaking, how often
they travelled: Francis went to Britain at least 3 times in his life, the last
due to ill health before he died in London. Ann continued voyaging to and fro,
and their son Francis became a seaman. Maybe this was why many of the later
generations worked in the Far East, mainly China.
Much research (before we found he was not our ancestor – John Maitland’s
will referred to the wrong mother!) was done on Frederick Maitland and is on
file. Details of the life of Capt Frederick Lewis
Maitland, RN 1730-86 and of his Scottish descendants.
There were a few other Maitlands in Jamaica who were probably itinerant members
of the wider clan, for instance:
A Robert Maitland, miller, died Golden Grove Estate, Trelawney, Nov 1797 (VLO
V4 P271). No trace in the parish records.
There were Maitland merchants of London with Caribbean connections both in
Jamaica and elsewhere; they were Richard, Robert snr, Robert Jnr and Alexander
Maitland, trading in Jamaica in the latter half of the 18thC. They owned land
on the island then. A section in the Jamaica General
volume gives brief details of their activities and the West India Committee.
A William Maitland was at Carawina Estate to the NE of Sav la Mar in Westmoreland
in the 1820’s, being buried in 1834 aged about 35. He had issue by Susan
Gladstone.
His inventory is noted in the Wills file (150f188 £520), as well as a James
Maitland of Hanover.
He may have been of the Wedderburn family.[3]
A William Maitland listed in the 1823 census of Hanover at Harding Hall aged
28, white, probably the same one.
The principal individuals are summarised below. Full details
follow together with all their offspring:
Full details
Summary:
Parents: Richard & Sarah Maitland.
Bap Shadwell, as Jno Francis Maitland, 16/10/1745, of King James Stairs,
18 days old, although this seems young to be surgeon of the Hungerford in 1761.
Will: Dated 25 October 1786, proved 24 January 1787,
Inventory: entered 20 May 1787.
A Mariner, planter & merchant. The father of Francis Maitland 1, by Rebecca
Dunston Wright.
See Wright Family for details of hers and related
families.
Francis Maitland 1st was born 25/2/1784 in St Elizabeth, the son
was the son of John Maitland, a mariner, merchant and planter who died a few
years after Francis' birth and a free Quadroon named Rebecca Wright. He died in
London in 1824. He had a brother, Richard, who must have died before 1804. He
was described as a man of colour, but was subject of a "Privilege
Bill" in 1784 which gave his grand mother, Patty Penford, his mother and
aunt and himself the rights of a white.
Francis himself became a planter owning a pen called Giddy Hall in St
Elizabeth parish in the South-West of the island: he bought this property in
1809 for £5000 from the Delaroche family of Gloucestershire. He died in London
in 1824.
The father of Francis Maitland 3rd.
Francis (2) was born at Giddy Hall 29/12/1811 of Francis (1) and Ann
(Wright) Maitland, and died at sea in November 1842, probably in a fierce storm
in the North Sea 22-23 November, when master of a brig sailing from Newcastle
to Malta and Constantinople.
Francis (2) spent his early life on the family pen, Giddy Hall. Francis
was, for at least some of his life, a seaman. His recorded voyages were in a
commercial vessel, the Westbroke (master, Freeman), on which he was mate on a
voyage between London, Jamaica (Port Royal) and return in 1836 between January
and September and the voyages in Helen Maria.
Francis 3 (1836-1901) was not born in Jamaica, but has still had Jamaican
connections in that his younger brother, John, was born on the Island, so he
must have gone there as a child.
He had 4 sons, John Andrew, Francis, Edward William and Nathaniel George
(“NG” – my grand-father), and one daughter, Harriet Matilda. All the sons had
children, but Harriet did not: she became a doctor. 3 of the sons spent much of
their working lives in the Far East. Only Edward and NG left continuing family.
Little definite is known about Francis, except that he was not a success
financially (he left £136 [10k in 2003], in his will while his brother, the
well known "Uncle JAM", left £220,000 [£14M 2003]), and probably
spent much time away from home. He would have travelled to Jamaica in his
youth, but was brought up with his mother's second husband. He lived most of
his life in London, but is reputed to have chased his fortune around the gold
fields. Existing photographs of him show him looking rather disreputable!
see John Maitland for John Maitland's story.
For more details the next 3, see Wright Family
chapter which includes will and other details.
Concubine of John Maitland:
The mother of Francis Maitland (1)
St Elizabeth PR: Born: St Elizabeth, May 1749.
Parent: Patty Penford, mulatto, father maybe Dunston Wright.
Partner: John Maitland
Died: early 1805, Bristol, buried Black River.
Issue:
1/1. Francis Maitland, ch. 25/2/1784.
1/2. Richard Maitland, ch 4/8/1786. (StE PR)
Born: Abt 1752, probably England.
Parents: Francis & Ann Marie Wright of St Catherine.
Concubine: Ruth Sinclair, mulatto, in Jamaica.
Married: Elizabeth Mary Pusey.
Died: 24/2/1806, Mitcham, Surrey, England.
St Elizabeth PR a free "mestize" in children's record:
Born: abt 1764, ch April 1768 age abt 4 yrs.
Parent: dau of Judith Burton by John Sinclair.
Partner: Mr Andrew Wright.
Issue: (both reputed daughters of Mr. Andrew Wright by Ruth Sinclair, a free Mestize,
child reputed white, named Wright in PR):
1/1. Ann Wright (2/1788).
1/2. Rebecca Wright (ref AW's will)
1/3. Mary Wright (9/1790) d of Andrew W by a negro, Ruth Sinclair.
("The
First")
AM07/01
Born: 25/2/1784MT&JPR, married: 29/7/1806, died: 7/8/1824
Born: 25/2/1784PR, St Elizabeth, Jamaica. Bapt 23 May 1784, “reputed
son of Mr John Maitland by Rebecca Wright”. (Listed under Non White).
Parents: John Maitland & Rebecca Wright.
Married[4]:
29/7/1806 (bachelor) Ann Wright (spinster) @ St Clement Danes, both OTP.
witness Sarah Wynter(?) and John Pusey Wint. Both Francis & Ann signed.
Died: 7/8/1824 @ 8, Arundel St, (Haymarket & Strand area) London. (PR &
MT)
Buried: St Clement Danes, 21/8/1824 age 41.
It is of note that there is a good agreement between the Maitland records and
those in the parish records.
Married[ii]
at Peckham, FM esq, late of Bristol to Miss Wright, eldest dau of the
late Andrew Wright esq, of the island of Jamaica.
Issue, summarised with details of their extensive families in a later section:
1/1. Frances Ann Maitland, 1807-1818.
1/2. Andrew Wright Maitland, 1809-1856, remained in Jamaica with issue.
1/3. John Maitland, 1810-1853, remained in Jamaica, no issue
1/4. Francis Maitland, 1811-1842. Died at sea, our ancestor.
1/5. Richard Maitland, 1813-1814.
1/6. Emma Rebecca Maitland, 1815-?, married Sam Sherman with issue.
1/7. George Maitland, 1817-1850. No known issue
1/8. Alexander Maitland, 1819-1835. No known issue.
1/9. Septimus Maitland, 1821-1902. China and London, with issue.
1/10. Octavius Maitland, 1823-1840. No known issue.
There was no mention of him on the rate rolls for 1822-1824 for Arundel Street.
At the baptism of his son Octavius in 1825, parish records describe him as "Gentleman"
with an abode in Lambeth.
At some point he patented 600 acres of land at Hector’s River, on the
Trelawney/Manchester (St Elizabeth) boundary, mentioned in a note by Andrew
Wright Maitland, 1848. (Rushbrooke Papers). There was also 300 acres bought by
Ann M in 1826 (743/45) in Trelawney probably close to land bought a year or two
later by George Roberts (752/217)
His Story:
Francis Maitland, the first of 5 of that name, was the beginning
of a large family of Maitland descendants who spread themselves widely and are
well documented; some were very prosperous, but not all! This branch of the
Maitlands was only in Jamaica for a relatively short period, all the male lines
had left or died by 1856 (although son Andrew Wright Maitland’s widow remained
until her death in 1888), but his wife, Ann Wright, was from several of the
earliest Jamaican families, two of whom originated in Barbados.
He was named after his maternal grandfather, Francis Wright, his brother
Richard after their paternal grandfather; the forename, Francis, appears in
succeeding generations, the last being my 1st cousins Frances Ann
(Maitland) Winward and Francis, son of uncle Jack. He was the son of John
Maitland, a mariner, merchant and planter who died a few years after Francis'
birth, and a free Quadroon named Rebecca Wright. Whilst his parents were not
married, nor allowed to be under Jamaican law, they seemed to have lived as man
and wife: Rebecca was described as a widow in one document and appears to have
had no other children. The naming of their sons after Francis and Richard
reinforces this view. Quite how John met Rebecca is a matter of speculation,
but he was master of ships sailing to Jamaica in the mid 1770’s when the
Carolina trade became difficult. He was in Black River in 1775 when a sailor
from his ship was buried in the Churchyard. The ship, Atlantic, was a “constant
trader” between London and Jamaica in the late 1770’s. His last ship, the Hope,
was wrecked in Black River bay in a hurricane in August 1781. Rebecca was at
this time with her mother, either at the Cove or a house in the town. Merchant
ships often were in harbour for weeks or months between voyages, waiting for
cargo, weather or convoys, so John and Rebecca would have had plenty of
opportunity to come across one another. Black River at the time was a
prosperous port and thriving economically.
Francis was baptised in St Elizabeth church in Black River, and probably
born at The Cove or in his father’s house which was near the sea shore on the
outskirts of Black River. He had a brother, Richard, who must have died before Rebecca’s
will in 1804. He was described as a free person of colour in several parish
records, but was a subject of a "Privilege Bill" in 1784 which gave
his grand mother, Patty Penford, his mother, his aunt, his cousins and himself
the rights of a white.
His mother Rebecca was the daughter of a Mulatto, Patty (later Penford), a
freed slave said in the Parish record as being "from the Estate of
Roderick Rose"; this looks unlikely in the light of hers and Rebecca’s
manumissions by the Forbes family, although a Rose Hill is marked to the west
of Giddy Hall in 1888. Rebecca’s father was very likely to have been Francis
Wright, making her the ½ sister of Andrew Wright, Francis’s father in law. A
grave belonging to Rebecca Wright is still visible in Black River Churchyard:
this grave is that of Francis' mother. She mentions Francis in her will.
Francis’s son Andrew Wright Maitland writing in his journal around 1850,
said: “Francis Maitland, snr, proprietor of Giddy Hall and Mitcham pen in right
of his wife. Son of Capt. John Maitland, master mariner in the China Trade (incorrect),
a native of Jamaica by birth was taken to England when very young by John
Salmon snr(?) and after receiving a good education was articled to Mr
Christopher Hensley of Gay Street Bristol attorney at law where he remained the
usual period and received 300£ pr annum. He kept his horse &c and my mother
often told me lived a gay & fashionable life until he married her in
London”.
The registration of Francis’s articles confirms he was articled to William
Hartley and Christopher Hensley of Bristol for 5 years, standard term for the
period, for “the consideration therein mentioned” dated 8 November 1800: at the
time, articles cost around £300 (£28K 2023), so AWM’s memory must have been at
fault: Francis paid out £300 rather than receiving it!
To have been an articled clerk, Francis must have been well educated, so AWM’s
memory was correct in Francis’s English schooling. There is an entry for John
and William Salmon leaving St Elizabeth in 1794[iii]
(William was John’s uncle and died on the voyage): Francis was then 10, an
appropriate age to be sent off to school; he must have had a tutor in Black
River to prepare him.
The Salmons were a prominent family in Thornbury & Bristol: two
brothers William & Thomas Stokes went to St Elizabeth in the mid 18th
century and a nephew, John and his sons became prominent in St Elizabeth. John
senior was baptised the son of Brice Webb Salmon and his wife, Hannah
14/11/1773LDS, Publow, Somerset, some 10 miles south of Bristol,
close to Keynsham. From AWM’s story, John Salmon probably brought Francis to
England in 1794 where he was sent to school, quite probably in Somerset or
maybe somewhere like Bristol Grammar school. John Salmon himself at the time
was only about 21, but already married to Elizabeth Vassal, of an important St
Elizabeth family. The Salmons would have had contacts in Somerset so maybe
Francis being articled to a Bristol lawyer came from them.
Francis’s other English relation was his paternal grand-mother, Sarah who
remained in Shadwell, East London, until she died aged 90 in 1810. The Jamaican
family knew of her existence and probably where she lived as she benefitted
from an annuity set up by Francis’s father John.
So, Francis went to Bristol as a boy, going to school there leading to his
clerkship. Mother Rebecca came to England at some stage: she was of Bristol
when she made her will in November 1804 and died probably in Bristol in early
1805. One of her executors was Christopher Hensley, Francis’s “boss”. She had
been in Bristol for a while as implied by this rather curious advertisement
which appeared in the London Star, 14 July 1804:
ADVERTISEMENT.
“IF the Person who some times since addressed a Letter to Mrs. MAITLAND, in
the neighbourhood of London, informing her, that on receiving a liberal
recompense, he would enable her, by the discovery of certain important facts,
to possess herself of a considerable sum of money, will communicate his name
and address to Mrs. Francis Maitland, No. 2, Alfred Road, Bristol, every
preliminary will be arranged to his satisfaction, and a Proposal made which
will be found to be well worthy his attention.”
Rebecca’s half-brother Andrew Wright was in England in the late 1790’s,
returning with his wife to Jamaica in March 1799; he went back to England not
long after, dying there in early 1806. Andrew’s daughters were in England when
he died: perhaps they had been left in England for schooling when Andrew was
there in 1799. Andrew and his future wife, Ann Wright would have known each
other as children and were reunited in London, marrying soon after her father’s
death and when Francis’s articles were completed. Francis and Ann remained in
London for a while after marriage, 29/7/1806, certainly until daughter Frances was
baptised in Camberwell in February 1808. The purchase of Giddy Hall was dated
March 1808, but he may not actually have been on the Island by then, although
he was described as being of Westmoreland in the indenture.
There are references in 1855 by AWM to portraits of his parents: his
father’s was being sent to Septimus in England, and their mother’s was at
Goshen pen, next door to Mitcham. Maybe they were done in England at the same
time as those by J Fruman of Ann’s step brother, John Pusey Wint and his wife
Eliza Bailey, married 8/1/1807, Marylebone:
Francis’s Jamaican grandmother and mother had properties around Black
River. Patty owned a pen (stock farm), the Cove, just inside Westmoreland west
of Black River; its eastern boundary was on Scott’s Cove, now a local tourist
attraction. His father, John also owned some property on the shore on the
outskirts of Black River, as well as land by the Great Pond, but the latter does
not reappear and was probably sold on John’s death. The Cove was probably the
main residence as Francis was “of Westmoreland” when he bought Giddy Hall.
Francis himself inherited these properties including the Cove from his
mother which he sold soon after and bought Giddy Hall Pen in St Elizabeth
parish in the South-West of the island from the Delaroche family in 1809 for
£5000 when that branch had moved back to Gloucestershire. The Jamaica General
volume shows more of the pen and the Delaroche family. With Giddy Hall and other
properties owned by him show him to have been a man of some substance.
He and Ann as half 1st cousins, would have known each other in
Jamaica, where her father, Andrew, was the owner of Mitcham & Silver Grove Pens
in St Elizabeth, only a few miles from Giddy Hall; the Wrights moved to London
at some time early in the 1800’s and a condition of Ann and her sister inheriting
from their father was that they did not go to Jamaica unmarried: was this to
prevent Francis marrying her, which he did soon after her father's death? This
clause explains why they were married in London; there was also a prohibition
of marriages between persons of colour and whites in Jamaica in this period.
Over the ensuing years, he had a number of children, his first daughter
being born in London (and later dying in Bristol in 1818), and the remaining 9
were born in Giddy Hall, but the last, Octavius, was baptised in Kennington.
These events show that Francis, as did some of his contemporaries, made the
journey to England surprisingly often, the sea voyage of perhaps 40 days was
not an insuperable obstacle, although had an element of risk – voyagers often
made their wills before departure. The Jamaica gazette shipping intelligence
often, but not always, had a list of passengers arriving and sailing, but the
numbers and lack of regularity of the entries indicate that it was not
complete. The out-ports had few passenger entries, and it is quite likely that
the Maitlands sailed from Black River or perhaps Savanna la Mar or even
Alligator Pond, now a sleepy backwater. There was also often a list of people
giving notice in the Secretary’s Office of their intention to leave the Island,
perhaps to give notice to their creditors and debtors.
There was a long standing connection with Bristol, he was there on several
occasions, and his mother died there. They had addresses which looked to be
residential, rather then itinerant stops. Whether the connection was simply
because the ships docked there or there was a commercial connection has yet to
be revealed. The other frequent place was London, Camberwell appearing a couple
of times. One curiosity was that his daughter, Frances was buried in the Broad
Mead Baptist burying ground; the residential address was Westbury on Trym. It
seems unlikely that a Jamaican Planter was a Baptist, so perhaps this was a
convenient, acceptable place for a burial.
Francis was in England by mid 1806 when he married Ann Wright in London in July 1806, probably coming with his mother and maybe the Wright family about
1804: Rebecca probably died in Bristol early in 1805[5].
A newspaper[6]
report of their marriage quotes: “At Peckham, Surrey, Francis Maitland esq,
late of Bristol, to Miss Wright, eldest daughter of the late Andrew Wright of
the Island of Jamaica”: this does not agree with the marriage records in St
Clement Danes, although it must refer to the same couple. The Bristol reference
must have been due to him having been there when Rebecca died.
An advertisement on The Star (London) 30 July 1804, read as follows: If
the person who some time since addressed a letter to Mrs Maitland, in the
neighbourhood of London, informing her, that on receiving a liberal recompense,
he would enable her, by the discovery of several important facts, to possess
herself of a considerable sum of money, will communicate his name and address
to Mrs Francis Maitland, No 2 Alfred Road, Bristol, every preliminary will be
arranged to his satisfaction, and a proposal made which will be found to be
well worthy his attention.
His first child, Frances, was born in London in May 1807, and baptised in
Camberwell, February 1808. Soon after, they returned to Jamaica to buy Giddy
Hall, the deed dated March 1808, when he was “of Westmoreland”, probably
resident at The Cove. They probably remained in Jamaica until 1818. In the 27
March 1818 issue of the Gazette, Francis Maitland announced his intention to
leave the Island, for England, probably with the children, his daughter dying
in Bristol in December of that year. Both Francis’s mother and his daughter
Frances Ann died in Bristol: there is crop account evidence that goods were
shipped to Bristol from Giddy Hall, so it is highly likely that the family
travelled on the ships from Black River to Bristol. His brother in law George
Roberts gave a similar notice in the April: George was also a traveller, having
been married in Hackney in 1816, but was in Jamaica in 1817. The shipping
intelligence does not mention the sailing of either of them however. He
returned to Jamaica in early 1819, certainly by May, when son Alexander was
born, and was there until some time after the birth of Octavius in March 1823
when he went back to England “for his health”[7].
Ann stayed on in London until at least the end of 1825 and probably mid 1826,
when Octavius was baptised, at what is now 233-291 Kennington Road in Lambeth,
then a fairly recent development.
At his death (7/8/1824, aged 40) in London, he was described as a
gentleman. An entry in the Royal Gazette for Jamaica, 22-29
January 1825, Deaths column: "In England, whither he had gone for the
benefit of his health, in August last, Francis Maitland esq, proprietor of
Giddy Hall, Mitcham and Silver Grove in the Parish of St Elizabeth."[8]
The baptisms of his children were, as was often the case in Jamaica, some
time after their births: after Frances Ann, his next 4 children were baptised at
Giddy Hall (although recorded in the St Elizabeth Parish records) in 1814, with
12 slaves at the same time, as were 6 belonging to the estate of Andrew Wright.
In 1821, 3 more of his children and 48 slaves were baptised probably at Giddy
Hall, although the record does not say so. This entry calls him a free person
of colour, but names his wife as Ann, reputed white. Some of the slaves were
from Mitcham and Sliver Grove: these pens had come into the family by then from
Ann's father Andrew and were at that time run together by Francis & George
Roberts. There seems to have been a concerted effort in the late 18thC and
early 19thC to baptise slaves – there were few records of slave baptisms before
this time. Some parishes recorded whites and non whites separately – it took a
bit of time to find Francis’s record under non white!
The children's baptism and his slave registration after his death being
held by his executor John Salmon acting as attorney to Ann Maitland and Giddy
Hall Pen confirm that his plantation was Giddy Hall.
Whilst he had 10 children, some of whom had offspring, but all the male
lines left Jamaica although his daughter, Emma, married Samuel Sherman and
remained on the island; she was left Mitcham by her mother. Sherman's still live in the region around Mitcham, and "old Mr Sherman" of
Mitcham greathouse was still remembered in 1998. The remaining known family come
from 2 of his 7 sons, of whom Andrew Wright, John and Francis (2), George and Septimus
survived to adulthood. Andrew returned to Jamaica after training as a doctor in
London married and had 2 children, both of whom left Jamaica. Francis (and his
widow) and Septimus moved to England. Septimus, was in Shanghai in the late
1840’s and became London tea merchant and probably encouraged his nephews and
great nephews to seek their fortunes in the Far East in the late 19th and early
20th Centuries as described below.
In 2020, descendants of Andrew, Francis 2, Septimus and Emma Rebecca are
known.
An extract from the Jamaica Gazette gives a snapshot of the social life in
Black River, maybe the Maitlands were there: “8 Feb 1829 Black River Ball: The
St. Elizabeth’s Ball took place at Free-Mason’s Hall, in this town, on
Wednesday the 4th inst. The firing of cannon from the shipping in the harbour
which was kept up at intervals during the early part of the evening, announced
the approaching festivities. About forty Ladies and double that number of
Gentlemen were present. Dancing commenced between eight and nine o’clock:
Quadrilles, Spanish, and Country Dances, alternately occupied those of the
party, who delighted to foot it On the light fantastic toe, until one o’clock,
When most of the company adjourned to the supper room, and as many as could
find seats, took places at the tables. The supper room was tastefully fitted up
with a variety of flags, and had an elegant appearance. The upper tables were
plentifully supplied (without profusion) with every luxury that could be
reasonably sought for, and the sparkling champagne appeared to have an
exhilarating effect. Supper being ended, dancing was again resumed, and did not
finally cease until daylight warned the dancers it was time, to depart. The
outside of the building was adorned with coloured lamps, fancifully arranged,
and the rooms, appropriated for dancing, were lighted and decorated with an
elegant simplicity which reflected great credit on the taste of the Managing
Stewards, and called forth the admiration and applause of all present. The music
(from Kingston) afforded peculiar gratification to the lovers of sweet sounds;
it far exceeded any thing of the kind we have been accustomed to, on similar
occasions. Upon the whole, the entertainments of the evening surpassed all
others, in point of splendour, to what has been witnessed in this town for many
years past.”
The Gazette has many references to horse racing and other field sports, some on
Lower Works in Black River.
It was dated 23/11/1823 and proved both in Canterbury and Jamaica; the only
bequest was: "All and whatever I may die possessed I leave to my wife Ann
Maitland and her heirs forever”. It was witnessed by Thomas W. Taylor, Jno R. Webb
and William Powell. The executors were: his wife, John Salmon Snr of St
Elizabeth and James Swaby of Manchester and was proved on 4/1/1825.
The witness John Racker Webb, was probably the son of Mary Wint & John
Racker Webb: Mary Wint was the 2nd wife of Francis’s brother-in-law,
George Roberts.
The Swaby's were landowners in St Elizabeth in the 1840's and the Salmon family
owned Fullerswood Plantation in St Elizabeth.
James was probably the grand son of Hon Joseph James Swaby by Ruth Burton (see
Wrights, under the section on Benjamin Burton (1764))[10]
Also found were the death duty record (IR26 ref 1094):
"Francis Maitland of Jamaica, but at Arundel St, Strand - Planter will
dated 29/11/1823.
Executor Ann Maitland of 5, Commercial Place, Lambeth (also shown in the
index). Value £600, no liability. (This was presumably only the assets he had
in England).
5, Commercial Place, Lambeth is now about #69, York Rd, which runs along the west side of Waterloo Station.
His inventory[11]
showed his total personal property (in £J):
Slaves (named): 71 £5550/6/3d
Livestock: £2808/9 – a mix of horses, mules, cattle & sheep.
Pimento: £277/17/6 - 7410lbs
Household and personal property: £240
Total: £8881/9/2d (in 2020 sterling, on price inflation = £605,000 and wage
inflation, £1,767,856)
Sundry Household furniture:
1 chaise & harness £50, 1 catr £20, a still 13/4,
a coffee frame £16, 2/3 fkn rum £11/5, 1 Tea Table £3,
1 breakfast table £2/10, 1 card table £1
1 Dining table £15 2 work-stands,
1 Liquor case 1/12/0, 1 Liquor stand £1
2 old sophas £4, 2 couches £2,
1 bedstead, bed and net £30, 2 beds bedsteads £30,
1 wardrobe £7, 1 chest drawers £5,
11 ship-back chairs £16 3 shades £2,
1 fam wall shade £3, 1 hanging lamp, 15/-,
2 prints 2/13/4, 2 coat racks 18/4,
a lot of books £5 1 ??? £2,
1 floor closet £1, 1 chart of Europe? 10/3.,
1 clock £10, 1 side board and tray £10
1 lot of crockery ware £5, a lot of brass ware 15/-,
4 8/12 doz ?? £14/5, 14 doz ben a7
Porter? 10/10
Francis’s father, John, had bought some land in Black
River as well as farmland to the East of the Great Pond, probably selling most
or all of it before his death. Rebecca left Francis the farm at The Cove (Scott’s
Cove, west of Black River) and a number of dwellings in Black River, six
tenants of which are listed in her inventory: Patty had a dwelling house on
Black River Bay and some land by Lowerworks, an estate on the north side of the
Town. An estate map of 1792 of Black River shows “Patty’s cow pasture”: a
reasonable assumption is that this refers to Rebecca’s mother, so this gives
the location of some of Rebecca’s lands. Most of these properties would have
come to Francis. In 1809[12],
Francis & Ann sold a tenement (a small house) on Black River Bay to one
Mary Hook for J£120; they also sold a Sambo slave to her for J£160[13].
Later that year[14],
Francis & Ann sold 2 plots of land at Logwoods on Black River Bay to Susan
Bradford, previously occupied by Mary Hughes and Rebecca Fuertado dcd. Mary
Hughes and Susan Bradford (not the same spelling) both appear in Rebecca’s
inventory. This left Francis with 3 properties in Black River. One of these
might have been the parcel of what seems to have been residential land bought
by John Maitland on Black River Bay in 1784, between the road and the sea; the
Black River hospital is now there. The piece of land at Black River on the
Lower Works estate is shown on an estate map[15]:
Plate W 74
The Cove was a 213 acre pen bought by Patty, left to
Rebecca and then Francis. It was on the shore to the west of Scott’s Cove,
Patty’s purchase deed has a Plat (Plate
M 01), repeated in later transactions, which fits onto
Google Earth very well. The land between the road and sea has been developed,
but to the NE of the road, it remains what was then referred to as Ruinate
(bush). In its day, it would have been a cattle pen, but no crop returns have
been found. In the 1820’s under the ownership of Thomas Tate, it had about 35
slaves. Rebecca’s inventory shows 80 slaves, but little stock listed; as the
later Almanac returns do not show stock, it is possible that it might have been
a cotton estate. There is plenty of good flat land there. Francis sold it to
Thomas Hogg in 1809 for £1500[16].
At some stage it passed to one Thomas Tate who declared it in the Almanacs of
the 1820’s.
in 1808/9[17],
Francis bought Giddy Hall, a pen of about 850 acres (there was some confusion
over the area: the first mention was for 950 in the conveyance, but later in
the document, a transcription, it was amended to 850 as shown in the plat),
from the Delaroche family and their mortgagees for J£5000 (£1M wage & £300K
stlg price inflation), and was a free person of colour of Westmoreland Parish
at that time (probably Scott’s Cove Pen). The deed for this is complicated
due to the ownership state of Giddy Hall and the Delaroche family and their
creditors, the full text is in Maitland Wills volume
with a summary of the Delaroche family. A later purchase in 1821 increased the
area to about 1165 acres (in 1839, the total holding was given as 2000 acres). The
origin of the name is not known, but there is a village in north Wiltshire,
near Castle Combe, called Giddy Hall (or Giddeahall): perhaps this was a
connection of the Delaroche family?
Giddy Hall pen is at about 1300ft amsl on the escarpment
to the west of the Black River, about 5 miles north of the town (Plate M 02). St
Elizabeth is a relatively dry part of the Island, and the limestone hills have
little or no surface water, so pens usually have systems for collecting and
storing rain water. These are often the barbecue’s (flat concrete pans) laid
out for drying pimento with drain systems into water tanks. Both Giddy Hall and
Mount Charles (which was bought by Francis’s son Andrew) next door have this
arrangement. Whilst there seem to be no estate plans showing the farm, an
aerial survey image of about 1952 (Plate M 03) shows
much of what must have been the layout of the pen, with extensive stone walls
dividing the enclosures: the Satellite image (Plate M 04) of
the same view still has traces of the layout, but the buildings are not now
visible, although much of the kitchen building was still there in about 2010,
the main house having been demolished soon after 1952.
The original house as shown in 2 photographs from 1899 looks to have been
from the late 18thC or early 19thC. It was typical of the era, a timber frame
on a substantial masonry base. There is some unexplained other stonework, maybe
from an earlier building, which can be seen on the survey image and on the
ground. As the site had been in use since probably the mid 18thC, one
possibility is that there was an earlier house which was destroyed in one of
the hurricanes and earthquakes in the 1780’s and rebuilt by the Delaroches.
The Southerly aspect in (Plate M 05)
faces over a garden, and looks out over the Black River with its morass and the
town and sea in the distance. The other photograph Plate 06 is
taken from the NE and shows the back of the house, with the kitchen to the
left; a separate kitchen was normal with Greathouses of this time, both in Jamaica
and the other tropical areas such as the southern USA. The house itself was a
standard pattern, with the main areas on one level, the living areas in the
centre and bedrooms in the wings. The masonry base would have had store areas,
and maybe shelters from hurricanes. Its location high up makes it a pleasant
place to be, catching any breeze available: the view in its heyday would have
been marvellous.
A combined plan of Giddy Hall (with the purchase of 850 acres in 1808 and
300 acres in 1821) and Mount Charles, the neighbouring property bought by his
son Andrew. The plats of the three parcels of land fit well together and coincide
with a ground feature and the road to the east of Mount Charles (Plate M 07).
The 1821[18]
purchase from George Graham Stone was for 300 acres and cost Francis J£1050;
its southern boundary seems to follow a contour line on the map (the blue lines
to the southwest on the above diagram. As with many of these estates, the
boundaries were often straight lines on the map; they would have had some sort
of fence, and may only have been defined by the lines between stones or trees:
rather ephemeral – hence the resurveys carried out later!
Giddy Hall became the family home until it passed via Ann Maitland to her
surviving children; various deeds detail the slow transfer to John Myers
Cooper, the last so far found (6/2020) being Francis 3 selling his share in
1869[19].
John Myers Cooper was the second husband of Francis’s son John, who had
interests in several other properties locally. The Cooper family sold it after
the 2nd World War; it can be seen to be inhabited in the 1952 image: the path
between the house and kitchen can be seen. It was demolished soon after this
date, leaving just some ruined stonework and the dividing walls of the
farmstead.
The Jamaica Almanacs published the results of the annual returns property
owners made showing the numbers of slaves and stock owned: Francis appears in
the first issue publishing the figures for the 1810 year, continuing under his
ownership and Ann’s and lastly their son John. These returns show the pen
owning 75-80 slaves in Francis’s own name and he had a further 40-50 which were
jointly owned with his wife's brother-in-law, George Roberts at Mitcham and
Silver Grove. Stock numbers grew from 140 in 1810 to a maximum of 300 in 1824,
an increase contemporary with the acquisition of the 300 acres in 1821. The
size of the property associated with the family continued to increase after
Francis’s death as described later.
Although primarily a stock farm, other crops were also harvested,
and appear in the crop accounts (theoretically annual, but do not always. See
under Jamaica General for more details of the house
and pens). Livestock included cattle, mules and horses; from time to time,
cartage appears in the accounts. The other products were Pimento, fustic and
logwood (dye woods). The 1824 account lists a telescope: did Francis not take
it to England?! Perhaps it was his father’s from his maritime days. Pimento, or
allspice, was a major source of income: the berries are harvested from large
long standing trees and were sun dried on concrete pans (barbecues). In St Ann,
some properties were exclusive Pimento growers, but in St Elizabeth, the
berries were harvested from existing wild trees as the market dictated. The
harvest was very labour intensive. Logwood played a major part in the economy
of Black River in the 19thC. In some of the earlier returns, cotton was
recorded intermittently, but none after the mid 1790’s. It was probably not
ideal cotton growing land.
The crop returns so far found stretch from 1780 to the 1830’s and show
product ranging between £800-£2000 local currency (usually about 20-25%
discount on sterling). In modern equivalent £150-380K sterling on a wage
inflation and £44-110K on price inflation: the farm would have been mostly self
sufficient, so this figure represents somewhere around the total profit. The
product seems to have decreased in the period before Francis bought the place.
Francis does not appear to have acquired any slaves with Giddy Hall, probably
started with those brought from the Cove; records show him buying a few slaves,
as replacements and for expansion, but most of the slaves on properties such as
these were long term residents and their children. There was a period from
1817-32 when slaves were registered. The first year listed by name and origin
of all the slaves, and subsequent years mostly gave the changes. In 1823[20],
Francis bought 4 slaves for J£110 from John Baxter, a merchant: these appear on
the 1823 return as Sally and her 3 children. He bought another the same year
from the Deputy Marshall who was selling property for debts adjudged to the
owner[21].
He manumitted 2 slaves in 1823/4: 25/7/1823, Frederick Cowan, £140, Frank
Maitland & ux. & 31/5/1824, Louisa Wright, £220, Frank Maitland. All
was not sweetness and light with the slaves however: from the Royal Gazette: St
Elizabeth quarter sessions, 30/10/1832:
Slave indictments: .... Crown v. Fidelia to Giddy Hall pen..... guilty of
running away. Incorrigible runaway, to be transported off the island for life.
Francis became a part owner of Mitcham and the adjoining property, Silver
Grove, with George Roberts, as a result of their father-in-law’s legacy to his
daughters, Ann and Rebecca. For some years, the properties were run as one
unit. At first, they were under Francis’s name, the Almanacs do not mention
George Roberts until 1819. George was married in London in 1816, thereby
acquiring his wife’s assets (refer to the Married Woman’s Property Acts!).
Between 1819 and 1832, they were listed as Maitland & Roberts. By 1837, after
Ann’s death, Mitcham became the property of her son-in-law, Samuel Sherman.
Silver Grove came under George’s sole name in about 1827.
Mitcham was a lowland pen, with good grass land and seems to have been
mainly on cattle, mules and horses. The adjacent estate to the south, Goshen,
was at one stage managed by Ann’s step brother, JP Wint and in the early 19thC
had a noted horse stud and appeared in the racing reports of the time. Mitcham
was to the north of Gutters, and Silver Grove ran up to the top of the hills,
and was a coffee estate ((Plate
W 10)). A more detailed description of these two properties is in Andrew
Wright’s section in the Wright volume.
An entry in the Gazette 12/6/1813 records a slave named Jack being
returned from Clarendon workhouse to Francis M at Alligator Pond: this was
probably from Andrew Wright’s pen at Single Rock. Another issue of the Gazette of
15 Nov 1817, Mr Maitland had a slave restored to him at Mitcham Pen from
Clarendon workhouse, named Jack. In another issue, Francis was one of many in
St Elizabeth who had not made the returns of slaves & stock for 1816, both
for Giddy Hall & Mitcham.
In 1821[22],
Francis and George drew up a detailed set of covenants, detailing the
management of the combined farms; part of the document details how the £300 annuity
to Andrew Wright’s wife Elizabeth Mary Wright should be paid. The deed starts
by stating that Francis and George became entitled to the property in right of
their wives. They agree that they will leave the entire management to one
Thomas Wheatle, the present overseer; it then goes on to specify accounts to be
kept and refers to the dispositions in Andrew Wright’s will (which included
£5000 to JP Wint). If the running costs are not met by the income, some of the
coffee crop shall be sold to make up the deficiency. In addition, at least 10
tierces[23]
(about 6000 lbs, at 1/- per lb[24]
equals £300 sterling) of coffee shall be shipped to Cohen’s of London to cover
the annuity, and a further 10 tierces for plantation supplies: the remainder of
the coffee was to be split equally between them. The 1810 account shows 40
tierces being shipped. The covenants were to be for 3 years, and had other
clauses specifying various other contingencies.[iv]
Ann Maitland’s step mother, Elizabeth Mary Wright, had moved to London
around the time of Andrew’s death and would appear to have remained there. She
was left an annuity of £300 in Andrew’s will. In 1824[25],
the Maitlands and Roberts sold her the 300 acres cotton estate called Ramsgate,
part of Andrew’s estate, for J£1500; it was on the south coast to the east of
Alligator Pond (Plate W
14). There is no evidence of how Andrew acquired it – perhaps it was part
of Elizabeth’s dower, and bounded east on her son, John Pusey Wint.
After Ann’s death, the properties were split up, Mitcham being run by
Samuel Sherman, but remained within the family circle. Several deeds in the
1840’s expand on this: they are described after Ann Maitland’s section.
As in most of not all colonies where slavery existed, the owners were
compensated for the loss of their capital after emancipation. Much has been said
in recent years since these numbers came into public eye, but the compensation
paid by the Home government to the owners was probably partly a pragmatic act –
the slaves were legally part of the owners capital, and represented a large
part of their assets. The economy of the colonies would have collapsed by
effectively removing a large proportion of the asset base. As it was, the
economies suffered in the aftermath: the freed slaves suddenly found that they
had to pay their way instead of having accommodation and food supplied. The
compensation paid to the owners of Giddy Hall in 1837[26]
was £1563/10/2 on 70 slaves, split roughly equally between Ann Maitland’s
executor, John Salmon jnr, and William Morrice, a London merchant creditor (see
a later deed between the brothers). This award of about £22 per head, whilst a
substantial amount, was probably nowhere near the value of the slaves 10 years
before: a woman and her 3 children were bought by Francis for £J110 in 1823,
and Andrew Wright’s inventory has 107 slaves valued at an average of J£110
each. By 1835, Ann Maitland’s inventory, the slaves were valued at £50 each,
still over twice the compensation average.
These values in current money (2017):
Date Amount Price Inflation Value Inflation
1805 £110 J£8300/£6000 £24000
1835 £50 J£5600/£5000 £9500
1835 £22 £2500 £4200 (all stlg)
1835 £1563 £176000 £330000 (all stlg)
1835 £3550 J£400000/£360000 £675000 (Ann’s slaves)
1835 £6900 J£775000/£705000 £1.3M (Ann’s total inventory)
This assumes a discount of the Jamaican pound to sterling of 1.4 in 1805 and
about 1.1 in 1835. A history of currency in the colonies was written by Robert
Chalmers in 1858.
The continuing property saga:
After Francis’s death, Ann became the owner of Giddy Hall and half of
Mitcham and Silver Grove. The day to day management was carried out by
overseers, and the returns were often put in by an attorney on her behalf. As
the children grew older, they would have become more involved with the farms.
Son Francis appears with John Salmon as attorneys for Giddy Hall in the slave
registration of 1832: in earlier years, the attorney when mentioned was Salmon
on his own.
In 1826[27],
Henry Warlock, a planter of St Elizabeth, sold, for ever, to Ann Maitland “at
present in England, widow,” for £100 300A in Trelawney, NE on land patented by
Andrew Miller Trough?? on land patented by William Dyer & Thomas Payne dcd
and all other sides un-surveyed. Henry Warlock’s land appeared in a sale to
George Roberts, which was just inside Trelawney in the Look Behind country,
near Belmore Castle: it seems George’s land seems to have been on the west side
of Belmont Castle. The plat for the Roberts land has Messrs Dyers to the south
and Thomas Payne, so Ann’s land may have been the 300 acres of Henry Warlock to
the south of the Roberts purchase of Enoch Icke’s land, which the Roberts still
had in 1875. (Plate
M 08). The Almanacs do not contain any entries for Trelawney for Maitland
or Roberts: the properties were relatively remote and on the border between the
2 parishes and probably just “dropped through the cracks” in the system. This
area was north of the sugar land in the Nassau Valley and would have been a
similar type of farming to Giddy Hall: the present day images show it to be
pretty wild bush country. Plate M 09
Ann must have been involved in the running of the properties after
Francis’s death, Andrew, the oldest son was only 15 at the time, and was
articled to a surgeon at Guy’s hospital in March 1824, remaining in England
until 1831 when he returned as a qualified physician. One entry of the crop
records has Francis as joint attorney in 1832, so at the age of 19 he was
taking his share of the work.
The last 2 almanac years online, 1839 & 44 returns gave the area, which
for Ann Dcd was 2000 in 1839 and John in 1844 was 1150 acres for Giddy Hall,
130 for Rosehill, on Giddy Hall’s north western boundary and 300 for Kensington
(St Elizabeth). The only Kensington in St Elizabeth on Liddell 1888 was at the
southern end of the Santa Cruz mountains, and on current maps is close to
Berlin: where Kensington came from is not immediately apparent.
If the 1839 area is correct, the 2000 acres would have been Giddy Hall with
1150, the Trelawney land 300 and Rose Hill at 130 and Kensington with 300, 1900
total. In the late 1820’s Giddy Hall was yielding a good profit which the family
used to increase their holdings. Mitcham by 1837 was in Samuel Sherman’s hands
and was over 800 acres, so Francis’s children after Ann’s death owned
approaching 3000 acres of land, in addition to the 1000 or so owned by George
Roberts, whose coffee plantation would have been declining by this time.
After Ann’s death, the siblings were able to start resolving the sharing of
the legacies. Daughter Frances and son Richard had already died, leaving eight.
Alexander died in 1835, his share in Giddy Hall was distributed between the
survivors as did Octavius’s share in 1840 and Ann had willed that Emma should
be paid out of her 1/8th share in Giddy Hall. Thus the 5 surviving
sons had shares in Giddy Hall. By 1845[28],
George Maitland sold his 1/5th share of Ann Maitland’s estate to his
surviving brothers for £600: Andrew Wright, John, Septimus and Harriet (widow
of Francis and her 3 children, John, Francis and George), Emma having been paid
out and Alexander and Octavius had died aged under 21. At this time, Giddy Hall
was 1150 acres and George’s 1/5th share was worth £600J, so £3000
for the whole (about £600,000 in 2016, by wage inflation). At this point, it
seems as though the 4 brothers and Harriett Maitland owned equal shares in
Giddy Hall.
John Maitland’s will of 1852-3 specified that the payment of £210 owed to
brother Andrew and £700 owed to Septimus, leaving his ¾ share in Giddy Hall to
his wife. Andrew Wright had sold his ¼ share in Giddy Hall in 1850[29]
for £700 to John, but evidently there was some financing not completed;
Septimus must have agreed to sell his ¼ share to John, but the conveyance was
not made until 1859[30],
when it was sold for the £750 to John Myers Cooper, who married John’s widow,
Augusta. In John’s will and the 1859 conveyance, Harriet Maitland & sons
still have had a ¼ share in the Pen, although there is no name change for
Harriet to Halahan: Francis 3 finally sold his share in 1869; his brother John
Andrew appeared to have still retained his share, which he sold 23/12/1870 for
£400, then 1150 acres.
There was also the ownership of Mitcham and Silver Grove pens to evolve:
several deeds show some of this. In 1841[31],
there was an agreement which laid out the way in which the participants had
come into ownership of Mitcham and Silver Grove. Andrew, John, George, Francis
(at present absent from the Island) and Septimus (of London) Maitland and
Samuel and Emma Rebecca Sherman owned a moiety and William, Edward William,
Rebecca and Georgiana Roberts owned the other moiety of Mitcham and Silver
Grove via their respective mothers from their grandfather, Andrew Wright.
Andrew Maitland also held the share of Octavius who had by then died.
While in the possession of Francis Maitland and George Roberts, they became
indebted to William Morrice, a merchant in London, “considerable sum of money
for advances made to them by William Morrice for the cultivation and management
of the plantations and maintenance of the persons then slaves thereon”; William
Morrice obtained a judgement against Ann Maitland and George Roberts. Ann
Maitland and George Roberts had also agreed to pay Elizabeth Wright (her step
mother) £150 each per annum. The annuity to Elizabeth Wright was paid correctly
for a time, but George fell into arrears.
Ann Maitland also owned Giddy Hall and her executors had made a separate
claim for those slaves. She made the claim for Mitcham (in fact her executors)
and George claimed for Silver Grove. William Morrice and William Spencer
Griffiths (administrator for Elizabeth Wright, later John William Spencer
Griffiths) made a counter claim against the awards. These awards covered the
debts due to Morrice and Griffiths, and the balance was to be paid to Edward
Francis Green and for to John Salmon to act on their behalf to disburse; adjustments
were to be made to account for the difference paid by Ann and George.
In November 1842[32],
the families again came together as a result of the bankruptcy of Edward Green
and agreed to release John Salmon from any claim. Green died bankrupt in October
1842[33].
A second deed on the subject in 1844[34]
repeated much of the earlier deed but with Edward Angel and Georgiana Roberts
specifically. Francis Maitland was still included in this document, although he
disappeared in November 1842.
The debts to William Morrice show that Francis Maitland and George
Roberts’s agreement in 1821 did not hold true later on, and probably the amount
of coffee sent to London for expenses was inadequate. These contracts show the
effect of no real credit banking and how much business was done on credit
between the parties concerned.
AM07/02
The wife of Francis (1)
BornMT: 8/2/1788 m.29/7/1806 d.23/10/1833.
ChJPR: St Elizabeth PR: Born Feb 1788, ch 18/12/1789, St Elizabeth
Parents: reputed dau of Mr. Andrew Wright by Ruth Sinclair, a free Mestize,
child reputed white.
For Ann's family, including her sister Rebecca’s Roberts’s, see Wright Family.
DiedMB: departed this life October 23rd 1833 aged 45 years at Giddy
Hall,
Epitaph at Giddy Hall chapel on the wall:
Sacred to the memory of Mrs Ann Maitland who departed this life 23rd October
1833, aged 42 years. (Jamaica Gazette of 9 November 1833 has age 46).
There is no record of her burial, but she was probably buried at the Pen.
Will[35]
"Ann Maitland of parish of St Elizabeth, county of Cornwall, but at
present residing in Chester Place in the parish of St Mary Lambeth in the
County of Surrey in the Kingdom of Great Britain, widow, I give and bequeath
unto Wm. Wilson of London, Merchant and John Salmon of the parish of St
Elizabeth, esq. all that my Plantation and Estate called Giddy Hall situated in
St Elizabeth with slaves, cattle and stock, Plantation utensils and effects ...
in Trust for all and every or such one or more of my sons Andrew Wright, John,
Francis, George, Alexander, Septimus and Octavius and daughter Emma Rebecca
living at my decease..." Joint tenants in common, not as joint tenants[36].
Three pages follow about trustees duties etc. [37]
A codicil dated 16/10/1833, London says:
" I revoke ... my appointment in said will of Wm Wilson of London as
Executor and in his place appoint my son-in-law Samuel Sherman of the parish of
St Elizabeth, planter. As soon as convenient after my decease ... - Giddy Hall
and slaves cattle etc and other estate valued and ??? to be paid to my daughter
Emma Rebecca Sherman or to her heirs one eighth part or equal moiety."
Inventory[38], 1835:
Ann Maitland, Widow of St Elizabeth:
Executors: Honrbl John Salmon, Andrew Maitland, John Maitland, Samuel Sherman.
Sundry Household Furniture and Plate 346-02-8 1/2
Plantation Utensils (£100) & 30 bags Pimento in store 181-00-0
Sundry Horsekind 1211-10-0
Horned Stock 1433-00-0
Flock of Sheep 62-10-0
71 Labourers at £50 each 3550-00-0
3 Asses valued at 98-00-0
6902-02-8 1/2
A conversion to modern day values for some of this inventory has already been
shown. [=£520,000 price inflation, and £1.5M on wage inflation 2016]
Summary of Ann Wright’s life:
The wife of Francis Maitland snr and daughter of Andrew
Wright and Ruth Sinclair (see below), was born in 1788 in St Elizabeth Parish,
Jamaica, probably at Mitcham Pen in the East of the Parish. Her father was
Mitcham's owner in 1793 when he was advertising for a runaway slave. She and
her sister, Rebecca, who later married George Roberts of Jamaica, were taken to
England with their father. Their father imposed a curious condition to their
inheritance that his daughters should marry before returning to Jamaica on pain
of losing their inheritance. Hence their marriages in England! She and her
surviving sister, Rebecca became joint tenants in common of Mitcham and Silver
Grove; the properties are contiguous and were operated together between about
1810 and 1840. Earlier, Andrew conveyed to his natural daughters by Ruth
Sinclair, 120 acres of land in the Carpenters Mountains, inland by a few miles
from Calabash Bay, patented by him in 1789 (for more on this, refer to Andrew
Wright) Plate W 14.
Ann & her sister, Rebecca’s legacy from their father’s estate was
conditional upon their not returning from England unmarried without the
permission of his executors. It is quite possible that this restriction was to
prevent Francis & Ann marrying, Francis being Ann’s half first cousin, and
a man of colour. Ann & Francis circumvented this by Francis going to
England and marrying there: Rebecca and George did the same and were alos married
in England in 1816.
Ann Wright’s grandfather, Francis, was very likely also Francis Maitland’s
grandfather. Ann and Francis would thus have been half first cousins, with
Francis being born coloured. This may explain the curious restriction in
Andrew’s will on his daughters’ marriages in England.
She returned to Jamaica after the birth of her first daughter, ch 1807 in
Camberwell, this was where her sister Rebecca was resident when married. Her
next 7 children were baptised in Jamaica. She and Francis returned to England
where he died in 1824, and she was still resident in England 10 May 1826 when
she wrote her will: "Residing in Chester Place, St Mary Lambeth[39]"
in her will, with a codicil (16/10/1833) removing a London Executor and
appointing Samuel Sherman, probably as she left for Jamaica. She is listed in
the Royal Gazette 8 July 1826, as landing at Black River on 21st
June, 1826 in the Frederick, Curtis from London “Mrs Maitland of Giddy Hall, 2
children and Mrs Hastings the children were Octavius and John (AWM
Journal/notebook). Mrs Hastings was the housekeeper at GH for 29 yearsAWM.
After then, her movements are as yet (2022) unknown, but she probably
remained in Jamaica until her death: in the Almanac reports, she was the owner
of Giddy Hall from Francis’s death until her own death. The Mitcham records
continue as Maitland & Roberts until 1832. It may be significant that some
of the children of her sister, Rebecca Roberts, were baptised around Camberwell
and Kennington, where Ann's last child was baptised in 1825, after Francis'
death. Rebecca, seemed to have remained in England for some years after her
marriage, but came to Jamaica by 1822. The Roberts had connections both in the
south London and Gosport areas.
There is a suggestion that Ann was the author of “The Woman of Colour”,
published in 1808[40]
by “anonymous”.
Issue of Francis & Ann Maitland:
1/1. Frances Ann Maitland - 1807:
MT b. 21/5/1807, ch 19/2/1808. d.
26/12/1818 Bur 1/1/1819.
MB: Born 21 May 1807 a quarter before 3 in the morning, christened 19th Feby
1808.
PR (@ LRO) & IGI: Born 21/5/1807
Christened St Giles Camberwell (R2(a)) 19/2/1808 (entry checked).
Interred at the Broad Mead Baptist West Ground, Bristol, new brick grave, £3/3/6d.
PR: “Frances Ann daughter of Frank Maitland esq aged 11 years of the parish of
Westbury on Trym was interred in the New West Ground of the Baptist Burying
Ground Red Cross St by Authority of a permit dated 1st day of
January Reg 8 April 1819 by Thos Roberts pastor of the church in King St,
BristolAC. Westbury on Trym is a few miles north of Bristol centre.
1/2. Andrew Wright Maitland - 1809:
Plate M 12
Much of the information on this branch of the family was provided by Peter Rushbrooke,
his great grandson, in 2002, from his own research and papers and photographs
from Peter’s second cousin, Edith (Von Estorff) Braess. These originated with
Andrew Wright Maitland's wife (Ann Katherine) via her only daughter (Ann
Katherine Helena), to her only daughter Edith Braess surviving in Germany
through both World Wars until given to him by Edith in the late 1980's. These
include Dr. Maitland's Certificates and medical Notebook which were passed over
to Guys Hospital in 1989 for "safe keeping."
MT: born at Giddy Hall, 12/4/1809 died: 20/4/1856 M.R.C.S.
Married Ann Katherine (d. 22/2/1886)
MB: born at Giddy Hall Jamaica on the 12th April 1809 at 12 o'clock at noon. He
was baptised at Giddy Hall, 12 April 1814PR.
(AM: they must have only just moved into Giddy Hall by then!)
Bur: Andrew Wright Maitland, M.D., 47 yrs, of Mount Charles, bur 21/4/1856PR,
@ Mount Charles, by C Plummer. He died intestate, with administration granted
to Septimus Maitland. Died suddenly after his morning ride around Mount Charles
Estate in 1856.
There was a reference in "Monumental Inscriptions of Jamaica" to his
gravestone at Mount Charles, which was visited by Antony Maitland, April 1998. Andrew's
stone existed with a brass plaque, as was Anne Maitland's beside Andrew's.
Also present, grave of Charles James Earle, died 29/6/1858, with brass plaque.
Several other gravestones also there, but the plaques had been removed (later
found to have been lead inserts, stolen for bullet making!). He was presumably
Katherine’s son by her first marriage. Plate M 11
Peter Rushbrooke’s description
of Andrew’s life is given in full in a section on AWM’s
Diary, but his summary is here:
Entered Guy's Hospital on 5/3/1824, articled to Mr Stocker. Held a
certificate of Theory & Practice at Guy's dated Oct 1827 & appears in
the 1830 Register of Medical Pupils as no 515, subsequently a
"dresser" to Bransby Cooper, nephew of Sir Astley Cooper (knighted
1820 after removing a wart from KG V's Nose). Bransby served in the Army in Canada and the Peninsular, was appointed Ass. Surgeon & then Surgeon in 1825. He died in 1856.
Maitland left Gravesend Oct 17 1830 in the SS "Hector" as ship's
Surgeon on a voyage to Isle of France (Mauritius) & Ceylon returning to Gravesend on Nov 2, 1831. This voyage is described in an extract from his Diary.
He then took passage for Jamaica on board the brig "Volusia" on Nov
29, 1831 (arr 4/1/1832 Black River with sister Emma). He was appointed Ass.
Surgeon to the St Elizabeth Regiment of Foot in Jamaica in 1834 & as a
justice in Elizabeth County in 1838. Commissioned as Health Officer for the port of Black River (Cornwall County) in 1841 & elected to the Fellows of the College of
Physicians & Surgeons in Jamaica in 1842.
Andrew Maitland died suddenly after his morning ride around Mount Charles
Estate in 1856 and his medical notebooks and certificates were given to the
United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy's & St Thomas's Hospitals by the
Family in 1989 [Now held by the King's College, London, Archives and seen by A
Maitland 2/2003].
Andrew probably lived after his return from England in 1832 at Giddy Hall
or perhaps in Black River, working as a doctor, until he married, at a rather
late age for the era in 1847. His inventory makes mention of Drugs etc in the
store in Black River. He evidently did not lead a completely solitary life: he
had a daughter by one Rebecca Malone, a labourer of Black River, born after his
marriage! There is an indication that he may have returned to England in late
1832: The Jamaica Gazette of 20 April, 1833 has a Dr Maitland arriving from
London on the Hibernia; the paper gives the cargo in some detail. She sailed
from Gravesend 2 March 1833, Capt Sadler, who died in Old Harbour, 3 June 1833LL.
It seems unlikely that there were 2 Doctor Maitlands in the same part of
Jamaica at the same time.
He bought Mount Charles Pen, adjoining Giddy Hall, for £1000 in 1850[41],
from Charles Braine & Michael Moorhead, who had acquired it via the Provost
Marshall from the estate of James Edward Burlton, who had amassed debts of £2324/3/14d.
These debts appear in a deed of 1870 when Mount Olivet, Roseberry pens in St
Elizabeth and property in Look Behind in Trelawney were conveyed to Ann
Katherine and her Earl sons[42].
The pen was shown in an estate
map, St Elizabeth 689[43],
which was dated 31/1/1861, but based on a survey of May 1846, and shows 466
acres, as in the conveyance. Ann Katherine’s mother was Charlotte Beckford Hill
whose first husband was James Edward Burlton. It was producing cotton &
logwood in 1796.
Three years later, he bought 181 acres, part of Luana Pen, bounding on his
land to the South and East for £181 from the Fisher family, by then absentee
owners in Devon[44].
In 1840, Luana pen was 3901 acres, and John Fisher owned a further 4000 acres
at Union. In Andrew’s time, the pen was probably similar to Giddy Hall,
producing livestock and the local crops of Pimento and Logwood. In the 1790’s,
like Giddy Hall, cotton was grown there, but by Andrew’s day prices and
competition from the southern US mostly finished Jamaican cotton production[45].
In 1837, Mount Charles recorded 88 slaves, but they would have been long freed
by the time Andrew Maitland bought the place; this may have included Ashton:
during the early 1820’s it reported about 30 slaves and 20 stock.
In 1874[46],
Andrew Wright Maitland, formerly of 40 Torrington Sq Middx but now in China
Gent. with Septimus Maitland his attorney of Ditton Place, heir at law of his father,
AWM who died 1856 intestate, for £750 sold to Ann Katherine Maitland, widow,
600 A of Mt Charles S on Luana Pen & M???, E on Luana Pen W & NW on the
Queens Rd & Giddy Hall, N on the Farm & Whitehall & part the same
pen to small settlers.
(Plate M 07)
1837: Poll Book P 177 St E AWM voted for Robert Watt esq as service?
1838, 21 Dec: App JP of ST E
1838: Poll book P196 St E AWM voted for John Ewart for assy 1838, own right
1838: Assistant Surgeon St Elizabeth.
1842, 20 Dec: Health Officer of Brack River Port
1840/45/46: Militia Assistant Surgeon (St Elizabeth)
1843, 4 March att Assistant Judge St E.
1844, 23 Aug: App Asst Surgeon of St E Reg of Foot by John Earl
1845: District Prison Surgeon (Black River).
1846 Almanac: Lic. Ap. London.
1851: Prison Surgeon paid £60 p.a. (JFS)
physician to the poor
1851: Maitland, A., Lic. Apoth. Co. London, St. Elizabeth
Also Health Officer, Black River.
Also Magistrate for St Elizabeth.
See Jamaica General for more property information.
Also bapt @ Mount Charles: James Maitland, age 1, 16/12/1838. (PR) (When
MC owned by Burlton).
Andrew’s will has not been located (2008, died intestate), but his inventory
makes and interesting list of his belongings:
Inventory[47],
11/4/1857:
Andrew Wright Maitland, Late of St Elizabeth, Practitioner in Physic and
Surgery.
Inv by James Robert Usher and Thomas Jones
Administrix Ann Katherine Maitland
The Inventory total was £899, full text is in Maitland Wills.
56 Head of horned Stock @ 60/- 3 Riding Horses £60 2 Hacks £10
13 head of horsekind and mules £5 Pony £6 1 Sett mule harness 32/-
Saddlery £6 a lot of medicines Cash in Cheques Gold and Silver
Sundry old instruments A Revolver in case £8-8 Sofa 4/-
A double barrelled Gun A ?? of 1 Mahoganny Table 30/-
1 Common Deal Table A Sett dish covers 30/- 1 Dining Room Safe £5 1 Bedstead & mattress £4
1 bootrack 8/- 1 Bedroom Table 2/-
1 Dining room Table 80/- 2 Half round Tables 20/-
5 mahogany chairs 20/- 1 Eight day clock £5
2 Pictures framed 80/- 1 Cruet 30/-
1 Camfshine?? Lamp 10/6 5 mahogany chairs 20/-
1 book case & books £3 1 Sofa table 25/-
2 cane sofas 6/- 7 chairs 14/- 1 mahogany table 16/-
1 cane rocking chair 1 sofa 20/- 1 looking glass 8/-
1 map 3/- 1 Desk 8/- 1 bedstead and bed £6
1 Wash Stand 4/- 1 Table 2/- 1 Chest of Drawers 20/-
1 Toilet Glass 4/- 1 Old Chest of Drawers 6/-
Kitchen Utensils 30/- Crockery and Glassware etc etc
1 Bedstead and mattress 1 Old Chest of Drawers
1 Deal Chest of Drawers 1 Iron chest
1 Sofa 16/- 1 Table 20/- 4 Cane Seat Chairs
1 Mahogany chair 1 Shade
Drugs, Groceries Fixtures etc at the store at Black River
Drugs etc Received per barque
Lady Catherine
Married, St Elizabeth: Andrew Wright Maitland, surgeon, and Ann
Katherine Earle, widow, both of this parish, were married by licence on the 16th
day of December in the year 1847 by me Thomas P. Williams, Rector.[48]
Ann Katherine Tomlinson
Anne Earle was the widow of John Earle who she married 7/4/1829, and was
born Ann Katherine Tomlinson in Sav la Mar 10/1/1811PJR, daughter of
Thomas & Charlotte Beckford (Hill) Tomlinson and died Mount Charles
22/2/1886MB. John Earle was buried at Mount Olivet (St Elizabeth) 23
June 1843, aged about 41, proprietor of Mount Olivet. She married 1st John
Earle 7/4/1829. More of her family is described in a later section on the Tomlinsons.
Ann did not remarry, and died 22/4/1886 at Mount Charles, her son and daughter
having left the Island.
Almanac 1878 shows Mount Charles Prop AK Maitland
Sons of John & Ann Katherine Earle, St Elizabeth:
Charles James Earle, b 18/1/1843 ch Mt Olivet 28/5/1843.
Edward Muirhead Earle, b 24/4/1840, ch Mt Olivet 28/5/1843 d 9/11/1913
Fanny Davy Earle, b 24/6/1833, ch Mt Olivet, 8/4/1835 (V3P2)
John Williams Earle, b 17/12/1837, ch Mt Olivet 29/12/1838
John Earle bur[49]
23/6/1843, Mt Olivet.
Ann’s sister Frances married Michael Muirhead 1/5/1737.
Anne Katherine Maitland’s Will 1875-86[50]:
Anne Katherine Maitland the yngr affidavit 12/5/1886. Made at Marshalls Pen,
Manchester, Ref 600A of land Lookbehind Trelawney known as Wilkhire from 1st
husband John William Earle late of Mount Olivet ST E 1/3 of plantation to my
sons Jno Wm Earle & Edward Moorhead Earl Item silver to Earl Bros All
R&R to dau Anne Katherine Maitland the yngr. If she dies to Earls & Andrew
Wright Maitland. Execs Anne Katherine Maitland & Septimus M of Ditton
Place. Andrew Wright Maitland in Shanghai.
1861 Census: At Ditton Place, Ditton, Maidstone,
Septimus Maitland ... , Ann R. (sister-in-law, 50, widow, landed proprietor,
Jamaica), Ann K. (niece, 11, Scholar, Jamaica) Andrew W. (nephew, 8, Jamaica),
... (Septimus was her brother in law).
Bridget Maitland of AW Maitland, surgeon, & Rebecca Malone, Lab Blk River,
ch 30/6/1848 ST Elizabeth, reg 9/8/1848[51].
Issue of Andrew Wright & Ann
Katherine Maitland:
2/1. Ann Katherine Maitland
Born 4/1/1850, ch St Elizabeth, 23/6/1850PR,
dau to Andrew W, physician, & Ann K of Mount Charles.
1861 Census @ res of Septimus age 11, 1881 also aged 32.
1871: not found, may have been in Jamaica.
1881 census, in Kensington, with aunt Julia Maitland, wife of Septimus.
Died: 16/9/1926PJR, Flemsburg, Germany.
From Peter J Rushbrooke:
Married, Deal 19/2/1888, Arthur Neil Dalepeck Haastroup (1848-1927)
His will register: of 1 Gertruden Strasse, Flensburg, Germany, died 30 Nov
1927, Admon & will to James Bain Crichton, bank manager the attorney of Ann
Catherine Helene von Estorff (wife of Paul Friedrich Von Estorff) Effects
£1472/8/7d.
Arthur, Ann & Katherine (Haastroup/von Estorff) sailed from Hamburg to
Southampton 31/5/1922.
From Rushbrooke notes:
Arthur, son of Christian Nicholas Haastroup, Danish. CNH was a missionary of
Islington & Basel and served in Freetown. Wife Helena sent to Freetown as
his wife. 1st 2 children died in Freetown, but next 2 survived. He
died of yellow fever in Freetown in 1843. She sailed with 2 children to UK and
gave birth to Arthur Niels Dalepark Haastoop in SS Daleport in the Axores en
routs. ANDH married Ann Katherine Maitland in Deal 19/2/1888
3/1. Ann Katherine Helena Haastroup
(1889-15/1/1974, died Koblenz, Germany).
Married: 6/8/1914, Flensburg, Paul Frederick Von Estorff, Flensburg
(1881-1958).
4/1. Edith Ann Katherine Von Estorff, Dr. (16/10/1919-)
Married, 20/11/1945: Dr. Martin
Braess, (9/9/1913-2/1994) in Germany through both World Wars. Martin served
with the German army in Russia, Greece and Italy, where he was badly wounded.
Later served in the German Military Medical Administration. Edith qualified in
medicine during WW2 and later joined Martin's practice. After he retired, she
worked with a child welfare clinic.
5/1. Peter Paul Von Estorff, b. 23/10/1946, MD.
5/2. Christopher Michael Braess, b. 29/9/1948, married 1967.
5/3. Dorothy Ann Katherine Von Braess, b. 15/8/1955
2/2. Andrew Wright Maitland (MT b.1850) JPR
Born. 5/10/1853 ch
4/11/1853PR, Andrew Wright, s of Andrew Wright & Ann K Maitland,
of Mount Charles, Surgeon, St Elizabeth.
Died PJR: 2/7/1906, Shanghai.
(Plate M 14)
Andrew, like a number of his cousins, worked in China for much of his life,
where went sometime about 1874, and, according to the North China Herald,
proceeded to Bombay in 1883. By 1893, he was the Agent for the HSBC in
Tientsin. He became chief accountant for HSBC in Shanghai After 20 years with
HSBC, by 1897, he became the acting Chief Manager of the Head Office of the
newly formed Imperial Chinese Bank of International Commerce "number 6 on
the bund":-, (even signing their bank notes) and appeared in the
contemporary newspapers from time to time. He was an enthusiastic horseman, and
wrote for the papers. The North China Herald has a large number of references
to him.
(Plate M 13)
Married, Shanghai, 11/2/1899: Emma Teresa Goodfellow (20/7/1878- 27/7/1978,
died 2 weeks before her centenary), who M. 2nd (1909) Harold Edblad (died
1916), who was Swedish consul Shanghai (NG Maitland rented a house from him).
Emma gained a Swedish passport (which kept her free during the Japanese
occupation). She returned to England in the 1940's very short of money and was
looked after by Peter & Ailsa Rushbrooke. More on the Goodfellows in Section 9.
Timeline:
1861 Census @ residence of Septimus aged 8, with mother.
1871 Census, 90, Charlotte St, St Pancras (boarding house):
Andrew Maitland, (19, Clerk, Jamaica).
1868, Kingston Gleaner, June 22, 1868 Arr. Andrew Maitland, arr. at Alligator
Pond in the Barque Cambris from London.
1874, October 29: Rowing in Shanghai.
1879: Directory, HSBC, clerk, Foochow, asst accountant.
1880: Sept, gave his mother power of attorney when at Foochow HSBC
1883, March 26: AWM for Bombay from Foochow – to reside there.
North China Herald, March 28, 1883
By the departure of Mr A. W.
Maitland, who proceeds to Bombay, the Foo-chow community lose an old resident
whose proverbial affability won their general esteem. The port is thus also
deprived of an enthusiastic “Sport," who contributed largely to our
enjoyment on the "Turf," and whose services, we opine, will be fully
appreciated at the port to which he is transferred. Mr. Maitland will always
secure friends, who, however, cannot be more sincere in their wishes for his
prosperity than those he leaves in Foochow. Yesterday morning a large number of
the community visited the bund to bid Mr. Maitland bon voyage, and several of
them accompanied him as far as Pagoda Anchorage.—Herald.
1883, April 4: AWM from Foochow (to Shanghai)
1889: several reports on HSBC with AWM named, chief accountant.
1891, April 24: AWM to Tientsin.
1892NCH: appointed director of the CHARTERED MERCANTILE BANK OF
INDIA
1892 & 94: Directory, agent, HSBC, Tientsin.
1893, March 17: Agent of HSBC in Tientsin.
1895, November 8: Cup for racing.
1897, March: AWM in Imperial Bank.
1899: On the 11th February, 1899, before H.B.M.’s Consul, and at
Holy Trinity Cathedral, Shanghai, by the Rev H.C. Hodges, Andrew W Maitland to
Emma T. Goodfellow.[52]
1901 Directory: AW Maitland acting chief manager, Imperial Bank of China, Shanghai.
1904: Hong List, AWM, Imperial Bank of China, Shanghai.
1904: Hong List, Mrs AWM, 6, The Bund, Shanghai.
1904: seems to have been in Shanghai from NCH reports.
1904, September: shareholder in SC Farnham, Boyd & Co, Ld, in
reconstruction – seems to do with Docks.[53]
1905: Directory, Acting chief manager, Imperial Bank of China, Shanghai.
1905, 14 July, The Gleaner:
A JAMAICAN ABROAD.
BANK MANAGER IN CHINA.
It may be of interest to state at the present time that a Jamaican holds an important position in the far East as first manager of the Chinese Imperial Bank. The gentleman referred to is Mr. Andrew Maitland, son of the late Dr. Maitland of Mount Charles in the parish of Saint Elizabeth, and half brother of Messrs. J. W. and K. M. Earle.
Mr. Maitland has been over 30
years In China, he was manager of the Hong Kong and Shanghai bank in Tien-Tsin.
At the time of the China Japanese war he did good business for the bank in
making loans to China and got in favour with Le Hung Chang and other high
Chinese officials from whom he owes his present position.
From Bruce W. Smith (editor Journal of East Asian Numismatics) (email 11/08)
His signature appears on all the paper money issued by the bank (Imperial Bank
of China.) in its early years. These notes are expensive, but they do turn up
regularly. They sell in the range of U.S. $200 to $500, I think. There are
issues from the Peking, Shanghai, and Canton branches in the 1898 series (all
with his signature). His signature also appears on all the notes of the 1904
series, indicating that he was still working for the bank at that time.
The following from Thu, 21 Dec 2006.
Eric Politzer[v]
Andrew Wright Maitland was hired by the Hongkong & Shanghai Bank in Shanghai (most of their staff was hired in England), and was an employee of the Bank for
some 20 years, c.1875-1895. He rose to be chief accountant, and then the
Bank's agent in Tientsin. There are several references to him in Vol. 1 of
Frank H.H. King's History of the Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation. He
retired in 1895.
The Imperial Bank of China was the creation primarily of Sheng Xuanhuai (Sheng
Hsuan-huai, 1844-1916), a powerful Chinese official interested in modernizing China, who was involved in railroads, telegraphs, steel mills, etc. The bank was China's first modern financial institution. It issued coins and currency. One of its purposes
was to accumulate Chinese capital for modernization projects, such as railroad
construction.
It was modelled on the Hongkong & Shanghai Bank, and its bylaws apparently
were closely modelled on the former's. It had a combined (or perhaps parallel)
Chinese and foreign staff. Andrew Maitland was hired to head the foreign staff,
and, probably, to train the Chinese managers in Western banking practices.
Maitland is briefly mentioned in Albert Feuerwerker's China's Early Industrialization, a study of Sheng's career, with part of a chapter devoted to the
bank.
In 2000, a collection of documents was published by the Shanghai People's
Press, Chen Xulu et al., Zhongguo tong shang yinhang (the Chinese name of the
Imperial Bank of China). It contains a photo of the first page of Maitland's
contract with the bank, legible with a magnifying glass. Among the 600+
documents are over 50 of which Maitland was either the author or (less often)
the recipient. They are all in Chinese, of course. Probably Maitland had a
Chinese secretary to compose, draft or translate them. I've only glanced over
them. They appear to be all of a business character. The last of them was dated
August 12, 1905.
At this point, I have no idea whether the bank's archives contain a collection
of documents in English, but they should.
5) I found a very brief obituary notice for Maitland in the North-China Herald
(the Shanghai English-language weekly) of July 6, 1906. It had no information
of value. I didn't find an account of his funeral, or any summary of his
career. (referring to AW Maitland).
Emma Goodfellow's sister was G-Aunt to Hew Stephenson[vi] of London (2002)
Issue:
3/1 BM. Hugh Maitland: born Shanghai, 19/12/1903.
Known as "Buffy".
died Hong Kong 13/1/1961, Bur there Cemetery Plot 09---/06/04-[54]
1925, January 24: In Shanghai Paper Hunt.
1926, February 6: horse racing.
1925: H Maitland, assist. Jardine Matheson, Shanghai - possible entry in
directory.
An exchange broker in 1933 in Shanghai.
Buffy was a very good jockey and is well known in the racing circles in Hong Kong. See notes in Rushbrooke Docs, 3/2023.
Married PJR: Cecile McBain (1902-8/1/1989, London); 12/10/1927, Kiangsu,
China. separated about 1950. He an exchange broker.
4/1.BM. Andrew George Maitland (born 8/12/1933, Shanghai,
died 8/4/1999, Northamptonshire.
Was civil and RAF aircrew. Interned during WW2.
Married, 31/10/1959: Elizabeth (Beth) Ann Newbery (born 1936)
Beth Newbery's grandfather was headmaster of Presteigne Grammar 1883-1904 and
later incumbent of Byton until 1925. Brief email communication in December 2016
– no grand children.
He was buried at Byton on the English/Welsh border.
A great coincidence as the author of this work lived for many years near
Presteigne.
5/1. Heather Maitland, born 12/8/1961.
5/2. Timothy Hugh Maitland, born 1964, England.
Mar Emma Starkle, 2/2002
Mar: Elizabeth Ann McNeilly Maitland Global Consulting Ltd
5/3. Edward Maitland, 1967 -1985
4/2.BM Marion Vera Maitland (born Shanghai, 1928,
died 1998).
Married, 1949: Warrington, Kenneth Corneck 1920-1993.
5/1. Patricia Cecile Corneck, born 1952, HK.
5/2. Peter Kenneth Corneck, born 1954, HK, married with issue.
5/3. Susan Catherine Corneck, born 1960, HK.
More details later in this section.
3/2. Catherine MaitlandPJR. Born Shanghai 15/12/1901[55],
1909, December 24NCH:
wins form prize.
1921, April 16NCH: appears in ADC.
1923, June 2NCH: appears in ADC.
died 5/12/1928 of tuberculosis, Montreux (res Glasgow).
Married, 20/12/1923, Shanghai: Jermyn Rushbrooke (1890-1968). See
below for more on the Rushbrooke & Goodfellow lines.
A collection of her letters is in the Rushbrooke papers 3/2023.
4/1. Peter Jermyn Rushbrooke,
born 23/5/1925, Valetta, Malta
Died: 1/4/2003, Colchester Hospital, Essex of pneumonia.
Married 17/5/1946, Ailsa Maxwell Craig (b. 21/1/1925, alive December 2016).
Antony Maitland visited them in about 2000 and copied all Peter’s Maitland
papers.
They knew the Jamaica story having looked after Peter’s grandmother, Emma until
her death.
Adopted children:
5/1. Rose Catherine Rushbrooke, b 1954,
m. 9/6/1979, Paul Victor
Sinclare (div 1985)
m. 30/9/1995, David Thomas Mullins
5/2. Rupert Archibald Jermyn Rushbrooke, b. 1957
MT: b. 7/8/1810, d. 21/2/1853
Ch: Giddy Hall, 12 April 1814. (Jam PR)
MB: born at Giddy Hall 7th August
1810 at 12 at night.
Departed this life on the 21st February 1853 aged 43 years.
Interred at Norwood Cemetery, England.
DC: died 21/2/1853 3, Hamilton
Place, Brixton, 42 yrs, Jamaica Planter, Congestion of the Brain, Informant
George Roberts of 12, York Place, Camberwell New Rd.
A trust beneficiary for slave compensation on Giddy Hall, Mitcham & Silver
Grove.
1837: Poll Book P 177 St E JM
voted for Robert Watt esq as service?
1838 P196 St E JM voted for John Ewart for assy 1838, own right
1838/39/40: Vestreyman St Elizabeth
1845: Maitland J Kensington 300 acres
Giddy Hall 1150 acres
Rosehill 130 acres a few miles WNW of Giddy Hall
1845/51: Magistrate: St Elizabeth John Maitland
1851 Census: not at Hamilton Place. George Roberts 30 yr old son of Edward
Roberts (63 yr old widower). No apparent connection with John's uncle George in
Jamaica.
Kensington, St Elizabeth was on the south end of the Santa Cruz mountains,
between Berlin and Potsdam estates, both Cohen/Cerf family properties. What
John’s connection with this pen is not immediately obvious.
Via various transactions and
deaths, he actually owned ½ of Giddy Hall at his death, although in his will he
expected to have ¾; this share was left to his wife, who then remarried John
Myers Cooper: her ½ of the pen went to him, and he then bought the remainder
from John’s surviving brothers and nephews. By this time, Andrew was settled at
Mount Charles, Francis was dead and Septimus was probably in England.
John was a cornet in the St E Militia in 1839. He was a vestreyman in 1840 and
a JP in 1845 for St Elizabeth. There is a deed in 1847[56]
relating to the trustees of a Methodist congregation: he was listed in the
index, but not found in the body of the deed.
He also owned, or had an interest in, Woodstock Pen, Westmoreland at
death, on road from Black River to Mo Bay, south of Montpelier. Said to be
bought by Tony Hart but sold on by 2008. Woodstock was a Spence property and
must have come to John via his wife, Augusta Spence. It probably reverted back
to them after his death, although her sisters renounced any claim they might
have had from his will (which assumed that both he and Augusta might die at
sea!). In the mid 1830’s, it was a substantial farm with stock numbers in the
order of 200.
See UCL site:
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/estate/view/2017
Claim by the Spence’s £2156/5/9d
LOS 126F193
Woodstock June 4 1852
This is the last will and testament of John Maitland. I leave devise and
bequeath to my wife Augusta Maitland all my property real and personal for her
own use. Being about to cross the Atlantic with her for the benefit of my
health and as in the possibility of events we may both be lost at sea, in this
case I desire that the sum of £210 due to my brother Andrew Wright Maitland be
paid when my bond becomes due after which the further sum of £700 be paid my
Brother Septimus in three sums of £200 each and one of £100 in four yearly
instalments after which I direct that the yearly proceeds of my three fourths
share of Giddy Hall be used for the payment of the Loan due by Woodstock pen in
the parish of Westmoreland to the British Government. This done I leave the 3/4th
share of Giddy Hall to Ann Spence Caroline Spence and Elizabeth Spence sisters
of my wife.
Sisters executors and Wm Spence when of age.
4 Aug 1853
5 Nov 1853: Renunciation of Ann Spence and others any claim.
See notes of Giddy Hall disposal for an explanation of the debts to his
brothers.
John Maitland - Inventory
1B/11/3/159f36
John Maitland, Planter of St Elizabeth
Inv by James Robert Usher & Henry Lawrence
Administratrix Augusta Maitland
Date 26 Oct 1854, Ent 6 March
1855
Lists stock at Woodstock and his share of stock and household goods &
chattels at Giddy Hall - in interesting list, The Inventory total was £911,
full text is in Maitland
Wills.
Married: (MT) Augusta "Spenet" 25/8/1848 who married 2nd Mr Cooper
& d. 1858 (on her grave, called Spence, born abt 1825) Executor of Francis
(2) will 1843. Then of Giddy Hall. The daughter of William Morris Spence of
Woodstock Pen, listed with siblings in the St James Index, and the LDS shows as
issue of William Morris Spence and Julia Williams, some were found under “all
parishes”: Augusta Spence, a quadroon, dau of William Morris Spence and Julia
Williams, born 26/2/1825, baptised St James PR 10/6/1827 of Westmoreland, parents
not married.
Eliza Spence, mustee born St James 5/12/1822, no parents.
Augusta Spence
St Elizabeth PR:
Augusta Maitland, widow married John Myers Cooper, Gent. 17/10/1855, by
licence, both OTP.
Augusta Cooper wife of J.M. Cooper esq, of Giddy Hall, bur GH 13/1/1858.
Giddy Hall,
April 1998: Graves of Augusta
& John Myers Cooper found under a bush beside the road from Giddy Hall
settlement towards the site of the great house, but in good condition:
Augusta Spence, wife of John Myers Cooper, who died at Bloomsbury, 13 Jan 1858,
aged 33. (Bloomsbury was a Spence property in St Elizabeth in 1845, of 226
acres, about 2 miles North of Giddy Hall.)
John Myers Cooper, died 8 December 1875 in his 61st year, his tombstone reads:
"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."
Death Reg: died Giddy Hall, 8/12/1875, aged 58, widoer, landed proprietor.
A magistrate for Black River 1861.
Friday, August 4, 1820
University of Edinburgh
On Tuesday the Senatus Academicus of the University of Edinburgh conferred the
degree of Doctor in Medicine on the following Gentlemen, after having gone
through the appointed examinations, and publicly defended their Inaugural
dissertations:
From Jamaica . . . . . . Dissertations, Inaugurales
Edward John Spence. . . . De Hepetis Functionibus
1910: Giddy Hall: W.S. Cooper
Cooper, William Steven, Farm Giddy Hall, St. Elizabeth, #8 Item 9, 1921
Cooper, John, JP 1919 St E.
Giddy Hall, J. M. Cooper proprietor, Middle Quarters 1878
1/4. Francis Maitland – 1811 Born
29/12/1811 AM6/01
1/5.
Richard Maitland - 1813
MT: b. 24/8/1813, d. 7/8/1814
MB: born at Giddy Hall on 24th August 1813. Died of croup 7th
August 1814 StE PR: Christened at Giddy Hall, 12 April 1814.
1/6. Emma Rebecca Maitland - 1815
Born: 14/3/1815 (MT)
MB: born at Giddy Hall on the 14th March 1815 at 4 o'clock in the
morning.
Married. 8/11/1832, Samuel Sherman (b 7/3/1802, d. 9/2/1851 from MT).
There appears to be no baptism record in the St Elizabeth Records.
Note Maitland Tree spells the name Sheman, but all records show Sherman.
St E Pr missing this date, but found notice in Jamaica Royal Gazette (1832,
CO141-27): marriage, 8th November, at Giddy Hall, Samuel Sherman by Rev W.
Hylton to Emma, only daughter of the late Francis Maitland.
Samuel Sherman mentioned as executor in Ann Maitland's will.
She was paid out of Giddy Hall only by her mother’s will in 1833. Mitcham was
separate from this codicil.
It is not entirely clear how the Shermans became the owners of Mitcham Pen, but
it must have come from her mother as her descendants lived there until the mid
20thC. Samuel Sherman was listed as proprietor in 1840 & 1845.
She arr Black River, 4/1/1832, aged 17 on board SS Volusia, with brother AndrewPJR.
Samuel Sherman bought 60 acres of Providence Pen from JE Burlton in 1861[57]
More details on her and the Shermans in a later section.
MT: b. 14/4/1818 d.19/12/1850
MB: born at 10 o'clock at night, departed this life December 19th 1850 at
Holland Estate in this parish aged 33 years.
StE PR: Christened 23/3/1821 (b.14/4/1818)
He was born very shortly before the family left Jamaica for England, probably
explaining the gap between his birth and baptism.
He arrived Port Royal on Black River Packet from London, 28/7/1832, and on to
Black River, “George Maitland of Black River”JamGaz.
He sold his share in Giddy Hall to his surviving brothers and Harriet in 1845.
There is no evidence of any issue.
The Holland estate belonged to the Gladstone family in 1845 and was about 4500
acres between Lacovia and Middle Quarters: George may have been a manager
there. The well known Bamboo Alley was planted by the owners of the estate:
1/8. Alexander Maitland - 1819
MT: b. 31/5/1819 d. 28/11/1835
MB: born at Giddy Hall on the 31st May 1819 at 12 o'clock noon. Departed this
life November 28th 1835 Appleton aged 16 years.
StE PR: Christened 23/3/1821 (b.31/5/1819)
1/9. Septimus Maitland - 1821:
Septimus’s basic details were on
the original Maitland Tree and confirmed by the bible entries, but, as the
first of our Far Eastern connections, much of his life can be viewed from
newspaper reports. The activities of his sons are well reported in the Shanghai
English language newspaper, the North China Herald. Extracts from the paper
until about the end of 1926 are in a separate volume: the more important quote
are included in this story.
Septimus 1794, Eastbourne.
MT: b 20/1/1821, StEPR: Ch 23/3/1821 Giddy Hall, born 20/1/1821 .
MB: born at Giddy Hall on the 20th January 1821.
Died: MT: 24/6/1902. & D/C @ Tylehurst, Parkhurst rd, Bexley, age 81, Independent,
of Capilliary Bronchitis, Informant Frank John Maitland, son, also at Tylehurst
(resident?).
Wealth at death: £2802/17/8will reg, probate to Julia Ann Maitland
&
Death Duty Reg: Liverpool, Executor JA Maitland
Prob London 21/7/1902 to Julia Ann Maitland, Francis John Maitland, at
Tylehurst. £2802-17-8. (400K 2023)
For full transcript see Maitland Wills.
Died at Tylehurst, formerly of Ditton Place in his 82nd year.
Friends will please accept this (the only) intimation.[58]
Described variously as "Funded Proprietor", Gentleman, Farmer,
Independent Means. Was a partner in Tea-merchants.
Septimus Maitland was in London with his parents when Francis died, and
returned to Jamaica in 1826 with Ann. He probably went again to England in the
early 1830’s with his mother, who died in London in 1833; by the 1841 census, he
was resident in what looks like lodgings (no other family obviously there) in
Commercial Road, Mile End Old Town (Stepney), London aged 20 of independent
means, not born in London. It is not known if he returned to Jamaica again, but
in various deeds to do with Giddy Hall, he is “of London”. However, he did not
finally sell his share until 1859 for £750 (£95K 2023).
He was the first of our family to go to the Far East, and was a very early Shanghai[59]
resident from 1848-56[60],
and he does not appear in the 1851 census. He was certainly in touch with his
elder brother Andrew’s family: they were with him for the 1861 census. He would
also have known the family left by his brother Francis after the latter’s loss
at sea in 1842. As he was only 17 years older than his nephew, John Andrew, it
is highly probable that he helped John Andrew to start his career in commerce
in the East; John Andrew was followed by several of his cousins.
On his return from Shanghai, Septimus became a tea-broker, operating as
Maitland, Cock and Gabriel of 9, Fenchurch St, London, an address quoted on his
will of 16/9/1876 (when he made Francis (2)'s son John Andrew one of his
executors, confirming a connection at the time).
He was living at Ditton Place, Maidstone, Kent in 1861 & 71, a handsome
mansion, with a farm of 118 acres, employing 17 workers. The son and daughter
of his brother, Andrew, spent their holidays there during the 1860's. He later
moved to Tylehurst, near Bexley. His wife Julia was in Addison Crescent,
Kensington in 1881: this might well have been a London residence of theirs.
Bexley Archives have plan for
additions to Tylehurst, Bexley, about 1902[61].
Ditton Place was a Jacobean mansion, but was destroyed by fire in 1987.[16]
Today a modern apartment block, named Troutbeck House, has been built on the
site of Ditton Place (as shown on an 1896 map), and lies at the centre of a
modern housing estate. One of the roads of the estate takes its name from the
original house (Wiki) (google earth N51 17.54 E0 27.06).
THE "Times” of 24th June [1902], to hand by last mail, records the death
of another “old China hand” in the person of Mr Septimus Maitland in his
eighty-second year. Mr. Maitland was a resident of Shanghai from 1848 to 1854.
To his sons Messrs. Frank & Harry Maitland, so well known here, our sincere
sympathies go forth. The former, who left here for England at the end of last
March, had the consolation of being with his aged parent at his last hour. We
may add that Mr. Frank Maitland expects to be back in Shanghai before the end of
the year.[62]
An intriguing line of no obvious connection with us is the (Tea) Clipper,
Maitland, built in 1865 in Sunderland. There is no evidence of any connection
with Septimus, but the thought is there!
From the Sunderland Echo, 1949: MAITLAND was one of the tea clippers designed
by William Pile for speed, but proved in performance to be a grave
disappointment.
Septimus married, 1st, Susan Houston McBride 15/1/1856SRO
at Albyn House, Little Govan, Glasgow, Susan McBride. His age 35, hers 24. His
residence: 64 West Regent St, Glasgow, usually London.
(64 W Regent St was a lodging house in 1851 census).
Her residence: Albyn House.
His parents: Francis Maitland (Planter), deceased & Ann M. (formerly
Wright).
Her parents: John McBride, manufacturer & Margaret, formerly Welsh.
She was born 25/12/1830 at Little Govan and she died between 1861 and 1867, but
no death record has appeared.
A newspaper report has Mrs Susan Maitland died at Natal 18/4/1863[63].
This could have been her – Septimus had an interest in Natal a little later.
OPR: John McBride married Margaret Welsh, 9/12/1810 at Sorn, Ayr (FR469).
Record itself shows nothing else.
At Little Govan, on the 15th inst (January 1856), by the Rev Dr
Roxburgh, Septimus Maitland, esq, late of Shanghai, China, to Susan Houston,
youngest daughter of John McBride, Esq.[64]
A question arises about how Septimus met his first wife, Susan McBride from
Glasgow. Her father was a manufacturer of cotton and weaving machinery, with a
sizeable factory in Glasgow and held a number of patents in that field. Perhaps
the families met via Septimus’s eastern trade connections, it was soon after
his return from Shanghai. John McBride was a cotton mill owners/managers from
Glasgow, although his older children[65]
were baptised in Sorn, south of Glasgow. The 1851 census shows him in York St,
Albyn Works with Susan and her siblings Agnes, Hugh and Janet.
McBride held at least 2 patents for cotton processing, from a List of Scottish
Patents granted between 22nd June and 22nd July, 1841.[66]
John McBride, manager of the Nursery Spinning and Weaving Mills, Hutchesontown,
Glasgow, for certain improvements in the machinery and apparatus for dressing
and weaving of cotton, silk, flax, wool and other fibrous substances. Sealed,
June 25, 1841.
Another patent appears for John McBride, of the firm of McBride and company,
Albyn Works, Glasgow, for “improvements in weaving” Nov 12 1846.
He married, 2nd, Julia Anne Wilson 5/12/1867[67],
at The parish Church, Bathwick. Septimus shown as full age, widower, Gentleman,
of Ditton, Maidstone, father's name Francis, Gentleman.
Julia as full age spinster, of Pultney St, father's name: William Wilson,
Gentleman.
Witnesses: William, Maria Ellen & Richard W. Wilson & Ernest Theryell?.
she was christened at Corringham, Essex, 19/6/1827 of William & Ann Wilson,
a farmer of 650 acres at Stanford le Hope, Essex, She had a brother, Richard
and sister MariaC51/61.
Newspaper of his 2nd marriage: On the 5th inst, at St
Mary’s Bathwick, by the Rev John Clark Knott, MA, rector of Stanford-le-Hope,
assisted by the Rev F Menden Scarth, MA, rector of Bathwick, and prebendary of
Wells, Septimus Maitland esq, of Ditton Place, near Maidstone, Kent to Julia
Anne, elder daughter of William Wilson, esq, of Moore Place, Stanford-le-Hope,
Essex.[68]
Julia Ann Maitland died 26/2/1913 at Tylehurst, elder daughter of William
Wilson, of Moore Place, Stanford-le-Hope in her 86th year.[69]
A timeline on his life:
1853: London Daily News March 29, 1853 SM Signatory to Declaration by
Merchants of London re relations with France
1856 (1st marriage): Usually
resident in London.
27/12/1856: birth of son Francis John at New Barnes, West Malling.
1856: List of persons who have taken out a General Game Certificate... Septimus
Maitland, New Barns, West Malling, Kent[70]
1859: sold his ¼ share in Giddy Hall to John Myers Cooper for £750.
1861 Census: At Ditton Place, Ditton, Maidstone, a farm of 126 acres employing
11 men & 3 lads.
(1851: Ditton Place - John Golding, aged 82, 232 acres).
Septimus (Hd, 40, farmer, Jamaica), Susan (Wf 29, Scotland), Francis A. (son,
4, W. Malling), Edith (dau, 2, W. Malling), Ann E. (dau, 8 mths, Ditton), Ann
R. (sister-in-law, 50, widow, landed proprietor, Jamaica), Ann K. (niece, 11,
Scholar, Jamaica) Andrew W. (nephew, 8, Jamaica), Ann Church (visitor, 42),
Sarah (vis, 16)
1867[71]:
A deputation of merchants, bankers, and others resident or being interested in
the colony of Natal, introduced by Mr. Gilpin, M.P., and consisting of Mr.
George Macheroy, Mr. Richard Harrison, Mr. Septimus Maitland, Mr. A.
Mowbray, M.D., Mr. Philip Blyth, Mr. George Ledgett, and Mr. F. S. Angier, had
an interview with the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, at the Colonial-office,
on Wednesday.
1867 (2nd marriage): At Ditton Place, Gentleman, widower.
1870: on Board of Guardians, Malling, for Ditton.
1871 Census: At Ditton Place, now 118 acres employing 14 men and 3 lads.
Septimus (50, farmer, Jamaica), Julia Ann (42, Corringham), Francis John (14,
Scholar, W Malling), Anne Emma (12, Scholar, Ditton), Harry (9, Ditton), Edith
Margaret (12).
1875, 4 Jan, Dailey Telegraph: Septimus joins ER Cock lat of Cock Gabriel in
partnership with James Maitland, both late of Shanghai. Who was James
Maitland?? Probably a misprint for John Andrew, his nephew.
1875-79: Kelly's Directory shows a Septimus M. as a partner in Tea merchants
Cock Gabriel and Maitland of 9, Fenchurch St between 1875-79.
1881 Census: "Emmetts", Brasted Kent (RG110909f44) visiting Richard
Sibbs.
1881 Census: 8, Addison Crescent, Kensington:
Julia A. Maitland (53, Coldingham Essex), Edith (22, Wateringbury), Annie E.
(20, Ditton), Annie K. (32, Jamaica).
Also shown in the PO Directory at 8 Addison Crescent
1880's-90's: PO Directory shows a William Monkman Maitland as a tea broker: no
obvious connection.
1884 18 Feb: defendant with George Warcup Maitland both wine merchants of 31,
Basinghall St, London. £20-6-0. Extract from County Court Judgements –
Middlesex.[72]
1891 Census, Mount Harry (Rd), Sevenoaks Kent:
Septimus Maitland (70, Living on own means, Jamaica), Julia A. (63 Essex,
Corringham), + 2 servants.
1894: Sale notice “Friday November 9th, “Mount Harry “, Sevenoaks,
Valuable Household Furniture and Effects. By order of S. Maitland, esq, who is
leaving the neighbourhood[73].
1901 Census, Tylehurst, Parkhurst Rd, Bexley:
Septimus Maitland (80, no occupation), Julia (73), Ada Wilson (niece, 30, Hants
Wormley). + 2 servants.
1911 Census Tylehurst, Bexley (20 York Terrace London, blanked out):
Julia Ann Maitland, (83, widow), Ann Emma Maitland (50, single, step dau,
Artist, Landscape), Mary Sheldon (visitor, 53, single, Hackney).
Issue of Septimus and Susan (ref MT):
2/1. Francis John, b.: 27/12/1856 at New Barns, West MallingBC
Morning Chronicle December 31,
1856 On the 27th Inst, at New Barns, Malling, the wife of Septimus Maitland,
esq, of a son (Births), he was described as a "Funded Proprietor".
Died, Shanghai 26/2/1907[74]
MT: "Frank" (m Aggie):
Plate M 16: A
cutout from a bigger image of one of the plays.
Frank J Maitland went out to Shanghai in 1878 and joined his older 1st
cousin, John Andrew Maitland in Maitland & Co, which he eventually headed
when JAM returned to England. His life was well covered by the various
newspapers of the time: he was a contributor on racing matters to the North
China Herald under the pseudonym of “Daybreak”. Several extracts about the
column are quoted later in this volume. He was
also an active member of the Amateur Dramatics organisations in the city, as
was another Maitland relation, NG Maitland. The newspaper entries on his death
give a good view on his life.
Frank Maitland first appeared in the North China Herald in 1885 when he was
elected Master of the Paper Hunt Club, with which he was associated for many
years. He was interested in many sporting activities, including the tandem club
which he started in about 1891, the Shanghai Horse Bazaar Company;
His will is in the National Archives, but not digitised[75].
The index of wills states: “.. of Shanghai died 26 January 1907 Administration
(with will) (Limited) London 4 July to Alfred Stokes Parker the attorney of
Sydney Walter Pratt and Harry Maitland, effects £3410.
Envelope from Maitland & Co, 1902[76]
Frank J Timeline:
1878: NCH: F Maitland arr Shanghai from London.
1879: Directory, (Maitland & Co), clerk, Shanghai.
1982: Directory, FJ Maitland, Merchant, Maitland & Co,
1882: Hong List, Maitland & Co, 1 Hangkow Rd. JAM (absent), JG Purdon
(absent), FJM + 5 others.
1884: Chronicle of China, Hong list, Maitland & Co, 1a Hankow Rd & FJM
+ 7 others, C Thorne.
1889: Directory, clerk, Maitland & Co, Shanghai.
1892, 94, 99: Directory, merchant, Maitland & Co,
Shanghai.
1895, May 6: Mr F. Maitland London from Bombay, scotch age 40. Was this him?
1899: Mr Maitland was referred to have left the Colony in the HK Fire Inc Co.[77]
1900: he was also a director of the Hongkong Fire Insurance Company[78]
1901: ditto[79]
1901 directory: FJ Maitland, merchant Maitland & Co Shanghai.
1902, March: To England with wife, expected back by year end
1902, December: arrived from Bombay & Marseilles by stmr Valetta. Mr FM
only.[80]
– from his obituary, his wife probably did not return to China.
1903: Secretary of the Shanghai Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals. Many entries for him and Harry.
1904: Hong List, FJM, Maitland & Co, Shanghai.
1904: Hong List, Mrs FJ Maitland, 38, Sinza Rd.
1904, April: FJM from Nagasaki, per Hamburg.[81]
1904, October: JM director of Canton Insurance Company.[82]
1904, November: FJM from Ningpo, per Kiangteen.[83]
1904 & 5: HK FIC[84]
1905: Directory, merchant, Maitland & Co, Shanghai.
1906: Who’s who: Shanghai, Merchant, Senior partner, Maitland & Co Ltd;
proprietor of “Shanghai Times” and Sport and Gossip”. Address, 4 Hankow Road,
Shanghai.
1908: Twentieth Century Impression of Hongkong, Shanghai and other Treaty
Ports, 1908: P359 FJM & newspapers
1918: Maitland & Co listed, with Maitland & Fearon, as bodies to whom
articles exported to China may be consigned[85].
Not many of our residents have earned such sincere and heartfelt expressions of
sorrow and regret as those heard on every side when his death was announced.
The following lines written by an old friend assuredly express the thoughts of
many:—
F. J. M. Obit
Genial, gentle, kind and wise.
Emblem apt of morning's rise; Now to higher, brighter skies
" Daybreak's" gone.
Shall we see his like again?
Ask we oft and ask in vain.
Our kindliest thoughts will still remain
All his own.[86]
DEATH OF MR. FRANK MAITLAND.
North China Herald February 1, 1907
The rapidity with which those who knew and worked for Shanghai in what are
coming to be called the old days are passing away was again borne in sadly on
the community on Saturday, when the news of the death in hospital of Mr. Frank
J. Maitland cast a gloom over the Settlement. A few years ago there was
probably no more popular resident here, and although ill health had prevented
him lately from taking that prominent part in social and sporting life which he
filled so well, his interest continued unabated till the last. Head of the firm
of Maitland & Co., successors to the hong which he came out to join as a
junior thirty years ago, Mr. Maitland never let business routine interfere with
his wider inclinations which ranged over the whole realm of sport from
cross-country riding to the owning and Editing of newspapers. The familiar
signature "Daybreak” first appeared in the columns of this journal many
years ago, and when in 18?7 Mr. Maitland projected a Sunday paper—a novelty at
that time in this part, of the world— "Sport and Gossip” was allied for
some years with this paper. Some two years ago Mr. Maitland enlarged his
news-paper experiences by acquiring our morning contemporary and his Sunday
paper was transferred to be run in connexion with his daily enterprise. At the
time of his death Mr. Maitland was the principal shareholder in the company
which now owns these newspapers, and his active proprietorship was shown by the
weekly outputs of "Daybreak's" pithy notes.
Few Shanghai men knew more about horses than Mr. Maitland, who was the
first Master of the Paper Hunt Club and a former steward of the Race Club. He
it was who organized the amateur circuses, which were once very popular here.
His devotion to animals took the practical form of founding the Shanghai
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. With gun and houseboat Mr.
Maitland was always in his element, nor were his tastes altogether for outdoor
sport, for he won many triumphs as actor and also as stage manager on the board
of the Lyceum.
Mr. Maitland was fifty years of age and married, but Mrs Maitland has lived
at home for some years past. To her and Mr. Henry Maitland (his brother)
general sympathy has gone forth in this bereavement.
Saturday’s paper hunt was abandoned as a tribute to Mr. Maitland's memory
and on Sunday the flags on the Clubs were at half-mast. The funeral service at
Bubbling Well was attended by very many of those who have been associated with
Mr. Maitland in his many social enterprises, and who have lost in him a warm
friend with a rigorous personality. There was no room for all in the cemetery
chapel where the Dean of the Cathedral (the Rev. A. J. Walker M.A.) conducted
the brief and simple service preceding the cremation. A detachment from
"A” Company under Captain Pilcher attended as an escort.
A note was also made at the Amateur Dramatic Club’s AGM of his loss to the
Club.
He appeared in a number of plays with NG Maitland see Plate M 16.
North China Herald July 19, 1907 – ADC AGM
......grateful to them. Another old member had left Shanghai in the person of Mr. Wilcockson (whose daughter married Edward William Maitland), who had for many years been an ardent supporter of the Club. Latterly he had contented himself by taking small parts. He thought they should put some appreciation of their sense of loss in the minutes. Death had removed another old member in the person of Mr. F. J. Maitland, who in his time had played many parts, grave and gay. He thought the sense of loss the Club felt at his death should also be recorded in the minutes.
From Alistair Angus, 5/10:
....and came across a copy of the 'Sport and Gossip' dated Sunday January 27th
1907. The 'Sport and Gossip' was a newspaper produced in Shanghai by
"Daybreak" who was in fact Frank J Maitland, son of Septimus. This
copy reports the death, the previous day, of Frank. Harry, my great grandfather
and Frank's brother, was with Frank in Shanghai at the time and had called the
doctors earlier in the week.
Ref Beth Maitland, was Master of Shanghai Paper Hunt several times. Ref "A
History of the Shanghai Paper Hunt Club 1863-1930". In a book called China
Races by Austin Coates (1983) a Frank Maitland is mentioned "Frank
Maitland, founder of the firm of that name - another of those firms which from
nothing seemed to spread a long way in all directions - was a tremendous figure
in Shanghai paper hunt circles."
The 1879 North-China Desk Hong List (the annual business directory) lists
Maitland & Co., at 9a Yangtsze Road, with J. Andrew Maitland (absent) and
five others, one of them F.J. Maitland.
A photo of the Stewards 1895-6 shows him; he also appears in Eleanor (Poole)
Maitland's album of photographs from the 1895-1903 era in Yokohama and Shanghai.
A Cornelius Thorne was listed as a fellow of the Royal Colonial Institute,
elected 1872, and of Maitland & Co, Shanghai[87].
Ref PJR, married Margaret (no trace if his marriage has been found),
IssuePJR:
3/1. Francis John Maitland, born 20/7/1873.
1939 Reg, age 66, private means
at 33 Brunswick Square, Hove, Married 30/1/1890 at 14 Belmonts Crescent
Glasgow, FJM of Shanghai to Agnes Mc Bride, dau of William McBride of Tollcross[88].
D Q1, 1940, Hove.
He appears in the North China Herald a number of times between 1913 & 1919
as an auditor for HSBC.
3/2. Ethel Maitland, born 1880.
2/2. Edith M Maitland, born reg Q4/1858 Malling (or Edith Margaret).
MT: Nedie, who m William Kennedy
(son of KENNEDY, Hugh, Esq., of Aberfoyle, Perthshire).
Kennedy-Maitland, On the 9th inst, at St John’s Sevenoaks, by the
Rev JS Bartlett, Vicar, William, eldest son of Hugh Kennedy, of Redclyffe,
Partick, Glasgow, and Aberfoyle, Perthshire, to Edith Margaret, elder daughter
of Septimus Maitland, of Mount Harry, Sevenoaks.[89]
MARRIAGE REJOICINGS.
Mr William Kennedy, son of Mr Hugh Kennedy, the contractor for the western section of the Caledonian Railway Company's Glenrock line, was married yesterday to a London lady —Miss Maitland, eldest daughter of Mr Septimus Maitland, of Mount Harry, Seven Oaks— and in honour of the event flags, banners, and bunting of various kinds were displayed over parts of the works, from Mr James Adam’s yard, Cove Road, and from other conspicuous places in the burgh.[90]
Son of the l. Ref P.Rush, she
died 16/2/1937, at Glencreggan, Glenbary, ArgyllNP. He 1938.
1881 Census with mother.
1891 Census, 3, Windsor Circus, Govan, Kelvinside, Lanark, age 32, wife of
William Kennedy, his age 31.
1901 Census, 13, Victoria Cescent, Govan, with William & Sister Ann.
William a Railway Contractor.
1905, 20 June: landed in Honolulu William & Edith M Kennedy on the
Manchuria from Yokohama, both resident Glasgow, where they were with a cousin,
NG Maitland.
1911 Census: Killean & Kilchenzie, Argyll, William & Edith, never had
children.
2/3. Anne Emma Maitland born: 12/7/1860, Ditton (BC). Unm 1914.
Legacy of £500 from cousin John
Andrew M. in his will, 1914.
May have married RW Blacklock, although this looks unlikely.
She was a landscape artist in 1911 when she was living with her step-mother
Julia. There was a painting, the Mill attributed to her sold in 2013.
She died 1954.
1891 Census, with sister Edith in Scotland.
1901 Census, still with Edith.
2/4. Harry Maitland: Born 5/8/1861, Ditton (MT: m Alice Winson)
5/8/1861: “on the 5th
inst at Ditton Place near Maidstone, the wife of Septimus Maitland, a son”.[91]
Died 13/5/1925 Harrow, of 'Disseminated Schlerosis & Cancer of Larynx'.
Registered by Edith Margaret Kennedy (Nedie), his sister.
Will Reg: Harry Maitland of Oak Dene, South Hill avenue, Harrow died 1 May 1925
Probate London 3 October to Frank Ewen Harvey, secretary Effects £10384/16/8.
Resealed Hong Kong 24 December 1925
1881 not found.
1881: probably arrived Shanghai about this time – re 17 year ref in Court Case[92].
1889: Directory, Clerk, Butterfield & Swire, Shanghai.
1894 & 99: Directory, merchant, Maitland & Co, Shanghai.
1898, July 23: Harry M, merchant, age 35, Liverpool from NY.
1901 directory: H Maitland, merchant Maitland & Co, Shanghai.
1903, July 25: Harry M, Gent, age 40, saloon, Liverpool from Boston.
1904: Hong List, HM, Maitland & Co, Shanghai.
1904, March: HM from Yokohama, per Autralien.[93]
1905: Directory, merchant, Maitland & Co, Shanghai.
1905, February: H Maitland for San Francisco.[94]
1905, 4 April, H Maitland & Mrs & infant arr Honolulu from San Frisco.
1908 directory: H Maitland, manager, Maitland & Co, Shanghai
1910 directory: H Maitland, manager, Maitland & Co, Shanghai
1925 directory: H Maitland, assist. Jardine Matheson Shanghai.
Is this the same one? Possibly Hugh, son of Andrew Wright M.
Also mentioned in "A History of the Shanghai Paper Hunt Club".
Many China newspaper entries for him on the Shanghai Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Anmimals.
Also a lot of coverage of the Paper Hunt Club and racing.
Capt Winsor of “Shantung” in an incident in 1873[95].
He appears in numerous ship arrival reports from 1871 onwards.
Much of this line from Alistair Angus[vii],
Nov 2006:
Married 18/11/1903, Fairhaven, Massachusetts:
Alice Winsor, b prob Shanghai 1875, d 17/5/1961, Harrow.
Her father at least, fourth generation sea captain (out of the east coast of
the USA), established, through him, a direct line back to several passengers on
the Mayflower (Alden, Bradford, Brewster etc)..
Harry's alien passenger papers for entry into the USA from the UK in 1903. Rather ambiguously they state that he was en-route to Shanghai but would be
'remaining in Boston for a few days'! That is dated 20 October. On 14 August
1904 their only child, my grandmother, was born and was named Alma Ingraham
Maitland. In due course Harry, Alice & Alma moved back to the UK and settled in Harrow. I have found a 1905 record from Harry travelling from Yokohama to San Francisco and one from 1914 (prior to the outbreak of the war) of Alice & Alma
travelling to Boston to visit Alice's mother but Harry must have stayed at home
or travelled by a different route.
My information is sketchy. Harry died before any of his grandchildren were born
and Alice and Alma both died before I was born. Harry was quite an old father;
he was 43 when Alma was born.
I am going to try and get to the Records Office in London in the New Year.
There is the link with St Clement, Danes and I just wonder if anything of
profit can come from that source. From sight of Francis' marriage certificate
(as produced in about 1927) the information will be slight as it only records
the names of the bride & groom.
Obituary[96]:
A telegram was received on Thursday by Messrs. Maitland & Co. announcing
the death at Oakdene, South Harrow, on May 13 [1925], of Mr. Harry Maitland.
Mr. Maitland came out to Shanghai in the eighties, and first of all joined
the shipping office of Messrs. Jardine, Matheson & Co., where he remained
for a number of years. From here he went to Messrs. Butterfield & Swire,
but was with this firm for only a comparatively short period. Other members of
the Maitland family had made their mark in Shanghai, notably Mr. J. A. Maitland
and Mr. Frank Maitland, both of whom were associated with Messrs. Thorne &
Co., and the local branch of Thorne & Co. from their time onwards went
under the name of Maitland & Co. This firm Mr. Harry Maitland joined, being
henceforth associated with his brother, Mr. Frank Maitland, who was one of the
best known racing men of any time here and who has perpetuated his memory as
"Daybreak" of the now unhappily defunct “Sport & Gossip," of
which he was also owner. Mr. Harry Maitland was also a very keen racing man,
and in partnership with Mr. Fred Haskell owned several ponies, which achieved a
considerable degree of success, among the best known being Sammy and
Kettledrum.
In the earlier racing days here it was quite customary for an owner to
make trials of his ponies in the darkness. Some have been known to be up at 3
a.m. to do so, and 4 o'clock was no uncommon hour for those who wished times to
be kept a secret. This was rapidly dying out in the early nineties, but Mr.
Maitland kept it up until a much later period than most owners, and one of the
jockeys who rode several winners for him remembers trials at 4.30 a.m., signals
being given from various parts of the course by blasts on a whistle. So long as
he was in Shanghai Mr. Maitland was a keen attendee at the Race Club, and in
the training reason was always on the course at an early hour, taking the
times.
He succeeded his brother, Mr. Frank Maitland, as manager of Maitland &
Co. in 1906, and retained this position until 1912, when he retired to England,
Mr. C. M. Bain then assuming charge. It is not recorded whether during such
time he showed the same enthusiasm for music as had been the case in his
younger days. He played the cornet, and it is said that at times in office
hours he would indulge in practice.
Mr. Maitland had not been in good health for many years; and latterly had
been very feeble. He had been very popular while in Shanghai, and his death is
greatly mourned by a large number of friends.
3/1. Alma Ingraham Maitland B Fairhaven, Mass, 14/8/1904.
D. 6/1/1961, lung cancer.
M. Henry John Wasbrough (MT: Desborough) 26/9/1925
D. 20/12/1977.
(always known as John) was a solicitor (like his father) and, in the immediate
years after his marriage, obtained copies of the burial certificate of Francis
Maitland, the baptismal record, marriage certificate & death certificate of
Septimus & Harry's birth certificate.
Lived, until retirement, in Harrow. At some point in the 1930's swapped houses
with, the by now widowed, Alice Maitland. HJW a descendant of Richard Knight of
Wolverley, an 18th century ironmaster (ref Tim Serisier, 3/07).
4/1. Susan Caroline Wasbrough, b 1927.
M. Alexander Butler Williams, D
abt 1996.
5/1. Carol Williams, M + 2 children
5/2. Nicola Williams, 11/2006: presently living in
Jamaica with her husband who is in the FO.
4/2. Linda Jane Wasbrough, b 1931
M. David Gillespie Angus, 1960.
Living Dorset 11/2006.
5/1. Alistair Angus, b. 1962.
M Heidi. Living Dorset, 11/06
5/2. Susan Angus, b 1965.
M Neil Rollings, 2 children. Living Glasgow 11/06.
4/3. William Maitland Wasbrough b. 1935.
Married to Diane
5/1. Claire Wasbrough.
5/2. Matthew Wasbrough.
1/10: Octavius Maitland - 1823:
MT: b: 10/3/1823, d: 28/10/1840
MB: born at Giddy Hall 10th of March 1823. Departed this life at Giddy Hall
October 28th 1840 aged 17 years.
IGI: ch 14/12/1825, St Mark, Kennington.
LRO Parish Records (microfilm X15/115): Christened St Mark, Kennington. Abode: Lambeth, father's profession:
Gentleman. Priest K Edwards.
LDS microfilm (1223998) of St Elizabeth parish records shows[97]:
"Octavius Maitland, Planter, 18 years, abode Font Hill Estate, buried 29
Oct 1840 at Giddy Hall." (Font Hill is about 5 miles from Giddy Hall and
was owned by the Beckford family).
Also:
Octavius Maitland & Christiana had issue (probably the slave Octavius
Maitland baptised 21/6/1821:
Amerilla 3/8/1855
Thomas Emanuel 24/5/1861
Charlotte Augusta 5/8/1859
Ellen Elizabeth 21/10/1853
Ann 10/8/1851
Amelia 4/9/1857
BornMT:29/12/1811, ChJPR: Giddy Hall, 12 April 1814.
(Copy Held)
BornMB at Giddy Hall 29th December 1811 at 1 o'clock at night.
Parents: Francis Maitland & Ann Wright.
Married: Harriet Carpenter, 22/2/1834 St Mary Stratford Bow (Pallot’s PR)
Died: Nov 1842MT Died at Sea
(Kingston Herald for these few months not in PRO).
Issue summary:
1/1. Francis Maitland (1826-1901). Our ancestor
1/2. John Andrew Maitland (1839-1914). Successful China trader, with issue.
1/3. George Maitland, referred to in a deed in 1845, but not in 1851 census,
and on Maitland Tree.
Will: made 13/2/1842, submitted for probate 5/6/1843
Left share in Giddy Hall and other estate Mitcham & Silver Grove to wife,
Harriet Maitland of Exeter. Brother John & Harriet executors.
Death Duty Reg @ Taunton[98]:
Right, title, interest and ?? in the estate or pen called Giddy Hall in the
Parish of St Elizabeth, Jamaica, and also in the estate or pen of Mitcham and
Silver Grove in the Parish of ---, Jamaica. Also chronometer watch, Money,
linen, clothes and all Jamaican property whatsoever. To the wife Harriett for
life and after her death to ??.
No value or death date given.
One executor was "Thomas Cooke of 31 Saint Paul's Square Liverpool in the
County of Lancaster shipping clerk ..."
Gore's directory of Liverpool, 1843, showed Thomas Cooke, Master Mariner, 31 St
Paul's Sq (residence) and at seaman's shipping office, 4 Newton Lane, Bath St.
Who was George Augustus Moore of Exeter executor in this will??
George Augustus Moore b abt 1790 Berrow (Somerset) appears in the 1851 and 1861
censuses as an auctioneer in Exeter where he was married in 1836. (internet).
GAM a widower, 24/3/1836, St Mary Exeter to Maria Carpenter, but does not
appear to be directly related.
Timeline:
1811 born
1818 to London?
1823 to London?
1832: attorney to Ann GH
1834: Feb Married London
1836: Spring, Son Francis born Liverpool.
1836: Jan-Sept Jamaica and back.
1836: Sept 18 Son Francis ch Stepney.
1838: July 1838, JAM born Jamaica
1842: Feb will, witnessed Liverpool
In the Sarah Jane:
1840, June 26 arrive Leith from Cuba & Jamaica
1840, before Oct 14, arrived Jamaica from Leith
1841, Jan 9 arr Leith from Cuba
1841, Feb 23, Sailed Leith for Jamaica
1841, Aug 24 arr Liverpool from Jamaica
In the Helen Maria:
1842, May 13 Helen Maria, arr Rio from Liverpool
1842, Sept 17 arr Falmouth from Rio
1842, Sept 20 Dep Falmouth for Hambro
1842, Nov 9, arr Shields from Hambro
1842, Nov 19 sailed Newcastle for Malta and Constantinople.
1843: July, JAM baptised Exeter.
Lloyds 1841 Sarah Jane first appears.
Sarah Jane: Brig, master Maitland, 216 Tons Built N Brns BBRP (Black Birch
& Red Pine) 1838, Owner Owned Dewar & Co Based Jamaica, Lth to Jamaica
A1 1836
Small print: Perry 206 Liv. Cuba
1841 1/7/41 to 30/6/42:
Helen Maria Snow, Richards, 260, Sundld 1839 Carr & Co London
Small print: 268 4mo Maitland Liv.Rio.
Lloyd1 1842 & 3:
Helen Maria Sw, Maitland, 260T Sundld 1839, Carr & Co, London, Liv Rio.
The father of Francis Maitland 3rd.
Francis 2 was born at Giddy Hall 29/12/1811 of Francis (1) and Ann (Wright)
Maitland, and died at sea in November 1842, probably in a fierce storm in the
North Sea 22-23 November, when master of a brig sailing from Newcastle to Malta
and Constantinople. Unfortunately, the PRO collection lacks the copies of the
Kingston Morning Herald for the relevant period: papers of the time printed a
lot of "shipping intelligence", which might reveal a suitable wreck.
The papers also contained death notices of many local people.
Francis spent his early life on the family pen, Giddy Hall, and was involved
in the farm, being referred to as joint attorney with John Salmon to Ann
Maitland at Giddy Hall in the 1832 slave registration records. Francis was in
London in early 1834 when he married Harriet Carpenter at Stratford Bow, both
“of this parish”. A real puzzle is how they met: she was born in Devon, outside
Exeter. He, or at least Harriet, must have been in Jamaica in 1838 as their
second son, John Andrew, was born there in July 1838.
At some point, he went to sea, but except for one documented merchant ship
voyage in 1836, little is known about him until his last fateful voyage. Captain
Freeman, with whom Francis sailed in the Westbrook in 1836, took cargo from
Giddy Hall to London in 1830, one of a regular run for Freeman in the Frederick
from no later then 1828 until 1834 when Freeman became master of the Westbrook,
still on the Jamaica run: Francis probably joined Freeman on one of the
voyages, maybe the one where Giddy Hall shipped cargo in 1830. The “Frederick”,
commanded by Freeman who later was master of the Westbrook, carried some of
Giddy Hall’s crops in 1830 (Frederick 480 bags Pimento - Frederick was in Black
River 28 May 1830, and into Gravesend 15 September); perhaps Francis joined her
and acquired the experience to serve as mate on the Westbrook. The Frederick
arrived in Port Royal in May 1830 from London with a passenger and cargo, and
left with cargo from Giddy Hall; she was 285 tons, and Bristol built about
1819. In June 1826, His mother Ann and 2 brother, landed at Black River from
the Frederick, then commander by Curtis.
It is not impossible that he remained based in Britain after his father’s
death, although sailing to Jamaica, but it is more likely that he returned to
Jamaica and joined ship some years later; the turn rounds in port were usually
weeks if not months. There are extensive shipping reports, both in Lloyd’s
Lists and the newspapers: the Jamaica Gazette has many reports of both the
Frederick and Westbrook on regular voyages between London and Jamaica. After
offloading cargo, they would advertise for a return load, which might take some
time, depending on the season, so Francis could easily have spent time in St
Elizabeth between voyages.
At the time of his death, he owned 25% of Giddy Hall pen and an interest in
Mitcham and Sliver Grove, probably 1/8th; Harriet and his sons are
mentioned in the deeds of the early 1840’s to do with the debts owned by
Mitcham. His family owned the 25% of Giddy Hall that John and Septimus did not
own when the John died in 1853, and still appeared to own the share in the
conveyance when Septimus formally sold his share to John Meyers Cooper. His son
Francs 3 sold 1/8 in 1869, leaving John Andrew still with a 1/8 share, maybe
this became John Andrew’s seed capital for his ventures in China?
Attributed to John Lynn, The barque "Westbrook"
off a coastline. Lynn was exhibiting between 1828-38. If this is not Francis’s
it must have been very similar!
The only recorded voyage in Westbrook by Francis was when he sailed as mate
on her from London to Jamaica and return; she was at the time referred to as
the Black River paquet. He joined the ship 25/1/1836, and left 6/9/1836: he was
25 at the time, and the master was Joseph Freeman. They arrived in Port Royal 8
March 1836[viii]
after a voyage of 31 days from the Downes, with 11 passengers. The cargo is not
known on this voyage, but would have been general cargo, tool plantation goods
and so on. The return to London probably had sugar, Pimento, coffee, fustic and
logwood. Earlier newspaper reports show the cargoes on some voyages. Giddy Hall
shipped 20 tons of fustic and 45 bags pimento in 1834 in the Westbrook, so it
highly likely that Francis was on this voyage. According to the London Standard
London, 27 Sep 1834, sailed, the Westbrook, from Jamaica, the Black River
Packet.
Westbrook 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[99].
He had Liverpool connections as well as London from the late 1830’s, son Francis
3 being born there about spring 1836 whilst Francis jnr was on Westbrook: the
baptism occurred 12 days after Westbrook docked in London (when Francis was a
"master mariner"). One of his executors was of Liverpool. He sailed
out of Liverpool for Rio in the Helen Maria in February 1842, (He seems to have
been appointed master at rather short notice for this trip: the papers had the
master as Fish until just before sailing), reaching Rio 13 MayLL and
back into London 19 September; Lloyds register has this voyage from London to
Liverpool to Rio. He then went to Hambor (Hamburg?) and docked at Shields 6
November 1842. After returning from Hambor his next, and last, voyage was from
Newcastle bound for Malta on the 26th November 1842; he was never
seen again.
There is no trace of him or his family in 1841, so he may well have been in
Jamaica at that time, returning soon after the census date to Liverpool. His
& Harriet’s location is complicated by her being referred to as of Exeter
in his will, and the death duties being administered in Taunton. In his will,
notably drawn up before his last round trip to Rio in February 1842, but still
of St Elizabeth, Francis left all to his wife, including his interests in the
Jamaica properties to his wife for life and then to his sons, and other
belongings, including his chronometer, an essential for a mariner. It appears
from the Lloyd’s Register of 1841-2 that they may have routed via Liverpool on
this voyage.
The line continues in Francis
(3).
Francis’s only other documented ship was the Brig, Helen Maria, which he
commanded in 1842 on a voyage to Rio. It was on the subsequent voyage that she
foundered.
The travels of the Helen Maria have been found from newspaper reports (for the
extracts see the Jamaica Appendix volume) & Lloyd’s Lists & Registers.
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.
The Helen Maria was first(?) commanded by Captain Richards/Richardson: he came
to grief by colliding with the Newark light ship off Lowestoft/Yarmouth about
the 3rd of April 1841. She was towed in and was subject to salvage
claims.
A Captain Fish appears on a voyage from Alexandria in November 1841, probably
taking over from Richards. Fish is advertised as sailing for Rio in February
1842, and cleared outwards from Liverpool 13 February, but Francis appears as
Master, apparently taking over from Captain Fish just before sailing from
Liverpool 8/2/1842 (quoted in the paper as sailed on the 8th, but
this must have been a misprint for the 18th)[100]
for Rio de Janeiro. She was noted as being in Rio in Mid July, and returned to
London 19 September, supposedly on to Hamburg. Vessels spoken with...Helen
Maria, Lima to London, 14th(September?), lat 5N lon 23W, by the Lady
Emma, arrived in the Downs[101].
The Lloyd’s Register for 1841-2 shows the Master as Richards with Maitland
added below. The voyage quoted was London-Liverpool-Rio.
The Loss of the Ship:
There were several relevant newspaper reports of the storm, but a family record
says all that was actually known:
MB: (written by Andrew Wright Maitland) Francis Maitland "sailed from Newcastle on the 19th of November 1842 in the Brig "Helen Maria" of which he was
Master bound to Malta and Constantinople. In Febry ensuing a plank was found
near Christiansand on the coast of Norway with the name "Helen Maria"
on it. It is supposed this vessel foundered in a terrific gale that raged on
the English coast on the 22nd and 23rd November and every soul on board
perished. The above was written 14th of June 1843 up to which date nothing
further had been found of this ill fated vessel".
(Now Kristiansand, on the southern coast of Norway. In 2002, the town is a
small container & ferry port, with many old stone, brick and wood
buildings, typical of many Norwegian towns).
Helen Maria’s sailing has not been found in Lloyd’s List.
The Times, 29 July 1843:
Whereas the ship or vessel Hellen Maria, Francis Maitland, Commander, sailed
from the Port of Newcastle for Malta in the month of November last, and there
is every reason to believe she foundered at sea, off the coast of Norway, in
the following month of December, and that all persons on board perished: this
is to give notice to the said Francis Maitland, the commander of the said ship,
(if living) that by applying to P.C. Toker, Proctor, Doctors Commons, he may
hear something to his advantage; and any person giving information of the loss
of the said ship and death of the said Francis Maitland, or if living, where he
may be found, will be rewarded on application as above.
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.
The following report may well refer to the storm where Francis Maitland
vanished: the reports does not state the specific date, but it must have been
just before the 1st December, which fits with a sailing date of 26
November.
The Manchester Courier and Lancashire General advertiser Saturday December 31
1842[102].
TREMENDOUS STORM AT SEA. (From the Boston Morning Post of December l (1842)).
In the evening, about six o'clock, a south-east snow storm set in, which
continued until about nine o'clock, when it commenced raining, and the wind,
which up to that time had blown moderately, burst forth from east-south-east
with tremendous fury. Many vessels which were riding at anchor in the harbour
were driven from their moorings, and either dashed against the ends of the
wharves or jammed alongside of each other. A large vessel was almost blown on
her beam ends, and several schooners and brigs were jammed together, chafing
and cracking, some of them with no person on board. One or two small vessels
were also sunk at this wharf. Such was the terrific violence of the gale, that
it was dangerous for an individual to venture to the ends of the wharves. We
were informed that more than a dozen vessels had been sunk, and that the crews
of one or two of them had perished; but the names of the vessels we could not
learn.
Although we saw twenty vessels more or less damaged, we could not obtain any
particulars, for most of them were deserted. The schooner Conclusion, of
Gloucester, lying at the north end of T wharf, had her stern stove in, and
sustained other damage. A large ship, said to be the Riga, was driven up the
dock of Long Wharf, and had her bowsprit carried away close to the knight heads.
One of the ships which arrived yesterday, was reported to have drifted from her
anchors, and sustained great damage. A ship at the end of Commercial Wharf was
reported to have suffered considerably. The barque Anita, too, was said to have
sustained some damage. Perhaps no gale that has visited this place for some
time has destroyed so much property in this port in so short a time. We fear
that a few days will unfold tales of shipwreck and death along our coasts that
will bring pain and sorrow to many a bereaved bosom; for no vessel close in
with land, could carry sail, or ride at anchor in exposed situations, and
weather such a tempest. We hare taken no notice of the damage on land, but
undoubtedly it is considerable; for nothing fragile, exposed to such fury,
could escape unscathed. (From the Boston Evening Transcript.) Ships Emporium,
Charlotte, Riga, and Olive Branch; barques Ten Brothers and Hebron; brigs
Angola, Gallio, and Montella; schooners Joseph Howard, Union, Echo, Henrv,
Marion, Cygnet, Sappho, Peru, William Wallace, Rebecca and Polly, Ligona,
Ballna, and Independence; sloops Hepsobeth, Brilliant, Coral, Eleanor, and
Simon — were more or less damaged by running into each other, and smashing up against
the wharfs.
The revenue cutter Hamilton arrived from a cruise yesterday, and anchored in
the stream; Captain Sturgis, finding the gale increasing, paid out full scope
of chains, so that she rode out the gale with gallantry and safety.
St E PR shows: Jas. Francis M b. 3/6/1842, "this child had been privately
baptised and was received into the church on the 28th March 1843."
This is an unusual entry, but the date of birth is far removed from our Francis
(2) to be relevant.
29/2/2000: searched newspapers for death notice, assuming that he died about
11/1842. Kingston Morning Herald not held in PRO copy (CO142/6) between
16/11/42 & 17/2/1843; no mention of him in the issues either side. Liverpool papers of the time also checked, but no mention found of any relevant ship accident,
or indeed sailing with his name mentioned.
But: 16/11/42, Passengers arrived at Port Royal:
Maitland, lady & child, in the "Conservative" 13/11/1842 from Portsmouth. Who was this???? A suggestion from Allan Flook, 11/2008[103]
Married:
Francis 2 married Harriet Carpenter, 22/2/1834 St Mary Stratford Bow (Pallots
& PR checked) witnesses James Harris and William Bland. Both "of this
parish" and bachelor and spinster. Their signatures looked educated. St Mary
Stratford Bow is in Tower Hamlets.
She was the daughter of John and Elizabeth Carpenter, a farmer near Exeter,
Devon, England. The Carpenter family are not easy to follow back. Francis could
have met her when sailing from Exeter or she may have been in London. She was
not named in the Maitland Tree, but subsequent documents provided her name.
There was, however, a family called Davy from Topsham/Wear Devon, in
Manchester, near Mile Gulley. The properties were called Heavytree and Topsham.
HARRIET CARPENTER - 1812
AM06/02
BornPR: 8/9/1812, Lower Shillingford (PR)
ChPR: 27/9/1812, Shillingford St George (PR - twins)
Parents: John & Elizabeth Carpenter (for them, see later section):
DiedDC: 28/12/1867, 407 Fulham Rd, age 49, of hepatitis and typhus.
(no will or admon).
Plate M
17
The 1851 & 1861 censuses give her place of birth as Exeter and Devon respectively.
She does not appear in the 1841 census, and was probably in Jamaica. A wide
search for Harriet Carpenter with a father John only gives a few, the nearest
other ones being in Wiltshire and west Cornwall.
She is the only suitable individual shown in the Exeter area with a father
John, but there is an age discrepancy: later census’s show her being born
1817-1818. If this is the right person perhaps she understated her age later in
life to her otherwise younger 2nd husband)? If born 1818, she would only have
been just 18 at the christening of son Francis Maitland and 16 or 17 when
married. Note that husband Francis only returned from sea 6/9/36. If correct,
she had a twin brother, James.
Francis 3 also shown born Liverpool in Census 51, but when is not known,
but probably between Spring 1836 (age at census) and September 1836. She was
described as "of Exeter" in Francis's will.
Shillingford, just outside Exeter, in 1840 was a small parish consisting of a
large house owned by Sir Laurence Vaughan Palk. There were few other buildings.
The 1840 tithe apportionment shows no Carpenters, nor indeed any working
people.
She inherited a ¼ share in Giddy Hall by Francis 2’s will.
After Francis' death, she married a 2nd time (cert held) to Peter Augustus Halahan,
17/7/1847 at St John's Parish Church, Waterloo, Surrey, both full age, he
bachelor & teacher, she widow, residence Waterloo Rd, witnessed James Green
& Robert Brown. He was from Ireland, and later an estate agent.
His father: James Halahan, farmer, Her father: John Carpenter, farmer.
Peter Halahan died 1st Q 1895 (? web site). Not found 1891 Census.
See below for more on Halahan.
1841: not found – probably in Jamaica.
1851, Upper Stamford St, London:
Halahan Peter (Hd, 35, House Agent, Kilkenny), Harriett (Wf, 33, Exeter),
Halahan/Maitland, Frank (s, 14, Scholar @ home, Liverpool),
Halahan/Maitland John (s, 12, Scholar @ home, Jamaica), James (s, 4, Lambeth),
Harriett (dau, 2, Lambeth), Emma (dau, 5mths, Lambeth)
1861, 21 College St, London:
Halahan, Peter A. (Hd, 42, Land Holder, Kilkenny), Harriett (wf, 44,
Devonshire?), James? (son, 13, London), Harriett (dau, 11, London), Emma (dau,
10, London).
Issue: by 2nd husband (C51, C61):
1/1. James Halahan, born abt 1848, London.
Does not appear after 1861 census
– either died or in Ireland.
James Halahan, auctioneer, appears in the newspapers in 1866-69 as an
auctioneer in College St, Chelsea.
1/2. Harriet Halahan, born abt 1850 (Lambeth, IV 353 Sept 1849)
Marriage Index: Q2 1881,
Westminster, 1s 849. At home 1871
Married 1 June 1881, John R Kemp,
1/3. Emma Maria Halahan, born abt 1851
(Lambeth, IV 340, Dec 1850)
B/C: born 25/10/1850 @ 72, Upper Stamford St, Lambeth: father Peter Augustus
Halahan (School Master), mother Harriet Halahan, late Maitland, formerly
Carpenter.
Nil M to end 1883. At home until 1881
1/4. Patrick Augustin? Halahan,
(death cert: died 2/9/1857, 22, College St, aged 2yrs, 5mths, son of a gentleman, of exhaustion from natural diseases.)
There is a mysterious reference to a ...Maitland, lady and child arriving
in November 1842. We do not know who this might have been.
Issue of Francis & Harriet Maitland:
(MT - IGI has only Francis):
The Maitland Tree as given to the author also had 2 further children, Ann Maria
and Henry: they are unlikely to be correct: a note by Ann & Henry give born
1839 2nd Q and 1840 4th Q: St Catherines register for these entries yield birth
certificates with the wrong parents, and these 2 do not appear in Census 1851.
1/1. Francis Maitland (1836) AM05/01
For his offspring see Francis3
1/2. George Maitland, mentioned in deeds 1845-7, but nowhere else, d young?.
He was not in the 1851 Census, so
probably died before then.
The LDS has a George Maitland baptised in Manchester, Jamaica 16/5/1841, he was
an infant, no parents given, of Knockpatrick – unlikely.
1/3. John Andrew Maitland – abt 1838
DSM: “JAM was my father's uncle” and was referred to by NGM as "Uncle Jam"
who made a lot of money somewhere.
Born in Jamaica, probably between March & December 1838: Maitland tree has
him born 19/7/1838, confirmed by grave at Friston. No baptism found (2023).
census51 shows him aged 12 (mother should have known!), later ones put his DoB
as 1839, his death certificate age of 76 puts him born before 12/1838. Age on
marriage certificate puts DoB as 1838-9.
No record has been found of his birth in Jamaica. He probably fell through the
cracks in the system, being born in Jamaica, but presumably came back to
England soon after.
Baptised Exeter of F & H, 3/7/1843 of St Sidwell St.
Died (DC): 22 York Terrace, London, 17/12/1914 aged 76, of Heart failure &
Dropsy, Bur Friston.
JAM from a print from James Maitland; note the eye shape – very like his
brother.
Married: Margaret Nicol Crosbie, born 30/7/1844, dau of James & Helen
(Nicol) Crosbie.
M/C: 3/2/1866, St Matthew, Bayswater:
He: 27, Batch, merchant, of St Pancras, Francis Maitland, merchant.
She: 21, Spinster, 74, Princes Sq, James Crosbie, Banker.
She died 14 July 1922, buried Friston.
A private publication in 1909 gives the history of the Nicols:
THE GENEALOGY Of THE NICOL FAMILY KINCARDINESHIRE BRANCH, WE Nicol.
Nicol Family
In his will, he referred to his wife, Margaret Nicol Maitland, who died after
him, as "otherwise amply provided for", left her £10,000 and the leasehold
of the house at 22 York Terrace, plus furniture and fittings..
Will Index: Margaret Nicol Maitland of Crescent House, the Strand Isle of White
died 14 July 1922 Probate London 19 September to John Richard Coe Miller and
Horace Gildon Harwood solicitors. Effects £36956 3s 3d.
1851 Census: with mother and stepfather Halahan, aged 12. John Andrew shown as
having son Francis and G/sons Pelham & Andrew in Maitland tree: DSM knows
nothing of this Francis, but knew the names Pelham and Andrew, but never met
them, we think Pelham was a friend of DSM's brother, Otis.
Sale of Giddy Hall Share
He retained a share in Giddy Hall only selling the remaining 1/8th
share (his) in December 1870 for £400 (abt £48K 2021), with Septimus as
attorney as he had recently gone to China[104]
MI Friston, St Mary the Virgin: (from findmypast MI)
To the memory of JOHN ANDREW MAITLAND of Friston Place in this County born 19th
July 1838 died 17th December 1914
And of his wife MARGARET NICOL MAITLAND born 30th July 1844 - died 14th July
1922
Likewise to the memory of FRANCIS JAMES MAITLAND Major R.G.A of Friston Place
in this County born 20th July 1873 died 16th February 1940 Son of John Andrew
Maitland
Likewise to the memory of ANDREW FRASER MAITLAND born 16th February 1906 died
5th November 1986 second son of Major and Mrs. Maitland of Friston Place Also
of their daughter ETHEL MAITLAND born 5th July 1877 died 14th August 1924.
He died 17/12/1914 at 22 York Terrace aged 76, Merchant & Director of
Companies, Gradual Heart Failure & Dropsy heart failure[105].
Will: "John Andrew Maitland formerly Cravenhurst Eastbourne but now of
Little Friston near Eastbourne, 22 York Terrace, Regents Park & 66, Old
Bond St, London.
Probate 6/2/1915 to Francis James Maitland & Charles Ernest Johnston,
Majors HM Army & Edgar Josiah Houle, merchant.
Effects £220135-1-5d, re-sworn Hong Kong £220821-14-10d.
PROBATE INDEX: MAITLAND John Andrew of Little Friston near Eastbourne 22
York-terrace Regent’s Park Middlesex and 66 Old Broad-street London died 17
December 1914 at 22 York- Terrace Probate London 6 February to Francis James
Maitland and Charles Ernest Johnston majors H.M. Army and Edgar Josiah Houle
merchant.
Effects £220135 9s. 3d. Resworn
£220821 14s. 10d. (compare this with his brother, Francis who left £140!
He was executor of his uncle Septimus' will.
Legacies:
(1) To niece Harriet Matilda Maitland £1000
(2) my cousin Annie Maitland the daughter of my late uncle Septimus Maitland
£500.
(3) Mrs Harriet Kemp of 84 St Georges Road Pimlico S W £1000.
(4) To niece Helen Crosbie Anderson £500.
(5) To each .. servants .. in my service for .. three years .. fifty two weeks
wages.
(6) to my daughter Ethel .. an annuity of seven hundred pounds ..
in the event of my daughter marrying to be for her separate use ..
trustees to set up fund for the annuity... And I direct that after the
determination of the said annuity the fund and income ... held in trust for
Francis Pelham Maitland and Andrew Maitland ... when twenty two years ...
(7) £50,000 in trust for the children of his son who are at least aged 22, 21
years after the death of JAM or his son, whichever the later. They receive the
income at 21 in any case.
(8) The income from the remainder of the estate to be for son Francis James.
The capital being in trust for the children specified in 7.
His Life:
John Andrew Maitland (“JAM”) made his fortune in the Far East, mainly in
Shanghai. His introduction to Chia was probably by his uncle, Septimus, who was
there in the late 1840’s and became a tea-broker in London.
He does not appear in the 1861 census, and was in Shanghai by 1863 when he was
involved with Thorne & Co, still with them in 1872 which became Maitland
& Co.
Over his career, he had interests in:
Shanghai Rowing Club, North China Insurance Co
Free Masons
Shanghai Cricket Club
His China Career is well described in his obituary:
MR. J. A. Maitland -
Obituary.
North China Herald December 26, 1914
OBITUARY.
We regret to record the
death of Mr. John Andrew Maitland, head of the firm of Maitland & Co., of
Shanghai, — familiarly known amongst his older friends as "Jam." —
who passed away at his home in London on the 17th instant at the age of seventy-five.
The news of his death was received by cable on Saturday, and was received with
general regret, his work and influence here being known to many, though there
are now but few who knew him personally. A man of fine physique and of
remarkable energy, Mr. Maitland enjoyed almost perfect health throughout his
long life, and his first serious illness was that caused by a chill, which he
contracted a few months ago, and from which he never fully recovered.
The deceased was "an old China hand" in the best sense of the
phrase. He had extremely wide and varied business interests and from the first
took a leading part in the social and commercial life of Shanghai, contributing
no small part to the development which has taken place here. He was about
twenty-three years of age when he first came to Shanghai, and joined the firm
of Thorne Bros. Shortly afterwards the name of the firm was changed to Maitland
& Co., though Thorne Bros, was the name retained at the London office. The
original founders, the brothers Thorne, died many years ago, and Mr. Maitland
continued for years to be the sole survivor of an old and influential
partnership.
Mr. Maitland returned to London in the early seventies and for a period of forty years controlled the London business of the firm, taking an active part in its affairs up to July last, in association with Mr. Stewart, the father of Mr. K. D. Stewart, of Shanghai. As has already, been said, Mr. Maitland's business interests were extremely wide. He was associated with many important commercial enterprises, among them the Union Insurance of Canton and the Mercantile Bank, serving upon the directorate of both concerns. He was also interested in Ceylon tea plantations. Two cousins of the deceased have been associated with the firm in Shanghai, Mr. F. J. Maitland and Mr. Harry Maitland. The former will long be remembered for the prominent part he took in sport, and especially for the success of "Sport and Gossip" in which he wrote under the nomme de guerre of "Daybreak” It is of interest to recall that Mr. J. A. Maitland was first to begin the piece goods auction business in Shanghai in 1873 – a business which has since seen important developments.
An All-round Sportsman.
The best traditions of sport, which is so prominent a feature of Shanghai life, owe much to the Maitlands, and a great deal to Mr. John Maitland, one of its leaders in the early days. There are still residents who will remember the part he took in local life, sporting and personal, among them Mr. Brodie A. Clark, Mr. Jenner Hogg, and Mr. John Morris. Mr. Clark and Mr. Morris rowed with Mr. Maitland in the British Eight, which won the International Race in the regatta held on the Soochow creek in 1867. As an interesting link with the past, the names of the full crew may be given: Bow, J. Buchanan; 2, Brodie A. Clark 3 John Morris: 4 Ernest Major; 5 J. A. Maitland; 6 J. E. Cooke; 7 J. H. Scott; stroke. R. W. Little; cox, B. Palamountain. Mr. Maitland also carried off the principal sculling event at that regatta.
He was indeed a splendid all-round athlete, being keenly interested in rowing, boxing, fencing, a leader in the gymnasium which had its home on the site now occupied by the Cathedral School, and a great cross-country rider. He was also one of the original members of the Mih Ho Loong fire company, which became a semi-military body at the time of the Tientsin massacre in 1870, and wore the old uniform of black trousers, flannel shirts, and feathered hat.
During his residence in
Shanghai, Mr. Maitland was actively interested in many progressive movements.
The Settlement has changed almost out of recognition since his day, and men of
his school have almost passed out of memory. All the more does his death give
occasion for a tribute to those personal qualities which have done so much to
furnish Shanghai with fine traditions and to set its future on solid
foundations.
He remained connected with the China Trade all his life, but returned to
England in the late 1870’s (he was in Paddington in 1881), and took up a number
of directorships. One, late in his life, was of interest to me: he was the
first chairman of the reconstituted Vauxhall Motors (1914).
JAM was head of the Freemason's Lodge (the Northern Lodge of China).
From the North China Herald:
1862: China Directory, Thorne Bros. & Co, clerk, Shanghai.
1863[106]:
Notice. Mr Peter Maclean is this day admitted a Partner in our firm, which will
in future be carried on under the style of Maitland, Maclean & Co., J
Maitland & Co., Shanghai, February 2 1863
1864: Joined Thorne brothers, Shanghai as partner.
1864: in Rowing Club & proposed gymnasium.
probably him involved, Maitland only:
1866: Shanghai Warf Company.
1867: North China Insurance Company
1867: Directory, Thorne & Co, clerk, Shanghai.
1867/8: North China Fire Insurance Company.
1870: DforC: JA Maitland, Thorne Bros & Co, merchant, Shanghai (absent).
1871: Census not found
1872: Directory, Thorne Bros, clerk, Shanghai.
The proceedings of the Royal Commonwealth Institute Vol 12, 1880-81 listed as a
non-resident fellow, Cornelius Thorne of Messrs Maitland & Co, Shanghai, a
member of 1872.
1873 birth of son Frank probably in China.
1874: China Directory, merchant, Thorne Bros & Co, Shanghai.
1879: Directory, (Maitland & Co) merchant, Shanghai (absent).
1879: North-China Desk Hong List (the annual business directory) lists Maitland
& Co., at 9a Yangtsze Road, with J. Andrew Maitland (absent) and five
others, one of them F.J. Maitland (son of Septimus).
There is also a J. Maitland & Co. at 41 Rue Montauban, with only John
Maitland listed.
1881 Census, 12 Craven Hill, Paddington:
JAM (40, China Merchant, Jamaica) Margaret (wf, 36 Banff), Francis (7, China),
Ethel (3, Paddington), Mary Nicol (23, visitor, Banff), Margaret Nicol
(visitor, 20, unreadable) & housemaid, kitchen maid, nurse and cook. Mary
& Margaret Nicol were Margaret’s 1st cousins.
1882: elected director of CHARTERED MERCANTILE BANK OF INDIA, LONDON, AND CHINA,
when of Maitland & Co, Shanghai.
1882: Hong List, Maitland & Co, 1 Hangkow Rd. JAM (absent), JG Purdon
(absent), FJM + 5 others.
1884: Chronicle of China, Hong list, JAM (absent), Maitland & Co, 1a Hankow
Rd & FJM + 7 others, C Thorne
1886: Shanghai Waterworks Co.
Maitland as director in London – had visited China. Prob JAM.
1888: Director of Nadler & Collyers Brewery (via Charterd Bank).
1888: Director of China Shippers Mutual Steam Navigation Co.
1889: Directory, (Maitland & Co) merchant, Shanghai (absent).
1891 Census: Cravenhurst, Eastbourne:
John A. (50 Merchant, Jamaica), Margaret (wf, 46, Scotland), +8 servants.
1892: JAM subscriber to Re reg Steam Nav Co.
1892: CMBILC becomes Mercantile Bank of India Ltd, JAM Director.
1901 census neither he nor
Margaret were not found
1905: China Chronicle, Maitland, & Co, Merchants, 4 Hangkow Rd; FJM manager,
Harry Maitland, CM Bain, KD Stewart, Chin Toh Ray, compradore.
1909, April 5: Mr JAM from Marseilles, landed Plymouth, maybe him with Mre E
Nichols.
1911 Census:
John Andrew Maitland (Hd, 70, Mar 45 Yrs, 3 born, 2 alive, 1 dead, Director of
A Bank & several companies, Jamaica), Margaret N (wf, 66, Banff), Ethel (dau, 33, Marylebone).
1912, March 29: Gibraltar to Plymouth. Maybe him.
1914: 1914 A new company Vauxhall Motors (1914) Ltd was set up to acquire
Vauxhall Motors Ltd of Luton, Bedford. The directors were: John Andrew Maitland
(Chairman), Alfred Walton, Leslie Walton (Joint MD), Percy Crosbie Kidner
(Joint MD) and Laurence Henry Pomeroy (Chief Engineer).[107]
1919: China Chronicle, Maitland & Co, Merchants & Piece Goods
Auctioneers, 33 & 34 Szechuen Rd. CM Bain managing +9 others listed.
Friston Place
On his return from Shanghai, he bought an estate in Sussex, Friston
Place: "Parks & Gardens UK", via Tim Maitland.
The gentleman farmer would have been John Andrew, Francis' father.
"In 1867 the 6th Duke of Devonshire bought the estate. Ordnance Survey
maps (1873, 1899) show the house, now named Friston Place, with formal walled
ornamental gardens on its east and south sides, a quadripartite garden on the
north-east (possibly a kitchen garden), and farm buildings and yards on the
north-west.
"By the turn of the century the 7th Duke had sold the estate to a
gentleman farmer, a J.A. Maitland, whose family developed the garden,
constructing a series of terraces on the south-east of the house and planting
trees (3rd edition Ordnance Survey map). Contemporary writings document that
during their 40 year ownership the Maitlands created ‘a garden and lawns in
keeping with the house, with shrubbery, a rosary, and with old walls in whose
crevices are stonecrops of several kinds, saxifrages, and trails of the
creeping ivy-leaved toadflax' (Evans) and ‘age old gardens and grounds of great
charm' (Sales Advertisement 1936)."
Friston Place, formerly known as Bechington, lies in a valley to the east of
Friston Forest, and consists of a house and ornamental gardens, extending to 15
hectares. The timber-framed mansion house was built early in the 16th century,
almost certainly by Thomas Selwyn, a younger son of the Selwyns of Sherrington
in Selmeston; Thomas’s maternal grandfather John Potman was the last of a
family who had owned Bechington since at least the reign of Edward 3. In 1702,
on the death of William Thomas Selwyn, ownership of the estate was passed to
four relatives: his aunt Judith Medlicott and three daughters of his sister
Alice. Three years later, Thomas Medley of Coneyboro in Barcombe (the canny
lawyer also known for laboriously reconstituting parts of Pett Manor) began
piecing these fragments back together, and by 1708 had perfected his title to the
estate.
Medley established a dynasty at
Buxted Place, and Bechington remained part of the estate until it was sold to
the Devonshire Estate in 1867. Carefully restored by the Maitland family at the
beginning of the 20th century, in 1958 Friston Place was bought by Sir Hartley
Shawcross, attorney-general in the first Attlee government, and the lead
British prosecuting counsel in the Nuremberg trials. East Sussex Record
Office’s Senior Archivist, Christopher Whittick, has written a detailed history
of Friston Place.
Friston east side.
THORNE AND COMPANY LIMITED:
London Metropolitan Archives: GB 0074 CLC/B/214
On 3 March 1857, notice was given in the London Gazette of the dissolved
partnership of Augustus Thorne and George Watson Coutts, who traded as Watson
and Company, general merchants of Shanghai.
From 1865 to 1935 Thorne and Company, merchants, is listed in the London trade directories. This company, run by Augustus Thorne, conducted an export business from London to China and Hong Kong in cotton thread, and goods made from cotton, linen, hemp and wool worsted. It became a limited company in around 1892. During the 1870s, Augustus's brother, Joseph, was in partnership with John Andrew Maitland as Thorne Brothers and Company, commission agents and general merchants of Shanghai. A considerable part of the business of Thorne Brothers and Company was as an agency for Thorne and Company.
In 1876 the name of Thorne Brothers and Company was changed to Maitland and Company, and in 1890 the business was transferred to Thorne and Company, which became Thorne and Company Limited. In 1904 Thorne and Company was wound up voluntarily for the purpose of reconstruction and was reincorporated as a private company. In 1923 it became a public company. It was acquired by Haighton Dewhurst Ltd in 1959.
Thorne and Company was based at 4 Cullum Street (1865-7), 16 Mark Lane (1868-[1880]), Dunster House, Mincing Lane ([1880]-1889), 66 Old Broad Street (1890-1919), 62 London Wall (1920-6), Royal London House, Finsbury Square (1927-35). The company then moved to Manchester, and was based in Solway House, Aytoun Street until ca. 1963.
Maitland & Co.
From the North China Herald on the opening of the new premises, April 1914:
....history of the firm of Maitland & Co. will be of interest. The firm was
established in 1858, and briefly told its history is as follows. There were
three brothers, Cornelius, Augustus and Joseph Thorne, who formed the house of
Thorne Bros, in London and Shanghai. As such they worked in the piece goods
trade, remitting the proceeds of piece goods sold in China to London, in tea,
silk and other produce. A short time after the starting of this business, Mr.
Augustus Thorne conceived the idea of selling piece goods in China by auction,
and although the first effort does not seem to have been very satisfactory, a
second attempt, made in 1874, succeeded. Since that date the firm have sold
every Thursday increasingly large quantities of piece goods in Shanghai, and
for long, teas in Mincing Lane, a portion of the business which some years ago
was dropped. Cornelius Thorne left the firm in the course of the succeeding
years, and went to Borneo in the interests of hemp, while Mr. Joseph Thorne
retired from the London office, spending the remainder of his life at
Sevenoaks.
In the early seventies (in fact, 1864[108]) Mr. J. A. Maitland joined the firm of Thorne Bros., and the name seems then to have been changed to Maitland & Co. in Shanghai, while Thorne Bros, remained the name of the London office. Later Mr. J. G. Purdon, who had a business in Foochow, became a partner, the name of his hong, Purdon & Co. being retained in Foochow, and about the same time Mr. E. P. Haig joined the firm as junior partner. The original founders, the brothers Thorne, have all been dead long since, and Mr. J. A.. Maitland is the sole survivor of this old partnership. He still takes an active interest in the business, and is associated in the London office with Mr. Stewart, father of Mr. K. D. Stewart of Shanghai.
Two cousins of Mr. J. A. Maitland have been associated with the firm, Mr. F. J. Maitland and Mr. Harry Maitland. Mr. Frank Maitland, now deceased, conducted the auctions here for many years, and besides being well known in that capacity, was an equally prominent figure in sport, being proprietor of the celebrated "Sport and Gossip," in which he wrote under the nom-de-guerre of "Daybreak." Mr. Harry Maitland is now in the London office.
At Tuesday morning's reception,
the toast of Messrs. Maitland & Co. was given by Mr. John Prentice, who
said he was honoured by being asked to be present to wish success to the firm.
Messrs. Maitland & Co. was founded in 1858, and looking round the room
there were only two gentlemen who he could see who were better able to speak of
the old days of Shanghai than himself. They were Mr. E. Jenner Hogg and Mr.
Brodie A. Clark. Including himself, they were the only three present who knew
the old "taipans" of the firm. The first was Mr. J. Thorne, who
retired forty-one years ago. He was succeeded by Mr. J. A. Maitland, who
started the auction business in 1873. His example of auctioning piece goods had
been followed by many people in Shanghai with considerable advantage, not only
to their clients and themselves, but to other firms. Mr. J. A. Maitland left Shanghai
over thirty years ago. Mr. Cornelius Thorne, their old friend, succeeded him,
but only for a short while, and then came Mr. Purdon, a man who was known to
more of those present than were the three gentlemen whom he had previously
mentioned. After Mr. Purdon, three gentlemen took temporary charge, Mr. Haig,
Mr. G. Noel and Mr. Martin. After this Mr. Frank Maitland succeeded— one of the
most popular men who ever lived in Shanghai—their old friend
"Daybreak." He was succeeded by his brother Mr Harry Maitland, who
was now in the London office, and last but by no means least, they came to
their old friend Mr. C. M. Bain, whom they all knew, and who was a worthy
successor to worthy predecessors.....
The China Traders' Insurance Company, Limited:
Branch Office for New Zealand, Featherston Street, Wellington.....
.....The China Traders' Insurance Company is represented in the greater part of
the civilized world. The Shanghai branch is managed by a committee composed of
Messrs. P. Arnhold, of Messrs. Arnhold, Karberg and Co.; C. Schlee, of Messrs.
Robert Anderson and Co.; James Jones, agent for the American Trading Company;
the local agent being Mr. J. E. Reding. In Japan the Company has a branch
office at Yokohama, which is entrusted to the care of Mr. A. S. Garfit. The
London office, at number 10 Cornhill, E.C., was founded many years ago. The
following gentlemen form a committee of management, viz., Messrs. J. A.
Maitland (Messrs. Maitland and Co., Limited); David Reid (Director of the
National Bank of India, Limited); T. Cuthbertson (Messrs. Edward Boustead and
Co.); L. Poesnecker (Messrs. Arnhold, Karberg and Co.) Mr. Waldemar Schmidt is
the manager of the Company's business in England.
THE CHARTERED MERCANTILE BANK OF INDIA.
The Colonies and IndiaNewspapers.com,
London, Greater London, England
Saturday, February 11, 1893 - Page 35
An extraordinary general meeting of the shareholders in the Chartered
Mercantile Bank of India, London, and China (Limited), was held on February 3
at the offices, 65 Old Broad Street, Mr. J. N. Bullen presiding, for the
purpose of confirming the following resolution passed at a meeting held on
January 18 last:— That the draft reconstruction agreement submitted to this
meeting, and expressed to be made between this company and its liquidators of
the one part, and the Mercantile Bank of India (Limited) of the other part, be
and the same is hereby approved; and that, with a view to effecting the
reconstruction of this company on the footing of the said agreement, this
company be wound up voluntarily, and that Sir Alexander Wilson, of 2 Dartmouth
Grove, Blackheath, Knight, and John Andrew Maitland, of 66 Old Broad
Street, London, merchant, be and they are hereby Appointed liquidators; and
that the said Liquidators be and they are hereby authorised, pursuant to
Section 161 of the Companies Act, 1862, to enter into an agreement with the
Mercantile Bank of India (Limited) in the terms of the said draft
reconstruction agreement, and to carry the same into effect, with such (if any)
modifications as they may think expedient." The resolution was confirmed
without discussion, and the Chairman subsequently stated that the Chartered
Mercantile Bank now ceased to exist, and its place was taken by the Mercantile
Bank of India, which would come into possession of all the old bank's assets,
and would take over all its liabilities. Starting with fresh capital, the new
bank was entitled to the full confidence of the depositors, and they must all
hope that it would have a prosperous career. A vote of thanks to the Chairman
closed the proceedings.
William Kidner, architect:
...In 1877 William Kidner had married Jamesina Nicol Crosbie, daughter of James
Crosbie, a bank agent of Elgin and his wife Helen Nicol. They married in
Kensington in London. A year later their son, Percy Crosbie, was born. He
became a managing director of Vauxhall Motors. They also had a daughter Helen
Crosbie. Kidner had met his wife through Jamesina's eldest sister whose husband
was John Andrew Maitland: he had made his fortune in the Far East and was head
of the Freemason's Lodge (the Northern Lodge of China) to which William
belonged....[109]
HAPoole in his Poole history under the entry for his sister, Eleanor has the
following statement referring to her husband, Nathaniel Maitland's family:
"...Neither of his parents ever left England, but all the sons did, going
out to China mostly, where their Uncle J.A. Maitland had amassed a great
fortune in the import trade of English piece goods, and whose name is held in
great respect by all early China hands."
Issue:
2/1. Francis James Maitland, born China, abt 1873.
Died 16/2/1940 (probate) aged 66
agrees with MI. of 33A Brunswick Sq, Hove, formerly of Friston Place.
1901 Census, 11-18 Grand Parade, Burlington Hotel, Eastbourne.
Francis J Maitland (Hd, 28, living on own means, China), Evelyn A.N.P.P.
Papillon (visitor, 20, army officer, Lapland (Brit)).
1913, 13 Nov, Orissa, Pacific Steam Navigation, Liverpool for Callao (Lima,
Peru):
Francis James Maitland (40, no profession, res England), Edith Dorothy Maitland
(35, res England)
1934 2 Feb: Southampton to Netherlands India: Edith Dorothy Maitland for
Lisbon, of 7 park Place SW1. Age 57.
1935, Feb 17: Dover for Spain Portugal & South America: Edith Maitland of 7
Park Place.
1939, Jan 27: Southampton for Netherland India (Lisbon), Edith Dorothy
Maitland, 62, of 7 Park Place SW1 Res England.
MAITLAND, Francis James, Esq , of Friston Place, Sussex,
Only son of John Andrew Maitland, Esq.; b. 1873; m. 1902 Edith Dorothy, elder
dau. of Arthur Mayhewe, Esq., J.P. and D.L., of Wyfolds, Sussex, and has, with
another son, Francis Pelham, b. 1903. Mr. Maitland is a Magistrate for Sussex,
an Hon. Capt. In the Army, and Capt. and Hon. Major Sussex E.F.A., Special
Reserve. Friston Place, near Eastbourne, Surrey; Junior United Service Club,
s.w.[110]
Married, 1902: Edith Dorothy Mayhew, b. 1876, dau of Arthur and Alexa Edith
(Wright) Mayhew.
Stationed in Isle of White in WW1, a connection which continues through his
grandson.
3/1. Andrew Fraser Maitland, b 1903.
3/2. Francis Pelham Maitland, b. 1906. (ref James M below)
Birth Index has him Q2 1903,
Eastbourne.
Death Index Q3 1950, Isle of White.
Was a famous Solent yachtsman and early Ocean racer.
Sold Friston house in 1981.
Married 1st Vivian St Clair Johnston, Q4 1926, S. Stoneham, Hants.
4/1. Elizabeth Ann Maitland (aka Tigger or Jane) b. Q4 1924,
St George Hannover Sq, d 2018, M Q3 1948 Kensington, London, George M. Milton.
Married 2nd Rachel E.
Cochrane, Q2 1939, Isle of Wight.
4/2. Mary Victoria Maitland, b Q3 1941, Glamorgan d 2018.
4/3. (Andrew) James Maitland, b. 1943. James works in the drinks
Married 1st, Linda C
Wilkinson, Q1 1972, Isle of Wight
Married 2nd, Reiko Okano, Q2 1985, Isle of White.
export trade, and spent some years in Japan, where he married and has a
daughter. He subsequently worked for Dodwells in the middle east
(coincidentally the same company as Donald Maitland's uncle Chester Poole). By
2001, he was trading on his own behalf in London, but in the same field.
A keen sailor with yacht based in Isle of Wight.
Birth Reg gives Andrew J Maitland Q3 1943, Swansea, mother Cochrane.
2/2. Ethel Maitland, b abt 1878, unm in 1914. (ref JAM will)
There is no record of an English marriage – she might have been one who never married because of the young men killed WW1. DC index has Ethel Maitland b. abt 1876 d. 14/8/1924, age 48. Isle of White. Will a spinster of Ryde.
2/3. ANO, dead by 1911.
See here for the Nicol Family
1881 Census: 407 Fulham Rd, Chelsea
Patrick A Halahan (Hd, wid, 57, Gent, Ireland), Harriet (dau, unm, 27, London),
Emma (25, unm, London)
1894, Commercial Gazette, both Peter & Emma still in Fulham Rd.
BROMPTON COUNTY COURT.
Chelsea__Pimlico_Advertiser_15_June_1861_0004_Clip
[Before T. Moody, Esq.]
On Friday, the 7th instant, a case of some interest was heard at the above Court. The plaintiff in the action was Michael Geary, an Irishman, described as a labourer, and residing at No. 8, Oakham-street, Chelsea. The defendant was Peter Augustus Halahan, who is well-known in Chelsea, and is said to be the owner of several houses including the plaintiff’s. Mr. de la Mare conducted the latter’s case, and Mr. Venn appeared for the defendant. The claim was entered to recover the sum of £5 5s. Od. in consequence of the defendant on th3 23rd of April last having seized and distrained certain goods and chattels of the plaintiff’s, and converted and disposed of the same to his own use, whereby the plaintiff had sustained damage to that amount. The evidence adduced, which was lengthy and ambiguous, tended to shew on the plaintiff’s part that the tenancy was quarterly, and that the distress was illegal for three reasons—first, because defendant distrained the day before the rent was due; secondly, because he distrained for £2 10s. instead of £2; and thirdly, because he had included in his distress the rent of a stable from which he was ousted in February last, and for which rent he had no right to distrain.—On the part of defendant it was argued that the place was let weekly, although it was admitted that the premises were taken for three months certain, and for which £2 had been paid on account; and as regards the value of the goods seized, they were worthless—the house having been previously stripped of what was of any value.— His Honour, under the circumstances, advised the parties to consult together and see if they could not come to some amicable arrangement. The defendant did so, and eventually they agreed to the following—plaintiff to have a verdict with costs on his giving up possession and paying rent to that time, and the defendant to return the goods seized.
Evening Standard 12 Sept 1863
September 1863: Bankrupt.
The_Chelsea_News_and_General_A_17_October_1868_0005_Clip
Mr. Peter Augustus Halahan, of 40, Fulham Road, Chelsea, was on Monday summoned
.at the Westminster Police Court before Mr. Selfe at the instance of Chelsea
Vestry, for that he being the owner of cerrain premises situated at No. 1,
Wickham Place, did knowingly and wilfully neglect a certain order of
prohibition respecting an alleged nuisance existing on the said premises
Partnership dissolved between Peter Augustus Halahan & Frederick Barnet,
estate agents. 7/6/1873
Pall_Mall_Gazette_26_January_1877_0006_Clip
Two prosecutions under the Sanitary Act came before the magistrate at the
Westminster police-court yesterday. Mr. Bannister Fletcher, the owner of two
houses in Oakham-street, Chelsea, was summoned for allowing them to be in an
unclean state, and was fined 30s. and 21s. costs in each case. It was stated
that there was a malignant form of typhus fever close by, and that twenty cases
had already been reported. Mr. Peter Halahan, the owner of several houses in
Wickham-place, Oakham-street, was summoned for a similar offence Mr. Woolrych,
after hearing the evidence, said it revealed a gross neglect of property, and
it would be by no means straining a point to consider that the neighbouring
disease was partly owing to the state of these houses. The defendant must have known
and seen it, and he would be fined 40s. and 10, costs with regard to one house,
and 30s. and 10s. costs, for each
of the others, or £14 10s. in all.
London_Evening_Standard_17_April_1876
An Illegal Distraint.—Mr. Charles
H. Kohn, of 17, Gertrude-street, Chelsea. was summoned for illegally distraining
on the goods and chattels of Fanny Seymour, she having served him with a
declaration under the Lodger’s Goods Protection Act that the goods were hers
and no rent was due.—Edmund
Pither, an ex-policeman whs summoned,
also, for asserting the said Fanny Seymour.—It appeared from the evidence that
the complainant was the lodger of her sister, who held the house 444, King’s
road, Chelsea. from a Mr. Barton. That person became bankrupt, and told the
landlady that he could not take the rent till the bankruptcy was finished. It
seemed, however, that the interest of Barton in the premises had been
transferred to a Mr. Young, and by him to Mr. Kohn, whose term commenced on the
25th of March. On the 27th of March a distress was put in on behalf of the
defendant by a man named James Halahan, who, assisted by Pither, broke open the
outer door, and entered the place. Seymour claimed a right to protect her
property as she owed no rent, and barred the progress of Pither up the stairs,
whereon he seized her by the neck and threw her on a bed—on which lay a woman
who had been confined but a few days-and knelt on her chest, hurting her very
much. They then distrained on her furniture alone, not interfering with the
other furniture. During the time she was absent from the house to make her
declaration the goods were removed, and Halahan, the broker, gave an incorrect
description of the house wherein they were deposited.—For the defence of
Pither, James Halahan denied that the door was broken in or that the assault
was committed. His warrant was only to distrain on the goods of Seymour, as the
landlord waited to get rid of her. Mr. Woolrych held that there was no title
whatever on the part of Kohn to have acted as he done and the proceeding was
illegal throughout He should adjourn both cases for a week, and advised
substantial compensation in the illegal distress case. In the assault case he
reserved his judgment.
There is little doubt that our Harriet Carpenter was the one born in Lower
Shillingford in 1812, although there is a discrepancy of ages in census and at
death: there are no others recorded anywhere near Exeter of the right age
group, with father John.
I had thought that Harriet Carpenter’s father, John was the one who had a
family in Topsham, and have recorded an extensive line of ancestors of his.
This theory has always been difficult to rationalise with some of the dates.
Further interrogation of the records came up with a John Carpenter in
Alphington, which adjoins Shillingford St George. This looks much more
plausible, and was been examined at the Exeter Record Office in July 2011 where
I found that some critical parishes round there were not on the IGI.
Lingering uncertainties are Harriet’s claim for her father’s occupation at her
2nd marriage in 1847 as a farmer, when John Carpenter appears to be
a Stone Mason in 1851 & 61. However, this line would seem to be the most
plausible.
How on earth did Francis & Harriet meet??
Was John as a Stone mason working away on the Canals or Railways? Or was it
simply that he was a prosperous man and she was in the London social circuit Maybe
Francis & Harriet met as a result of Francis’s sailing into an Exe port.
Harriet is in Francis’s will was of Exeter, and one Executor was also of
Exeter. She probably went back to her family when he was off on a voyage.
More research needs to be done on the parish records in Devon, especially those
not on the IGI and for James’s parents and his wife’s family.
Tithe records for Ide need examining and any other parish where John Carpenter
might have been then.
Wills are not extant for most of Devon, having been lost in the 2nd
War. Some indexes have been checked to no avail, as well as the Canterbury
wills.
Shillingford St George is within Exminster Parish & Kenn.
Wikipedia: Alphington is a former manor and village, now a
suburb of the City of Exeter in Devon.
The only firm data on John is that he was a farmer, and that
Harriet was born in Shillingford.
A John Carpenter was farming at Pengilly Farm, Lower Shillingford in the
1890’s.
At Harriet’s ch, of Lower Shillingford, between Shillingford St George &
Alphington: Lower Shillington was part of Exminster parish at the time. Harriet’s
twin was James. Looking at the parish records of Alphington, a number of people
appear whose abode was Exminster.
There are 3 recorded John Carpenters who might be Harriet’s father:
(A) Ch: 7/8/1791, AlphingtonPR
(B) Ch: 15/6/1787, Alphington – he must have died, although there is no
specific record found of his burial, although an unspecified John Carpenter was
buried at Ide 1/4/1789.
Both of parents: James & Grace (Taylor) Carpenter.
(C) Ch: 31/3/1777 of John & Frances at Ide
(Option A):
Of these, John 1791 looks a possibility, except that he would have been
very young for a daughter born in 1807. John was a farmer when Harriet married
second time in 1847 and appeared to be alive, which does not agree with the
census returns showing John Carpenter (1791) as a mason.
John Carpenter was buried Alphington 1/3/1863, aged 70. This agrees with the
1791 baptism and the census’s 1851-61.
John Carpenter M Ann Southwood, St Sidwell, Exeter, 5/5/1817.
Ann Southwood ch 4/4/1790, Dunchideoch, of Richard & Ann.
1841: no trace in Ancestry.com
1851 Census: Cheriton Bishop, Devon, Cottage
John Carpenter (60, Mason, Alphington), Ann (wf, 61, Dunchideoch [adjoins
Alphington]) Sarah Ann (25, Exeter)
1861 Census, Midway Terr. Alphington:
John Carpenter (70, Stone Mason, Alphington), Sarah Ann (wf, 42, Glover,
Alphington), George (son, 6, Scholar, Alphington).
1871 Census, Exeter Rd, Alphington:
Ann Carpenter (Hd, 45, unm, charwoman, Alphington), George (son, unm, 13,
Alphington).
An agreement dated September 1835 was drawn up for the building of walls of the
chapel between John Carpenter, a mason, and John Westlake for the Trustees. The
agreement stated "To erect and build with good hard stone and best lime
and sand mortar all such walls as may be necessary and requisite for a school
house about to be built at Alphington of not less than twenty inches in
thickness . . . and also to raise on the said stone walls good and well
tempered cob walls of not less than three bundles of straw to the perch".
A perch measured 16½feet. (from A Brief History of Alphington Methodist Church)
Issue of John & Ann Carpenter, the Mason:
1/5. James John s of John & Ann of Alphington, Mason, 6/12/1818,
Alphington.
1/6. Sarah Ann d of John & Ann St Davids, Exeter, Mason of St David’s Hill,
18/3/1820.
She may be the Sarah Ann buried Exeter, 7/1/1886 from the workhouse aged 60
(Option C):
It looks pretty certain that John 1777 was married to Jane Border in
September 1815, both of them widows in Kingsteignton. While no recorded burial
for Elizabeth has been found, it is possible that he was the father of Harriet
and James, and John remarried very rapidly after Elizabeth’s death, perhaps as
a result of son John’s birth early that year.
This looks to be John ch 1777 of Ide:
Married Kingsteignton, John Carpenter and Jane Border 1/9/1815, Both OTP &
Both widows, by Banns
Census 1841, Kingsteignton, Devon:
John Carpenter (60, Ag Lab, Y), Jane (65, Y), John (20, Ag Lab, Y)
Census 1851, Oakford, Kingsteignton, Devon, all B there:
John Carpenter (Hd, 32 Clay Cutter), Hannah (wf, 28), John (son, 8 scholar),
Charles (son, 5 scholar), William (son, 3, scholar), John Carpenter (father,
74, wid, pauper Ag Lab, Kin), William (nephew, 33 Clay Cutter, Lab,
Bishopsteington).
7/2011:
John’s (1st) marriage to Elizabeth has not been found, but a number
of parishes around there are not on the IGI, including Ide: the only 2 were in
Exeter in 1803 &4, neither of them has the right occupation for John.
Issue of John Carpenter:
Alphington PR Bapts to 1825.
1/1. Frances Carpenter C: 11/10/1807 of John & Elizabeth,
No further info on AlphingtonPR
IGI: Fanny Carpenter married Richard Baker, 6/9/1831, St Mary Major, Exeter.
1/2. Harriet Carpenter, b. 1812, Shillingford Devon.
Baptism: September 27, 1812, Shillingford Devon of Lower Shillingford (PR).
1/3. James Carpenter, b. 1812, Shillingford Devon.
Baptism: September 27, 1812,
Shillingford Devon (PR)
1841 Census, Prospect Place, Exeter, St Mary Major:
James Carpenter (25, Painter, Y), Mary (25, Y), Harriet (3, Y), Elizabeth (1,Y).
1851 Census, 4 Market St, Exeter (all b Exeter):
James Carpenter (38, Glazier), Mary (35), Harriett (13, scholar), Elizabeth (11, scholar), John (7, scholar), Frank (5, scholar), Mary (1).
1861 Census, Rack St, Exeter. (all b Exeter except James).
James Carpenter (48, Painter, Shillingford), Mary (45), John (17), Frank (15,
Watch Maker Ap), Mary (11, scholar), Fanny (7, scholar), Harriet Davis (dau,
23, wife of mariner), James Davis (5mths)
1871 Census, Prospect Place, Exeter:
James Carpenter (58, Painter, Exeter), Mary (55), Mary (21, Servant).
1881 Census, 7 Verney Place, Exeter:
Mary Carpenter (65, Hd, widow, annuitant, Exeter), Fanny (dau, 26, Exeter), Samuel Adams (boarder, 22, Grocer's assistant, Helston, Cornwall).
2/1. Harriet Carpenter abt 1838, Exeter.
M. Mr Davis, a mariner.
3/1. James Davis b. 1860.
2/2. John Carpenter 1844
2/3. Frank Carpenter, b. abt 1846
1871 Census, Prospect Place, Exeter:
Frank Carpenter (25, Builder & Glazier, Ex), Emma (22, machinist, Ex), Emma
(2, Ex).
1881 Census, 4 Rack St, Exeter:
Frank Carpenter, (35, Painter, Ex), Emma (32, Machinist, Ex), Emma (12,
scholar, Ex), Fanny (9, scholar, Ex), Frank (6, Scholar, Ex), Harry (3,
scholar, Ex), John G. (1, Ex).
1891 Census, 22, Bonhay Rd, St Edumnd, Exeter: (all b Exeter)
Frank Carpenter (45, Decorator), Emma (42), Frank (17, Clerk), Harry (14,
Painter's apprentice), John (12, scholar), Lizzie (6, scholar), William (3,
scholar), James (1)
1901 Census, 22, Bonhay Rd (Eagle Cottage):
Frank Carpenter (55, house decorator), Emma (53), Frank (27, Surveyor's
draughtsman), Harry (23, house decorator), William (13, Desk Clerk), James
(11), Charles M. (9, Ex), Frederick (6, Ex).
3/1. Emma Carpenter, abt 1869.
3/2. Fanny Carpenter, abt 1873.
3/3. Frank Carpenter, abt 1875.
3/4. Harry Carpenter, abt 1878.
3/5. John G. Carpenter, abt 1880.
3/6. Lizzie Carpenter, abt 1885.
3/7. William Carpenter, abt 1888.
3/8. James Carpenter, abt 1890.
3/9. Charles M Carpenter, abt 1892.
3/10. Frederick Carpenter, abt 1895.
2/4. Mary b abt 1850.
2/5. Fanny Carpenter, b. abt 1854.
1/4. John Carpenter C: 19 Feb 1815 of J&E, Alphington, Devon,
PR Shows: Labourer of Exminster.
NB: Ide not on IGI.
James Carpenter ch 10/6/1759 of Edward & Mary, Ide (PR)
James Carpenter bur Alphington 8/3/1810 aged 51 (PR).
Grace Carpenter Bur 18/11/1832 aged 78, Alphington.
Wills:
Calendars of wills and administrations relating to the counties of Devon and
Cornwall : proved in the Court of the Principal Registry of the bishop of Exeter,
1559-1799: and of Devon only, proved in the Court of the Archdeaconry of
Exeter, 1540-1799 : all now preserved in the Probate Registry at Exeter.
London: British Record Society, 1908.
Many others but Alph & Shill:
John Carpenter, Alphington 1633, “a.c.t.” (Admon copy Testament?)
John Snr, Alphington, 1639, will
Elizabeth, Shillingford, 1696, will
John, Alphington, 1705, Will
John, Alphington, 1722, Admon
Thomas, Alphington, 1727, Admon
Thomas, Alphington, 1738, I
Married 1st Ide:
Elizabeth Bulley, both OTP (PR):
Banns 14,21,28 Sept 1777, Mar 8/10/1777, he signed, she marked, Wit Edward
Carpenter
Elizabeth Carpenter Bur Ide, 19/2/1778
1/1. Mary Carpenter ch 15/2/1778 of James & Elizabeth (PR)
Married 2nd:
Ide, Devon:
James Carpenter, widower, m Grace Taylor both OTP Banns 13, 20 & 27 June
1779
Married 25 July 1779, he signed, she marked, wit Edward Carpenter & Richard
Knott.
IGI: Grace Taylor ch 1756 of Jos Taylor, Bovey Tracey. A possibility, but needs
more work on local parish records. This one probably married 1778 in BT.
Issue of James & Grace, Alphington:
IGI & PR:
1/2. Ann Carpenter, ch 20/2/1780
1/3. Thomas Carpenter, ch 11/11/1781
1/4. Henry Carpenter, ch 4/9/1785 – Bur 11/7/1806, aged 21.
1/5. John Carpenter, privately 15 June 1787, Probably bur Ide 1/4/1789,
1/6. Betty Carpenter, ch 12/4/1789
Eliza Carpenter base child of Elizabeth, ch 6/8/1809, Alph., this may be correct Elizabeth!
1/7. John Carpenter, ch baptised 7/8/1791
1/8. James Carpenter, ch 20/10/1793 – bur 24/8/1794
1/9. Susannah Carpenter, ch 9/3/1796
Alphington Bur, 1770-1825:
Mary dau of Richard & Mary Carpenter bur 3/12/1788 aged 2.
Frances Carpenter age 70 widow, bur 29/3/1810.
9/3/1810, Frances Carpenter, widow aged 70
Alphington, Exminster & Shillingford Tithe awards no Carpenters
Exminster Bur 1800-1826 no Carpenters.
Ide, Bap & Bur 1755-1792, a rapid examination(!):
Edward Carpenter, Widower, M Ann Nichols of Dunsford Banns: 4,11,18 April 1779
William Vaugh, sojourner, M Dorothy Carpenter 3/11/1779
of Edward & Mary:
Mary Carpenter ch 14/1/1755
James Carpenter ch 16/6/1759
Child (unreadable) 5/11/1761
of Thomas & Elizabeth
Elizabeth Carpenter ch 1760 (month lost)
Ann Carpenter ch 17/8/1755
of John & Frances
John Carpenter ch 31/3/1777
James Carpenter, privatel Bapt 3 May, received into church 2 July 1780.
Elizabeth Carpenter of George & Elizabeth ch 14/4/1788
Bur Ide:
Grace Carpenter bur Oct 1758
Ann Carpenter 15/11/1764
Ann Carpenter 21/7/1765
Tho Carpenter 30/10/1771
John Carpenter 1/4/1789
Harriott Carpenter 30/5/1790
Sarah Taylor of Tho & Jane ch 27/1/1769
There was also a family of William & Elizabeth Carpenter and Samuel and
Sarah in the next parish, Kenn.
IGI Marriage, Braunton, N Devon:
John Lamprey (IGI has or but PR a Carpenter) married Elizabeth Richards
6/6/1808.
James ch 5/6/1754 Ottery St Mary of William & Hannah (PR transcript
checked).
The FTM Census 1851 disc contains many Carpenters of Devon: more investigation
required (11/2002)
From Exeter Record Office:
is a small parish in the Kenn valley, on the old road from
Exeter to Plymouth, 3 miles south from Exeter, in the North Eastern division of
the county, Exminster hundred, Wonford petty sessional division, St. Thomas
union, county court district of Exeter, rural deanery of Kenn and archdeaconry
and diocese of Exeter. The church of St. George is an edifice of stone in the
Perpendicular style. . . . in the chancel is a double-canopied brass, with
kneeling effigies heraldically attired, to Sir William Huddesfield,
attorney-general to Edward IV. and of the privy council of Henry VII. and a
justice of Oyer and Terminer, ob. 20th March, 1499, and to Katherine
(Courtenay), his wife, and three children; at the foot of the brass is a Latin
inscription: Sir W. Huddesfield rebuilt the tower of the church, and on the
western face is a shield with supporters bearing his arms, impaling those of
Courtenay, and below are similar shields: there is another brass with
inscriptions to John Seaman B.A. "preacher of God's Holy Word in
Shillingford," ob. 25th April, 1664: the east window is a memorial of Lady
Palk, and there is another memorial window to Mrs. Pitman, of Dunchideock:
there are 115 sittings. The register of baptisms and burials dates from the
year 1565; marriages, 1569. . . The chief crops are barley, oats and pasture.
The area is 415 acres; rateable value, £700; the population in 1901 was
63." [From: Kelly's Directory of Devonshire, 1902]
...a neat and pleasant village on the western side of the
river Exe, 1½ mile S. of Exeter, has in its parish 1286 inhabitants, and about
2700 acres of fertile land, traversed by the South Devon Railway and Exeter
Ship canal. It has cattle fairs on the first Wednesday after the 20th of June,
and on the Wednesday after Michaelmasday. It was one of the principal quarters
of Sir Thos. Fairfax's army, when he was blockading Exeter, in 1646. The Earl
of Devon owns most of the soil, and is lord of the manor of Alphington, which
was obtained by his family in the reign of Richard II., in exchange, from the
Seagraves. Matford, formerly a seat of the Smith and other families, belongs to
Sir L.V. Palk, and several smaller proprietors have estates and neat houses
here. Risdon says a man named Stone died here at the age of 120 years, in the
reign of Elizabeth. On July 2nd, 1760, by the sudden inundation of the rivulet
which runs through the village to the Exe, upwards of 20 houses are said to
have been thrown down, and the damage was computed at upwards of £1000. The
Church, (St. Michael,) is a large antique fabric, with a tower and eight
bells." [From White's Devonshire Directory (1850)]
Topsham was one of three ports administered by the City and Corporation of
Exeter. In the early 1970s all three still had foreign trade. Topsham was the
river port. The middle one, both in location and size of vessel. Capable of
berthing ships of up to 500 gross tonnage Exeter Basin saw the occasional 200
ton coaster. Exmouth Dock was the sea port. There were sometimes three or four
vessels in the Dock. In those not so far off days, every now and then a mobile
crane would rumble onto Topsham Quay. A ship would arrive, the throb of diesels
engines carrying across the water on the rising tide. Foreign voices heard.
Shouts. The smell of sawn pine, the intermittent roar of the crane, the echo of
plank landing on plank, the grind of lorries carrying away the cargo through
the narrow twisting streets, the muted clatter of the auxiliary engine. A
bustle, a purpose, the essence of a port, the town alive. New faces in the
local pubs. New stories told and barely understood. Then after a few days the
ship would depart. The town would slip back again into itself. For some this
was a continuance of history. What it was all about. A working port. A river
used for the carriage of cargo, as it had been for hundreds of years. The
arrival of a foreign ship a red letter day.
From THE SOUTH WEST MARITIME HISTORY SOCIETY, June 2003
TOPSHAM, from Parish history file in Topsham Library.
Hundred: Wonford
District or unitary council: Exeter
Deanery: Aylesbeare (basis of arrangement for typescript "Church
notes" by Beatrix Cresswell)
Maps:
County series: 1:2,500 sheet 92/4 Six inch sheet (1:10560) 92NE
National grid sheets. (National grid reference for centre point: SX965884) -
1:10,000 sheet: SX98NE
- 1:25,000 sheet: Explorer 031
- Landranger (1:50,000) sheet: 192
Greenwood survey of area (1827)
Geological sheet: 325
Population: 2749 (1801) 2790 (1901)
Valuation in 1334: £01/08/08
Valuation in lay subsidy of 1524: £20/05/00
Number signing Protestation returns, 1641/2: 293
Recorded as borough from 1257
Market recorded: 1822
The Topsham Carpenters & Mugfords
At July 2011, the Topsham family does not now seem to be connected to ours.
The Mugford connection has been researched by:
Paul Harding, Arizona, 12/2003[ix]
Some work by AM at Exeter RO.
is somewhat speculative and requires more research.
A possibility - this is the closest John Carpenter listed on the IGI within a
suitable date range:
John Carpenter C: 5/12/1769, Lympstone, Devon (IGI & PR)
Parents: Robert & Elizabeth Carpenter
Two marriages are possible, but that to Elizabeth Mugford is the most probable
(date of birth and age are correct for her):
(a) Elizabeth Ledger, St Sidwell, Exeter, 3/3/1803 - PR checked
Both OTP, by banns, illiterate, he a private in the East
Devon Militia.
(b) Elizabeth Mugford, Holy Trinity, Exeter, 26/6/1804 - PR Checked. He a
mariner OTP, she of Lympstone, Devon, by licence
It would be logical to assume that Francis (2) Maitland would have met a
mariner's family, although John was quoted to be a farmer when Harriet
remarried in 1847. By then he would have long since retired from the sea (if
indeed the job description was correct and not a copy of Halahan snr.).
Lympstone & Topsham are adjacent parishes on the Exe estuary.
If the sequence below is correct, what was John C doing in Shillingford (only
about 5 miles from Topsham)? Only the twins, Harriett & James were born in
Shillingford, all the remaining supposed offspring being born at regular
intervals in Topsham. Maybe John was at sea at the relevant time. It is
noticeable that the other children were baptised at odd intervals, probably due
to his absences.
See below for other issue of John and Elizabeth at Alphington, possibly the
issue of option (a) above. Exminster and Kenn parishes were checked and no
relevant Carpenters found (see below).
1841: John Carpenter, 72, Mariner, Shapter St, Topsham
This may well have been our John Carpenter. (Jno Carpenter 70, p20 Dist 4)
ELIZABETH MUGFORD - 1773
Born 1773 in Lympstone Devon,
Baptism: November 07, 1773, Lympstone Devon, Died 1831, age matches DoB.
Parents: Francis & Charity (Wheaton) Mugford.
Died: November 02, 1831 in Topsham.
Children of Elizabeth Mugford and John Carpenter are:
List from Harding, with additions of PR by A3M;
(A3M: refer 1/3 names and father a mariner in some)
1/1. John Carpenter, b. 1806, Topsham. (PR)
Baptism:
July 27, 1806, Topsham
1851 Census possibility, Kenn Town, Kenn, Devon (nr Topsham):
John (45, Ag Lab, Kenn), Mary (45, Chudleigh), Mary Ann Shapter (dau, 16,
Kenn), Eliza (dau, 10, Kenn), Ann Carpenter (dau, 5, Kenn), John (son, 3,
Kenn).
1/2. Edward Francis Carpenter, b. 1808, Topsham (PR).
Baptism: January 01, 1808, Topsham
1/3. Elizabeth Charity Mugford Carpenter, b. 1809, Topsham (PR).
married William Brinning August
22, 1830 in Topsham Devon, son of William Brinning and Sarah.
His Baptism: December 18, 1803, Kenton Devon
1851 Census, Lacemaker, Widow
1861 Census, Snows Cottage, Littleham, Exmouth, Devon:
Elizabeth Brinning (Hd, Wid, 57, Lace Maker, Littleham), Eliza (dau, 22, Lace
Maker, Littleham.
1871 not found.
2/1. Elizabeth Ann Brinning, b. 1833, Topsham;
d. July 29, 1833, Topsham. Baptism: July 22, 1833, Topsham
2/2. Elizabeth Ann Brinning, b.
1835, Topsham.
Bap 26/7/1835, Topsham
2/3. Eliza Brinning, b. 1839, Littleham Devon.
2/4. Charlotte Brinning, b. 1842, Littleham Devon.
2/5. William Brinning, b. 1845, Littleham Devon.
1/4. Edward Francis Carpenter, b. 1811, Topsham (PR).
Baptism: September 13, 1811, Topsham
1/5. John Carpenter, b. 1813, Topsham.
Baptism: December 19, 1813, Topsham (PR Shows: of Topsham, Mariner)
1/6. Henry William Carpenter, b. 1814, Topsham.
Baptism: March 13, 1814, Topsham (PR Shows: of Topsham, Mariner)
1/7. Susanna Carpenter, b. 1825, Topsham.
Baptism: July 17, 1825, Topsham
ROBERT CARPENTER - 1738?
(a)
Robert Carpenter C: 29 Sep 1738
Father: Edw Carpenter Woodbury, Devon, Mother: Eliz
Woodbury on East Bank of Exe Estuary, S of Exeter. Adjacent Parish to
Lympstone.
(b) Probably too young and too far away.
Robert Carpenter C: 2 Jan 1743
Father: William Carpenter, Oakford, Devon, Mother: Ann Winsborrow.
Oakford abt 10 miles N of Tiverton.
Married at St Sidwell, Exeter, 25/2/1759,
Robert Carpenter Soldier OTP, Elizabeth Barlow OTP, by Banns, he illiterate,
she signed.
IGI: only Ch: Elizabeth Barloe Crediton 23 May 1732, of Barloe & Mary.
Ch of Robert & Elizabeth Carpenter (IGI):
1/1. John Carpenter C: 5 Dec 1769 Lympstone, Devon, (PR)
1/2. Edward Carpenter ch 2/8/1772 (Robert only) (PR)
1/2. Mary Carpenter C: 22 Oct 1775 Lympstone, Devon, (PR)
Bur 22/10/1777, dau of Robert & Elizth, Lympstone, Devon
1/4. Mary Carpenter, ch 28/2/1779 (Robert only) (PR)
From email from Paul Harding.
Baptism: March 06, 1738/39, Lympstone Devon
Parents: Francis & Mariam (Skinner) Mugford.
Married: Charity Farrant, June 17, 1765 in Lympstone Devon.
Charity Farrant married 1st John Wheaton. William Chown (father of
Mary) was a witness at John Wheaton's will.
The following may refer to our Francis Mugford. It appears that the voyage was
undertaken about 1779.
Rootsweb:
From: Thomas Cole [x]
Subject: [DEV] Capt Francis
MUGFORD
Date: Sat, 20 Jan 2007
Writing in Paris, France in 1781, Benjamin Franklin accorded unmolested passage
from England to Labrador for Capt. Francis MUGFORD, master of the Good Intent,
appropriately named since Mugford was on a benevolent voyage to deliver much
needed supplies to the Moravian missionaries.
.... the sloop Good Intent, burden about 75 tons, Capt. Francis Mugford,
carrying in the present voyage about 5,000 bricks for building chimneys, with
provisions and necessaries for the missionaries and their assistants and some
ironmongery and tinware for the Indians; the crew consisting of the captain,
mate, three men, and a boy, and the passengers, one man and three women; is the
vessel employed in the above service for the present year.
.... And Whereas some Members of the said Brethren, Society for the furtherance
of the Gospel among the Heathen, have purchased and fitted out a Sloop called
the Good Intent, of which Francis Mugford is Commander, principally with a view
to bring the Missionaries and their assistants the necessary Provisions, for
their subsistence in that inhospitable Climate.
.... The Sloop, Good Intent, Capt. Francis Mugford burthen about 70 or 75 Tuns
the Cargo Consists of some Bricks for building Chimnies about 5000 I believe.
Provisions and Necessaries for the poor Missionaries and their assistants, some
Ironmongery and Tinware for the use of the Indians and Missionaries. The Crew
consists of the Capt. and mate, three men and one boy. There are to be three
women Passengers and one Man Passenger. The Vessel goes from London to Labradore. No man but a true man, none but our Vessel shall make use of your
kind favour.
From Place Names of Atlantic Canada (via Google, by William B. Hamilton, University of Toronto Press 1996):
Cape Mugford (Labrador) On the mainland, opposite Cod Island. This 671 metre high
bluff was probably named after Captain Francis Mugford, who was in command of
the "Jersey Packet", a ship which carried a group of Moravian
missionaries to the coast of Labrador in 1770. (57N50, 61W43, several hundred
miles north of Goose Bay). A very rugged part of the world!
See end of this paper for further extracts.
1/1. Francis Mugford, b. 1767, Lympstone Devon.
born 1767 in Lympstone Devon.
Baptism: October 09, 1791, Lympstone Devon (IGI & PR 4/10/1767)
1841 Census: Topsham, Shapter St:
Francis Mugford (70 (71 Genuk), Shipwright), Mary (65(70 genuk)), John (50?).
Mugford Francis age 71, Mary 70, Shapter Street Shipwright Topsham.
Churchwarden 1841.
Married Mary Chown April 24, 1791 in Lympstone Devon, daughter of William Chown
and Mary Bean.
Christopher & Charles Chown occupied land in Alphington Tithe awards.
2/1. John Mugford, Baptism: October 09, 1791, Lympstone Devon
2/2. Elizabeth Mugford, Baptism: April 20, 1794, Topsham
d. January 01, 1807, Lympstone Devon.
2/3. Henry Mugford, Baptism: July 08, 1796, Lympstone Devon.
Married Mary Horsewell March 12,
1820 in Topsham Devon, daughter of Roger Horsewell and Mary Street.
Census: 1851, Shipwright
She Witness to marriage Roger Horsewell, Mary Mugford
Her Baptism: April 30, 1797, Topsham
3/1. William Henry Mugford, b. 1821, Topsham.
Baptism: November 04, 1821,
Topsham Census: 1851, Tailor
4/1. William H. Mugford, b. 1844, Devonport Devon.
4/2. Mary J. Mugford, b. 1848, Devonport Devon.
3/2. Elizabeth Amelia Mugford, b. 1820, Topsham.
Baptism:
August 09, 1820, Topsham
married John Davey March 24, 1844 St. Peters Tiverton Devon.
4/1. Henry Francis Davey, b. 1844, Devonport Devon.
2/4. Mary Mugford, b. 1798, Lympstone
Bap: December 25, 1798, Topsham
married John Thorne Croft November 16, 1823 in Topsham Devon, son of William
Croft and Ann Thorne.
He Witness to marriage Elias Croft, Elizabeth Bleckynden
More About John Thorne Croft:
Baptism: September 24, 1797, Topsham Devon
Occupation: Master Mariner
3/1. Ellen Elizabeth Croft, b. 1826, Topsham Devon.
Baptism: November 10, 1826, Topsham Devon
2/5. Susan Mugford, Baptism: July 04, 1805, Lympstone Devon
Following from internet:
Marriage: Michael HOOPER on 25 Dec 1827 in Topsham, Devon
3/1. Susanna HOOPER
Born: 5 May 1828, Topsham, Devon
Christened: 25 May 1828, Topsham, Devon
3/2. Mary Elizabeth HOOPER
Born: 1830, Topsham, Devon
Christened: 8 Aug 1830, Topsham, Devon
3/3. Jane Amelia HOOPER
Born: 1832, Topsham, Devon
Christened: 14 Aug 1832, Topsham, Devon
3/4. William Francis HOOPER
Born: 1836, Topsham, Devon
Christened: 26 Jun 1836, Topsham, Devon
3/5. Susanna HOOPER
Born: 1837, Topsham, Devon
Christened: 12 Aug 1837, Topsham, Devon
2/6. Elizabeth Mugford, Baptism:
January 24, 1808, Topsham
2/7. William Francis Mugford, Baptism: May 07, 1810, Topsham
2/8. William Farrant Mugford,
b. 1811, Topsham. Bap
17/11/1811.
Topsham Census: 1851, Baker
married (1) Mary Mather November 24, 1833 in St. George Exeter, daughter of
William Mather (a mariner) and Mary Manly, Baptism: February 08, 1813, Topsham.
William Mather s. of ROBERT MATHER and REBECCA HARDER
Mary Manly dau. of JOHN MANLY and CATHERINE LUTTERELL
Married (2) Mary Redman 15/10/1848 in Topsham, dau of John Redman and
Elizabeth, Bap: January 31, 1827, Topsham Devon.
Children of William Mugford and Mary Mather are:
3/1. Elizabeth5 Mugford, b. 1837, Topsham.
3/2. Sarah Mugford, b. 1839, Topsham.
3/3. William Mugford, b. 1844, Topsham,
From Laura Jarvis via
Genesreunited 2007:-
He d 1897.
M. Celia Francis
4/1. William Mugford, b 1872
M Henrietta Vine, 1874-1964
5/1. Gwenyth Mugford, 1897
5/2. Robin Mugford, 1900,
5/3. Terence Mugford, 1901-01,
5/4. Alan Mugford, abt 1902
5/5. Geoffrey Mugford, 1905,
He was a pow in Japan in WW2. Never recovered fully. He died in Swanage.
M. Kathleen Delargy, 1908-2006
6/1. Jeanette Mugford, 1930.
6/2. Denise Mugford, 1932.
6/3. Robina Mugford, 1935-2002.
M. Michael Jarvis, 1930-2002.
7/1. Bernard Jarvis, 1964.
M. Laura Sara Louise Bloom, b
1968 - the source of this branch of the family.
M. 28/9/1996.
8/1. Olivia Jarvis, 2002.
8/2. Joshua Jarvis, 2006.
7/2. Robin Jarvis, 1966-1999.
7/3. Andrew Jarvis, 1968.
5/6. Paul Mugford, abt 1905,
5/7. Denis Mugford, 1907-1997,
5/8. Esme Mugford, 1915
4/2. Ellen Gray Mugford, b 1867.
3/4. James Mugford, b. 1846,
Topsham.
Children of William Mugford and Mary Redman are:
3/5. Francis5 Mugford, b. 1849, Topsham.
3/6. Richard Mugford, b. 1850, Topsham.
3/7. William Farrant Mugford,
m. Lydia Frederica Bates (re Tom McIntyre email 10/04)
1/2. Susanne Mugford C: 25 Dec 1769 (IGI only, not Harding)
(PR)
1/3. John4 Mugford, Bap.: November 13, 1771, Lympstone Devon (PR)
He married Susanna.
2/1. Susan4 Mugford, b. 1793, Lympstone Devon.
married Robert Vinnicombe July
05, 1818 in Woodbury Devon.
3/1. John George Mugford5 Vinnicombe, b. 1823, Lympstone.
Baptism:
December 02, 1823, Lympstone Devon
married Maria Litton.
4/1. George6 Vinnicombe, b. 1850, Lympstone Devon.
Baptism: August 30, 1850, Lympstone Devon
4/2. Maria Vinnicombe, b. 1852, Lympstone Devon;
d. January 02, 1853, Lympstone
Devon.
Bap: December 27, 1852, Lympstone
4/3. William Robert Vinnicombe, b. 1857, Lympstone.
Baptism: March 02, 1857, Lympstone Devon
4/4. Lydia Vinnicombe, b. 1859, Lympstone Devon.
Baptism: June 07, 1860, Lympstone Devon
4/5. Richard Vinnicombe, b. 1860, Lympstone Devon.
Baptism: January 28, 1860, Lympstone Devon
3/2. Susan Vinnicombe, b. 1826, Lympstone Devon.
Baptism: August 06, 1826, Lympstone Devon
3/3. Elizabeth Vinnicombe, b. 1828, Lympstone Devon.
Baptism: November 23, 1828, Lympstone Devon
3/4. Richard Vinnicombe, b. 1831, Lympstone Devon.
Baptism:
September 04, 1831, Lympstone Devon
He married Mary Ann Small Dunham November 24, 1860 in Lympstone Devon,
daughter of Thomas Dunham and Martha.
Baptism: October 12, 1832, Lympstone Devon
Census: 1851, Mary a "Sprig Maker".
Children of Richard Vinnicombe and Mary Dunham are:
4/1. Bessie Jane Vinnicombe, b. 1862, Lympstone Devon.
Baptism: March 05, 1862, Lympstone Devon
4/2. William Henry Vinnicombe, b. 1863, Lympstone Devon.
Baptism: June 28, 1863, Lympstone Devon
3/5. Lucy Vinnicombe, b. 1835, Lympstone Devon.
married Henry Page Down, son of
Josias Down and Ann Page.
4/1. Anne L. Down, b. 1867, Exmouth Devon.
4/2. John Henry Page Down, b. 1869, Exmouth Devon.
4/3. Ellen Eliza Vinnicombe Down, b. 1872, Withycombe Devon.
4/4. Catherine M. Down, b. 1877, Withycombe Devon.
2/2. Elizabeth Mugford, b. 1794, Lympstone Devon;
d. January 01, 1807, Lympstone
Devon.
Baptism: April 20, 1794, Topsham
1/4. Elizabeth Mugford, b. 1773, Lympstone Devon;
d. November 02, 1831, Topsham.
EDWARD CARPENTER - 1707
Ch 10/4/1707, Woodbury, s of Edw
Married: IGI Elizabeth Woolcocke, 21/2/1720, Alphington.
(poss Elizabeth Woolcocks ch 12/7/1696, d of John, Exeter St Davids)
Issue (ch Woodbury, IGI)
1/1. Thomas Carpenter, Ch abt 19/4/1724, Woodbury s of Edw.
1/2. Elizabeth Carpenter, ch 5/11/1725, of Edw.
1/3. Jane Carpenter, ch 24/9/1727, Woodbury, s of Edw.
1/4. Edward Carpenter, ch 15/3/1729 (IGI - Edw only)
1/5. Robert Carpenter, ch 30/11/1735
(IGI - Edw & Elizabeth only)
FRANCIS MUGFORD - 1709
Born 1709.
IGI (only one): Francis Mogford ch 1/10/1704, Silverton, s of John
None obvious in the area: many in Hartland, but that is a long way away.
Married Mariam Skinner June 24, 1730 in Clyst St. George Devon.
(Clyst SG, 5 m SE of Exeter, half way between Exeter & Lympstone)
Marian Skinner not found on IGI 4/2004.
A Mary Skinner ch Broad Clyst, 25/4/1709 of Thomas Skinner. Not far apart, and
Clyst St George seems fro IGI to have been in Latin, so may be correct, but a
lot of options.
Thomas Skinner M. Mary Taylor or Hellings, Broad Clyst, 7/7/1707 (IGI).
Admon: Francis M. Lympstone, 1740 (wills no longer exist)
Francis M. Lympstone, 1784
Children of Francis Mugford and Mariam Skinner are:
1/1. Mary2 Mugford, b. 1736, Lympstone Devon.
Baptism: July 23, 1736, Lympstone Devon
1/2. Henry Mugford, b. 1737, Lympstone Devon;
Baptism:
January 28, 1736/37, Lympstone Devon
Married: Margaret Potter, October 05, 1763, Lympstone Devon.
1/3. Francis Mugford, b. 1739, Lympstone Devon.
He married Charity Wheaton June
17, 1765 in Lympstone Devon.
Baptism: March 06, 1738/39, Lympstone Devon
The Proceedings of the Old Bailey Ref: t17561020-44
http://www.hrionline.ac.uk/oldbailey/:
Is this one of ours??
Francis Mugford, miscellaneous : returning from transportation, 20th October,
1756.
See original Trial Summary:
Crime(s): miscellaneous : returning from transportation,
Punishment Type: death,
(Punishment details may be provided at the end of the trial.)
Verdict: Guilty,
Original Text:
445. (L.) Francis Mugford was indicted for that he at the gaol delivery, at
Exeter, for the county of Devon, on Monday the 17th of March, in the 28th year
of his present majesty, being indicted for that he on the 12th of December, in
the 28th year, &c. did steal 3 l. 3 s. in money number'd, the property of
William Blackmore, in the dwelling house of Rebecca Gordon, widow, was
convicted for stealing 36 s. and order'd to be transported, as soon as
conveniently cou'd be, to some of his majesty's plantations in America for the
term of seven years, as by the record more fully may appear, and that the
jurors present that the said Francis, on the 12th of July, feloniously and
without any lawful cause, was at large in these realms. ++
William Pinkney . I am clerk to the clerk of the assize. Here is a certificate
of the conviction of the prisoner Mugford, at the assize held at Exeter.
Q. Is it a true copy?
Pinkney. It is. I compared it with the clerk of the assize in the proper
manner. ( It is read in court.)
Edward Manley. I am keeper of the prison at Exeter.
Q. Do you know the prisoner at the bar?
Manley. I do. I heard his trial there.
Q. Was he convicted ?
Manley. He was found guilty of stealing, to the value of thirty-six shillings,
from Mr. William Blackmore , and received sentence of transportation for seven
years.
Q. Was he transported accordingly?
Manley. I saw him on board a ship. I carried him there on the eight of May was
twelve months.
Captain Prow. I took the prisoner on the Portugal Walk, at the Royal-Exchange,
on the 12th of July. I was obliged to knock him down.
Q. Was he at liberty there?
Prow. He was.
Q. What provoked you to knock him down?
Prow. Because he endeavoured to get away upon seeing me, for I had brought him
over in the Lisbon Packet.
Q. What did you do with him after that?
Prow. I carried him before an alderman, and had him committed.
Cross examination.
Q. Did you meet with any accident in your voyage?
Note, He had rob'd the captain of fourteen moidores in the passage.
Prow. I did, but that does not concern this affair. I knew he had been
transported, and I secured him as being a bad man.
Q. to Manley. What ship did the prisoner go on board?
Manley. He went on board a ship belonging to Mr. Buck of Biddeford.
Q. Did not an accident happen to that ship after he was on board?
Manley. I never heard of such a thing.
Prisoner's defence.
I was sent over by the pay-master general with some letters and warrants to Mr.
Secretary Fox, and delivered them to Mr. Mettear, in Southampton-Street. I
brought some men of war's tickets, which I delivered to a gentleman near the
Mansion-House. I brought also bills of exchange for Mr. Kinsley, and letters to
Simon Jacob Moses, a Jew, in Bury-Street, and orders to buy some woollen goods
for a merchant in New York. I was obliged to come over, it was not voluntarily,
with my own will. We were cast away going over, just upon the cape of Virginia; so I landed there, and since I came over I have injured no man, but always
lodged at creditable houses.
Guilty Death.
The Proceedings of the Old Bailey Ref: o17561208-1
Supplementary material: John Cartwright, Jonathan Hirst, Francis Mugford,
Bartholomew Ball, John Jolley, Edward M'Collister, John Milward, 8th December,
1756.
See original Trial Summary:
Punishment Type: executed,
(Punishment details may be provided at the end of the trial.)
Other trials on 08 Dec 1756
Name search for: John Cartwright , Jonathan Hirst , Francis Mugford ,
Bartholomew Ball , John Jolley , Edward M'Collister, John Milward ,
Original Text:
John Cartwright, capitally convicted in September sessions, Jonathan Hirst and
Francis Mugford , in October sessions, Bartholomew Ball, John Jolley, Edward
M'Collister, and John Milward were executed on Monday the 20th of December. (at
Tyburn).
Edward Carpenter Married Mary Bradick, 4/11/1704, Woodbury (PR)
1/1. Mary Carpenter, ch 9/1/1705, Woodbury d of Edw
1/2. Edward Carpenter, ch 10/4/1707, Woodbury, s
of Edw (PR - 31/3/07??)
1/3. Mary Carpenter, ch 21/3/1708, Woodbury dau of Edward
1/4. John Carpenter, ch 30/1/1712, Woodbury, s of Edw.
1/5. Josias Carpenter, ch abt 11/5/1711, Woodbury, s of Edw
Edward Carpenter Married Elizabeth Williams, 6/2/1671, Shillingford St George.
Edward Carpenter ch 21/12/1687, s of Laeurance & Sarah, Kenn (s of
Shillingford) - probably not the right one - too young
Edward Carpenter, ch 8/4/1636, bur 27/5/1668, Broadhembury, s of Edward.
Edward Carpenter, b 23/1/1624, bur 9/6/1692, Alphington.
Mary Carpenter, ch 8/6/1766, Silverton, dau of Edward Carpenter or Yandell,
& Elizabeth.
Admon: Edward Carpenter, Alphington, 1692 (no will exists).
No obvious baptisms or marriages.
It is probable that John migrated from the central or northern areas of Devon: Hartland seems to be the origin of the species.
1/1. John Mogford ch 24/2/1698, Silverton, s of John
1/2. Elizabeth Mogford, ch 29/11/1700, s of John, Silverton
1/3. Francis Mogford ch 1/10/1704, Silverton, s of John
1/4. Roger Mogford, ch 29/1/1706, s of John, Silverton
1/5. Joan Mogford ch 15/4/1711, d of John, Silverton
John Mogford M Ann Piller, 8/10/1770, Silverton
John Mogford ch 12/4/1773 s of John & Ann, Silverton
John Mugford M Sara Fursey 22/8/1776, St Stephen Exeter.
John Mogford ch 25/4/1709, Silverton, s of Walter & Jane
CHARLES BRADDICK - 1664
Ch 23/3/1664 s of Elias of Lympstone
No Marriage found for Chas.
1/1. Mary Braddick ch 9/10/1682, dau of Chas, Woodbury
1/2. Charles Braddick, ch 6/12/1684 of Chas Woodbury
1/3. Male & Female Braddick, ch 21/10/1690, of Chas, Woodbury
Maybe 2nd marriage if first wife died 21/10/90
Charles Braddick M Elizth Rowiell, 12/1/1692, Lympstone
Issue ch @ Lympstone:
1/4. Mary Braddick, ch 5/11/1693, d 24/10/1698, dau of Charles.
1/5. Elizabeth Braddick, ch 17/11/1795, d 6/2/1702, dau of Charles.
1/6. Charles Braddick, ch 25/8/1700, d 2/1703, s of Charles.
1/7. Robart Braddick, ch 13/9/1702, s of Charles.
1/8. Elizabeth Braddick, ch 20/10/1703, of Chas, Woodbury
Possibility:
Elizeus Bradicke ch 13/12/1636 s of Elizeus & Mary, Branscombe.
IGI also has 1630, Lympstone
Samuel Bradicke ch 8/1/1640 of Ellis & Mary, Branscombe
Nicholas Bradicke ch 14/12/1634 s of Elizeus & Mary, Branscombe
Elyas Braddicke M Katherine Scott, 19/4/1656, Lympstone
IGI has 2 entries:
Katherine Scott birth 1632, Lympstone
Katheren Scott ch 16/6/1636, d of Richard & Christian, Aylesbeare
1/1. Elias Braddick, ch 28/12/1656, s of Elias, Lympstone
?2/1. Joan Braddicke, ch 10/4/1679 d of Elias, Lympstone
1/2. Robert Bradick ch 7/7/1661 s of Elias, Lympstone
1/3. Charles Braddicke ch 23/3/1664 s of Elias of Lympstone
1/4. Katherine Braddicke ch 26/12/1668 d of Elias, Lympstone
1/5. Julian Braddick ch 12/12/1671 s of Elias, Lympstone
Alternatives:
Richard Scott ch abt 19/11/1615, s of Nich, Woodbury
Richaurde Scott ch abt 14/6/1618, s of Robt, Woodbury
Richard Scott, ch 19/11/1615 s of Thomas, Ottery St Mary.
Ditto 12/8/1610 & 21/2/1613
Richard Scott M Christian Wescott, 11/6/1635, Aylesbeare (no ch for CW)
1/1. Katherine Scott birth 1632, Lympstone
1/1. Katheren Scott ch 16/6/1636, d of Richard & Christian,
Aylesbeare
1/2. Francis Scott, ch 6/1/1639, d of Richard, Aylesbeare
1/3. Grace Scot, ch 8/12/1642, dau of Richard, Aylesbeare
1/4. Richard Scot, ch 28/2/1645, s of Richard, Aylesbeare.
William MOgford C: 20 Oct 1788
Francis MOgford, Silverton, Devon, Mother: Betty
Sarah MOgford C: 30 Dec 1787
Father: Francis & Mary MOgford Butterleigh, Devon, (3m. W of Collumpton)
Abraham MOgford C: 18 Oct 1738
Father: Francis MOgford Silverton, Devon, Mother: Mary
Ch of John Mogford, ch Silverton, Devon:
John Mogford, 24/2/1698
Elizabeth Mogford 29/11/1700
Francis MOgford C: 1 Oct 1704
PR: Francis Mugford, born 19/9/1704, ch 1/10/1704, father John Mogford of
Silverton.
Roger MOgford C: 29 Jan 1706
Joan MOgford C: 15 Apr 1711
Silverton abt 10 miles N of Exeter.
Marriages of John Mu/oford
28/1/1698 to Dorkas Trick, Clawton, Devon
23/5/1694 to Elizabeth Netherway, Witheridge, Devon.
12/4/1694 to Grace Trick, Hartland, Devon
1841 Census:
Shillingford: nil (v small pop.)
Lympstone: nil.
Alphington village: Francis Mugford (60, Ag Lab), Ann (60).
Topsham, Ship? St:
Francis Mugford (70, Shipwright), Mary (65), John (50?).
Topsham, Ford? St:
Priscilla Matthews (60, Dairy Maid), Priscilla (25), William (9), James (8),
William Mugford (100, gardener??).
From "The establishment of the Moravian Mission in Labrador
1752-1771".
http://www.mun.ca/rels/morav/texts/ship.html.
BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE VESSEL EMPLOYED IN THE SERVICE OF THE MISSION ON THE COAST
OF LABRADOR, AND OF THE MORE REMARKABLE DELIVERANCES FROM IMMINENT PERIL, WHICH
SHE HAS EXPERIENCED FROM THE YEAR 1770 TO THE PRESENT TIME.
(From: PERIODICAL ACCOUNTS, Vol. 21, 75-83,120-33)
The Divine protection vouchsafed to the ship, which, for eighty-four years, has
been the medium of annual communication between the settlements on the coast of
Labrador and the Church at home, may justly be regarded as one of the most
remarkable features in the history of the Brethren's Missions. So marvellous
has it been, that it has arrested the attention of candid and observant men of
the world, as well as of children of God in various ranks of society, and of
various Christian denominations, -- especially of such as were experienced in
maritime affairs. While the former have paid a willing, and, in some instances,
a practical homage to a truth, the nature and value of which they were able but
imperfectly to appreciate, the latter have been led to ponder with admiring
gratitude the gracious dealings of Jehovah with His servants and messengers,
and to acknowledge the striking proof hereby afforded, that "whatsoever
the Lord pleaseth, that doth He in heaven and in earth, in the sea, and all
deep places." (Ps. cxxxv. 6).
/75/ A wish having been often expressed that a somewhat detailed account should
be published relative to the vessel employed in the service of the Labrador
Mission, and the deliverances from imminent danger which she has from time to
time experienced, it has been thought that the present would be a suitable
occasion for the attempt to gratify it. In preparing the following statements,
the Editor has only to regret, that the imperfection of the materials to which
he has had access, including the documents in the archives of the "Society
for the Furtherance of the Gospel," and the narrow limits within which it
is obviously necessary that he should confine himself, have not allowed him to
render it as complete as he could have desired. It will be readily understood,
that the facts and circumstances related are but a selection from those which
might be adduced, and which, to a considerable extent, have already been
recorded in the pages of the Periodical Accounts. To this journal the reader is
referred for particulars of occurrences since the year 1790.
----------------------------------------------------------------
It was at the general Synod of the Brethren's Church, held at Marienborn in the
year 1769, that the resolution was definitely taken to attempt the
establishment of a Mission on the coast of Labrador. The carrying out of this
resolution was entrusted principally to the "Brethren's Society for the
Furtherance of the Gospel," whose members had already shewed the lively
interest which they felt in the conversion of the Esquimaux, by the assistance
they had rendered to Erhardt in 1752, and to Haven and Drachart in 1764 and
1765, in their endeavours to plant the standard of the Cross among those rude
and barbarous heathen. Though these several attempts had been attended with no
immediate success, and the first had proved fatal to the leader of the
enterprise, the experience acquired by means of them was, in many respects, of
the highest value. It served to place in the clearest light, the manifold
difficulties and inconvenience, inseparable from any effort to communicate with
Labrador by way of Newfoundland, and the consequent necessity of providing a
vessel for the maintenance of a direct and regular intercourses with that
coast, in the event of a Mission being established upon it. A visit of a
preliminary and exploratory character having been determined on in the early
part of the year 1770, it became, therefore, one of the first objects of the
Society, to procure such a vessel, and to engage the services of a trustworthy
and experienced captain for the conduct of the expedition. After a good deal of
inquiry in London and in other ports, a small sloop of eighty tons burden,
called the JERSEY PACKET, was purchased and fitted out /76/ by the Society, or
rather, by "the ship's company," and the command of her given to
Captain Francis Mugford. She is described, in a MS. letter of Br. Benj. La
Trobe to the Directing Board of the Unity, as not only "a tight and sound
ship, but also a prime sailer, readily obedient to the helm, and out-sailing
all the vessels in the river on the passage down to Gravesend." From the
same letter, it appears, that the Brethren, who were connected with this
expedition in one or other capacity, were ten in number, of whom Jens Haven,
Lawrence Drachart, and Stephen Jensen, were considered the leaders. The vessel,
after calling at Lymington, Hants, for a supply of sails, and at Exmouth, in
Devonshire, for a quantity of fishing tackle, the gift of Mr. S. Parminter,
himself an honorary member of the Society, proceeded /77/ on her voyage to Labrador, where, under the protecting care of God, she arrived in safety on the 24th of July.
The result of this expedition was the establishment of the most friendly
relations with the Esquimaux population, and the selection, with their full
concurrence, of a suitable locality for a Missionary settlement. After
accomplishing these important objects, the whole party returned to England in the autumn of the same year.
In the course of the following winter, the final arrangements were made for the
establishment of the long proposed Mission. The Society for the Furtherance of
the Gospel, having deliberately and cheerfully renewed its engagement to care
for the temporal support of the Mission, a vessel of somewhat larger
dimensions, called THE AMITY, was purchased by the ship's company, and, having
been furnished by the Society with stores of every kind, requisite for the
commencement of the intended station, was dispatched to the coast of Labrador,
under the orders of Captain Mugford. Among the company on board, consisting of
fourteen persons, were the Brn. Haven, Brasen, and Schneider, with their wives,
and the veteran Greenland Missionary, Lawrence Drachart. Having been solemnly
commended to the grace /78/ and protecting care of God, in a meeting of the
Congregation, held on the 5th of May, in the Brethren's Chapel in Fetter-lane,
they sailed from the Thames on the 8th of the same month. After a tedious
voyage of thirteen weeks, by way of St. John's, Newfoundland, they reached the
place of their destination, Nunengoak or Unity's Bay, on the 9th of August.
During the latter portion of the voyage, they encountered many perils, being
often obliged by storms to run into bays, between numberless islands and sunken
rocks, and being surrounded at times by vast mountains of ice and icefields,
threatening momentary destruction to the vessel. Here they were received with
great joy by the Esquimaux, and in a short time proceeded to the settlement of
Nain, the oldest Missionary station of the four now existing in Labrador, and
ordinarily the residence of the superintendent of the Mission. The AMITY
returned to London in safety on the 26th of September.
The details of the expedition to the northward, undertaken in August, 1774, by
the Brn. Brasen, Lehman, Haven, and Lister, for the purpose of fixing on a
suitable place for a second settlement, do not fall within the scope of this
article. It is well known to the readers of our Missionary history, that the
small sloop in which they performed it was totally wrecked on their return near
the rocky promontory of Kiglapeit, and that the Brn. Brasen and Lehman lost
their lives in the attempt to reach the shore. The establishment of Okkak, in
the course of the following year (1775), of Hopedale, in the year 1782, near
the spot where Erhardt first landed in 1752, and near which he lost his life,
and at Hebron, in the Bay of Kangertluksoak, in 1831, however interesting in themselves,
are events connected with the history of the Mission rather than with that of
the Ship, which is the proper object of this paper. We therefore return to the
AMITY, which we left at anchor in the Thames, on her safe arrival from her
first visit to Labrador.
On her second voyage in 1772, she proceeded first to the banks of Newfoundland for the purpose of fishing, the hope being entertained, that, by the profit derived
from the fishery, a portion of the very large expense attendant on the new
undertaking might be defrayed. Owing to this arrangement, the AMITY did not
reach Nain till the end of October, the little Missionary colony at that place
having meanwhile nearly given up all hope of her arrival, and consequently of
obtaining any additional supply of provisions. They had but two pieces of
butcher's meat left, and very little food of any kind. They had therefore
sought and gathered all the black and red berries growing upon the neighbouring
hills, dried them, and laid them carefully by. Thus circumstanced, their
distress was turned into the greater joy, when the ship at length appeared in
Unity's harbour on the 28th of October. "Had you seen the joy that reigned
among us," writes one of the Missionaries, "when we heard that the
ship was really arrived, you would never forget it, for we had given her up,
and had resigned ourselves to the extremest poverty. I cannot say that a
dejected spirit prevailed among us; but we were resolved to submit to whatever
might happen, /79/ hoping and believing, that He who had sent us hither, who
had numbered our very hairs, and without whose permission not one of them could
fall to the ground, would mercifully preserve us." In another letter, it
is remarked, "The ship's staying away so long had two effects -- first, it
convinced us that nothing is too hard for the Lord, and that He can command the
seas to remain open even to this late period of the year, so as to allow the
approach of the vessel sent for our relief. In the second place it made us all
the more thankful for the provision sent us." It was late in December
before the ship returned to her moorings in the Thames.
Of the voyages performed by the Amity in the years 1773 to 1776, inclusive,
nothing of interest appears to be on record. In 1777, a sloop of seventy tons,
called THE GOOD INTENT, took her place in the service of the Society, and
retained it till the year 1780. It was on the return of this vessel from her
second voyage, in the autumn of 1778, that she had the misfortune to be
captured by a French privateer. In this instance, however, as in so many
others, the Lord was pleased mercifully to interpose for the prevention alike
of serious loss to the Society, and of material inconvenience to the Mission in Labrador. The vessel was re- captured by a British cruiser before she could
reach a French port; and, though the captain and crew were carried into
Dunkirk, together with the letters and journals of the Missionaries, the latter
were immediately given up to the Society, (for the most part unopened) on the
application of its President Br. James Hutton to the French Minister of Marine;
and the former were exchanged, in the course of the ensuing spring, by means of
the "cartel" which was at the time in course of negotiation. In one
important particular, the occurrence just referred to proved a positive benefit
to the Society. It was the occasion of a safe-conduct being granted to the
vessel by the King of France, and by the American Minister at the Court of
Versailles, the celebrated Dr. Benjamin Franklin, empowering her to pass
unmolested by the cruisers of both nations, on her voyage to and from the coast
of Labrador.
/80/ Between the years 1780 and 1786 inclusive, the AMITY was again employed in
the service of the Labrador Mission; the command of the vessel being, however,
resigned in 1782 by Captain Mugford in favour of Br. James Fraser, who had
acted as mate during several voyages. In April, 1787, the first HARMONY was
launched at Bursledon, near Southampton, having been built there under the
friendly superintendence of Mr. Thomas Mitchell, one of the deputy surveyors of
the Navy, and an honourary member of the Society. She was a brig of 133 tons,
and proved an excellent ship throughout the whole of her service of fifteen
years.
The first six voyages performed by the HARMONY appear to have been attended
with no circumstances deserving particular notice; but the seventh, in the year
1793, is remarkable, as having been the longest recorded in the annals of the
Society. This is in part attributable to her detention of above two months at
Okkak, while an attempt was being made by the people on board to catch whales
in the neighbourhood of that settlement, but in part also, to the perils of the
seas, which she encountered on her passage thence to the Orkneys. The following
is the report of the voyage home, contained in the eleventh number of the
Periodical Accounts: --
"The HARMONY left Okkak on the 22nd of November, with the Missionaries
David Kriegelstein and William Turner, and their wives, on board. Their passage
to the Orkneys was remarkably boisterous, and for several days and nights it
blew so hard, and the sea ran so high, that the captain and seamen were under
great apprehensions for the safety of the ship. However, through the /81/ kind
providence of God, they arrived safe, on the 25th of December, at Stromness,
from whence we received the first account of the ship's return on the 13th of
January. The Society had suffered some uneasiness, on account of the unusual
delay of her return, which led to various conjectures. As we naturally
supposed, that, by going with the Hudson's Bay convoy in May, she must arrive
rather too early on the coast to find an easy entrance into any of our
harbours, on account of the great quantity of drift-ice at that time of the
year, some feared that a misfortune might have befallen her among the ice; or,
supposing her safely arrived on the coast, that she was blocked up by the ice
entering the bay of Okkak in autumn, which had been nearly the case last year;
or that she had met with some accident in returning home at so late a season,
in the late severe storms. Though we did not lose that confidence in God, with
which we are justly inspired, when we consider that He has graciously averted
all harm from the ship and company, now above twenty years, yet we must own
that the prospect sometimes appeared rather gloomy; and we frequently joined in
prayer, that He would bring the ship and our Brethren safe to us. He answered
our prayers, and our fears were put to shame.
From Yarmouth Roads, we received, on the 18th, the painful account, that Br.
Kriegelstein had departed this life on the passage thither, by occasion of an
inflammatory disorder in his lungs. He had been on shore at Stromness, where
the company went to church. Both at church and in returning on board, after
walking a good deal for exercise, he appears to have caught a violent cold,
which at length brought on an inflammation, and hastened his dissolution. He
expected it himself, and expressed his resignation to the will of the Lord, to
whom he had devoted himself in life and death. The letter, which brought the
account of his departure, mentioned, at the same time, that the rest of the
passengers, and almost the whole crew, were ailing; upon which, two of the
members of the Society went down the river to meet them, and to administer some
comfort and assistance, especially to the widow of our late Brother. They met
the ship in Long Reach, and arrived with the passengers in London, on the 20th of January. The corpse of our late Br. Kriegelstein was also safely
brought on shore, and interred, on the 22nd, in our burial ground at Chelsea.
In 1797, the HARMONY was mercifully preserved from capture on her passage home.
Having sailed from Hopedale on the 22nd of September, she reached Stromness, in
the Orkneys, on the 10th of October. Here she found the Apollo frigate, Captain
Manley, destined to convoy the Hudson's Bay ships home. Two of the latter
arrived on the 11th at Stromness, but the third being still missing, and not
arriving up to the 25th, the Apollo proceeded in quest of her; and, after some
days, fell in with a French frigate, cruising for the Hudson's Bay ships, which
she attacked and compelled to strike. This frigate had been discovered by the
HARMONY, in a moonlight night, some days previous to her arrival at Stromness,
a few miles to the south; and it is to be /82/ considered as a merciful
interposition of God's providence, that she was not perceived by the enemy and
captured. During the Apollo's absence, the third ship arrived; and, on the 23rd
of November, the whole convoy left Stromness, and reached the Thames in safety. Captain Manley, of the Apollo, honoured the Missionaries with a visit, and
showed them every kind attention.
At Stromness, they were very cordially received by a gentleman belonging to the
Edinburgh Missionary Society, who took every opportunity of conversing with
them and introducing them to his friends. He also presented them with a copy of
the numbers of the Missionary Magazine, published by the Rev. Mr. Ewing, by the
perusal of which they were much pleased and edified during the voyage home.
The most striking deliverance of the vessel from hostile attacks was, however,
that which marked the year 1803, and which cannot be better described than in
the language of the Periodical Accounts. The following notice of the voyage was
appended, by the editor, to the letters received from the Missionaries in
Labrador, in the autumn of that year: --
"The RESOLUTION left London on the 7th of June, and proceeded (as usual in
times of war) with the Hudson's Bay convoy to the Orkneys, from whence she made
the best of her way to Labrador, but was three weeks detained by the ice on the
coast, before she could reach Okkak. After transacting the usual business at the
three settlements, Captain Fraser hastened back to the Orkneys, to meet the
convoy taking the Hudson's Bay ships home, which, during the whole of the last
war, he never failed to effect. But, this year, it pleased God to put our faith
and patience to some trial; for the convoy arriving in the river without him,
and no tidings whatever reaching us till the 23rd of December, we began to
entertain great apprehensions for the safety of the ship; more especially as
there had been, about the usual time of her arrival at Stromness, some very
violent storms in the northern seas, which proved the total destruction of many
vessels. At length a letter from Captain Fraser, dated at Stromness, December
5th, relieved us from our fears, and created within us the most lively sense of
gratitude to God for the merciful preservation granted to him on his passage.
He left Hopedale on the 10th of October, and in sixteen days was within about
three days' sail from the Orkneys, when strong easterly gales drove him back,
and kept him three weeks longer at sea. But the very storms we dreaded, proved,
by God's great mercy, the means of his deliverance from the enemy. On the 18th
of November he was chased by a French frigate, brought to, and forced to keep
her company. But the sea ran so high, that it was impossible for the frigate to
get out a boat to board the RESOLUTION, and continued so during the night and
the following day. The second night proving extremely dark and boisterous, the
captain, setting as much sail as /83/ the ship would carry, ventured to attempt
his escape, and in the morning saw no more of the frigate. But two days after,
he had the mortification to meet her again, and to be chassed and brought to a
second time. Again the Lord interposed in his and our behalf. The wind was so
violent, that the frigate could not put out a boat, and during the following
night, the captain, crowding all sail, escaped again, and saw no more of the
enemy. On December 2nd he reached Stromness. During the tremendous storms in
December he lay there in safety, and arrived in the river on the 15th of
January, 1804."
/120/ In the year 1808 the RESOLUTION was exchanged for the HECTOR; and this
vessel, before two months had elapsed, gave place to the JEMIMA, a much better
ship, which performed the voyage to Labrador in the summer of the following
year. It may be safely asserted, that no vessel employed by the Society, during
a period of fourscore years, has encountered such dangers, been so roughly
handled, or experienced protection and deliverance so marvellous as this little
brig of 180 tons, which, having been purchased, and not built, like the three
"HARMONYS," expressly for Arctic service, was less fitted to
encounter its peculiar perils.
On her third voyage in 1811, she sailed from the Thames on the 7th of June, but
was unable to leave Yarmouth Roads till nearly a month after that date, owing
to some circumstance connected with the convoy. Her passage across the Atlantic was unusually boisterous, and it was the 8th of September before she arrived at
Hopedale, six weeks later than in the year preceding. In this very delay, the
providential care of God was however plainly manifested, as there was not only
an unusual quantity, but also a long continuance of drift-ice upon the coast.
Even had she reached it earlier, she could not have attempted, without the
greatest risk, to force a passage through it. On her subsequent voyage from
Nain to Okkak, the weather was severe in the extreme, and the mercy of God in
her preservation was thankfully acknowledged by all on board. The cold was so
intense, though it was only September, that the running rigging could not work
through the blocks, and the sails once set, could not have been handed, had it
been needful. Indeed, the sails themselves were rendered so stiff by the frost
as to be quite unmanageable. But it pleased the Lord to grant wind and weather
so favourable, that nothing further was required than to steer the vessel. On
reaching Okkak on the 29th of September, the sailors were obliged to go aloft,
and strike off the ice, before they could furl the sails. Another circumstance
attending this tedious and perilous voyage is deserving of notice, viz. that
her late arrival at Okkak afforded time for the return of the Brn. Kohlmeister
and Kmoch to that settlement, from their adventurous voyage to Ungava-bay, and
for the consequent transmission to London of their interesting journals.
The year 1816, as is well known, was marked by a calamity, similar to that
which has recently befallen the Mission to Labrador, though happily affecting
only one out of the three stations then existing, viz. Hopedale, the most
southern. What cause of thankfulness to /121/ is not afforded by the fact, that
the failures referred to, are the only ones on record during a period of
eighty-three years!
The report of the voyage of 1816, contained in the Periodical Accounts, is
prefaced with the remark, that the elements seemed to have undergone some
revolution in Labrador as in Europe, during the summer of that year. On
reaching the drift-ice on the 16th of July, Capt. Fraser found it to extend to
a distance of full 200 miles from the coast, and after attempting in vain to
find a passage through it, first to Hopedale, then to Nain, and lastly to
Okkak, he found himself by degrees completely inclosed by the ice. For six days
and nights the vessel was in the most imminent danger of being crushed to
pieces; nor was it without great and continuous exertions, that she was at
length brought to the outer edge. This conflict with the frozen element lasted
forty-nine days, at the close of which the JEMIMA reached Okkak in safety, to
the astonishment of the Esquimaux as well as of the Missionaries. The very next
day, August 30th, the whole coast, as far as the eye could discover, was
entirely choked up by ice, which presented such obstacles to navigation, that
Capt. Fraser was twice driven back by it, on his passage from Okkak to Nain. On
the 3rd of October, he attempted to proceed to Hopedale; but, though the
weather was fine, he had himself but little expectation of reaching that
settlement. This feeling of his, which he mentioned to the Missionaries at
Nain, did not however prevent Br. and Sr. Kmoch and the Brn. Christensen and
Korner, from going on board the ship, in pursuance of the appointment to
Hopedale which they had received. On the very evening of their departure from
Nain, it began to blow exceedingly hard, with an immense fall of snow, and very
thick weather. Being unable to see a ship's length, and being within half a
mile of a dangerous reef, the captain was obliged to carry some sail to clear
it, which he did but just accomplish. The gale subsequently increasing, and the
wind being right on shore, he could not venture to carry sail any longer, and
was obliged to lay the ship to, although the sea broke continually over it.
After contending for two successive days with the furious elements, he was at
length compelled, on the 5th of October, to abandon the attempt to reach
Hopedale, and to bear away for England. On the homeward passage a gale
resembling a hurricane was encountered on the 8th, 9th, and 10th of October,
which in the night, between the two latter days, was so violent, that the
captain expected the ship would have foundered. At one time she was struck by a
sea that twisted her in such a manner, that the very seams on her larboard side
opened, and the water gushed into the cabin and the mate's berth, as from a
pump. The Lord was, however, pleased to protect both ship and company from
serious injury, and to bring them in safety to the Thames, on the 28th of
October.
After spending the winter in England, Br. and Sr. Kmoch returned to Labrador the following year, accompanied by the Brn. Korner and Beck. They were, however,
destined to encounter perils on their passage out, exceeding in number and in
magnitude even those which /122/ had rendered the voyage of 1816 so memorable.
As a lively and correct account of the dangers, which are more or less
attendant on Arctic navigation, even in latitudes much lower than those which
have recently witnessed the achievements and endurances of our gallant
countrymen, and as a record of the wonderful help and protection vouchsafed by
the Lord to His feeble servants, the following extracts from the Journal of Br.
Kmoch cannot fail to be acceptable to our readers. Graphic in themselves, and
exhibiting considerable power of observation and description, they afford a
pleasing insight into the character of the writer, who, as the patriarch of the
Labrador Mission, is still enjoying, at the age of more than fourscore years,
the earthly rest which his faithful services have so well earned.
After describing the voyage of the JEMIMA to Stromness, whence she sailed on
the 14th of June, and the favourable passage across the Atlantic, up to the
close of the month, Br. Kmoch proceeds: --
"Between the 4th and 5th of July, we heard and saw many icebirds. This
bird is about the size of a starling, black, with white and yellow spots, and
is met with about 200 English miles from the Labrador coast. When the sailors
hear it, they know that they are not far from the ice. It flies about a ship
chiefly in the night, and is known by its singular voice, which resembles a
loud laugh.
"7th. The morning was cold and rainy. In all directions, drift-ice was to
be seen. In the afternoon it cleared up a little, and we entered an opening in
the ice, looking like a bay. The continual rustling and roaring of the ice
reminded us of the noise made by the carriages in the streets of London, when one is standing in the golden gallery of St. Paul's cathedral. The mountains
and large flakes of ice take all manner of singular forms, some resembling
castles, others churches, waggons, and even creatures of various descriptions.
As we or they changed positions, the same objects acquired a quite different
appearance; and what had before appeared like a church, looked like a huge
floating monster. Sitting on deck, and contemplating these wonderful works of
God, I almost lost myself in endeavouring to solve the question, -- `for what
purpose these exhibitions are made, when so few can behold them, as they so
soon vanish, by returning to their former fluid and undefined state.' But
surely everything is done with design, though short-sighted man cannot
comprehend it. Having in vain exerted ourselves to penetrate through the ice,
we returned at night into the open sea.
"14th. Land was discovered ahead. It was the coast of Labrador, sixty or eighty miles south of Hopedale. We were close to the ice, and as a small
opening presented itself, the captain ventured to push in, hoping, if he could
penetrate, to find open water between the ice and the coast. For some time we
got nearer to the land, but were obliged at night to fasten the ship with two
grapnels to a large field. This was elevated between five or six feet above the
water's edge, and between fifty and sixty feet in thickness below it. It might
be 300 feet in diameter, flat at the top, and as smooth as a meadow covered
/123/ with snow. The wind has but little power over such huge masses, and they move
very slowly with the current. There are small streams and pools of fresh water
found in all those large pieces. Our situation now defended us against the
smaller flakes, which rushed by and were turned off by the large field, without
reaching the ship. We were all well pleased with our place of refuge, and lay
here three whole days, with the brightest weather, and as safe as in the most
commodious haven; but I cannot say that I felt easy, though I hid my anxiety
from the party. I feared that a gale of wind might overtake us in this
situation, and carry fields larger than that in which we lay, when the most
dreadful consequences might ensue; and the sequel proved, that I was not much
mistaken.
"On the 17th, the wind came round to the south, and we conceived fresh
hopes of the way being rendered open for us.
"18th. The weather was clear, and the wind in our favour; we therefore
took up our grapnel, got clear of our floating haven, and again endeavoured to
penetrate through some small openings. Both we and the ship's company were
peculiarly impressed with gratitude for the protection and rest we had enjoyed,
and the warmth of a summer's sun felt very comfortable among these masses of
ice. The clearness of the atmosphere today caused them to appear singularly
picturesque. It seemed as if we were surrounded by immense white walls and
towers. In the afternoon, we had penetrated to the open water, between the ice
and the land, but we durst not venture nearer, as the sea is here full of
sunken rocks, and the captain knew of no harbour on this part of the coast.
Having found another large piece of ice convenient for the purpose, we fastened
the ship to it. In the evening, a thick fog overspread us from the north- east,
and we were again quite surrounded by ice, which, however, was soon after
dispersed by a strong north-west wind.
"In the night, between the 19th and 20th, we were driven back by a strong
current to nearly the same situation we had left on the 17th, only somewhat
nearer to the coast. On the 20th, the morning was fine, and we vainly
endeavoured to get clear, but towards evening the sky lowered, and it grew very
dark. The air also felt so oppressive, that we all went to bed, and every one
of us was troubled with uneasy dreams. At midnight we heard a great noise on
deck. We hastened thither to know the cause, and found the ship driving fast
towards a huge ice mountain, on which we expected every moment to suffer
shipwreck. The sailors exerted themselves to the utmost, but it was by God's
merciful providence alone that we were saved. The night was excessively cold
with rain, and the poor people suffered much. We were now driven to and fro at
the mercy of the ice, till one in the morning, when we succeeded in fastening
the ship again to a large field. But all this was only the prelude to greater
terrors. Deliverance from danger is so gratifying, that it raises one's spirits
above the common level. We made a hearty breakfast, and retired again into our
cabins. At one, the cook, in his usual boisterous way, aroused us by announcing
dinner, and putting a large piece of pork and a huge pudding upon the table, of
which /124/ we partook with a good appetite, but in silence, every one
seemingly buried in thought, or only half awake. Shortly after, the wind
changed to north-east and north, increasing gradually, till it turned into a
furious storm. Top-masts were lowered, and everything done to ease the ship. We
now saw an immense ice-mountain at a distance, towards which we were driving,
without the power of turning aside. Between six and seven, we were again roused
by a great outcry on deck. We ran up, and saw our ship, with the field to which
we were fast, with great swiftness approaching towards the mountain; nor did
there appear the smallest hope of escaping being crushed to atoms between it
and the field. However, by veering out as much cable as we could, the ship got
to such a distance, that the mountain passed through between us and the field.
We all cried fervently to the Lord for speedy help in this most perilous
situation; for if we had but touched the mountain, we must have been instantly
destroyed. One of our cables was broken, and we lost a grapnel. The ship also
sustained some damage. But we were now left to the mercy of the storm and
current, both of which were violent; and exposed likewise to the large fields
of ice, which floated all around us, being from ten to twenty feet in
thickness. The following night was dreadfully dark, the heavens covered with
the blackest clouds driven by a furious wind, the roaring and the howling of
the ice as it moved along, the fields shoving and dashing against each other,
were truly terrible. A fender was made of a large beam, suspended by ropes to
the ship's sides, to secure her in some measure from the ice; but the ropes were
soon cut by its sharp edges, and we lost the fender. Repeated attempts were now
made to make the ship again fast to some large field; and the second mate, a
clever young man, full of spirit and willingness, swung himself several times
off, and upon such fields as approached us, endeavouring to fix a grapnel to
them, but in vain, and we even lost another grapnel on this occasion. The storm
indeed dispersed the ice, and made openings in several places; but our
situation was thereby rendered only still more alarming, for when the ship got
into open water, her motion became more rapid by the power of the wind, and
consequently the blows she received from the ice more violent. Whenever
therefore we perceived a field of ice through the gloom, towards which we were
hurried, nothing appeared more probable, than that the violence of the shock
would determine our fate, and be attended with immediate destruction to the
vessel. Such shocks were repeated every five or ten minutes, and sometimes
oftener, and the longer she remained exposed to the wind, the more violently
she ran against the sharp edges and spits of the ice, not having any power to
avoid them. After every stroke, we tried the pumps, to find whether we had
sprung a leak; but the Lord kept His hand over us, and preserved us in a manner
almost miraculous. In this awful situation, we offered up fervent prayers to
Him, who alone is able to save, and besought Him, that, if it were His divine
will, that we should end our lives among the ice, He would, for the sake of his
precious merits, soon take us home to Himself, nor /125/ let us die a miserable
death from cold and hunger, floating about in this boisterous ocean.
"It is impossible to describe all the horrors of this eventful night, in
which we expected every approaching ice-field to be fraught with death. We were
full ten hours in this dreadful situation, till about six in the morning, when
we were driven into open water, not far from the coast. We could hardly
believe, that we had got clear of the ice; all seemed as a dream. We now
ventured to carry some sail, with a view to bear up against the wind. The ship
had become leaky, and we were obliged to keep the pump a-going, with only about
ten minutes rest at a time. Both the sailors and we were thereby so much
exhausted, that whenever any one sat down, he immediately fell asleep.
"During the afternoon, the wind abated, and towards evening it fell calm.
A thick mist ensued, which, however, soon dispersed, when we found ourselves
near a high rock, towards which the current was fast carrying us. We were now
in great danger of suffering shipwreck among the rocks, but by God's mercy, the
good management of our captain succeeded in steering clear of them; and after
sunset, the heavens were free from clouds. A magnificent northern light
illumined the horizon, and as we were again among floating pieces of ice, its
brightness enabled us to avoid them. I retired to rest, but, after midnight,
was roused by the cracking noise made by the ice against the sides of the vessel.
In an instant, I was on deck, and found that we were forcing our way through a
quantity of floating ice, out of which we soon got again into open water. The
wind also turned in our favour, and carried us swiftly forward towards the
Hopedale shore. Every one on board was again in full expectation of soon
reaching the end of our voyage, and ready to forget all former troubles. But
alas, arriving at the same spot, from which we had been driven yesterday, we
found our way anew blocked up with a vast quantity of ice. The wind also drove
us irresistibly towards it. We were now in a great dilemma. If we went between
the islands, where the sea is full of sunken rocks, we were in danger of
striking upon one of them, and being instantly lost; again, if we ventured into
the ice, it was doubtful, whether the ship would bear many more such shocks as
she had received. At length, the former measure was determined on, as, in case
of any mishap, there might be some possibility of escaping to shore."
After encountering a succession of further perils and disappointments for three
additional weeks, the HARMONY was brought safely into Hopedale harbour on the
9th of August.
To the foregoing narrative the foregoing remarks are appended by the Editor of
the Per. Accts.: -- "The captain and mate report, that though, for these
three years past, they have met with an unusual quantity of ice on the coast of
Labrador, yet, in no year, since the beginning of the Mission, has it appeared
so dreadfully on the increase. The colour likewise of this year's ice was
different from that usually seen, and the size of the ice-mountains and
thickness of the fields immense, with sand-stones imbedded in them. As a great
part of the coast of Greenland, which for centuries has been choked up with
ice, apparently immoveable, has, by some revolution, been cleared, this may
perhaps account for the great quantity alluded to."
In the year 1818, another vessel, a brig of 176 tons, was built for the service
of the Mission in Labrador, to which the name of "THE HARMONY" was
again given. She proved an excellent ship, and continued in the employment of
the Society for a period of thirteen years. The first voyage in 1819, proved
difficult and hazardous, and she did not reach Okkak, the station first
visited, till the 20th of August. The Missionaries wrote: "The coast was
everywhere choked up with ice, and the wind, blowing continually from the sea,
and forcing it directly into every bay and inlet, it seemed impossible for the
ship to approach the coast. Yet the Lord of heaven and earth commanded, and
provided a passage for her through every obstacle, and we had the inexpressible
joy to see her arrive without any damage."
The year 1821, memorable for the celebration of the fifty years' jubilee of
Nain, the first Missionary settlement formed in Labrador, was rendered
additionally so by the visit of the CLINKER sloop-of-war, commanded by Capt. W.
Martin. This officer, having been commissioned by Sir Charles Hamilton,
Governor of Newfoundland, to make a survey of the coast, and afford the
Missionaries of the Brethren residing upon it any assistance which their
circumstances might call for, arrived at Okkak in the middle of August, and
thence proceeded to Nain, which he reached on the 21st of the same month, and
where he gave a feast, consisting of boiled peas and biscuit, to the Esquimaux
congregation, as an after-celebration of the jubilee. The entertainment was
opened by the singing of the hymn, "Now, let us praise the Lord," and
concluded with "Praise God for ever;" and was conducted throughout
with great decorum -- several short but appropriate addresses being delivered
before its close. The CLINKER was meanwhile decorated with fifty flags of
different nations. From Nain to Hopedale she had the benefit of being accompanied
and piloted by the HARMONY, the navigation being in the highest degree
intricate and dangerous. This unlooked-for visit afforded great pleasure to the
Missionaries and to their Esquimaux flocks. The demeanour of Capt. Martin, in
his intercourse with both, was such as became a Christian officer; and nothing
occurred to disturb the peaceful and orderly course of the several
congregations. The report which he made to the Governor on his return, was
highly favourable to the character of the Mission, and of all engaged in it,
and may therefore be considered to have done a real service to the cause.
/127/ The voyages of the HARMONY in 1826 and 1829 were rendered very difficult
and dangerous by the quantity of ice which beset the coast of Labrador; in the former year, to a distance of nearly 400 miles from the land. In 1829, Capt.
Fraser ventured, in passing from Hopedale to Nain, to try a new channel between
the islands and the coast; and, though the attempt was a somewhat hazardous
one, it succeeded completely, through the blessing of God, on the skill and
care of the Esquimaux pilots. The passage outside the islands would probably
have occupied several weeks, owing to the accumulation of ice on their eastern
shores. It had been intended, that the ship should proceed as far as the Bay of Kangertluksoak (where Hebron is now situated), but the lateness of her arrival at Okkak
frustrated this design.
In 1830, the HARMONY was accompanied by the OLIVER, a vessel chartered by the
Society for the purpose of assisting in the transport of stores to the Bay of
Kangertluksoak, where it had been determined to establish a fourth settlement.
The voyage proved a successful one, both ships entering the bay, and delivering
their cargoes without accident, though the access was by no means easy, and the
navigation previously unknown. Her last voyage in 1831, with the VENUS for her
consort, was attended with somewhat greater hazard, but, through the mercy of
God, with no serious injury to either vessel.
It being considered necessary, in prospect of the establishment of a fourth
station, to provide a ship of larger dimensions for the use of the Mission, the
present HARMONY, the third of the name, was built at Yarmouth during the autumn
and winter of 1831 and 1832, at an expense of about 3500 pounds. Br. Taylor
superintended the building, as in the case of her predecessor. She is a brig,
or rather a snow, of about 230 tons burden, and has proved herself well adapted
to the performance of the service to which she is destined. Her first voyage,
performed in the year 1832, a year remarkable as being the centenary of the
Brethren's Missions, was marked by conflicts with the ice, more continuous and
more alarming than had been experienced since the year 1817. The following
extract of a letter from Capt. Taylor to the Treasurer of the Society,
describing the peculiar hazards encountered by the HARMONY on her outward
passage, will prove an interesting supplement to the particulars of Arctic
adventure, already given: --
"On the 6th of July (about five weeks after leaving the Thames) we first
fell in with the ice, but, the weather being very hazy, we stood off and on,
till the 11th, when it cleared up a little, and the land appeared in sight. We
now steered for the shore; but, the light failing us, we made the ship fast to
a field of ice. We supposed that we were at this time not more than twenty-five
or thirty miles distant from Hopedale. The next morning the fog returned, and
was so thick, that we could not see any object two ships' length from us.
Meanwhile the ice closed about us in such dense masses, that /128/ there was
not water enough to dip a bucket into on either side of the ship. We remained
in this state till the 13th, about noon; when the fog partially clearing away
again, we beheld, to our no small alarm, an immense iceberg aground right in
our way, our course being at this time in a direction to the S.S.E. It was not
till about 3 P.M. that we could at all succeed in our attempts to move the
vessel; and even then our utmost exertions, continued without interruption
during the space of six hours, only brought her forward about three times her
own length. Our object at this time was to get round the point of the ice-field
to which we were moored, and thus place it between us and the iceberg, which
was towering above us to the height of nearly twice the mainmast. Our position
was indeed a fearful one; and I believe most on board were ready to give up all
hope of saving either the ship or their own lives. The Lord, however, was
better to us than our fears; He heard and answered the supplications we offered
up to Him, and sent us deliverance in a way we least expected. May we never
lose the remembrance of His great mercy! As soon as the field of ice to which
we were attached came in contact with the berg, it veered round, and dragged us
after it without the least injury, the distance between the ship and the latter
being scarcely greater than a foot. Had we not succeeded in getting round the
point in the way we did, we should probably have been crushed to pieces in an
instant. We continued exposed to the same kind of perils till the 22nd instant,
and, during the greater part of this time, the frost was so intense, that our
ropes were almost immoveable. Even the small ropes were coated with ice to the
thickness of four or five inches; so that we were obliged every morning to send
up some of our people to the mast-head, to strike off the ice with sticks, that
the ropes might pass through the blocks. On the 23rd we succeeded, by dint of
great exertion, and under press of sail, in getting clear of the ice and
reaching the open water, and on the 24th, arrived at Hopedale in safety."
It may here be observed, that, up to this date, embracing a period of more than
sixty years, the ship had always proceeded to Labrador by way of Stromness,
though, in returning home, she had generally taken her passage through the
Channel. The reasons for the northward course having been so long preferred,
were various. In the first place, as the latitude of the Orkneys very nearly
corresponds with that of northern Labrador, the portion of the Atlantic to be traversed was somewhat smaller by this than by the southern passage, especially
in the alternate years, when Okkak had to be first visited. Again, the danger
from hostile cruisers was less imminent by taking this course, a convoy being
ordinarily provided for the Hudson's Bay and Davis' Straits ships. This was a
consideration of some importance in time of war, and led to its being generally
preferred, also on the passage home, up to the year 1815; and lastly, it has so
happened, that nearly all the successive commanders of the vessel have been
natives of the Orkney Islands, and the greater number of the crew /129/
likewise. It was natural, therefore, that they should prefer a course which
brought them, at least twice a year, into personal contact with such of their
relatives and friends, as were still residing in those islands, not to mention
that the annual visit of the ship tended to excite and keep alive a very warm interest
in the Labrador Mission, in the minds of not a few of the Christian people of
Stromness and the neighbouring islands, and to call forth their active and
sympathizing benevolence.
On the establishment of a fourth Missionary settlement on the coast of Labrador, an alteration took place in the Society's practice in this particular. It being found
necessary to send the ship to Hopedale first, as the most southern, and
consequently, under ordinary circumstances, the most accessible of the four
stations, the Channel passage was henceforward preferred in going out as well
as in returning. The voyage of the HARMONY in 1832, was the first in which this
course was taken, and it has been followed ever since.
According to the testimony of the captain, the weather, that year, was more
severe, and the hardships experienced by himself and his crew greater, than he
had ever before known, in the twenty- eight voyages he had made in the service
of the Society.
The year following, the ship was exposed to imminent danger, from a violent
storm which she encountered while lying off Hebron. For some hours, the
captain, who with two boys happened to be the only persons on board, the
remaining hands being variously occupied on shore, expected almost every
moment, that the ship would part from her cable and be driven upon the rocks;
but, by God's mercy, she rode out the gale, without sustaining any serious
injury.
In 1836, the HARMONY fell in with the ice, as early as the 24th of June, after
a speedy and prosperous voyage to within 200 miles of the coast of Labrador. "According to the statement of the captain, it was not merely the immense
quantity of ice, that rendered the navigation difficult and dangerous, nor yet
the number of icebergs that crowded the narrow channels, and of which he, on
one occasion, counted no fewer than seventy; but more especially the character
of the frozen masses, consisting chiefly of what seamen call bottom-ice, and
the violent swells by which they were frequently agitated. The undulations
hereby produced, exceeded, on one occasion, 100 feet in perpendicular height; a
spectacle which, however sublime, could not be contemplated without the most
lively sensations of alarm; for /130/ though the HARMONY was at the time beyond
the reach of the most violent agitation, the striking of the ice against the
ship's sides was sufficiently severe, to cause the utmost apprehensions for her
safety. It was, in fact, only by the constant use of fenders of tow, or cable
junk, let down beneath the surface of the water, and interposed between the
vessel and the advancing masses, that the sailors were enabled, with the Divine
help, to prevent her receiving serious, and perhaps, irreparable injury from
their sharp and rugged edges. For eight days subsequent to this anxious period,
the vessel remained completely entrenched in the ice, not a drop of water being
visible on any side of her, as far as the eye could reach. At length, however,
the Lord sent deliverance from these accumulated perils, and opened for her a
safe, though toilsome passage, through the ice to the coast of Labrador. On entering Hopedale harbour, on the 4th of August, the captain learned, that it had
become clear of ice only two days before; a circumstance, which led him to
consider, as peculiarly providential, the many obstacles which had hitherto
opposed his progress, having every reason to believe, that, had the ship been
obliged to contend with similar ones, in the narrow and rocky channels between
Hopedale and the islands, the destruction of the vessel would, humanly
speaking, have been inevitable."
It was on returning from this voyage that Captain Taylor had the privilege is
rescuing from a watery grave the nine survivors of the crew of the SUPERIOR,
Captain Dunn, bound from Miramichi to Cardiff, which had been thrown on her
beam ends, during a furious gale, on the 28th of September, and had become a
total wreck. Eight of these poor mariners, including the captain, were brought
in safety to England.
In 1837, the vessel encountered dangers of another kind. In the attempt,
justified apparently by the state of the wind and weather, to enter the bay of Hopedale by a new channel, she struck three times on a sunken rock, which, however, she
eventually cleared without sustaining any material damage. A similar accident
befell her in 1840, on leaving the same harbour, though, in this instance, the
channel was one with which the captain and mate thought themselves perfectly
familiar. As she was going at the rate of six miles an hour, and the shocks
were anything but slight, it was matter of thankful surprise to all on board,
that no leak appeared to have been sprung, nor any serious injury done to the
hull of the vessel.
The year 1841, the centenary of the Society for the Furtherance of the Gospel,
was marked by a state of the weather on the coast of Labrador, not very
dissimilar to that which has rendered the past year so memorable. Being
prevented by the storms which prevailed, from visiting Hopedale first, the
captain steered for Okkak, which he was enabled to reach on the 18th of August.
Thence he proceeded successively to Hebron and Nain, where he delivered a
portion of the /131/ stores destined for Hopedale, feeling very doubtful as to
the practicability of reaching that settlement, owing to the lateness of the
season and the continued prevalence of adverse winds. After a trying and
difficult passage, the HARMONY reached Hopedale on the 20th of September, and,
while lying in the harbour of that settlement, rode out a furious tempest,
which at one time threatened to tear her from her moorings and drive her upon
the rocks. Her return to Horselydown was on the 23rd of October.
The year 1845 was again a year of icebergs and ice-fields, by which the
progress of the ship was greatly impeded, both on her approach to the coast and
on her passage from one station to the other. That Captain Sutherland was
compelled by the quantity of ice which he encountered on leaving Hopedale for
Nain, and, by the prevailing dense fogs, to put back to the former settlement,
he had afterwards reason to consider a very providential circumstance, as it
would have been scarcely possible for the ship to have weathered the storm
which shortly after ensued, in a channel encumbered with ice and abounding with
sunken rocks. Before the HARMONY took her departure from Hebron, on the 8th of
September, the weather was so severe, that the snow lay 18 inches deep on her
decks, and the mountains encircling the bay, raised their white summits high
above the surrounding vapours. The sea outside the bay, was studded with
icebergs, some of them of the largest dimensions.
In 1849, the HARMONY was favoured to be the means of restoring to their
families and friends the eight survivors of the crew of the barque GRAHAM,
Captain Froud, who, after enduring extreme hardships and sufferings, had found
their way to Okkak, from the entrance of Hudson's Straits, where the vessel had
been wrecked, by coming into contact with a field of ice. The circumstances
attending the rescue of the poor sufferers were such as to do great credit to
the humane and generous feelings of the Christian Esquimaux, who were the
instruments of effecting it, and to afford a striking testimony to the value of
the instruction they had received, and the influence of the Gospel upon their
hearts and lives.
Of occurrences of a more recent nature, it is scarcely necessary to speak
particularly. It will probably be in the remembrance of the readers of this
journal, that, in August, 1851, the HARMONY was, for the third time, preserved
from the serious injury which might have been the result of her violent
collision with a sunken rock, as she was entering the Bay of Hopedale; also,
that the Divine protection was not less manifestly vouchsafed on her approach
to Hebron in September of the following year. The occurrences of the last
voyage, the failure of her attempt to reach any of the four stations excepting
Hopedale, the disappointment and distress of the captain and crew, and the
probable privations and endurances of the Missionaries at the settlements unvisited,
will doubtless be fresh in the recollection of all who read these lines. While,
therefore, they will join us in recording /132/ thankfully the marvellous acts
of the Lord, and the goodness and protecting care displayed towards His
servants, and the work in which they are engaged, during the long period of
eighty-four years, they will not fail to make the ship, the officer who has
charge of her, with all concerned in her navigation, and the Mission among the
Esquimaux race, to whose service she is dedicated, the subject of their fervent
intercession at the throne of grace. And this intercession will be specially
offered up, in the prospect of the renewed attempt to communicate with our
distant fellow-servants, and to replenish their exhausted stores, which is
about to be made in the course of the ensuing month. On the success of this
enterprise, the very existence of the Mission may be said, humanly speaking, to
depend. Its importance, it is therefore scarcely possible to over- estimate,
nor yet the value of the supplications for a blessing upon it, which, it is
believed, many of the Lord's people are even now sending up to the throne of
Divine grace.
With reference to one other subject of great interest and importance, the
editor would avail himself of the language of the "Retrospect," which
continues, he is thankful to say, to be as applicable to the present time as it
was to the year of centenary celebration: -- "The Society cannot forbear a
grateful acknowledgement of the goodness of God, in providing a succession of
faithful, experienced, and able seamen to take the superior and subordinate
charge of the vessels, in whose safety their Missionary Brethren, and many dear
Christian friends, as well as themselves, are so deeply interested. In Captains
Mugford, James Fraser, Thomas Fraser (no relation of his predecessor), William
Taylor, and James Sutherland, and in the present mate John White, who has had
the temporary command for three voyages, owing to the illness of Captain
Sutherland, a degree of confidence has been placed, which could only have been
inspired by the belief, that they considered themselves the servants of the
cause rather than of the Society, -- that they acknowledged their entire and
continual dependence on that Lord whom winds and waves obey, and were disposed
at all times, and especially in seasons of difficulty and peril, to seek his
counsel, help, and blessing."
While, then, in resuming his important charge, after an interval of three
years, the worthy captain of the HARMONY will, it is hoped, be more than ever
prepared to admit, in practice as well as theory, that it is "under
God" that "he is master for this present voyage," and that it is
"by the grace of God that he is bound to the coast of Labrador," the
friends of the Mission on that coast, and of the Society to whom he is more
immediately responsible, will not fail to support him by their fervent prayers,
and to unite in the utterance of the heartfelt wish -- "And so God send
the good ship to her desired port in safety." /133/ The following stanzas,
by the skilful hand of the greatest master of English sacred song whom this
generation has known, and whose peaceful translation to the heavenly rest is
among the solemn occurrences of the last few days, will, it is hoped, be considered
to form no inappropriate sequel to the foregoing narrative. They form part of a
beautiful hymn, composed in 1841, for the centenary of the Society for the
Furtherance of the Gospel, of which the writer was an esteemed and faithful
member: --
From: E_Schmitt@gmx.net
Subject: Capt. Francis Mugford 1778 Newfoundland
Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2006 12:16:28 +0100 (MET)
Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States,
Volume 2, Franklin to Commanders of Vessels
Gentlemen: Whereas this religious society, commonly called the Moravian
Brethren, have established a mission on the northern part of the Labrador coast
for the good purposes of civilizing and converting to Christianity the
barbarians who live there, and by that means putting an end to their custom of
plundering and murdering the people of our fishing vessels and others passing
in those seas; and whereas those missionaries and their families depend for
subsistence in that unfertile country on the supplies annually sent them, and
on the friendship of the natives, which is maintained by little presents of
iron ware, all furnished by charitable subscriptions in England; the
interruption of which supplies might hazard the loss of those pious
missionaries and ruin an enterprise beneficial to humanity: I do therefore
hereby certify that the sloop Good Intent, burden about 75 tons, Capt. Francis
Mugford, carrying in the present voyage about 5,000 bricks for building
chimneys, with provisions and necessaries for the missionaries and their
assistants and some ironmongery and tinware for the Indians; the crew
consisting of the captain, mate, three men, and a boy, and the passengers, one
man and three women; is the vessel employed in the above service for the
present year. And I request, if the said vessel should be met with by any of
you, that you would not consider her as a merchantman, proper to be made a
prize of, but rather concur benevolently in promoting so good a design by
permitting her to pass freely, and affording her any assistance which the
casualties may have rendered necessary, in which I am persuaded your conduct
will be approved not only in your own breasts, but by the Congress, by your
owners, and by all mankind. Wishing you all success and prosperity, I have the
honor to be, gentlemen, your most obedient humble servant,
B. Franklin,
One of the Plenipotentiary Ministers of the United States at the Court of France.
Paris, June 22, 1778.
No. 447.
http://www.heritage.nf.ca/law/lab3/labvol3_1334.html
PROCLAMATION BY GOVERNOR RICHARD EDWARDS
AS TO PROTECTION OF THE MORAVIAN MISSIONS.
----------------------------------------------------------------
RECORD BOOK, ST. JOHN'S, NEWFOUNDLAND.
Volume 7, page 89 (reversed).
By His Excellency Richard Edwards, Esq., Governor
and Commander in Chief in and over the Island of
Newfoundland, &c. &c.
Whereas His Majesty Was pleased by an Order of Council of the 3rd May,
1769, and by another Order of the ninth day of March, 1769, to encourage the
Unitas Fratrum, and their Society for the furtherance of the Gospel among the
Heathens, to make settlements, on the Northern Coast of Labrador, for the
purpose of civilizing and Instructing the Savages, Inhabiting the said Coast;
And the said Unitas Fratrum, and their Society for the furtherance of the
Gospel, have formed two such Mission Settlements on the said Coast, And Whereas
some Members of the said Brethren, Society for the furtherance of the Gospel
among the Heathen, have purchased and fitted out a Sloop called the Good
Intent, of which Francis Mugford is Commander, principally with a view to bring
the Missionaries and their assistants the necessary Provisions, for their
subsistance in that inhospitable Climate. This is to Certify to all Persons
whom it may concern, that the Establishments are under His Majesty's express
direction, Authority and protection, and all Officers, Civil and Military, and
all other His Majesty's faithful Subjects under my Government are hereby
strictly charged and required not to give any interruption to the said Sloop
the Good Intent, or to the said Mission, but they do afford the said Sloop and
all the said Bretheren all Friendly assistance, for the success of their pious
undertaking.
Given under my Hand at St. John's,
July 29th, 1779.
R. EDWARDS.
By Command of His Excellency,
A. Graham.
http://franklinpapers.org/franklin/framedVolumes.jsp?vol=26&page=468a
The Papers of Benjamin Franklin
From James Hutton
ALS: American Philosophical Society
[May 15, 1778]
My dear friends Letter of May 10. came to my hands this 15 May. I did not leave
with you, but sent to you, an account of the Vessel by the Post under some inclosure
to some friend, which I hope you received in due time, in the mean while to
avoid giving you trouble I send the Account I got this Evening.
The Sloop, Good Intent, Capt. Francis Mugford burthen about 70 or 75 Tuns the
Cargo Consists of some Bricks for building Chimnies about 5000 I believe.
Provisions and Necessaries for the poor Missionaries and their assistants, some
Ironmongery and Tinware for the use of the Indians and Missionaries. The Crew
consists of the Capt. and mate, three men and one boy. There are to be three
women Passengers and one Man Passenger. The Vessel goes from London to Labradore. No man but a true man, none but our Vessel shall make use of your
kind favour.
In my Soul and Conscience I believe that those of whom I had a good opinion
meant and mean Peace and not Division, but as they could not be supported here
in your main Preliminary Independence, they try to do as well as they can. If I
did not believe they mean Peace I would by no means have any thing to say to
it. But surely the Squadron from Toulon means us no good. I am sorry for it. I
wish still for Peace. I wish it possible. I do not despair, but will hope to
the End. My Health is as well as my Spirits will allow. I hope to recieve your
kind favour under Cover to Mr. Anton Seyffert Zeist près d’Utrecht, if even it
contains an additional favour from Mr. de Sartine. Our people about 20 will
almost certainly perish if the Vessel be taken. She has orders to go strait to
Labradore and has nothing at all to do at Newfoundland. It is not a trading
Vessel but a Charitable one. It will bring in return to help pay the Expence of
providing Necessaries and Provisions, what Train oil or Whale bone the
Missionaries and their Assistants may earn or get by their Labour. You know our
Society for the Furtherance of the Gospel among the Heathen consists of poor
hearty people, who do as Zeal enables them hazard and risk the Expences, and
blessed be God can never be rich as they neither seek it, nor can attain it. I
am your most affectionate and most obliged
JH.
Emma Rebecca Maitland married Samuel Sherman and left issue. There is still a
Sherman family in St Elizabeth (2022), who are connected with Mitcham and
Goshen area. However, there is a missing link between the children and
grandchildren and those now living in St Elizabeth. The Jamaican Parish records
became difficult to follow in the transition from the simple church records
kept until about 1860 and the later civil registrations.
Samuel Sherman:
1835: Planter of Saltspring.
1837: planter.
1838: Mitcham 44 apprentices.
1838/39: Samuel Sherman Quartermaster, St E Militia (AWM surgeon).
1840: Sherman Samuel, Mitcham, 807 acres
1845: Sherman S Mitcham 843 acres
1861: estate map St Elizabeth 208 shows 60 acres in 3 sections bought by Samuel
Sherman from JE Burlton, map dated 1861, although JEB died 1853 (see Tomlinsons).
Part of Providence Pen, positioned from the road marked and proximity to Ashton
Pen, probably on the bend on the main road at Hodges.
1891: Sherman & Roberts: storekeepers @ Balaclava, St E., in directory.
Samuel’s will of 1851/53 leaves all to Emma and then to 4 sons, (except a cow
to his brother, Thomas) but no further information.
Died at Mitcham Pen, Samuel Sherman aged 54. His death was caused by repeated
attacks of Delirium Tremens from continued intoxication Septr 10th
1851PJR2
Emma Rebecca Sherman married Thomas Doran by licence, 20/0/1853, both of St
Elizabeth.
Issue of Samuel & Emma Rebecca (Maitland) Sherman:
(LDS copy records by AM, and web
index 9/2010, not yet complete, so answers not complete!):
2/1. Henry Maitland Sherman:
Born 7/10/1833 (MT) 17/10/1833,
Ch 17/10/1835 (PR),
Father Planter of Saltspring (PR).
Manchester 1878: Smithfield (Grazing Pen), H. Sherman proprietor, Newport.
LDS:
Ann Sherman, born 30/6/1872, Cocoa Walk, brown, illegitimate, ch 28/3/1873,
father Henry Sherman, planter, mother Emily Knightly?, Manchester[111].
Cocoa Walk mortgaged by Alfred, see below.
2/2. Alfred Sherman Born: 6/7/1835, Ch 17/10/1835, (PR & MT)
Royal Gazette gives birth of a
son to Samuel Sherman of Saltspring.
Died Mitcham 18/11/1896, aged 61, penn keeper, informant Sam S, sonLDS.
Wills 1894-1903: Sherman, Alfred, ITEM 6, 1899 #30 (not
found 2/22)
Owned Mitcham – re mortgage advert in paper – 450A[112]
Married Roberta Josephine James, 21 June 1860, St Elizabeth
1875[113]:.
AS & wife Roberta of Manch Planter & Joseph Deleon esq of same place.
£100 from JD to AS. Piece of Land called Nashville Grove, in Manch 100 A
formerly part of Smithfield Plantation N on Queens Rd from Alligator Pond to Bossue
S & E on Smithfield, W on Cocoa Walk plantation. If by 15/7/1878 £100
+12/10s ind void. Both on Liddell.
Issue, St Elizabeth (from LDS online index & associated film images):
3/1. Eva Maria Sherman, 11 June 1861.
m. 15/12/1897, St Ann, He
Druggist, age 58 widower of Berry Hill, St Ann, father William, she spin, gent,
age 36 of Lowden Hill St AnnLDS,
Issue by husband Charles Dussard Arscott (a druggist):
4/1. Frank Ewart Sherman Arscott, b 10/10/1899, Berry Hill St Ann.
NB: Negil Sherman married Annie Arscott of St Anns
3/2. Samuel Joseph Sherman,
ch 6/2/1863, St Elizabeth, of Alfred & Roberta.
3/3. Emma Maitland Sherman, b 8/12/1864, ch 23/2/1865 of Mitcham
Married Horace Cleon Roberts, 20/10/1891,
produce Dealer. May have been in business in Balaclava with a Sherman. He aged
36, of Milk River, Clarendon, father William Allen Roberts, son of Rebecca
(Wright) Roberts. She was aged 26 of Mitcham.
4/1. Enid Audrey Maitland Roberts, father HC of Mount Pleasant,
mother Emma, 17 December 1893, Mount Pleasant, Clarendon, Milk River district.
4/2. Linden Cleon Roberts, 2/10/1898, Florbell, Milk River
Clarendon. Mother indexed as Anna, but looks more like Emma.
3/4. Anne Sherman, b. 6/7/1866, ch. 30/9/1866,
planter of Orange Grove, St Elizabeth.
3/5. Lavinia Sherman, 19/6/1868, All parishes, LDS.
M Arthur Arnold Boxer Roberts, shopkeeper she of Mitcham, he of Malcolm? 20/11/1895.
2/3. William Frederick Sherman Born 14/3/1837 (PR, MT)
Died 30/1/1856 (MT). (Samuel planter PR)
2/4. Charles Welby Sherman, ch 10/3/1845, Manchester.
Original MT has: born 16/7/1841, died 1/9/1853.
Shermans also owned Goshen, St Elizabeth, but said to have lost it somehow,
although it was owned by Francis George Smyth in the 1840’s.
The Current (2022) Sherman line of St Elizabeth
The line to John Sherman of St Elizabeth, still going strong February 2022!
Probably a son of Henry or Alfred Sherman, possibly a grand son, but I cannot
connect the generations.
From John’s memory and other data:
His grandfather:
0/1. Thomas Sherman & Eliza (Shivers?)
From Negil’s DoB, Thomas must have been born around 1860-1870
Nothing found that fits these two, but several Thomas’s around.
A Thomas Sherman died 4/12/1905, Kingston aged 40.
9/6/1893, Santa Cruz, Thomas Sherman m Ann Elizabeth Watkins, planter: also
13/9/1881 as a labourer – 2 of them??
Thomas Sherman & Ann Elizabeth Watkins had a couple of unnamed children
baptised in Santa Cruz in 13/9/1881 & 27/11/1883AC.
Thomas & James Sherman, brothers:
1/1. James Sherman, b abt 1860:
Egbert Beresford Sherman, bachelor, shoemaker, 34, of Santa Cruz, father James,
married 28/4/1920. Una Rosella King, Spinster, 21, of Mount Olivet dressmaker,
father Alexander. Died, Waterloo, St E, 15/11/1956, aged 71.
James Sherman died at Little Prosper, 4/9/1919, age 59, married, planter heart
disease, informant Egbert S of Waterloo.
1/2. Thomas Sherman, b abt 1853:
Also Thomas Sherman D 22/7/1926, Santa Cruz, aged 73, widower, planter,
informant nephew Egbert Sherman of Santa CruzFMP.
Cobold Sherman, son of Thomas, planter of Santa Cruz, died /12/1898, aged 8.
At Black River on 20th July, Alice Maud Sherman Late telegraph clerk
and eldest dau of Mr Thomas Sherman, Santa Cruz (Kingston-Daily-Gleaner-July,
22-1918) Spinster aged 39, informant MH Bromfield, sister.
17/12/1912: Cecil Constantine Bromfield, Bachelor, storekeeper, 30 of Black
River, son of David Married Marguerite Henrietta Sherman, spinster,
gentlewoman, 26, of Santa Cruz dau of Thomas.
AT Penn House, Santa Cruz on the morning of the 27th inst, Mrs Ann
Sherman wife of Thomas. (Kingston-Daily-Gleaner-October, 31-1913) – Thomas a
Butcher, she aged 62.
Ref to estate of Thomas Sherman of Penn House, Santa Cruz who died abt
28/2/1927[114]
Wills 1927: Sherman, Thomas 76
27/11/1885, Thomas Sherman M Ann Sherman formerly Chivers, labourer.
Balaclava is a small town in St Elizabeth, Jamaica.
The town was established around the plantations of the
Arscott & Sherman families in the late 1700s. Graves of these families can
be found in the cemetery of St. Luke's Anglican church. One of the plantation
style houses still remains, and commands sweeping views of the Appleton Estate
(Rum)sugar cane fields, as well as the foothills of the Cockpit Country. (Wiki)
Jamaica Civil Reg – unknown male child:
Birth: 27 Nov 1885 St. Elizabeth, Jamaica
Parents: Thomas Sherman & Ann Chivers
They owned Pennants Great House (near Chapelton, Clarendon) – seems unlikely.
1/1. Negil Erickson Sherman b 1889-92,
My heritage.com has him born 1889
at Pennants Great House, to Thomas & Ann Chilvers. The source of the birth
at Pennants is unclear.....
died 9/11/1935, Halfway Tree aged 46 (LDS).
owned Mitcham, married Annie Elsie
Arscott 29/6/1926 (LDS), (from St Anne’s), dau of Alfred A. He was a clerk, aged
34, of 20 West St, Kingston, father Thomas Sherman, she a Telegraph
Clerk aged 21 of Spalding, Clarendon (abt 5 mile NNE of Mandeville.
Annie was born on May 7 1906, in Spaldings Jamaica (myheritage)
He lived with Annie on Ocean View Avenue and had a property on Molynes Rd. by
the name of Holmwood. JS was brought up there, before moving to Spaldings N. of
Mandeville. Alfred had a small coffee plantation and other spices there.
Negil left Goshen suddenly at a relatively young age and never went back. When
I and Douglas Blain found Mitcham great house remains in 1998, we met an older
lady (black) who said she remembered Old Mr Sherman who had “pickny” with black
girl: some came out black and some pretty like you (referring to me, i.e.
white). If my informant was 70 she would be referring to children being born
around 1935-40 or earlier if they were her contemporaries. Could this be the
cause of Negil leaving home with what sound like acrimony, Old Mr Sherman being
Negil’s father?
Issue:
2/1. Garth Carsbrook Sherman,
Birth date: 07 Jun 1927 @ 12,
Blake rd, Kingston, Jamaica
Negil Eric Sherman mercantile Clerk mother: Annie Elise Arscott
2/2. Denzil Earle, married Beverley; he died 9/6/2004, Miami.
Born: 13 Sep 1928, Kingston, Jamaica
Parents: Negil Eric Sherman &
Angie Elise Arscott
3/1. Andrea Sherman[xi],
married William Marshall 1974[xii]
2/3. John Sherman[xiii] (born about 1932) m. Audrey Hope Grannum,
dau of Seymour & Merelle
(Green) Grannum.
Bromfields connected to the Greens in Ocho Rios.
Merelle dau of Julius & Imla Asinath (Bromfield) Green
Imla dau of David Hutchinson & Margaret (Clacken) Bromfield.
David s of William Mullings & Ellen (Hutchinson) Bromfield
William s of John Frederick & Mary (Mullings) Bromfield
John s of Andrew & Rose (Reynolds) Bromfield
JS married 2nd Sheila.
3/1. Michelle Sherman.
Brought up in Ocho Rios, school in Kingston.
3/2. David Sherman
4/1. Christopher Sherman, Canadian resident Toronto 2/2022
2/4. Jean Amarylis Sherman.
BIRTH date: 26 Feb 1930 Kingston, Jamaica
1/2. Cecil Sherman married Alva Duffus
and had a daughter Mag?
Married 14/9/1915 Kingston Ethel Marie Beker, father Joseph H Beker. (LDS)
1/3. Cyril Sherman (no children)
1/4. Elizabeth (Pinnie) Sherman married Brooks
1/5. Mary Sherman "Tuku",
married Lalor who died in an army accident. She then married a Wilson. She had something to do with the MacNaughts Beryl, Jimmy, Roy and Barry
1/6. Russell Claud Sherman, son of Thomas, married Ida
Victoria Duff, dau of Charles Percival Duff, 2/8/1922, Kingston (LDS).
John Sherman
Published: Wednesday | December 31, 1969 | 7:00 PM
Mark Titus, Business Reporter
John Sherman operates a nice spread at Spring Hill, St Elizabeth, on which he grazes 45 head of dairy cattle, whose milk he sells to the Jamaican subsidiary of the multinational food company, Nestlé - about 400 litres a day.
But this week Sherman was threatening to shut his farm and get out of the dairy business, unless he is able to convince Nestlé Jamaica to increase, at least by a fifth, the J$48.50 a litre it pays for his milk.
"We are at a disadvantage," he lamented in an interview with the Financial Gleaner. "The fact of the matter is if I cannot get J$60 to J$62 per litre for my product, I will have to get out of this business."
Assuming that were to happen, it would continue the trend of the past two decades, during which the number of registered dairy farmers dwindled by two thirds, to around 250. They operate a herd of around 8,000 milkers.
Ironically, though, threats like Sherman's, and the broader complaint by farmers over the price they are paid for milk by processors like Nestlé Jamaica, are reaching a new pitch in the midst of efforts to rebuild the island's dairy industry.
Last month, for instance, the government imposed a one per cent cess on domestically produced and imported milk and milk equivalent, based on a farm-gate price for the product of $48 per litre.
That levy will raise an estimated J$64 million in the first year, to be used by the Jamaica Dairy Development Board (JDDB) on schemes to develop the sector.
"We are trying to develop pro-jects to enhance efficiency," explains JDDB chief executive officer Dr Paul Jennings. "The focus is on capacity building."
Promise of a better future for the domestic sector is not joyful news to farmers like Sherman, however, who claim an inability to make ends meet now.
"The cost of production, or what are called input costs, such as feed, electricity, water and labour, continues to go up almost on a monthly basis," he said. "Yet it took the processor two years to agree to put a mere $4.00 on the farm gate price."
Upshot: Spring Hill Farms, by Sherman's estimate, spends over "J$40,000 per week on feeds to earn a little over J$30,000.
"We are only saved by the fact that we sell our older stock to the butchers," he said. "So, that makes up for the lost income."
Sherman's complaint is neither singular nor isolated.
Dr Richard Jones, a sugar and dairy farmer in eastern Jamaica, has similar concerns.
"Based on what the consumer is paying for milk (around J$176 a litre) (the farm-gate price) should be around $60," Jones said in a recent interview.
Ironically, Jones, who has herd of 55, and earns J$1.50 less a litre than Nestlé pays Sherman, sells his milk to Island Dairies, a company on whose board he sits.
At that price, Jones said, he loses money, but is hoping for a turnaround by nearly doubling his herd to 100. Nonetheless, he does not believe the milk pricing regime is fair.
But James Rawles, who heads Nestlé's Jamaica business, suggests that Jamaican dairy farmers, in their complaints, miss the larger picture - the economics from the time they sell the milk, to its processing until it reaches Jamaican consumers at around J$176 a litre.
"If farmers are calling for one third of the cost of milk as it appears on the shop shelf, it is a little difficult to understand," he told the Financial Gleaner, "because there are costs intervening, which is in addition to the farm-gate price."
For example, the price at which farmers see the product on the shelves, Rawles explained, included not only the farm-gate price, but the $3.58 per litre paid to transport the fresh milk to the Nestlé plants, plus the other inputs.
"We have to process it; (then) there is cost for packaging material, along with other input costs. And whether I distribute it in Bog Walk, which is next to the factory, or in Montego Bay, it is the same price to the retail trade, who then make their mark-ups on my price," said Rawles.
"That mark-up varies from 20 to 35 per cent."
Other unidentified Shermans:
Other contemporary Shermans:
Isaac Levy & Ann Sherman, St Elizabeth:
Benjamin Ash 3/4/1853
Bridget Elizabeth 29/9/1858
Death: an Emma Sherman buried St Elizabeth, 4 March 1863 Film 1223999 2 95. Res
Lovely Point, 2 yrs old.
Sherman, Katherine Elizabeth, born 2/12/1860, baptized 5/9/1861. St. Elizabeth
Anglican, B0057, VI page 90
Sherman, William Ambrose, b 7/30/1872, bap 9/11/1872. P= Francis & Matilda
Sherman. Sp= William Zepilin, Elizabeth Malabre. BB p. 13 Roman Catholic
records.
Richard Sherman & Margaret Swaby, Westmoreland:
Mary 23/1/1883
Nicholas 18/1/1887, @ Revival
Peter 25/12/1891, @ St Paul’s
Jamaica Records:
Marriage indices (LDS film 1563486) 1880-92 grooms checked, only Sherman found:
St E (1880-86) James A Sherman M Henrietta L Cuff (ref 1063).
Birth film 1389339 Civil reg 1892 checked – no Negil (or Shermans).
In 1910 a Bertha Sherman had a sugar plantation in Trelawney named Maitland.
Christopher Levemore Mccormack Sherman, b 30/12/1884 St Andrew
Christopher Levemore Mccormack Sherman, b 30/12/1884,
Falmouth
Parents: Christopher Augustus & Johanna Vilatte Taylor Sherman
Henry James Sherman, b 6/12/1835, Hanover
Parents: Thomas George Sherman & Edith Samuels
Elsie Albertha Sherman, b 21/6/1901, St Andrew, Butler
Charles Hubert Seymour Sherman, b 10/4/1903, St Andrew.
(Butler, Clarence Town)
Arthur Jardine Sherman, b 26/8/1899, St Andrew. (A Butler of Sunderry Cottage,
Cross Roads, St Andrew)
Parents: Frederick Emanuel & Ella Robertha (Powell) Sherman
Frank Ewart Sherman Arscott, b 10/10/1899 St Ann
Parents Charles Desmond & Eva Maria (Sherman) Arscott a Druggist, Berry
Hill St Andrew
Clark, b 18/11/1920, Kingston
Parents: Albert Clark & Florence Sherman
Thomas Ewell James, b 23/2/1859, StE
Parents: Thomas Ewell James & Ellen Sherman
Gilpin, b 27/12/1845, Hanover,
Parents: Baring Gilpin & Mary Sherman
Rutherford Serman
Parents: Frank Sherman & Emma Morgan
Clifford Samuel Robinson, b 23/6/1910, Mount Charles St Andrew,
Parents: James & Edith (Sherman) Robinson, job cultivation illiterate
Nicholas Sherman, base son of Sarah free negro about 6 months old baptised 19
June 1762 (St E V1 P23).
See under Brooks in Jamaica Maitland volume for a possible connection.
Some early-mid 19thC Shermans in Hanover. Probably not related.
The Gleaner 31/12/1969:
Farmers, Milk Processors Bicker Over Price
John Sherman interview Feb 2022:
Notes By Rosie Dodd (whose uncle worked with John in the bank)
John Sherman
Spring Hill, St Elizabeth, 22 February 2022
[The manager of Bank of Nova Scotia, Port Maria] P. R. Miller[xiv]: “One window closed, two windows closed… all windows closed.”
Would spell out the address of BNS: “Got that Sherman?”
I was born at 12 Blake Street. Cloverly Park had a lot of buttercups.
My father walked away from Goshen and said he’d never go back again.
My mother was an Arscott from Spaldings.[xv]
They developed Spaldings and then sold out to the merchants.
Father became manager of Sherlock and Smith. In the Great Depression they closed down and Sherlock went back to England. Smith went to Minard. Father bought a firm on Molynes Road, a dirt track in those days, and set up a dairy.
He had agreed to hire C. B. Facey, a young boy, but then the whole thing (Sherlock and Smith) collapsed. So, he took Facey under his wing and got him to go out to the agencies. He brought in an Arscott to run the farm so that he could start running the agencies again under a new name.
When I was in the Bank, one day I went to C. B. Facey [the company]. C. B. Facey found out I was visiting and said: “You’re Negel’s son. You sit down here. Miss Simons, I have young Sherman with me. Tell them outside he’s not coming back. I want to talk to him…. [To John] Anything you want, let me know. Everything I have is because of your father.”
I was at Princess Street, a junior and heard them talking that the Facey offices weren’t getting a good deal.
The foreign people [Canadian bank staff] came down, got put up at Arcadia, came in at 8 and left at 4. We wanted to form a bankers’ association but they were told if they did, they’d be fired. And one of them said they’d phone Viv Blake and asked to be represented. Blake was in the Bahamas. One knew Shearer. A lot of senior officers joined a union and I got a drive home with some of the guys and I would hear a meeting going on at Busta’s house.
“We will follow Busta till we die” [they were chanting that] Saturday. On Monday morning Shearer had a meeting arranged with the Bank; Shearer wanted equal rights for Jamaicans….
9 o’clock Monday.… what happen to Shearer? Shearer disappear off the face of Jamaica. We found out that on the Sunday afternoon two guys came from Toronto with briefcases and one of the senior drivers from Martins said he drove them to the car park of Arcadia Club and that Shearer took out a sheaf of papers, handed it to them and they gave him wads of cash. I never shook hands with Shearer after that. I would never shake his hand.
Eventually three guys came down from Toronto. They asked who would represent the men; the men pointed at me! So I told all the grievances…. Afterwards the men were asked if they agreed with me. Not one of them put his hand up! The manager of King Street was a Canadian. Appeared decent but never got involved. A couple years later he said there was great respect for me for standing up and saying what I had; that I was not one of the flock. I said I wish I’d known!
We’re living at Ocean D and Jack Valiant stopped by and said he’d say he was in the Union. He’d got jobs for Bert and Eric Rowe (John’s juniors in the bank) in the union. I never tried to find out anything.
Then all of a sudden all of the senior officers were retired or fired. I was told that I had to go to Christiana. Eric Park ran it as his own empire. An old retainer came and said “My advice is to go”. My name was on the blacklist.
So I went.
[One day there was a spot visit by two inspectors.] The manager had signed all these bank drafts. So I quickly wrote in the book “cancelled and destroyed”. They asked why there were so many cancelled cheques. To save my soul, I told the inspectors they’d got water damaged from heavy rain. Two years later, I was told to get out of the branch; the manager was saying that he had no help from Sherman. I was asked if I was getting leave and to go and ask Head Office for a move.
Park said: “You think you can report me?!” He had all these promissory notes from loads of guys in the bank [so he had them under his control]. But he was transferred to East Queen Street and I went to Princess Street.
The inspectors came to me one day and said that East Queen Street is in serious trouble and Park wanted me to come and sort it out. I said I would go on one condition, that all those reports of my inefficiency etc. must be removed and that I was not that type of person who Park had indicated.
So I went over and straightened out the branch….
I became credit supervisor of my branch. Gordon Bell said any mistakes were to be reported to him directly. I was one of the people who started Scotia Plan. Bell was a man who knew what was happening and understood.
I was at [SP?] office. The bank had hired a guy from _______ I made monthly observations of the quality of the loans and there was a return about an account that was being paid but they couldn’t find the person. The account at King Street was paid off but the source of the payment was Half Way Tree Branch, then Cross Roads, then Bull Bay, St Thomas. Re D8 tractors. There were only three of these on the island. There was one central figure in the whole thing! No names. Philip was then Head of Staff and said to Bell: “How can you allow an assistant credit officer to report to the General Manager?” Mr Bell said to go to King Street and accost the man. The man saw us coming, took up his briefcase and walked out of the office.
Philip said we must fire the guy at King Street because he should have suspected. Bell called me in and asked why he shouldn’t fire X. I said “If you gave me documents and said everything was not in order….why shouldn’t I consider firing you?” [X wasn’t fired.] Philip was a stickler.
After Port Maria I went to St Ann’s Bay. I started the branch in Ocho Rios.
When Michael Manley came in, I went to Toronto and joined CIBC. Was not getting anywhere. At that time, I was married to Audrey.
Gordon Bell got the bankers’ association to stand up to Michael Manley who wanted to investigate people’s accounts!
Gordon Bell saved Jamaica. He really did.
Issa was the biggest company in Jamaica. They owned stores in every town on the island. (Hanna was second in size but way down.) Keith Ellis was the accountant. The accounts said that Issa had to go into receivership because of the state of the economy. They needed £100,000. Bell brought in Abe and Joe (and I sat in on the meeting.) Tower Isle was the only entity in the whole empire that was viable.
Joe said the staff would have to wait.
Bell: What are you going to do about the payables?
Joe: Well, £100,000 would straighten us out.
Bell: I can’t lend you any more because you’ve borrowed up to the maximum. No one customer can borrow more than 10% of their capital value.
Bell spread out the various branches – none of the stores were in profit.
Bell: Joe, you cannot sign any check without one of our senior officers. Take it or leave it.
All the managers had to take on the responsibility for the profit and loss of their branch.
[Eddie Seaga] was a Syrian and the only boy and a loner. My cousin was his best friend.
My Uncle’s house was at 69 Constant Spring Road. Eddie would hang out there. The girls all went to St Andrew’s. The girls had all gone home and Trevor gets up from the table and says to my Uncle Noris: “Dad, I want to make an announcement. Faye and myself are getting engaged.”
Uncle Noris: “Trevor, sit down. It’s not going to happen.”
Trevor was on the plane the next day and never came back to Jamaica.
At school, it was the 11.15 break and Jackie Hendricks and I would play football. Jackie said to pick up the ball and so I bounced it to see how hard it was.
Eddie was a prefect: “Sherman! You know you’re not supposed to play ball.”
So, I go to Gerry Alexander who was the head prefect and head boy and well loved. He said: “Eddie is the only boy I can’t get anywhere with. Once he has made a decision, he will not change his mind.”
I had to get two strokes from the Headmaster. I never shook hands with Eddie after that.
Pennant Great House
Andrew Wright Maitland snr, eldest son of Francis 1, married Ann Katherine
(Tomlinson) Earle, widow of John Earle. These are some notes on those families.
(From JFH & Brett Ashmeade Hawkins)
This is one of the descendancies on the JFH site, constructed from parish
records.
Descendants of Thomas Tomlinson
1754: Tomlinson, Thomas, Westmoreland 7, St. Elizabeth 500, Tot 507.
1. Thomas Tomlinson was born 1726, and
buried December 30, 1790 in Sava la
mar, Westmoreland. He married Susannah Woolery. She was born 1743, and died
August 12, 1791 in Savanna la mar, Westmoreland.
He was the Collecting Constable
MI of Jamaica #1857:
Savannah la Mar Dolling Street Burial Ground no 2:
Thomas Tomlinson esq d 30 December 1790 aged 64
Susannah Tomlinson wife of the above died 12 August 1791, buried the 13th.
Thomas Tomlinson married Mary Woolery both OTP, Wmlnd. 18/9/1742PR
Thomas Tomlinson married Susanna Woolery, spinster both OTP, Wmlnd, 24/6/1759PR.
Susanna Woolery dau of John, bap W’land 14/5/1744PR.
The children of Thomas & Susanna Tomlinson living at the time are mentioned
in the will of (PCC 1789[115])
of John Tomlinson, merchant of Bristol; he left them £50 each. John had a
brother and niece, Captain William Tomlinson and Elizabeth. He left R&R to
friend Charles Payne of Jamaica.
Children of Thomas & Susanna Tomlinson:
2/1 John Tomlinson, Burial: February 06, 1782, Westmoreland
2/2 Robert Tomlinson Bap 29/3/1770PR of T&S.
2/3 Robert Tomlinson, Baptism: 07/4/1773, of T&S Westmoreland
2/4 Susannah Tomlinson, Baptism: 31/3/1777PR, Westmoreland of
T&S
2/5. Thomas Tomlinson Bap 31/3/1777PR of Thomas & Susanna.
Died August 02, 1817 in Bath
Pen, Westmoreland. Burial: August 03, 1817, Goodins Pen burial ground,
Westmoreland. A Collecting Constable.
He married Charlotte Beckford Hill, spinster, December 18, 1808 in Westmoreland.
She was born Abt. 1786., PR has her bur Ashton 24/9/1858, aged 72 & of
Ashton. Her god father was William Beckford of Fonthill.
Issue of Thomas Tomlinson and Charlotte Hill (from Rushbrooke Papers):
3/1pr. William Storer Tomlinson b 16/10/1809, sav la mar,
ch 27/5/1810, infant son of TT
& Charlotte Beckford his wife.
Manchester Index has him buried in 1849, although the actual register is not on
LDS. This is probably the Mr Tomlinson referred to in this letter:
Letter in Tomlinson section of Rusbrooke papers, March 20233:
Not known who this was, but Michael Muirhead was AK (Tomlinson) Maitland’s
brother in law.
My dear Sir,
Mr Tomlinson has been complaining of “lumbago” and other ordinary
squeamishnesses since Monday evening. He even breakfasted with me yesterday
after which I had to ride out. On my return I found him very ill and sent for
Dr Voyans? Who remained here for some hours last night. This morning at about
daylight he sunk completely and near 5 o’clock he expired. You must suppose how
shocked I am. He laughed when ... a doctor once or twice nor did I even think
it necessary to send to you.
Yrs very truly,
Danl Leeson Cocoa Walk Jan 20th 1848
To Michael Muirhead esq Daly’s Grove.
(Liddell 1888 in Manchester in the May day mountains), Cocoa Walk a little to
the south.
3/2JPR. Anne
Katherine Tomlinson, born 10/1/1811 M AWM.
3/3. Frances Price Tomlinson B 28/2/1812, Sav la Mar. not in PR
Died Daly’s Grove 10/9/1853 (AWM
Notes)
Married 1 May 1837PR, Michael Muirhead, he of the Downs, she of
Ashton.
4/1. Charlotte Jane Muirhead, b 18/1/1843, ch St E 18/5/1843, of Hanover Pen,
Manch, MM planter.
3/4. Theodore b 2/7/1813,
Bluefields, not in PR
3/5. Thomas b 12/7/1814, D 14/10/1815
3/6. Charlotte b 9/10/1815, Bath (pen), died 12/7/1834
3/7PR. Thomasina Tomlinson.
Baptism: October 05, 1817, At the house of Dr. Henry Distin, Savanna la mar, Westmoreland Thomas late collecting constable
3/8LDS. Woolery Tomlinson, bapt at Miss Manns house 13/6/1817,
died & buried 14 June, aged 8 months. TT of Bath Pen near Sav la Mar. B abt 10/1816.
2/6. George Tomlinson, born Bef.
April 10, 1783.
Baptism: April 10, 1783, Westmoreland
Charlotte B Tomlinson, widow, married, 2nd 26/3/1822PR, Westmoreland, James Edward Burlton by licence he died 1853BAH she died 1858. PR has CBT bur Ashton, 24/9/1858 res Ashton he amassed debts in 1845, and property split up between Ann Katherine Maitland & her 2 Earl sons, Conveyance estate of John Earl to John William & Edward Muirhead Earl, now >21 Roseberry 250A, in St E, Mt Olivet in St E 365A & Lookbehind in Trelawney ref debts of James Edward Burlton court 1845 £1218 Division AKM gets Mt Olivet, EME gets Roseberry & JWE gets £813.
James Edward Burlton at Mount Charles in 1840, his heirs in 1845.JA
Vestreyman St E 1838JA. (also John Earle).
2/1. Edward James Burlton (1823-1840)
PR: B 11/6/1823, ch St E 4/5/1825
of James Edward Burlton and Charlotte Beckford, his wife.
Memorial at Black River Church:
Sacred to the memory of Edward James Burlton, only child of James Edward and Charlotte
Burlton of this parish; he died at sea, on the 7th of Septr 1840, aged 17
years.
Death at Sea:
At sea on 7th Sep last on board the barque Sophia, Capt Barclay from Black
River for London. Mr Edward James Burlton aged 17 years only son of James E Burlton
Esq of the parish of St Elizabeth in this Island. (Dec 4th 1840 Morning Journal).
Michael Muirhead of Marshall’s Pen, Manchester died 6/6/1885PR
aged 87, widower, proprietor, senile.
Gravestone: Saint Mark’s Anglican Church Cemetery, Mandeville, Manchester,
In Loving Memory Of Michael Muirhead Born In Glasgow Scot. Dec 2, 1798
Died June 6 1885
He had issue by Catherine Cohen:
Catherine Cohen, mustee, ch St E 28/8/1808, b 3/10/1087, dau of Mr A Cohen.
1/1. Michael Easton Muirhead Bap 15/11/1828, age 11 mths, St E,
son of MM & Catherine Cohen, unmarried,
of Epsom Downes.
MEM Died Mandeville, 10/1/1918, widower, 90, pen-keeper, informant M.E. Isaacs,
daughter.
MEM married Ann Katherine Wheatle, 2/4/1859, Manch.
Thomas Wheatle was overseer of Mitcham in 1821.
Ann K Wheatle Muirhead bur 2/12/1871, Mandeville, born 23/6/1837
2/1. Easton Whittle Muirhead, ch Manch 13/12/1861 of Michael & Ann
Katherine
2/2. Frances Annie ch 16/12/1867, of MEM & AK, of Marshalls Pen, Gent.
2/3. Michael Alexander Muirhead, ch 15/3/1860, St E
of MEM & Ann Catherine, Marshalls Pen, Planter.
2/4. Charles Easton Muirhead, b Jamaica, age 41, b Jamaica 26/1/1874,
naturalisation USA 1915.
2/5. AKM born Marshall’s Pen, 2/12/1871, bap 10/1/1872, white
dau of MEM & Ann Katherine Burlton,
pen-keeper, Marshall’s Pen
20/5/1900, John Malcolm MacGregor, bach, 28, solicitor of Balrennie, Manch, son
of John MacGregor married Ann Katherine Muirhead, spinster, 28 gentlewoman, of
Marshall’s Pen, Manch, dau of Michael Easton Muirhead
ANN KATHERINE (KATIE), BELOVED WIFE OF J.M. MacGREGOR, AND THIRD DAUGHTER OF
M.E. MUIRHEAD
BORN DEC. 2ND 1871. DIED MARCH 13TH 1904.
Mandeville, Manchester, Jamaica
BURIAL Saint Mark’s Anglican
Church Cemetery, Mandeville,
1/2. Alexander Salmon Muirhead b 20/5/1829, white
ch St E 24/10/1830 of Michael Muirhead & Catherine
Cohen, unmarried, of Epsom, Townsix?, Manchester.
1/3. Also Charles Muirhead, b 17/5/1853, of Daly’s Grove d of MM & Ann
Lozan.
Anne Katherine Tomlinson, born in Sav la Mar 10/1/1811PJR,
daughter of Thomas &
Charlotte Beckford (Hill) Tomlinson, but no parish record found.
She died Mount Charles, 22/1/1886.
BAH says that Anne was the sister of Charlotte Beckford Tomlinson, who married
2nd,James Edward Burlton, but PJR has her as the daughter of CBT by
her first husband, Thomas Tomlinson. This is much the more likely scenario –
the dates fit much better.
No Charlotte Hill’s come up on data searches of in the St Elizabeth or
Westmoreland indices. The Westmoreland records look to be incomplete in the
1780’s, so any births of Charlotte Hill was probably not recorded.
A Thomas Hill b 22/1/1793, ch 6/2/1795, Westmoreland of Thomas & Catherine
Hill. The mother Catherine suggests that they might have been the grand parents
of Anne Catherine Tomlinson.
Married 1st, John Earle esq 7/4/1829PR allp, St
Elizabeth, she a spinster, both OTP. and died Mount Charles 22/2/1886MB.
PR: Bur of John Earl, 28/6/1843 abt 41, of Mt Olivet & @ Mt Olivet. (Mt
Olivet a property owned by J. Earl).
See Jamaica General
for more.
Ann married, 2nd: Andrew Wright Maitland
Issue of John & Ann (Tomlinson) Earl (for AWM's issue see under his entry):
2/1. Fanny Davy Earle born 24 June 1833LDS Mt Olivet
2/2. John William Earl, born 1837, 3 sons, 6 dausPJR, d 1912BAH;
From BAH:
M Mary Elmina Calder, d of John Calder.
3/1. Charles Edward Earle (1869-1954)
3/2. John Calder Earle (1881-1957)
M. Stella Mia Pulford (1893-1970)
2/3. Edward Muirhead Earl, born 24/4/1840PJR & PR.
ch 28/5/1843, child of John & Ann K Earl, planter of Mt OlivetPR
He Died, Kingston, 9/11/1913, a
clerk.
Married Lydia Ellen, dau of Robert Campbell Smith, 22/4/1863, Herne Bay, Kent. She aged 19, of Herne Bay. He aged 23 of St George’s Camberwell, Traveller.
Lydia ch St E, dau of Robert and Ann Ann, 30/4/1843, aged 5 months, planter of
Industry..
She died as wife of EME, retired business man, 12/5/1927, aged 84, Half Way
Tree, Kingston.
He went to Boston on business in 1902.
Lydia entered US at NY 2/10/1907.
According to Peter Rushbrooke, who knew the wife of the Earl children’s half
brother, Andrew Wright M, Edward Muirhead Earl had 6 sons 3 daus.
(NB Brett Ahsmeade Hawkins says that Edward was buried at Mount Charles as well as Charles – this does not look correct from AAAM records of his visit).
3/1. Edward Robert Charles Earle married Lydia Isabel Isaacs,
8/11/1891, a doctor, she dau of
Charles Earle Isaacs, Jamaica. She died 20/4/1904, aged 38, Black River.
He came back from England to Jamaica 1890.
He married as a widower, Marie Rose Mendez, dau of David H Mendez, St
Catherine, 21/3/1906 res May Pen.
He died 21/5/1922, Kingston, doctor, (still) married.
3/2. Walter Cecil Earle, died Kingston, 14/1/1906, age 32
falling wall in earthquake)
3/3. Henry Maitland Earle, b The
Hermitage, St E, 19/11/1886 of EME and Lydia Ellen Earle formerly Smith. EME an
editor
3/4. Annie Alfrida Earle, ch 25/2/1875, Torrington, W’land.
2/4. Charles J. Earl, 23/7/1842JPR-29/6/1858
(grave @ Mount Charles).
ch 28/5/1843, child of John & Ann K Earl, planter of Mt OlivetPR
Thomas Tomlinson snr and jnr mentioned several times in
Thomas Thistlewood's diaries. There was a mention of Thomas Hill, who bought Egypt estate (Westmoreland) in 6/7/1784 for £2800 (250K 2003), in a complex deal. Thomas
Tomlinson was Collector of Taxes Westmoreland 1772.
1784 Militia:
Ensigns: John Tomlinson, William Tomlinson
1796 Almanac
Magistrate Westmoreland: James Robert Tomlinson, also John Wedderburn &
Thomas Thistlewood.
Gazette, 5//1793: Arrived In the Neptune, Mr. and Mrs. Grove, Miss Tomlinson,
Miss Christiana B. Tomlinson, and Mr. Thomas Tomlinson.
Almanac 1784:
John Wedderburn Magistrate for Westmoreland (related to Frederick Lewia
Maitland)
Also Thomas Thistlewood (of the diary fame)
James Robert Tomlinson
Major, St Elizabeth Militia, William B. Wright.
Ensign, Westmoreland, John Tomlinson
1796 Almanac
Magistrate Westmoreland: James Robert Tomlinson
Almanac 1840, John Earl, vestreyman of St E.
Almanac 1845, Earl, J. heirs of, Mount Olivet, 497 acres & Wiltshire, 600
acres.
Lacovia:
Tomlinson George J., overseer Cornwall Pen
Tomlinson W. J, storekeeper, propr. Cornwall Pen
Tomlinson W. J. Jr., storekeeper
Andrew Wright Maitland jnr, son of Dr Andrew Wright Maitland, snr married Emma
Goodfellow, and was the great grandfather of Peter Rushbrooke.
Some notes on these 2 related families:
Date: Tue, 24 May 2005 09:13:19 +0100
From: "Greg Finch"[xvi]
.... I am trying to trace some portraits of my Trimmer family relatives that
hung at Rushbrooke Park in 1909, when they were described in some detail by
Edmund Farrar in his 'Portraits in Suffolk Houses'. I would love to be able to
obtain copies of them. They came to Rushbrooke via Violet Emily Trimmer who
married Col. Rushbrooke in 1854 (the WE Trimmer as shown on your family tree on
ancestry.com). Violet's great grandmother was the authoress Sarah Trimmer, and
my 4x great grandmother. She knew the artist Henry Howard RA well, and he
painted several Trimmers in the early 19th century.... He was responsible for
most, if not all, of the portraits that went to Rushbrooke either with Violet
or with her sister Elizabeth Henrietta Trimmer who spent her final years at Rushbrooke
with her nephew (and executor) Robert Wyndham Jermyn Rushbrooke.
The ancestral home was sold by the family in 1919 together with much of its
contents. The Suffolk Record Office tells me that the sale catalogue contains
no obvious mention of the Trimmer family portraits. It is possible that they
remained with the house, though perhaps unlikely, but in which case they might
have been removed by later owners, or even perished when the house burned in
1961. It's perhaps more likely that the family kept hold of them, which is why
I would love to make contact.
Your family tree shows Jermyn Rushbrooke as the son of Robert Wyndham Jermyn Rushbrooke;
I believe he was a younger son since I knew of a Robert Basil Rushbrooke born
in 1886....
Incidentally I found elsewhere that a Peter Rushbrooke wrote a short article for
a family history publication on the divorce of Col Rushbrooke by private act of
Parliament in 1853, the year before he married my distant Trimmer relative.
Sun, 15 Feb 2004 10:43:28 -0500
Diana Gendron[xvii]
Peter Rushbrooke did send me some information which I will insert here. How
sad that he has died. From what Peter gave me I was able to establish that
Emma's family was from England, so not related to the Scottish Goodfellow
family who were also living in Shanghai and I was exploring. After I insert the
information from Peter Rushbrooke, I'll tell you about some further contacts
who are related to Emma's family.
Information from Peter Rushbrooke.
Grandparents of Emma Theresa Goodfellow:
John Goodfellow (1813-1891), of Hanley, County Stafford, England,
Schoolmaster; married Emma Keeling (1816-1887), of Liverpool, England.
This Goodfellow family had originated in County Wiltshire, England, with the earliest record a will of George Goodfellow, yeoman & miller, of Teffont Evias County, Wiltshire, England, dated 3 March, 1680.
Parents of Emma Theresa Goodfellow:
Henry Stafford Goodfellow, Master Mariner, b. 10 Sept., 1844, Hanley, County Stafford, England; d. 25 February, 1910, Liverpool England; married Shanghai 4 March, 1876, Susannah Jane Fenning (1856-1937).
Children of Henry Stafford Goodfellow and Susannah Jane Fenning:
1. Henry Stafford Goodfellow, b. Shanghai, 1876; died Shanghai, 1918, Merchant,
unmarried.
2. Emma Theresa Goodfellow, b. Shanghai, 20 July, 1878; died Wimbledon, England, 27 June, 1978. Married (1) Andrew Wright Maitland (1854-1907),
banker, on 11 February, 1899, in Shanghai. They had 1 son & 1 daughter.
married (2) Harold Edblad (d. abt. 1921), Swedish Consul, on 9 July, 1909, in Shanghai. No children.
3. Susie Ellen Goodfellow (1880-1969), married Capt. Albert Edwin House, R.
Navy, 1905, in Shanghai. No names given for their children.
4. Evelyn Mary Goodfellow (1882-1957), married George Moncrieff Jameson,
Merchant, 1908. No children.
5. Agnes Louise Goodfellow (1884-1897). No further information about her.
Antony, Last year I had sent the above information to Andy Goodfellow who had
answered an earlier posting I had put on a Goodfellow genealogy query board.
Andy is now in Australia and has a website with some of his interesting Goodfellow
family's history as being potters in that area of England. In fact, Andy has a
pottery studio in Australia. I had looked in the online 1881 English census
and found that John & Emma Goodfellow are listed as follows at Yew Tree
Cottage, Trentham, Staffordshire:
John Goodfellow, Head, 67, b. Teffont Evias, Wiltshire, Writing Clerk
Emma Goodfellow, wife, 63, b. Liverpool, Lancashire
Charles F. Goodfellow, son, 20, unmarried, b. Tunstall, Stafford, Writing Clerk
Amelia W.E. Keeling, 61, Visitor, unmarried, b. Liverpool, Annuitant
Andy is a descendant of the above Charles F. Goodfellow, who would be Emma's
uncle. Andy did have some interesting information about Emma's father Henry
Stafford Goodfellow.
Then a month or two ago I was also contacted by Hew Goodfellow who I believe is
in London He is a descendant of Emma's sister Susie Ellen Goodfellow who
married Capt. Albert Edwin House (see above listing). Hew also send me some
interesting information on Henry Stafford Goodfellow and his son Henry S., Jr.
Hew is planning to update some of his genealogy information into a GedCom. Do
you want me to send you copies of the messages from Andy and Hew, or is that
getting too far off what you are wanting about Emma Goodfellow Maitland?
COOPERS of COOPER'S HILL, Jamaica
Augusta, widow of John Maitland, married John Myers Cooper,
and who acquired Giddy Hall. These are some notes on that family.
More of Brett
Ashmeade Hawkins writing
Fri, 07 Jul 2006 16:10:54 -0400 "Brett Ashmeade-Hawkins"[18]
I have looked at your website over the last few years and have found it to be
most interesting.
My Godfather is Russell Pulford Earle, the son of the late John Calder Earle of
Mitcham Estate and the nephew of the late Charles Earle of Ashton Pen. I have
quite a lot of family history on Ashton Pen and also some on Mount Charles. A distant cousin of mine, Raymond McIntosh, who is a descendant of Capt. Wilkins
Cooper, of the Cooper family of Ashley Hall Estate in Trelawny, has asked me to
email you. His family is said to descend from the Ashley-Coopers in England, who were Earls of Shaftsbury.
The Coopers of Giddy Hall in St. Elizabeth have always told his family that
they are related to them, but he has never seen any evidence of is.
Raymond would like to know if you have any information on Capt. John Cooper,
who came to Jamaica with Penn and Venables during the English Conquest of 1655
and founded Coopershill Plantation in St. Andrew. He is said to have been
married to the infamous Irish heroine, Maire Ruadh (Mary MacMahon O'Brien),
whose first husband was Connor O'Brien, Baron Inchiquin. of Leimaneagh Castle, near Limerick, in County Clare. Capt. John Cooper's Irish descendants owned
Cooperhshill in County Sligo. Raymond has tried to email Richard Austin-Cooper,
the Anglo-Irish historian, with whom I believe you are also in touch, but he
must have the wrong email address because it did not go through. Would you be
so kind as to forward this to Richard Austin-Cooper for him. Raymond is trying
to find out if Capt. John Cooper was descended from the Ashley Coopers. Earls
of Shaftsbury, and whether or not he may have been an ancestor of the Coopers
who owned Ashley Hall Estate in Trelawny, Jamaica in the 18th Century.
I do hope you may be able to assist us and we look forward to hearing from
shortly. Thank you so much.
Brett Ashmeade-Hawkins for Raymond Cooper McIntosh
Thu, 27 Jul 2006 20:54:28 +0100 From AM
Thanks for your email, with several interesting lines of thought! The first is
your godfather's family, the Earl's, who I know were at Ashton Pen, but did not
know were at Mitchum, which I thought had been owned by the Shermans from the
time that my ancestor Francis Maitland's daughter, Emma Rebecca married Samuel
Sherman. I can see the connection with Mount Charles, which was also quite
close to Ashton. If you have anything convenient on Mount Charles from that
era, I would be interested to see copies if possible.
I have not looked at the Cooper family in any detail in Jamaica (my wife's family have Cooper connections in Ireland, but they seem to have originated early
in the 17thC in Surrey, England), except that they were at Giddy Hall until it
was demolished in the early 1950's. Whilst Cooper is a fairly common name, it
must be possible that they are related to the Coopers of Ashley Hall. I
therefore cannot help on the early Jamaica Coopers. As you say, I have had
contact with Richard Austin Cooper, but not for some time and with the vagaries
of email system changes have not got his address at all, even a wrong one!
I have had some contact with a Mary Cooper who may have some ideas of the
Ashley Coopers and have communicated with RA Cooper.
In my files I have some address for RA Cooper, but they would be very old:
Shetlocks Farm, Matching Tye, Harlow, Essex; Special Forces Club. From my own
point of view, if you have a line of communication with living Coopers from
Giddy Hall who might have any background information on the pen, I would be
very interested to hear of it.
19 Sep 2006 01:18:28 -0400 Brett Ashmeade-Hawkins
I'm sorry that I have taken so long to reply to you, but Raymond MacIntosh
asked me to wait until he came over to see me. He wanted to show me once again
his two books on the Cooper family and more of his extensive notes on the
Coopers of Jamaica.
One of the books that Raymond has is "Butterhill and Beyond: An
Illustrated History of the Cooper Family" which was written by Richard
Austin-Cooper. This is mostly about the Anglo-Irish Coopers, who were Landed
Gentry in Ireland. He sent a copy of it to Raymond in 1999. I'm sure you are
already familiar with this book. The other book that Raymond has on the Coopers
is titled "A Cooper Family from North East Angus, Scotland" and this book has quite a bit of information on the Coopers of Giddy Hall, Jamaica.
Raymond was wondering if you had already read this book, though I'm sure that
you must have.
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. This
four-poster bed, as well as some of the other Jamaican antique furniture from Mount Olivet and Ashton, is still in my possession and is now in our house in Miami.
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.
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.
I am not in touch with any of the remaining descendants of the Coopers of Giddy
Hall, but I believe that Raymond MacIntosh is. He is also in touch with at
least one descendant of the Sherman family of Mitcham, who still lives on an
estate near Black River in St. Elizabeth. Raymond just faxed me his contact
information this afternoon. I can email it to you if you like.
On an entirely different note, I do have something which you might find rather
interesting. Please find attached a pair of photos of two Late 18th and Early
19th Century Portrait Miniatures of John Pusey Wint, as a boy and later as a
young man. As you know, John Pusey Wint was the step son of Andrew Wright
(1752-1806) of Mitcham and Silver Grove. My notes show that John Pusey Wint was
married about 1807 and that his wife's name was Eliza. This Portrait Miniature
was one of a pair, presumably painted as a wedding memento. Unfortunately I do
not have the matching one of his wife.
John Pusey Wint was born in Jamaica, but like most Planter's sons was sent home
to England to be educated. He seems to have returned to Jamaica in 1815. He and his wife and children lived at Ryde, a coffee plantation near Newport, some 2,000 feet above sea level in the Carpenter's Mountains of southern
Manchester Parish. The climate here would have been very cool and it must have
been a healthy location, a welcome relief from the heat, mosquitoes and fevers
of the plains far below. John Pusey Wint's son, John C. Wint (1816-1866), who
eventually inherited the coffee plantation, is buried at Ryde and his tomb may
still be seen there. In the 1960s the Ryde property was purchased by Ansell
Hart, one of Jamaica's best-known Antiquarians, who thought it was the most
perfect place in Jamaica to retire.
My family owns a house in Miami and I spend several months a year there, but I
also own a cattle and citrus plantation in Belize and I live there for the rest
of the year. I'm actually planning to sell up soon and buy a coffee plantation,
4,000 to 5,000 feet up in the mountains of Costa Rica. The climate is so much
cooler there. I usually go down to Jamaica for a week or so every year. I was
going down in November for the annual Antique Show in Kingston, but it looks
like it is going to be cancelled. However, I shall be in Jamaica again in January for the Jamaican Antique Furniture Exhibition. (I have a large collection
of Jamaican colonial antique furniture, silver, china, paintings, prints and
maps). If you're in Jamaica at the same time let me know and perhaps we can
meet up.
COOPER FAMILY of Edzell & Giddy Hall
The Cooper family acquired Giddy Hall after the death of John Maitland in 1853
and the subsequent marriage of his widow, Augusta to John Myers Cooper I. The
Coopers were in the area for a further 100 years.
The following extract was sent by Raymond MacIntosh 11/11/06.
Raymond's mother was the daughter of Barrington Charles Cooper of Sav la Mar.
He was the son of George Evans & Alice Ionie (Clough) Cooper, but the
connection with the Coopers of this extract has not been established.
Extract of a History of the Coopers of Edzell by John Craig Cooper.
This extract does not include the very early Coopers, and the original
continues on for about 15 more pages after the following, but is not relevant
to Maitlands & Giddy Hall.
Page 16:
Instead of a baptismal record for Robert, there is this understated entry:
The reason why no more children's names are insert[ed] here till the year 1716
was the Rebellion which began about this time, and ended in February 1716, by
means of which the minister was obliged to retire from his own parish to Edinburgh.
With a hostile and erratic laird, Mr. Gray did not stay long, and neither
did the session clerk. From May 10, 1718 to March 1721 the congregation was
without these two leaders. Again no baptisms were recorded in that period.
In Laurencekirk where Robert and Elizabeth were married, the parish
register has this entry:
"My entrie to this place was taken out and torn by the Highlanders in time
of this late rebellion.... This is attested Feb. 1st, 1716
by R. Mortimer, Session Clerk."
Generally the highlands, more remote from the great changes taking place
in the rest of the country, were in favour of the old status quo in religion,
social system, language, and political structure.
Many highland clans were strongly Jacobite, favouring Catholic France
over the ancient enemy England, which was now Protestant. They were gaelic
speaking.
The struggle, often violent, took place in the buffer zone, including
Edzell and Laurencekirk, between two races of people with different cultures,
religions and languages.
Robert apparently became a merchant about 1739 after his daughter Elizabeth was born.32 He was only twenty-three, and probably took over the
business from his father.
The occupation of merchant was a symptom of the new age. As the nobility
travelled and learned about European social structures the clan system began to
decline. With the increase of education, a middle class gradually arose
consisting of small landholders, medical doctors, Church of Scotland clergy,
school teachers, and merchants in the towns.
Historian T.C. Smout writes:
... the merchants of Scotland appear in many ways as potentially the most dynamic class in the community.... Both society and the economy would have been much more resistant to change in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries if it had not been for the bourgeois leavening which such men provided."33
Robert and Elizabeth's first child, Elizabeth, and her
husband John Mackain lived in Montrose where their daughter Elizabeth was born.34
"It is generally agreed now, that the name McKean, believed to be
already spelt in more than four hundred different ways, means the son of John,
i.e. Maclan." [Johnson is of Norse and Manx origin.]35
Robert and Elizabeth's second child, Robert, is believed to have died
young.
David, their second son became a merchant in Jamaica. His story is in
chapter three.
It seems to have been a tradition with this family to name the second
son instead of the usual first son after the child's grandfather. It is
consistent with the data for all the generations down to George the merchant in
Slateford.
Little is known of James and Mary, the fourth and fifth children.
Helen the sixth child moved to Montrose when she married George Wilson.
Their son James, born there in 1781, married Jean Mathew in 1804 and named
their son George Coupar Wilson after his grandmother's [Helen Coupar's] brother
George the Merchant.
This George, our direct ancestor, was Robert and Elizabeth's last child.
See chapter four.
David and George, merchants in Montego Bay and at home in Slateford,
worked together to build on their father's foundation larger enterprises and a
greater influence for good in their communities than he could accomplish in his
day.
Robert's Siblings
David Cuper's second child apparently was John Coupar. He and his
descendants are believed to be the ancestors of the Thomson family who went to Iowa ahead of George Cooper, a grandson of George the merchant. See chapter seventeen.
Isabel Coupar, David's lastborn, married John Low, the Edzell
Kirk-officer, son of William Low. George was their celebrated first child.
DAVID CUPER'S FAMILY.
HUSBAND: David Cuper
Born:1693 Edzell Bap:9 Nov 1693 Edzell
Occ: Miller/merchant Father: John Cupar
CHILDREN:
1. Name: Robert Coupar, Born: circa 1716 Edzell.
Marr 15 Apr 1737 Laurencekirk, Elizabeth More
Died: after 1776. Occ: Merchant
2: Name: John Coupar, Born: circa 1717 Edzell.
Marr: 1 Jun 1739 Edzell. Jean Clark
Occ; Weaver/farmer
3 Name; Isabel Coupar, Born: circa 1718 Edzell.
Marr: 8 Jun 1744 Edzell John Low
George, son of John & Isabel Low:
Most of George's biographers say that his father John was associated with
the Low family long established in the Meikle Tullo farm in Edzell parish.36
He was identified in his marriage record, however, as being "in Kinell
parish."
He died when his son was twelve,37 but the boy's mother managed
to procure for him an education in Aberdeen's Marischal College, 1762-6, and
the University of St. Andrews. Possibly his grandfather Robert Coupar,
Merchant, financed his education.
He became minister of Birsay Church in the Orkneys, and is buried beneath
the pulpit there.
His whole life in Orkney was devoted to the study of its natural history
and antiquities. He specialised as a microscopist, constructing a
water-microscope ... and commencing in 1769 a series of "Microscopical
Observations," adorning his work with beautiful Indian-ink illustrations.
In 1770 he began an exhaustive History of the Orkneys, initiating his
labour by a translation of Torfaeus's History. ...
Thomas Pennant gave him much encouragement. In 1774 at Pennant's expense,
he made an extended tour of the southern Orkneys and the whole of the
Shetland[s] ... furnishing Pennant with valuable data for the concluding volume
of his Tour in Scotland.
In 1778 he visited the northern Orkneys, of which he wrote an account....
The holograph is now in the Library of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland,
[of which] in 1782 he was elected a corresponding member ....
Failure to get his writings published, though their value was repeatedly
acknowledged, filled him with bitterness and despondency.... Ophthalmia (the
result of his incessant microscopic work) attacked him in 1790, and in three
years he was almost totally blind. He solaced himself with music, preached with
a new fervency, and pursued his studies as far as he was able ... and when he
died, the sorrow of his people was profound and genuine.
He marr. 27th Aug. 1775, Helen (died in child-bed 2nd Dec. 1776), only
daugh. of James Tyrie, min. of Sandwick and Stromness....
The Fauna Orcadensis was published by William Elford Leach, M.D. (Edinburgh, 1813).... The MS of the Flora Orcadensis cannot be traced.38
Andrew Jervise wrote that George Low had two sisters:
married to respectable villagers of Edzell, of the names of Thomson and
Lindsay. The latter was an ingenious self-taught mechanic, who to his trade of
general merchant added that of watch and clock maker; and having had his shop
robbed on an Edzell market night, the peculiarity of the tools with which he wrought
led to the discovery of the thief, a notorious provincial high-wayman, who for
a similar crime, was hanged on Balmashanner Hill, at Forfar, in 1785, and is
said to have been the last person that suffered capital punishment by the decree
of any Sheriff-depute in Scotland.39
DAVID CUPER'S CHILDREN & GRANDCHILDREN
012
David Coupar* (b. 1693)
Robert Coupar*
+Elizabeth More*
Elizabeth Coupar (b. 1738)
Robert Coupar (b. 1739)
David Cooper (1741-1793)
James Coupar (b. 1742)
Mary Couper (b. 1744)
Helen Couper (b. 1747)
George Cooper* (1749-1831)
John Coupar
+Jean Clark
Jean Coupar (1740-dec.)
Anne Cooper (1752-dec.)
John Cooper (b. 1754)
Isabel Coupar
+John Low (1717-1760)
George Low (1747-1759)
James Low (1750-dec.)
Anne Low (1752-dec.)
Margt. Low (1760-dec.)
George's two sisters were Anne, who married David Thomson in 1776 in
Edzell, and Margaret.40
John and Isabel also had a son James baptized in 1750 in Edzell.
JOHN LOW AMD ISABEL COUPAR'S FAMILY
HUSBAND: John Low Born: 1717, Kinell Bap: 12 Jan 1717/8 Kinell
Marr: 8 Jun 1744 Edzell
Died: 1760 Edzell
Occ: Kirk officer
WIFE: Isabel Coupar
Born: circa 1718 Edzell
Father: David Cuper
CHILDREN
1: George Low Born: 1747 Edzell, Bap: 29 Mar 1747 Edzell
Died: 13 Mar 1795, Orkney, Buried: 1795 Birsay
Occ: clergy/naturalst
2: James Low Born: 1750 Edzell, Bap: 16 Jul 1750 Edzell
3: Anne Low Born: 1752 Edzell Bap: 28 Apr 1752 Edzell
Marr: 19 Oct 1776 Edzell: David Thomson
4: Margt. Low Born 1760 Edzell Bap 9 Sep 1760 Edzell
The early Edzell Coopers were entrepreneurs who played a significant
role in the economic and cultural development of north-east Angus, and beyond.
We now enquire into the career of David the merchant in Jamaica.
CHAPTER 3
JAMAICA NORTH SHORE COOPERS
David Cooper, Merchant.
David, the third child of Robert and Elizabeth chose Montego Bay in which to continue the family tradition of merchandizing. 41
The union with England in 1707 admitted Scotland to free-trade in Britain and its colonies, and Scots emigrated to Jamaica in large numbers. "In the
mid-eighteenth century about a third of the European inhabitants were reckoned
to be Scottish."45
In 1775 the population of Jamaica was 209,617:
12,737 white; 4,093 free coloured [mulattoes]; 192,787 slaves.46
David was seemingly the first among several Coopers to emigrate to Jamaica.
We may thank the American Revolution for opening a window on David's
business. American gunboats were attacking British ships even before the land
fighting began on April 19, 1775. David was forced to switch to American
trading partners.
As international merchants in Jamaica, David and his partner were
involved in the slave trade, acting on behalf of Messrs. Samuel and William Vernon,
Merchants in Newport, Rhode Island.
A letter from David Cooper and Francis Mairez in Montego Bay to the
Vernons included a statement of sales of the Othello's cargo of Negroes,
totalling £2462.8.2 Jamaican. See Appendix 1.
The Vernons apparently owned the slaves, and Mairez and Cooper were their
agents and auctioneers in Jamaica. Their commission was apparently £200., i.e.
the difference between £2,462 and £2,262 mentioned in the letter in Appendix 2.
They had two years to settle up the finances.
In 1774, a bill was passed by the Assembly in Jamaica restricting the
slave trade, but it was disallowed by the crown.48
The long-standing shipping pattern required ships such as the Othello to
take sugar, rum, hemp, coffee, and other products from Jamaica to Britain,
thence to Africa with manufactured goods, and completing the triangle with a
cargo of slaves to Jamaica.
Many British voices were raised against the trade in humans. The Abolition
Society in Scotland was distributing books against slavery in 1791.49
The slave trade was by no means their main business 50 as the following
letter from David and his partner shows:
To Messrs. Samuel and Willm. Vernon, Merchants, Newport, Rhode Island.
Montego Bay, Jamaica, Febr. 26, 1775
Sirs/
Your favour of the 9th of November last addressed to us came safe to hand.
We are much obliged to Capt. Vernon for his recommendation, and if your Brig
Venus should arrive it will give us great pleasure to render you every service
in our power.
Come when she will 'twill be to a glutted market. The quantity of
provisions here, particularly Fish, is very great indeed. We dread much for the
low [price] as well as very slow sales that we fear we shall make.
Here are two Glasgow ships already with herrings, and every Cork vessel and some of the Londoners has abundance. Some few friends who from our request
were pleased to wait a little, can stay no longer on our uncertainty, but have
and are daily supplying themselves with Fish. You mention her to have been
here by Christmas — had she been here even a month after it, we might have made
tolerable sales ere now payable in May or June, but by her long stay we shall
hardly be able to sell but at a low price & on credit of 9 or 12 months.
This you may be assured of gentlemen, we shall use our utmost endeavours
to serve you.
As to a load for London, was she here even now that is impracticable.
There is more vessels here already for that port than will we fear get full,
and more are expected. If Capt. Knowles sells the brig, of which we see no
probability as yet, his returns and what can be got in of yours and Capt.
Vernon's old matters, shall be dispatched by Capt. Allen.
The pork as is, and about half of the candles are sold, but as to the
beef in Mr. Cooper's store, 'tis so intolerably bad that none will buy it, even
lowering the price won't do. We must try what a vendue [auction] will do. And
as to the soap in Mairez's hand, 'tis equally as bad. We are really unhappy in
having such goods left with us, it gains us no credit and we are sure cannot
turn out to any advantage to you....
We will write more fully first opportunity and are with respect,
Gentlemen, Yr. most Ob't. H'ble Servants.
Signatures half size.
Captain Knowles of the Brig. Royal Charlotte in a letter of 24 Jan. 1775
from Montego Bay to the Vernons, expressed the curious opinion that Mr. Mairez
could not write, probably because David Cooper had written all the letters he
had seen. As if to counteract that opinion, Mairez sent a letter to the Vernons
ten weeks later explaining "Our remittance to you will be chiefly in rum
and [sent] by Cap. Knowles.... I am, for Mr. David Cooper and Self, Gentlemen,
Your Obt. h'ble S't. F. Mairez."
Captain Knowles expressed his anxiety to the Vernons about a British
blockade.
"I wait with impatience to hear from you. We have a report here
that New York is or will be shutt up soon. If so, every other port must expect
the same fate unless you submit, from which may God defend you...."
Captain Knowles wrote the Vernons again on 27 April, 1775, just after the
Revolution had officially begun:
"The cash I have gott in buying sugar which will not be much as there
will be large Ballances to pay for the Rum. Messrs. Cooper and Mariez [sic]
will be obliged to take all they can collect in Rum.
I was in hopes I would fix the day of our sailing but the uncertainty of
the payments makes it impossible."
He then predicts that the uprising will be short-lived, and says: "[The]
destruction [that] seems to hang over poor America grieves me to the soul....
The Scotts to a man are inveterate against you and their influence is
powerfull...."
An undated scrap of a letter by the Vernons, says that Capt. Wallace is a
petty tyrant, savage to people of Newport beyond belief, then adds: "you
know we have three other vessels at Jama. that its probabil will fall into his
hands.... We do not expect any favor as we have no connection with Scott's men,
whose influence entirely governs him...."
The Vernons and Knowles favoured the Revolution. Most Jamaicans of
British extraction presumably opposed it.
Captain Knowles had been trying to sell his vessel, the Charlotte, but he and his ship were captured by the British. The Vernons sent him a letter
on 30 June 1775 through an intermediary in Boston:
" Your sudden unexpected departure from hence on ye 19th Instant by
Capt. Wallace of his Majesty's Ship Rose taking possession of your Brig't.
Royal Charlotte and her cargo, and ordering her to Boston, deprived us of the
opportunity of even mentioning any gentleman's name that you might apply to at Boston in order to obtain payment for our goods.... Therefore we have taken the freedom
to write to Henry Lloyd, Esq., to whom we enclose this, whom we have intreated
to give you all possible assistance.... [Signed] S. & W. Vernon."
These letters reflect the difficulties of trade during the Revolution, of
handling perishable goods in a hot climate, and of the shortage of hard
currency, necessitating barter.
David Cooper, Citizen
David also had an active professional life, and career of service
in Jamaica apart from merchandising.
One George Christie put this notice in the Cornwall Chronicle of February
1, 1782:
" As I intend leaving the island for the benefit of my health by
the first opportunity this is to request ... those who stand indebted to me
[to] be speedy in discharging the same to prevent the disagreeable necessity
of suing. Apply to the subscriber at Miranda Hill or to David Cooper, Merchant,
Montego Bay.
[signed] George Christie
N.B. To be rented, at Miranda Hill, a commodious Dwelling House, with
out-office complete, also on a make-good lease, for two years certain, six
Carpenter Negroes, and Sundry House Wenches. Apply as above."
David and his partner participated in a collection for the family of a
Captain York whose vessel sank in a gale on the way from Montego Bay to North Carolina. Francis Mairez carried the more than £100 to the family at Green Island on the
west coast of Jamaica between Lucea and Negril.48
David was the Deputy Receiver General in Montego Bay in 1776.49
His partner Francis at the same time was the Clerk of the Vestry, a position which
he held at least until 1785.50 A Vestry was a body of persons entrusted
with the temporal affairs of a congregation.
Bachelor David left £1,000 or more to each of his young brother George's
six surviving children, the first of whom was named David.51 He
stipulated that George hold the money in trust for the children.
George's brother-in-law William Lindsay and wife Ann Webster named a son
David Cooper Lindsay, which may reflect another legacy from Jamaica.
The inscription on David's tomb-stone in the St. James Parish cemetery,
Montego Bay, reads:
"Sacred to the Memory of David Cooper, Esq., who
Departed this Life at Montego Bay Jamaica, on the 11 July, 1793. He was born at
Slatefoord, Parish of Edzell and County of Angus in Scotland on the 26 March
1741."
He was in his 52nd year. The location of the grave LS not known as the
tombstone is detached from the grave.
Historian Philip Wright wrote:
"Before the 19th century, commemoration by inscribed monuments in Jamaica
was practically confined to persons of wealth and standing, and even among
these it may have been the exception....
Until well into the 19th century the usual thing was to have the tombstone
engraved in Britain and shipped out....
A tombstone in transit might be lost through shipwreck or capture at
sea, and even when landed safely might easily go astray, if, as so often
happened the deceased had no relative in Jamaica to look after it.53
David the merchant's nephew and namesake, son of George the merchant in
Slateford, had followed his uncle to Montego Bay. He was probably the one who
sent to Scotland for the inscribed stone. He may have sent more money than
required since the slab is much larger than needed for the inscription.
For some reason David Senior's Inventory at death was not produced until
ten years later, dated December 8, 1803. A David Bernard, the Administrator,
reported that £700 was owing to the estate, but that originally the amount had
been £3,500.
David's tombstone: seven inscribed lines at top.
He says further that William Parr Bernard and William Boyle McCulloch,
both of the parish of St. James, merchants, had obtained David's goods and
chattels. 53
David Cooper Jr., Mason.54
As his uncle David was the son of Robert, Merchant in Slateford, so this
David was the eldest son of George, Merchant in Slateford.
David married E. [Eleanor?] McKean, a black or brown woman.55
His father advanced him £2,600 Sterling to get established. Of this he
lent £1,000 to Elizabeth and Mary Leslie of St. James parish, giving a bond in
1806 to his father who had right to it by assignation. 56
Like many Europeans in the tropics, David died young at 41.57 The
money advanced to David then was owed to his father's executors. But Mr.
Dalmahoy, George's attorney in Jamaica, had also died, prompting George to
acknowledge "my claim on my son's estate died a natural death and I was
entirely dupe[d] out of a large sum...."58
This would be the entire amount of £2,600 Sterling, indeed a large sum in
1818.
DAVID COOPER & E. MCKEAN'S FAMILY
David Cooper, Born 1777 Edzell, Slateford
Bap 13 Mar 1777 Edzell, Slateford
Marr before 1806
Died 4 Jan 1818 Montego Bay Buried 5 Jan 1818 St. James Par.
Occ Mason,
Father George Cooper, Mother Jean Lindsay
WIFE E. McKean Born circa 1775 (?) Died before 1854
CHILDREN
1: Thomas Cooper, Born: Jul 1805 Jamaica, St.Jas.
Bap: 19 Apr 1806 St. James par.
Marr: circa 1830(?) Jamaica Mercey [Cooper]
Died: 8 Mar 1857 St. James par. Buried: Mar 1857 St. James
Occ: Watchmaker
2: Sarah C. Cooper Born circa 1810 (?) St. James
Marr circa 1834 (?) Jamaica Mr. Brown
Thomas Cooper, Watchmaker
Thomas also lived and worked in Montego Bay.
David and his wife had at least two children, Thomas and Sarah.
Thomas Cooper was of mixed race.59 He was 12 when his
father died, and 51 at his own death.60
When Thomas was 31, he and his wife Mercey had a daughter Jane Linsey
named after her great grand-mother in Edzell who was 89 then.61
This was a departure from the custom of naming the first daughter after
her grandmother.
The next child and first son was given his grandfather's name, David.
The third was Eleanor. As the first daughter was named for an illustrious/generous
ancestor, Jean Lindsay, the second was probably named after her grandmother, strengthening
the assumption that the initial "E" indicating his mother in Thomas's
Will stood for Eleanor. [See below]
In 1854 Thomas was a vestryman in St. James parish church, Montego Bay.62
Thomas's will dated 6th December the same year, says that his sister, Sarah C.
Brown, had a property in the Paradise area of Montego Bay, but Thomas's will
says that if she dies "without leaving any lawful child or children" it
will devolve upon him, and if so he leaves it to his children "share and
share alike with benefit of survivorship." His late mother had purchased
it from John Manderson, Esq.
Thomas owned properties at 4 Church Street, Montego Bay, and on Queen Street,
Jackson's Town. These and other personal property he left to his wife for her
lifetime, and after that to his seven living daughters (un-named in the will),
as joint tenants with the right of survivorship. But there was a caveat
excluding:
any who depart from a
virtuous and moral course of life... [and] that any departure will at once disqualify
them by this instrument from any participation for ever of any provisions made
here for them....
I would also wish my sons to bear in mind that it is through inability that
I don't make some provision for them. it will be well for them to bear in mind
however, that with sobriety and industry they might acquire what I am not able
to leave them, that is to say, wealth and respectability.
P.S. I give and bequeath unto my son John Christie all my tools and watch
materials hoping that he will make good use of them.
And lastly for carrying into effect these my intentions I ... appoint
my wife, Mercey, Guardian to my children, Mother and Executrix to
this my last will.
He penned the will himself about two years before his death.
Grethel (Cooper) Ebanks63 of whom more in chapter ten, wrote to me
as follows:
Many years ago while in Falmouth [east of Montego Bay on the coast] ... I
met a Mrs. Getha Bodden, nee Cooper who claimed to be a relative. Her mother
was Sarah Corinalde from Montego Bay.. . .
Was this the Sarah C. [Cooper] Brown mentioned in Thomas's will as his
sister, using her maiden surname for her child?
In many ways Jamaica was a matriarchal society, an example of which is the
frequency of the mother's surname being given to the children.
More examples of this practice will be seen in chapter ten, dealing with
the next migration of the family to Jamaica.
THOMAS AND MERCEY'S FAMILY
Thomas Cooper, Born Jul 1805 Jamaica, St.Jas. Bap 19 Apr 1806.
Marr circa 1830 (?) Jamaica
Died 8 Mar 1857 St. James par. Buried Mar 1857 St. James par.
Occ Watchmaker
Father David Cooper Mother E. McKean
WIFE Mercey [Cooper] Born c1810 (?) Jamaica Died aft 1854 Jam.
CHILDREN
1: Jane Linsey Cooper Born 5 Nov 1836 Montego Bay
Bap 30 Aug 1840 Montego Bay
2: David Cooper
Born 20 Jun 1838 St. James Par. Bap 30 Aug 1840 Montego Bay
3: Eleanor Cooper, Born 21 Jun 1840 St. James Par.
Bap 30 Aug 1840 St. James Par.
4: John Christie Cooper Born: Montego Bay Occ: Watchmaker
5: Five other daughters Cooper Born: Montego Bay
James Cooper
James was the second child of Robert Cooper and Jean McEwan. He was a
teenager when the family moved from Mains of Gallery to Coul. He left home at
about twenty years of age.
David Lindsay Cooper
David is described in the next chapter, as the first of this
generation of the family to migrate to Jamaica.
Jean Lindsay Cooper
Jean married John Murray about 1836, and had a son William in 1837. She
was twenty when she died in 1840 in Tannadice, possibly in childbirth.
John Myers Cooper I
John's colourful career in Jamaica is described in the next chapter.
Like his brother David, he took his middle name in adulthood.
Margaret Cooper
Nothing is known of Margaret except that she apparently lived into
her teens at least, as she is not mentioned on the tombstone.
Mary Ann Cooper
Mary Ann married James Clark of the dark Thread family of Paisley. She had no children but took a great interest in those of her brother George in Iowa, and other relatives.
She was fond of giving books as presents. One was inscribed
"Isabella McEwan, from her affectionate niece, M.A. Clark, July
1856." Isabella was George Cooper's aunt who had gone to Iowa to help care for the children. Mary Ann was 33 at the time, and continued the practice of
giving books into her old age.
A book titled "Rest from Care and Sorrow" by Alex'r. Raleigh was inscribed: "To George Cooper from his affectionate sister Mary Ann Clark,
6 High Windsor Terrace, Glasgow, 9th Dec. 1884." The address was included
on inscriptions until 1890, mostly in books to her niece Agnes Cooper in Lansing.
In 1887 she sent brother George a large-print bible, which he read every
day. It was inscribed "To George Cooper, from his affectionate sister,
M.A.Clark, March 1887." The last surviving gift book was sent at Christmas
1909 to Agnes, "A Slave of the Saracen", by Gertrude Hollis.
She corresponded with Mrs. Frank H. Bakewell in Ambrose, North Dakota, who was Jennie May Thompson, daughter of Richard Thompson and Mary Ann
Cooper. Her correspondence seems to have ended about the time of the last book.
From 1907 to 1912 her servant Margaret Robertson continued to send post
cards to the Bakewells, and probably to others of the family.
Mary Ann had her will registered on 30 December 1892, and wrote a
codicil to it the same day. The following excerpts offer a window on her life:
[First] for payment of all my . . . debts, sickbed and funeral charges..,.
[Second] to my faithful servant ... Margaret Robertson, my gray parrot, and if
in my service at my death, fifty pounds, [changed to £100 in the codicil] but
if not ... thirty pounds [codicil £60]: to Mary Kerr if in my service at ...
my death, twenty-five pounds, [codicil £50] but if not ... ten pounds [codicil
£25]; also all my body clothes except my seal skin jacket shall be divided equally
between them ...if ... both in my service at my decease, and if only one ...
such one whole....
[Third] ... the following specific bequests;
[1] To my sister Diana Cooper my large photograph book with family photographs
in it, also all my photographs in cases and small frames on the drawing room
tables.,..
[2] To my niece, Mary Ann Cooper or Thomson, daughter of my brother George
Cooper, my gold watch and chain and gold pencil case and locket, and my
sealskin jacket....
[3] To my nieces Jane and Agnes Cooper, daughters of my said brother, my cameo
brooch and my gold brooch, the elder getting the choice....
[4] To my said three nieces ... all my trinkets and articles of jewellery ...
except the diamond brooch, bracelet and ring which shall be sold and the price
form part of my estate....
[5] To Mrs. Joan Mollison or Cooper residing at Giddy Hall in ... Jamaica, my
niece in law, my pearl brooch and my father's snuffbox, the pearl brooch having
been a gift from my brother John to my late sister Margaret, I wish it to go
back to his son's wife,...
[6] Having sometime after my husband's death given up of my own free will to
his relatives all silver plate, crystal, and ornaments that came from
Crossbill, I have nothing of that description to bequeath to any of my
husband's relatives, but in token of many kindnesses received from him I
bequeath to my husband's nephew James Clark Bunten, the photographs on
porcelain of my late husband and myself which are framed and hang in the dining
room....
[7] To Queen Margaret College, Glasgow, provided ... [they] undertake ... [to]
hang them in a suitable apartment, the eleven sewed pictures at present in my
dining room, and failing [which] ... the said pictures shall fall into residue.
[8] To the Reverend Charles R. Salmond, Morningside Free Church, Edinburgh, the
engravings in the drawing room of Sir Noel Paton's pictures [revoked in the
codicil, because "my estate will be much less than I expected or intended
it to be"] ... also large framed photographs of myself, Hiss Fletcher and
Doctor Miller and two of the Duchess of Gordon, also all my photograph books
except those specially bequeathed, and glass and paper views and stereoscope,
also all curiosities in the cabinet in the drawing room, and also the
curiosities Miss Fletcher brought from the east including pistol, bows and
arrows, and boomerang ... and small table with Irish views on it, and also all
my right in the work, or copyright thereof, entitled "Miss Fletcher's
Life" ... as a token of my appreciation of his cooperation and valuable
aid in the production of the said work and otherwise, but all unsold copies of
the work shall form part of the residue of my estate,
[9] To Jane Grierson, presently residing in Jaffa, Miss Fletcher's two watches
and all [her] trinkets ... also Miss Fletcher's bible and the large likeness of
the Duchess Gordon in the drawing room, and Miss Fletcher's photographic Album
and the cartes in it, also [her] signet ring.
[10] To Polly Hilne, Croydon, near London, engraving of Saviour and Child, and
to Margaret Hilne, Broughty Ferry, engraving of The Soldier's Return by Sir
Noel Paton.
[11l To Janie Colville, residing at twenty Chalmers Street, Edinburgh, my
second cousin, my mourning ring.
[12] To Hrs. Cornelia Pattison or Collins, daughter of Hrs. Godfrey Pattison,
my black lace shawl.
[13] To John Robertson Johnston, son of the said David Johnston [a trustee]
the small cannon made from part of the rock of Gibraltar.
[141 To the said David Johnston, Allison's History of Europe, or any other
book of mine he may prefer to select, and
[15] to each of my trustees ... one stag's head and one roe's head to be
selected by them from those belonging to me, and also to make payment to them
of the sum of ten pounds each...,
And in the last place, as my husband left my sister [Catherine Diana in
Jamaica one hundred pounds a year after my death, and she is thus and
otherwise well provided for, I direct my trustees to ... convey the whole
residue ... of my ... estate to ...my brother the said George Cooper, and
should he predecease me [which he did], to ... my unmarried nieces ... Jane
Cooper and Agnes Cooper equally between them....
And I declare that the whole provisions ... in favour of ... females
shall be exclusive of the jus mariti and right of administration of any
husbands ... and not affectable by such husbands' debts.
The document then authorizes her trustees to sell any part of her estate
and invest the trust funds in heritable property, government funds or debenture
stock of any Railway Company or limited company or public trust in Great Britain.
On 2nd November, 1893, a year after her will and codicil were
registered, her brother George and sister Catherine Diana petitioned David
Johnston, Writer in Glasgow, one of her trustees, to be Curator bonis for Mary
Ann [a guardian or trustee of the goods, property, or person of a minor or
incompetent person.]
She had lived for much of her adult life at "No. 6 Windsor Terrace
[West], Kelvinside, Glasgow, afterwards at Ivy Lodge, Crieff, thereafter at
Braedine, Lochwinnoch, [Renfrewshire], and towards the end at Donnachaidh,
Kirn, Argyllshire."
Mary Ann died 19 April 1913 at Donnachaidh, near her ninetieth birthday.
Since her brother George and sister Catherine Diana had predeceased her
by a decade, many of her bequests were never delivered. She probably gave them
to some of the living beneficiaries.
David Johnston managed her estate for ten years.
In the end it consisted of £4,350.9.1, made up of annuities, furniture,
jewellery. Railway Stock, bonds and bank deposits.
David Johnston's Petition for Discharge further states:
The whole next-of-kin of the said Mrs. Mary Ann Cooper or Clark, so far
as known to the pititioner, are:
(1) the children of ... George Cooper ... viz., Stewart Cooper, Douglas
Cooper, Edward Cooper, and Miss Agnes Cooper, all of Lansing ... Iowa, U.S.A.,
and Mrs. Mary Ann Cooper or Thomson wife of and residing with Richard Thomson
at Lansing ...
(2) John Cooper of Giddy Hall, Giddy Hall Post Office, Jamaica, and William
Cooper, of The Farm, Giddy Hall Post Office, Jamaica, both sons of John Cooper,
another brother of Mrs. Clark who predeceased her.
David Johnston obviously did not know about George's other son, John,
in Brechin, Scotland
Mary Ann's death certificate says that she was the widow of James Clark,
Farmer.
Christian Foote Cooper,
Genealogists look with suspicion on non-family names suddenly
introduced, and try to find the source.
The Rev. James Foote, D.D., was "presented", or nominated
to the parish of Logic Pert by King George III on 7 July 1809 and was ordained
the 21st of December the same year. 12
One of his earliest baptisms was of George Cooper on 1 March 1810, Robert
and Jean's firstborn. After serving the parish for sixteen years. Dr. Foote was
called to North Church, Aberdeen. The official date of his transfer was three
days after Christian Foote Cooper was baptized, so it may have been his last
baptism.
Christian was the last child of the family born at Logie Pert. To
give a child a middle name after the minister was quite common, and his
imminent departure no doubt inspired the naming of their daughter.
Robert and Jean must have known Dr. Foote's sister, Christian, born
in Fettercairn. The Foote's parents were the Rev. Robert Foote, minister in
Fettercairn, and his wife Jane Smith.
Brothers of James and Christian were the Rev. Alexr. Leith-Ross
Foote, D.D., of Brechin, and Archibald Foote, merchant in Montrose.13
Christian Foote Cooper died near her ninth birthday.
The next chapter deals with Robert Cooper and Jean McEwan's children
who went to Jamaica. David, John, and Catherine Diana settled on or near Jamaica's south shore.
DESCENDANTS OF ROBERT AND JEAN IN JAMAICA
David Lindsay Cooper-226
David Lindsay Cooper
b 1814 in Logic Pert, Mains of Gallery, D. 1844.
Number of children: 1
David John Cooper
b Jan 11, 1838 in Black River, St. Elizabeth par, Jamaica
Number of children: 3
d. 1867 in St. Elizabeth par
Annie Cooper
Lindsay Cooper
Catherine Diana Cooper
As in the previous century, a David Cooper followed his uncle David to Jamaica. David Lindsay Cooper, third son of Robert Cooper and Jean McEwan, went to Black River,
a seaport on Jamaica's south shore in the parish of St. Elizabeth.
[See map page 27.]
In his short time in Jamaica he was a community leader: Deputy Judge
advocate in St. Elizabeth parish in 1837 227 an Agent in Black River
in 1839228 Clerk of Vestry in St Elizabeth parish from 1841 to 1843,
Secretary of the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge in 1843, and
the same year Secretary-Treasurer of the St. Elizabeth Agricultural Society.
The two last-mentioned positions he held until his death the following
year, 1844, at the age of thirty.
In his spare time he Played the flute.
The inventory of David's assets was entered 25 July, 1844 by John Myers
Cooper Sr. his brother, and is as follows:
Wearing apparel £25-
A box of silver plate 55
Gold Batch and chain 20
An eight-keyed flute 8
Sundry plated ware 14
Dinner/b'kfast service & glass 18
A mahogany wardrobe 10
Dressing case 6
Cutlery 3
Saddle and bridle 6-8
Set of dish covers 1-10
2 portmanteaus 1-10
Bed and house linen 10-
One yr. salary Clerk of Vestry £ 62-10
less £19- advanced. 43-10
221-18
This sum supposed to be due by
K.M. Anderson, Kingston. 12-
One year's salary as Clerk to Munro & Dickinson's charity (not yet
realized) 30-
£263-18
David John Cooper235
In the previous chapter we saw that this David at the age of thirteen
years was attending school in Scotland, living with his grandfather Robert
Cooper, uncle George, and aunt Catherine. He had been six when his father died
in Jamaica, and probably went to Scotland as soon as he was old enough to
travel abroad.
One can only wonder at the arrangements for the boy to cross the
Atlantic in a sailing vessel, and the length of time to negotiate all the
details by mail that also travelled by sea.
After his schooling he returned to Black River in Jamaica. There he had three children: Annie, Lindsay, and Catherine Diana. He lived an even shorter
life than his father, dying before his thirtieth birthday, in 1867.
Young David was a horseman, and among his belongings were "1 Brown
horse, 1 bay horse, 2 fillies unbroke, 1 grey horse, 1 2-year-old colt" as
well as one buggy with double set of harness, and one gentleman's saddle. Some
of his travel was on horseback as he had a portmanteau, which at the time meant
a leather travelling bag designed for use on horseback.
He also engaged in a small-scale cattle operation, which at his death consisted
of three heifers, four steers, five cows and three bull calves.
His father dying so young may have persuaded him to insure his own life
for £500. with the Scottish Amicable Life Insurance Company. [Policy #18206]
It's value in his list of assets, though, was reckoned as only £200.
The total value of his moveable estate was £381-12-1 1/2-.
Coopers were in Black River within living memory — in the 1930s and
earlier. J.A. Cooper, a tailor had two tall sons, Laurence and Douglas; Laurence
was a tailor like his father and Douglas a district constable at Fyffe's Pen.
Both tailors worked in Black River which was close to their home. The
father J.A. used to make clothes for Arthur Cooper in Giddy Hall and is
reported to have been a first-class tailor. Both father and son Laurence have
died.
The dates allow for the possibility that "J.A." Cooper was the
son of Lindsay Cooper whose father was David John Cooper [above].
John Cooper Sr. was three years younger than his
brother David Lindsay Cooper, and the fifth child of Robert Cooper and Jean
McEwan.
He adopted the middle name Myers, and gave it also to his son John,
probably after his uncle John Myers of Montrose, Scotland.
He grew up in a farming family and emigrated to St. Elizabeth parish, Jamaica, before 1844.
It was customary for Scots to follow relatives to the new world. John Sr.
followed his brother David to Black River. The road from Black River to Mount
Charles and Giddy Hall about eight miles inland had been rebuilt in 1823,
facilitating settlement in the area. See Appendix three.
John settled at Giddy Hall to establish his first farms.
He married Mary Stevens, the mother of his two sons John and William.
His cattle-raising was on a large scale, requiring a number of grazing
pens [ranches]. He moved the cattle from field to field to allow pasture-land
to recover.
Agriculture at this time was in a general decline in St. Elizabeth parish,
but according to a report to Parliament in London, "in this parish,
particularly where there are extensive grazing pens, these necessarily
participate in the fortunes of the sugar estates."
The same report notes "at one church alone in this parish the
baptisms for last year were ... legitimate 104, illegitimate 115."
DESCENDANTS OF JOHM MYERS COOPER I
01234
John Myers Cooper I (1817-1876)
M (1): Mary Stevens
1/1. John Myers Cooper II (1850-1925)
+Joan Alexander Molison (1850-1945)
John Mollison [Jack] Cooper
Catherine Elizabeth [Kitty] Cooper
:. Mary Helen [May] Cooper
:. •••(unknown)
:. . Ainsley Cooper
:. Douglas George Cooper
:+Ann Johnson
:. Christine Cooper
;. +Ferdie Johnson
:. Roslyn Cooper
:. +Mr. Garcia
:. . "Massa" Cooper
:. . Rosalie Cooper
:. . +Mr. Jacobs
:. Charles Cooper
1/2. William Steven Cooper (1855-1920)
:+Rebeccah Watson
:. Arthur Thomas Cooper (1883-1945)
:. William John [Bill] Cooper
:. Frances Rosetta [Etta] Cooper
:. +Douglas Tomlinson
:. Florence Louise Cooper
:. +Howard Deleon
:. . Howard Deleon Jr.
:. Ada Elizabeth Cooper
:. +George Ogilvie
:. . Guy Ogilvie
:. . Gladys Ogilvie
:. . Thelma Ogilvie
:. . Ruby Ogilvie
;. . Kathleen Ogilvie
http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/g/a/r/Carlton-C-Gardner-Unionville/PDFBOOK1.pdf.
Ogilvies
By Daniel & Jasper Ogilvie
First Generation
George Robertson Ogilvie
his wife Catherine Campbell both died at Upper Harbour Street, Falmouth, Trelawny, Jamaica in 1859 leaving two children, George Augustus and James Leopold Robertson Ogilvie.
Second Generation
1/1. George Augustus Ogilvie, born 27th May 1856,
1881 married Hannah Elizabeth
Arena DeLisser, the daughter of George Phillips DeLisser, a marine pilot of Falmouth and his wife Ann Fergus (also known as Nancy) in Falmouth Parish Church (Anglican). They begat the following children, all born in Falmouth, Trelawny.
i) George Phillip Bernard Ogilvie, born 17th February 1882.
ii) Daniel Leopold James Ogilvie,
born 9th September 1883
iii) Catherine Arena Ogilvie, born 27 March 1885
iv) Walwyn Meridth Ogilvie, died in infancy.
v) Alfred Augustus Ogilvie, died in infancy
vi) Emiline Constance Ogilvie, died in infancy.
vii) Patrick Ogilvie, died in infancy.
viii) Edward Alexander Ogilvie, born 24th February 1891
ix) Constance Rebecca Ogilvie, born 1st November 1892
x) Robert Darnly Ogilvie, born 26th November 1895
George Augustus Ogilvie died at sea and was buried at
Savanna-la- mar in the parish of Westmoreland, Jamaica, on 18th March 1900. His
wife Hannah Elizabeth Arena DeLisser Ogilvie died at Falmouth on 4th January
1925, aged 70 years.
My Mother
1/2. James Leopold Robertson Ogilvie, born 1857, died April 1883,
unmarried and without known issue.
Third Generation
2/1. George Phillip Bernard Ogilvie married Ada Elizabeth Cooper at Giddy Hall in the parish of St. Elizabeth in the year 1909. George Phillip Bernard Ogilvie died in Falmouth, 24th, January, 1970, predeceased by his wife Ada Elizabeth Cooper.
They begat the following children, all born in Falmouth Trelawny:
3/1. Guy Augustus Ogilvie, born 4th March 1910
3/2. Gladys Una Ogilvie, born 3rd June 1912
3/3. Thelma Louise Ogilvie, born 17th February 1913
3/4. Ruby Mignonette Ogilvie, born 17th July 1914
3/5. Carmen Ogilvie, born about 1915, died at infancy.
3/6. Kathleen Elaine Ogilvie, born 9th January 1916
3/7. Hugh George Ogilvie, born 4th December 1919
3/8. Kenneth McDonald Ogilvie, born 14th October 1921
;. . Hugh Ogilvie
:. . Kenneth Ogilvie
:. Rosabelle [Rose] Cooper
:. +Charles Augustus King
:. . Mervyi "Toots" King (1915- )
:. . Phyllis Icilda King (1917- )
:. . +John Segree (1916-1984)
;. . . Heather Marie Segree
:. . Gloria King (1919- )
:. . +Walter Tucker
:. . Jeffery George King (b. 1921)
:. . +Venita Gauntlett
:. . Baldwin King (1926- )
:. . +Vi Whitely
:+Theresa Warren (?-1919)
:. Arnold Murillo Cooper (1897- )
Grethel Imogene Cooper (1905- )
+Julius Ebanks ^
M (2): Augusta Maitland (1825-1858)
M (3): Miss Campbell
:Mary Elizabeth Cooper
Catherine [Kate] Cooper
Ella Robertha [Minnie] Cooper
+Edwin Townshend
Charles [Charley] Cooper
M (4): +Cecelia Lettman
Thomas Lettman Cooper (b. 1860)
+Ethline Porter
. Edith Matildah Cooper (1885-dec.)
+James Andrew Dennis
. Percival Croswell Cooper (1908- )
. . +Alice Rebertha Ebanks (?-1940)
Rupert Wilson Cooper (1936-dec.)
Carmen lona Lloyd Cooper (1937-dec.)
+Mavis Merle Bodden
Lancelot George Cooper (1942- )
Joyce May [Cooper] White (1946- )
Lucien Patrick Everton Cooper (1948- )
Joy Everade [Cooper] Khan (1949- )
Pamela Angela Cooper (1951- )
Doreen Evadne Cooper [marr. Hedmann] (1952-
Percival Croswell Cooper Jr. (1954- )
Doris Maud Green Cooper (1920- )
+Dudley Duncan
+Edwin Ethelbert Tennant (?-1926)
Phyllis Viola Tennant (1923- )
+Van Roy McNish
Herbie Wellesley Tennant (1926-dec.)
Agatha Cooper (1890-dec.)
Harry Cooper (1893-dec.)
Thomas Cooper Jr. (1896-dec.)
Adrian Cooper (1898-dec.)
Georgiana Cooper (1901-dec.)
Vida Cooper (1903-dec.)
Enoch Myers Cooper (1906-1984)
+(unknown)
Viola Imogene Cooper
+0smond Royes
Marilyn Royes
Clair Royes
Eric Cooper (1908-dec.)
Minna Cooper (1911-dec.)
Clara Cooper (1913-dec.)
Eliza Rebecca Cooper (b. 1863)
M (5): Miss Gayle.
Charlotte Cooper
Ellen Cooper
+(unknown)
Harold [Brownie] Cooper
John Cooper IV
+(unknown)
Rebecca Cooper
Cyril Cooper
Easy Cooper
+Mr. McDonald
. Mable McDonald
M (6): Miss Scott.
1/10. Ethelda [Minnie] Cooper
+Philip Wright
Harold Wright
JOHM MYERS COOPER I & MARY STEVENS' FAMILY
John Myers Cooper I
Born: 1817 Gallery Bap: 6 Nov 1817 Logic Pert
Marr: circa 1849 Place ?
Marr.2: 17 Oct 1855 St. Eliz. Jam.
Died: 6 Dec 1876 Giddy Hall
Buried: Dec 1876 Giddy Hall.
Prob: 22 Mar 1879 Inventory
Occ: Cattleman
Father: Robert Cooper Mother: Jean McEwan
Other w:
1855: Augusta Maitland
Cecelia Lettman
Miss Campbell
Miss Gayle
Miss Scott
WIFE Mary Stevens
Born circa 1819 Died circa 1855 Jamaica
CHILDREN
1: John Myers Cooper II Born: 1850
Marr: 3 Jan 1884 Brechin Joan Alexander Molison
Died: 1925 Giddy Hall Occ: Cattleman
2: William Steven Cooper Born: 1855 Giddy Hall.
Marr: circa 1880 (?) Jamaica Rebeccah Watson
Died: 20 May 1920 The Farm G.H.
Buried: May 1920 The Farm G.H.
Census: 3 Apr 1871 Brechin.
Occ: Stockman & Planter
In that parish, cholera and small pox "on some estates carried off
half the labourers." Refusing vaccination and not seeing any connection
between sanitary practice and health, they did not call in medical aid. A kind
of fatalism prevailed. "Him's time come" was the consolation for the
survivors.
John Myers Cooper Senior died 6 Dec. 1876 in his 60th year. Family
tradition says that John Jr. was at University in Scotland, and returned upon
the news. He is said to have met his future wife Joan Molison at university. He
and his brother William were their father's executors.
They drew up an inventory of his moveable assets of 22 March 1879. What
follows is based on that inventory.
On the Fellowship Pen [ranch], Middlesex Pen, [reached by a road from
Shaw's, see below] and the Giddy Hall Pen there were a total of 651
"horned stock," and thirty horses. Over half these animals were at
the Giddy Hall home place.
Also at Giddy Hall were thirty-three sheep, four carriages, buggies,
Wains, wagons, drays, carts etc.
The contents of Shaw's House and Shaw's Store [between Middle Quarters
and Lacovia] was valued at £822-7-2.
The debts owing him, bills receivable, amount due on mortgages,
debentures, and cash in bank came to £9,713-3-6.
Among the household effects was a billiard table.
Personalty [i.e. moveable personal property] in addition to that listed,
was valued at £12,000.
The total of his moveable assets was £27,606-3-8, in addition to the real
estate, store, houses and other buildings. (£2.1M 2006)
This fortune was created in three decades of the mid 19th century,
without the support of the developed world's infrastructure.
Although no will is available, his grandson Arnold Cooper says that John
Myers Cooper Sr. left the Fellowship Pen to his son William, and the Giddy Hall
Pen to John Jr. A river flowed through the Middlesex Pen and he left to each
the land on one side of the river. In years of drought each could move his
cattle to his own land with water.
His epitaph says:—
"In Memory of John Myers Cooper Esq. J.P. who died 6th December 1876,
Proprietor of Giddy Hall &c. &c.
For thirty years and upwards he took prominent part in the public affairs
of the parish of St. Elizabeth. He was a man of large sympathies, of great
generosity and liberality, and his charities though unostentatious were
extensive and wisely distributed. His departure is mourned by many.
He contemplated the erection of a church and schoolroom on "The
Farm" pen, but dying soon after the work was commenced, it was left to his
successors to carry out.
RESURGAM
Erected by his affectionate sons and sister."
The sister was Catherine Diana Cooper, living in Edzell Lodge northwest
of Kingston.
A one-room school/church was built by the Coopers on part of the Pen,
just to the left of the present Giddy Hall Post Office when facing it. It was a
wooden building with nog walls [stones and mortar on frame].
The present church is across the road not far from the original site.
A surprise in the group of tombstones, is one which read: "Sacred to
the Memory of Augusta Spence, beloved wife of John Myers Cooper, who died at Bloomsbury in the parish of Saint Elizabeth on the 13th January, 1858, aged 33.
This stone was erected at the request of her surviving husband, by whom
the recollection of her many virtues will ever be cherished so long as memory
holds a place.
Jamaica, Anno Domini 1859."
She was a widow living in St. Elizabeth parish when she married John
Myers Cooper Sr. by licence on 17 October 1855.
Spence was her maiden name, and Maitland her first husband's name. He was
a medical doctor, and lived only two years and three months after the marriage.
John had now been widowed twice.
Another epitaph in the group says "Sacred to the memory of Mrs. Ann Maitland
who departed this life 23rd October 1833, aged 42 years."
She may have been Augusta's mother-in-law. Martha Banton, a neighbour, says
that in the old Cooper house was a branding iron with the name Maitland on it.
When John Cooper Jr. was born, his father had been at Giddy Hall for
at least five years.
Although sharing his father's work on the farms, and learning from him
how to be a good cattleman and farmer, a hip-roofed billiard house adjacent to
the main house suggests there was also time for relaxation.
When his father died in 1876, John spent a few years mastering the
ranching business. Then he went back to Scotland to marry Joan Alexander
Molison.
She had been born in New Monkland parish at Stanley, near Airdrie,
Lanarkshire. Her father was John Mollison, a writer [solicitor], and her
mother was Elizbeth Black.
Some time before Joan was thirty, she moved to Brechin to live with her
brother, Alexander Lawrence, M.B. Medical Practitioner [licentiate], whose
mother must have remarried a man of that surname. Alexander and his family and
Joan Alexander Mollison lived at 11 Bearehill Villa on Castle Street, Brechin.
The names suggest that their maternal grandmother's maiden name was
Alexander.
John and Joan were married with the rites of the Church of Scotland. She
was thirty-two, and he thirty-four and living at Chanonry House [near Brechin
Cathedral]. The couple soon sailed for Jamaica.
Joan Alexander Molison, is said to have been a brilliant student and one
of the first women to graduate from University in Scotland. By all accounts she
was a woman of great character, and a devoted wife and mother.
In old age when she was partly blind and had broken her hip, the doctor
said he had never seen anyone suffer so much and yet so silently and with such
dignity as she did while her hip was healing.
A family tradition says that she was of royal descent, but few families
do not seek to discover such ancestry at some point or other. Without proof it
must be discounted. Yet, she was the kind of person to evoke such a notion.
Like his father, John Jr. was made a Justice of the Peace.
He added several pens to the operation during his lifetime, although
Giddy Hall remained the largest at 1,268 acres.
All the Cooper properties were in the parish of St. Elizabeth.
Here is John Junior's will:
I John Cooper of Giddy
Hall ... leave to my sons John Molison Cooper and Douglas George Cooper, all my
books, mechanical tools, surveying and mathematical and philosophical
instruments to be divided by them. I leave to my beloved wife Joan Alexander
Cooper to her absolute and unmolested control my Properties Giddy Hall and
Mount Lebanon [between Giddy Hall and Hampstead] and two detached pieces of
land situated on Forrest Mountain on the Giddy Hall boundary ... and my
Properties of Dickinsons Middlesex and East Middlesex ... with the land there
known as Mount Unity adjoining them, with all the live and dead stock [dead
stock=hardware] on them severally to her absolute and unmolested use and
control for her life time, and thereafter I give Giddy Hall and Mount Lebanon,
and the said two pieces of land of Forrest Mountain together with all the live
and dead stock then therein to my son ... John Molison Cooper.
To my son ... Douglas George Cooper I give my properties Dickinsons
Middlesex and East Middlesex and the said piece of land of Mount Unity ... with all the live and dead stock then thereon. Both these bequests being
subject to that my two daughters Catherine Elizabeth Cooper and Mary Helen
Cooper are to be supported and maintained from the ... revenues from Giddy Hall
and Mount Lebanon at the rate of Fifty pounds per annum to each, and from the
... revenues of Dickensons Middlesex and East Middlesex and Mount Unity with
the said stock, Thirty pounds to each.... Catherine ... and Mary ... shall
have and enjoy domicile at Giddy Hall in the old House, so long as they are
content to dwell there and conduct themselves as loving sisters each to their
brothers, and they shall likewise be entitled to the privilege of rearing on
the properties ... such stock bona fides owned and belonging to them and
excepting goats, in such reasonable and limited number as their brothers John
and Douglas shall determine and afford.
I appoint my ... wife ... and sons ...as my executors, and also to be,
together with my daughters ... residuary Legaties of this my last will and
Testament.... this third day of October [1921]."
The four children were born at Giddy Hall after 1884: John Mollison,
Catherine Elizabeth, Mary Helen, and Douglas George.
They received their early education from a governess at home.
All had red hair except Kitty whose hair was brown.
John Mollison Cooper, nicknamed Jack and Jock, attended Munro College. He may be described as a Gentleman, not having chosen nor prepared for any other
occupation. Like Douglas he enjoyed playing the piano and organ, and singing.
Jock was tall and slim. He was captain of a cricket team in Giddy Hall,
but according to one authority, it was not because he was a good cricketer but
because he had money. Jock rode around on a motor cycle.
Catherine Elizabeth [Kitty] was educated in Scotland. She composed
music, played several musical instruments well, sang, was a good carpenter, and
even kept an apiary. She was also fond of animals, and renowned for the beauty
of her trays of cakes and cookies.
Mary Helen [May], educated at home, was considered not as bright as the
others, but in the kitchen she was handy at baking and making preserves.
Though unmarried she had a son, Ainsley, who was not accepted by the family.
The Banton neighbours bought a piece of land from May. They found these
four siblings to be "friendly and nice people."
Douglas George Cooper was educated at Munro College.
He served in the Great War [1914-1918]. As with so many others, the
experience severely damaged his personality. Although he loved to play the
piano and sing, he became addicted to alcohol, and went on periodic rampages.
His sister Kitty was the only person who could calm him down when he was on a
binge. On at least one occasion the local policeman had to bring in
reinforcements from other communities to get him into jail.
A giant of a man - both sons were over six feet - he was a splendid
physical specimen, and very handsome, but after the war he fell to pieces. He
had had no part in creating the wealth he inherited, and didn't know how to
handle it.
None of the four married, although their cousin Grethel Cooper their
cousin says they were "very nice and friendly."
All had gone well at Giddy Hall until after the death of John Myers
Cooper, Jr. when Douglas began to drink heavily again, and the Middlesex
property slipped out of his hands.
Where Jock's preferred mode of travel was a motorcycle, Douglas chose a buggy. With the advent of automobiles, though, Douglas modernized. Douglas became fat and developed cancer in the face, from which he wasted away.
Being red headed, with the usual sensitive skin, the cancer probably
resulted from over-exposure to the tropical sun.
Jack was a pipe smoker, but never drank. Although kind hearted, he had no
knowledge of how to manage his properties. He ran them into debt and had to
sell them piece by piece.
All properties were delivered to both sons free of debt, with ample
money in the bank for private use.
JOHN M. COOPER II & JOAN A. MOLISONS FAMILY
John Myers Cooper II
Born 1850
Marr 3 Jan 1884 Brechin, Banns 1883 Church of S, Engaged 1883 Brechin.
Died 1925 Giddy Hall, Occ Cattleman
Father John Myers Cooper I, Mother Mary Stevens
Other w
Ann Johnson
WIFE Joan Alexander Molison
Born 20 Mar 1850 New Monkland
Bap 15 Apr 1850 New Monkland
Died Oct. 1945 Giddy Hall
Census 4 Apr 1881 Brechin
Father John Mollison, Mother Elizabeth Black
CHILDREN
1: John Mollison [Jack] Cooper
Born after 1884 Giddy Hall, Occ Gentleman
2: Catherine Elizabeth Cooper
Born: circa 1886 Giddy Hall
3: Mary Helen [May] Cooper
Born: circa 1888 Giddy Hall
4: Douglas George Cooper
Born circa 1890 Giddy Hall, Occ Soldier-farmer
The crops and sales of cattle could have provided well for their needs.
The water supply at Middlesex was leased to the Holland Estates.
After Douglas lost his property, he went back to Giddy Hall. Kitty had
died before his return, and Jack died after it,
Douglas sold most of the furniture, eventually stopped drinking, and
opened the Billiard House to preachers from England, who formed a congregation
there.
Their mother Joan survived all her family except May.
When Joan died, the house with the few acres left were bought by Ethelda
[Cooper] Wright's son Harold.
John Sr. had children by various black women after his second wife died.
[See DESCENDANTS OF JOHN MYERS COOPER I a few pages back, and see below.]
Son John never accepted his half brothers and sisters calling them
"red-headed bastards." Douglas and Jack however were friendly towards
all their grandfather's children, and so was William.
John Jr.'s wife Joan never met them which may have been her husband's
doing.
After her husband's death Joan told her niece Grethel that she came to Jamaica to be nice to everybody. She was lonely, especially after her two sisters from Scotland could no longer visit her.
Joan apparently went blind in the 1930s. Her children probably died
before 1938 because in that year a nurse. Miss May Mornan, rented the house and
used it as a Nursing Home for a couple of years.
William Steven Cooper
William was born in 1854 or 1855. Since his father married Augusta
Maitland on 17 October 1855, and Mary Stevens had born William such a short
time before, Mary probably died in childbirth or soon after. In the interval
John's sister Catherine Diana came to Giddy Hall to care for the children.
William married Rebecca Watson, a black woman, and raised a large family on
The Farm Giddy Hall. His Will was dated on the day he died. His signature is
clear, although the Will is in the hand of the attending physician. Dr. Curtis
Daniel Johnston, who also signed as a witness and signed an affidavit attached
to the Will.
William left his possessions to be divided equally between his children
and his half sister Mary Elizabeth Cooper, all of whom were listed as the
beneficiaries. His son Arthur and son-in-law Charles Augustus King, husband of
Rosabelle, were named as executors.
WILLIAM S. COOPER & REBECCAH WATSON'S FAMILY
William Steven Cooper
Born: 1855 Giddy Hall.
Marr: circa 1880 (?) Jamaica
Died: 20 May 1920 The Farm, Giddy Hall
Buried: May 1920 The Farm, Giddy Hall
Census: 3 Apr 1871 Brechin."
Occ: Stockman & Planter
Father: John Myers Cooper I, Mother: Mary Stevens
Other w: Theresa Warren
WIFE; Rebeccah Watson
Born: circa 1858 Jamaica
CHILDREN
1: Arthur Thomas Cooper
Born: Dec 1883 Giddy Hall. Occ: Farmer
2: William John [Bill] Cooper
Born: circa 1885 Giddy Hall.
Died: (deceased) New Jersey, U.S. Occ: Violinist
3: Frances Rosetta [Etta] Cooper
Born: circa 1887 Giddy Hall.
Marr: after 1920 Detroit, Mich. Douglas Tomlinson
Died: (deceased) Detroit, Mich.
4: Florence Louise Cooper
Born: circa 1888 Giddy Hall.
Marr: U.S.A. Howard Deleon
Died: (deceased) U.S.A. Occ: Reg.Nurse
5: Ada Elizabeth Cooper
Born: circa 1889 Giddy Hall.
Marr: Jamaica. George Ogilvie
6: Rosabelle [Rose] Cooper
Born: circa 1890 Giddy Hall.
Marr: circa 1914 Giddy Hall. Charles Augustus King
Died: circa 1986 Mandeville
William was a cattleman on a modest scale, and a planter.
He propagated and planted breadfruit, coconut, mango, pimento [a large
tree unique to Jamaica], other fruit trees, and pineapples.
His tombstone is in a stone enclosure at The Farm together with those of
others in the family.
The epitaph says:
"Father
Sacred to the Memory of William S. Cooper died 20th May, 1920, aged 69 years.
We miss him, 0 what words can tell
The loss of him we love so well.
While nature whispers "what a loss,"
Faith meekly cries "bear thou thy cross."
Arthur Thomas never married. Home, The Farm, and being volunteer
choirmaster and organist in the White Hall Anglican church for forty-two years
were important in his life. He was a very quiet man.
William John was married but had no children. He lived in New Jersey where he also did voluntary service in the church as a violinist. His nephews and
nieces called him "Uncle Big."
Frances Rosetta [Etta] married Douglas Tomlinson and went to Detroit, Michigan. They both died there and are survived by many descendants, most of
them in Detroit.
Florence Louise married Howard Deleon, an American. They had one child,
Howard Jr. After they separated he pre-deceased her. He had worked for the
United States Navy before his death in Puerto Rico.
He is survived by his son and grandchildren, now living in Florida.
Florence, a Registered Nurse, was Matron of the Black River Hospital before going to the United States. She returned to Jamaica for awhile, but died in Detroit about 1985.
Ada Elizabeth Cooper married George Ogilvie who became a merchant in Falmouth, Trelawny parish, Jamaica. They were together….
They were there for 3 generations before loosing the estate through poor
management in the 1920's. John Myers senior and junior developed the estate
...... an inventory of his (JMC snr) moveable assets of 22 March 1879. What
follows is based on that inventory.
On the Fellowship Pen [ranch], Middlesex Pen, [reached by a road from
Shaw's, see below] and the Giddy Hall Pen there were a total of 651
"horned stock," and thirty horses. Over half these animals were at
the Giddy Hall home place. Also at Giddy Hall were thirty-three sheep, four
carriages, buggies, Wains, wagons, drays, carts etc.
The contents of Shaw's House and Shaw's Store [between Middle Quarters
and Lacovia] was valued at £822-7-2.
The debts owing him, bills receivable, amount due on mortgages,
debentures, and cash in bank came to £9,713-3-6.
Among the household effects was a billiard table. (there is reference in
the body of the text to a hip-roofed billiard house adjacent to the main house)
Personalty [i.e. moveable personal property] in addition to that listed,
was valued at £12,000.
The total of his moveable assets was £27,606-3-8, in addition to the real
estate, store, houses and other buildings. (£2.1M 2006)
This fortune was created in three decades of the mid 19th century,
without the support of the developed world's infrastructure.
Although no will is available, his grandson Arnold Cooper says that John
Myers Cooper Sr. left the Fellowship Pen to his son William, and the Giddy Hall
Pen to John Jr. A river flowed through the Middlesex Pen and he left to each
the land on one side of the river. In years of drought each could move his
cattle to his own land with water.
When John Myers jnr died in 1920, Giddy Hall was still 1268 acres.
Middlesex is a mile or two north of Giddy Hall.
Here is John Junior's will:
I John Cooper of Giddy Hall ... leave to my sons John Molison Cooper
and Douglas George Cooper, all my books, mechanical tools, surveying and
mathematical and philosophical instruments to be divided by them. I leave to my
beloved wife Joan Alexander Cooper to her absolute and unmolested control my
Properties Giddy Hall and Mount Lebanon [between Giddy Hall and Hampstead] and
two detached pieces of land situated on Forrest Mountain on the Giddy Hall
boundary ... and my Properties of Dickinsons Middlesex and East Middlesex ...
with the land there known as Mount Unity adjoining them, with all the live and
dead stock [dead stock=hardware] on them severally to her absolute and
unmolested use and control for her life time, and thereafter I give Giddy Hall
and Mount Lebanon, and the said two pieces of land of Forrest Mountain together
with all the live and dead stock then therein to my son ... John Molison
Cooper.
To my son ... Douglas George Cooper I give my properties Dickinsons
Middlesex and East Middlesex and the said piece of land of Mount Unity ... with all the live and dead stock then thereon. Both these bequests being
subject to that my two daughters Catherine Elizabeth Cooper and Mary Helen
Cooper are to be supported and maintained from the ... revenues from Giddy Hall
and Mount Lebanon at the rate of Fifty pounds per annum to each, and from the
... revenues of Dickensons Middlesex and East Middlesex and Mount Unity with
the said stock, Thirty pounds to each.... Catherine ... and Mary ... shall
have and enjoy domicile at Giddy Hall in the old House, so long as they are
content to dwell there and conduct themselves as loving sisters each to their
brothers, and they shall likewise be entitled to the privilege of rearing on
the properties ... such stock bona fides owned and belonging to them and
excepting goats, in such reasonable and limited number as their brothers John
and Douglas shall determine and afford.
I appoint my ... wife ... and sons ...as my executors, and also to be,
together with my daughters ... residuary Legaties of this my last will and
Testament.... this third day of October [1921]."
Printed 16/3/09
Andrew Wright Maitland (1808-1856)
Contains sketches of
Port Louis Harbour, Colombo?
Trinidad, Sunday July 16 1831
A medical notebook and diary and certificates were given to the United Medical
and Dental Schools of Guy's & St Thomas's Hospitals by the Family in 1989.
Now held by the King's College, London, Archives and seen by A Maitland 2/2003.
Principal contents of the diary (about A5, hardback) are notes on various
patients seen by AWM while in practice in London and during his voyage from
London to Colombo and return. There is also an abbreviated description of his
voyage.
Summary From Peter Rushbrooke:
Entered Guy's Hospital on 5/3/1824, articled to Mr Stocker. Held a
certificate of Theory & Practice at Guy's dated Oct 1827 & appears in
the 1830 Register of Medical Pupils as no 515, subsequently a
"dresser" to Bransby Cooper, nephew of Sir Astley Cooper (knighted
1820 after removing a wart from KG V's Nose). Bransby served in the Army in
Canada and the Peninsular, was appointed Ass. Surgeon & then Surgeon in
1825. He died in 1853. Maitland left Gravesend Oct 17 1830 in the SS
"Hector" as ship's Surgeon on a voyage to Isle of France (Mauritius)
& Ceylon returning to Gravesend on Nov 2, 1831. He then took passage for
Jamaica on board the brig "Volusia" on Nov 29, 1831. He was appointed
Ass. Surgeon to the St Elizabeth Regiment of Foot in Jamaica in 1834 & as a
justice in Elizabeth County in 1838. Commissioned as Health Officer for the port of Black River (Cornwall County) in 1841 & elected to the Fellows of the College of
Physicians & Surgeons in Jamaica in 1842.
Andrew Maitland died suddenly after his morning ride around Mount Charles
Estate in 1856 and his medical notebooks and certificates were given to the
United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy's & St Thomas's Hospitals by the
Family in 1989.
Remarks on board the Hector from London to the Mauritius and Ceylon. Left Blackwall on board the Hector[116]
Oct 16 1830. Gravesend 17th. Downs 20th, left 24th. Arrived the Northern Bank
27th. Arrived the Volusia from London Nov 14th 1830. Sailed from Northern Bank
Nov 18th with all the Eastward bound fleet. Dec 7th saw Porto Santo. Dec 10th
saw Palosse, one of the Canary Islands. Dec 28th saw San Antonio one of the
Cape Verde Islands. Jan 16th saw Trinidad a ??? island. About this time the
white biscuit was out. Feb 4th off Tristan da Cunha. Feb 10th saw a whaler. Feb
18th the harpooner South Seaman in company. Capt Hawk dined on board. Feb 21st
fell in with Buenos Ayerean ship the Bien Koneida, Capt Boone bound for the
Isle de France with mules - has lost 150 of them, 80 in one gale, 74 left.
Supplied him with 3 barrels of beef etc and obtained in return biscuit and
flour etc. Required them to give notice of our safety at the Mauritius, ordinarily about 14 days sail from here. March 1st 1831 this day 103 days from
Portsmouth and Gravesend 133. We calculated that we are 1100 from the Mauritius
and consider it about 7 days sail. Saw Round Island Monday 14th. Anchored March
18th in Port Louis Harbour and underwent the ceremonial of ???? etc etc. Ship
moored with 4 anchors. 19th arrived the Bien Koneida. Sunday 20th Landed all
the Isle de France passengers in good health and spirits.. Sailed from Port
Louis Saturday 9th 1831 at 5 pm, having been in harbour 3 weeks. Few old
passengers came on board to say farewell. May 5th 1831 distance from Colombo
651 miles. 13th saw land and anchored. The first week we remained in this port,
the heat was beyond anything that can be imagined. Friday 3rd June during a
gale the ship broke from her anchoring chain and went to sea after having lost
another. Nearly lost on Negombo Point. Returned Sunday June 5th 1831. Weather
unsettled and squally. June 7th accident to a Cooley. June 11th weighed anchor
from Colombo roads and stood off during the night to receive the Government
Dispatches the next morning. Sunday 12th heaving guns from the fort to return
to -- stood to sea. Passed about 3 weeks on there with Ms???. July (text June)
5th "Bacycost a Jackal???". July 20th to the southward of Isle of
France weather becoming cold with almost incessant rain and heavy dews at
night.
July 25th 1 Brig and 2 ships in sight - July 28th - Spoke to Resource Capt
Shuttleworth from Madras with troops bound for St Helena and London.
Aug 2nd Spoke to a sloop of war.
Aug 7th to 14th blowing strong gales with heavy squalls. Shipping much water
and the ship labouring exceptionally. The bulwark of the main and quarter deck
washed away and wind from NNW and W. 15th saw planks and different parts of a
ship floating by. 16th Aug saw the Cape of Good Hope. 17th spoke to the Lady
Gordon Capt. Harmer from Liverpool 72 days, last from the Cape of Hood Hope and
reports that 2 Americans and 4 English ships were driven on shore during the
gales in which we suffered = bound to Batavia = Aug 28th the weather from here
been very cold now becomes more mild. We consider ourselves 4 days sail from St Helena where we ??? at for water and provisions as almost all the stock died in the
gales including 12 pigs etc. Aug 30th distance from St Helena 157 miles and
expect to see it this day. Aug 31st = wind since off the Cape moderate S and
SSE generally ?? with small rain. All sail set possible =
Aug 30th caught 2 Cape pigeons.
Sept 1st saw St Helena. 2nd approached almost near enough to another but our
boat unfortunately upset which ??? us that night. 3rd Friday anchored in the Sir Nibisia Bay about 8 pm ?? by the port Office??. And next morning went on shore at
James Town at the invitation of Mr Carrol store-keeper who behaved in the most
hospitable manner and obliged me to accept the use of his house to visit the
Napoleon's Tomb = 12am arrived at Longwood saw the tomb and obtained two pieces
of willow from and old soldier who has the care of the grounds = 6pm by aid of
the crew of the Daniel South-Seaman we weighed anchor with a fair wind. Next
morning we out of sight of the island = ships account £50 this having been the
most extravagant port a ship can visit.
Fowls not larger than a pigeon 4d each.
Pigs about 1 month old 16s
1 small bag of potatoes £1-1s
Sept 16th this day 27 miles north of the equator and 8 days from St Helena = and
off Cape Agulhas to St Helena 14 days. 15th sail in sight = 6pm spoke the brig
Indian of London from Liverpool out 32 days boound to the Cape of Good Hope and
Batavia this vessel and the Lady Gordon belonging to the same owners.
17th this day 11 months from London.
16th and 17th becalmed and most unbearably hot.
19th 2 ships in sight one outward and the other homeward bound = 15 16 17 18 19
becalmed and very hot = caught a shark and got the backbone cleaned. 20th wind
all round the compass = 21st 2 sail in sight. PM1 ditto = met the NE trade in
10 ??.
Sept 29th weather become cooler.
Oct 1st saw the Gul?? Weed of the Sargasso = Oct 3rd caught 17 dolphins = 8th
the salt provisions bought at St Helena so bad and old that it cannot be used.
10th Oct 5 sail in sight = 11th = strong wind from NE with squalls the very
point of the compass we want to steer. 13th 4 months from Ceylon = 16th this
day 12 months I left London. 17th = 12 months on board ship = 19th this day 45
days from St Helena. Saw at 6pm the Island of "Flores" and at 10pm
that of "Coovs?" being the 2 most westerly of the Azores = one sail
in sight "A Barque" supposed from her fast sailing to be a Packet =
Our approach to England is now fully manifest by the climate being cold = 23rd
strong breezes from the SW, running 8 and 8 1/2 knots per hour the wind being
aft = 24th a vessel in sight running away as usual = 26th most miserably cold
wet and squally with hail. 27th 6pm spoke to the Brig Eliza of Peterhead - had
not seen land for 8 days = also passed at 4pm a large ship standing to
southward = obtained soundings at 95 fathoms coarse sand and shell. 28th 1
schooner and a brig in site. 7pm spoke the schooner Diana from
"Tante"? in the Mediterranean out 38 days bound for London. Oct 28
saw Start Point = Nov 2nd passed Gravesend and I quitted the ship and arrived
London the same evening.
Also included 2 draft letters:
"Ship Hector off Dungeness"
Sir,
As I am I want of clothes and the weather is very cold I shall be obliged by
your immediately setting about a pair of trousers for me of stout Oxford
Mixture and the lightest colour you can obtain. They may be made according to
my measure which you have and without linings. I have only one pair with me and
they are much the worse of wear so that you will oblige me by having them ready
against my arrival in London in about ------ we out from Ceylon.
June 13th = all well = have landed passengers AWM.
Mr Abluig? = having just arrived from India and being very much in want of
boots I ask you immediately you receive this to put a pair of boots in hand for
me to be made according to my measure which you have - of modern le? Substance
and the upper leather not too thick the heel to be made square and a half tip
on the outside and perhaps a very little larger than you have made for me.
CORONER'S INQUEST*
Last evening an inquest was held before Mr. Payne, Coroner for London and Southwark, at Guy's Hospital, on view of the body of William Harris, a fine young man, who came by his death In a very singular manner.
James Walker, of Mill-lane, Deptford, deposed that he was a fellmonger, as was the deceased. On last Tuesday three weeks, between seven and eight in the evening, be was standing in the Broadway, Deptford, with the deceased and several other persons. There was a show exhibiting there at the time, and the deceased and a man named Richard Wells were "larking" together. The d»ceased, who had n pipe in his mouth, ran away and was pursued by Wells. The latter in endeavouring to catch him struck the pipe with his elbow, and the pipe flew in pieces. The deceased immediately put his hand to his mouth and said, the pipe had penetrated through his tongue. Several persons then ran to his assistance, and drew a piece of pipe about an inch long out of his tongue. He bled very profusely, and became faint, and was assisted to some steps, where he sat down and fainted away. He was afterwards taken to a chymist’s shop, where his month was washed with a lotion, after which he taken home. The deceased and Wells were fellow workmen, and were on perfectly good terms. Was sure the circumstance was purely accidental.
Thomas Tume, another fellmonger, corroborated the above statement and said, there was not the slightest ill-will between the deceased and Welle.
Mr. Andrew Wright Maitland, dresser to Mr. Cooper, to the hospital, deposed, that the deceased was brought in on the 4th inst. He examined him and found his tongue much swollen. He complained of pain in the neck and difficulty in swallowing. Witness inspected the tongue very minutely, and could not discover that there was any thing in it. On the Tuesday following he vomited a quantity of blood, which he continued to do at intervals until his death, which took place on the 15th. A post mortem examination was made by Dr. Hodgkin in the presence of witness, when a piece of tobacco pipe, three inches in length, was found embedded in his tongue! The broken piece was found an inch from the surface. The wound had completely healed over it. The witness attributed the death of the deceased to exhaustion, brought on by the vomiting of blood before-mentioned. The introduction of the piece of pipe into the tongue was undoubtedly the foundation of the cause of his death.
By a Juror—If the tongue had been properly examined at the time of the accident, might not the piece of pipe have been extracted?...
"Mr. Daybreak at home!" I asked : and for answer all I got was that "I should have to get up early if I wished to see daybreak."
Ill-fitting time for so poor a joke, I thought, as I passed the neatly trimmed hedges on either side of the carriage way which led to the modest mansion. Anon I was met by a brace of superb tri-coloured" collies, blue black, red tan, with just enough perfect whiteness to make dazzling their shirts and collars. The lovely animals soon made my acquaintance, and their cold noses, shining coats, and the kindly welcome they offered me were indisputable evidence of the affectionate care bestowed upon them by their sporting owner. On enquiry, the "boy" told me that his master was in the stables —the most natural place in which to find him — and there I immediately repaired, passing through a courtyard occupied by many varieties of fowls, notably some fine specimens of silver pencilled Habburghs, a brood of well-grown Chahgshas, and a few gamecocks that looked like business. As I approached the stable a flock of grand white Wusieh geese came hissing up to me, and making a clamour worthy of their historic ancestors of Capitol fame. On the shelves of a pretty dovecote a crowd of fantails, jacobins, and tumblers were preening themselves in the warm rays of the westerning sun, while fastened to a pole was a jabbering chimpanzee whose unwonted shrieks seemed to have no effect whatever upon his many feathered friends. A few steps farther on I was enquiringly met by a very workmanlike fox terrier vixen, and following close upon her, clad in a horsey suit of drab tweed, appeared a little bit of human nature, scarcely five feet high. Well, he only stands about so high, that's all. "Can this be Daybreak? " I soliloquised, as all my preconceived notions collapsed like a pack of cards. What rather expected was a big burly individual of the stage coach driver type, of loud voice and louder laugh, and those blue eyes so common to the box. Instead, I looked upon an unnourished, wizened little imp, who looked as if scarcely able to say "Bo" to one of his own geese. Never was the idol of conjecture more completely shattered.
On introducing myself I mentioned the purport of my visit, and asked to be allowed to see the stables. Without the slightest hesitation, he said: "Walk in, and just mention if anything strikes you." After lingering a moment at various stalls, I remarked that he appeared to own a fine, looking lot, but that I thought that the grey in the middle stall was the "pick of the basket." Turning round to a very attentive mafoo—who had been regarding me very suspiciously, as I thought—he said, "Take the grey into the yard, boy, and let the gentleman look at him." The pony was walked round for my inspection, and "Daybreak" very kindly explained his points. "Where he excels," said he, "is in his great length of back and shortness below see how sleek and fat he is below the knee—and his small hind knees are perfection. He stands well over, and his small piggy eyes and large head proclaim him at once to be of Arab blood."
I asked if he thought the pony was good enough to win the Champions.
He replied, "No, he is too valuable, for he has been my favourite brougham pony for the last six years." Having got off this joke on a poor uninitiated scribe like myself, he asked me to go indoors and have a glass of Aquarius. Probably this was another joke.
As we entered the house I could not help remarking the numberless pictures of celebrated horses and ponies which lined the walls of the hall and staircase. Beadsman, Robert the Devil, Ormonde, Common; and Orme were amongst the representatives of the large animals, while conspicuous amongst the ponies were capital portraits of such local celebrities as Fleur-de-Lys, Teen Kwatang, Black Satin, Strathocoa, Wild Dash, Hero, Royalist, et hoc genus omne. On the landing I noticed a splendid proof engraving of that prince of horsemen, Fred. Archer, and a cunningly devised series of splinter bars made a unique but capital hatstand. Some fine silver cups and salvers ornamented the dining room sideboards. Hunting crops, spurs, driving whips, and sporting etceteras were in profusion everywhere.
In the drawing-room the first thing to catch my eye was a splendid picture of Prejudice on an easel with the colours tastefully hung over the top. And very pretty was the ensemble. Hoofs of celebrated ponies, made into inkstands, snuff boxes, paper weights, etc., all beautifully polished, commanded attention, while a little pen and ink sketch of the Stewards discussing the raising of the Leger weights was one of the very funniest caricatures I have seen for many a day,
In an ante-room, which seemed specially designed for the purpose, was an exhibition of cups won by "Daybreak's" ponies in ! Hongkong and Shanghai, Shanghai Paper Hunt trophies, a drag hunt memento in the shape of a coon-dog's tail, and some Dog and Poultry Show prizes.
I "That's a fine picture of a house-boat!" ' I said. "Yes, that was taken on my return from a Wuhu shooting trip last winter; but ! I did not care to have the bag photographed. Do you recognise the boat. It belongs to my old friend, and everybody's friend, Tripp, a man whose friendship has been tried by many and never found wanting. But I may have something more to say about him in my next letter to the Daily News. All I can now say is that we've got him on the list of those who will be missed."
"To change the subject for a moment, which, Mr. Daybreak, do you consider the pony of the century'?"
"Well, if I must reply, I should say Hero, though his record is not an unbeaten one: but we must not forget the unfortunate Royalist who, even when not extended and carrying three pounds overweight, lowered Zephyr's record of 2 min. 38¾ for 1 1/4 miles, to 2 min. 38s. Had this pony kept sound he might have beaten, and very probably would have beaten, the skewbald, for he was, take him all round, a truer style of race horse than Hero."
" Whom do you consider the best jockey you have ever seen in China?" I enquired.
"Well with a string of ponies, I would rather have Mr. Bidwell up than any other rider, on race-day. He had wonderful strength in the saddle and any amount of dash; on the flat and across country he j could make a pony gallop that no one else could get out of a canter."
"What do you think of our fin-de-siecle jockeys?"
"It's true that we have still some good riders, but very few are in the same street with Waller, Nickels, Hutchings, Meller, Ogle, Ilbert, Lewis, and others. One of the drawbacks which a young jockey has to contend against is the effect of winning a race shortly after commencing race-riding. Winning a race no more implies that the rider is a jockey than that the pony is necessarily a racer."
“Do you consider big stables benefit racing?” "Well," said "Daybreak," "big stables of the size of Mr. John Peel's, Mr. Ring's, Mr. Humphrey's, etc., I think do a good deal for racing; but bigger than these do more harm than good—in one way by keeping out many one-or-two-pony men, who cannot possibly compete with an owner of sixty ponies. It is on record that over one hundred ponies passed through one stable during a training season. The cost of purchasing and keep of so many animals, even if only kept for a short time, I consider beyond the limit of amateur racing. Another drawback is that leviathan stables tend to professional employment in one way or another, either as owner, trainer, or jockey, which is what no one wants."
"Do you consider the starting for our races good?"
"Taken on the whole," said "Daybreak," "I cannot say I do. With China ponies the starter, in my opinion, must stand in front of his field; in any case not behind it. As for trainers, I consider Wm. Day the best, for he has had great experience, and moreover, understands the foreign as well as the native peculiarities."
Here the striking of the Custom House clock warned me that my visit might be considered a visitation, so I rose to go.
"Yes," said "Daybreak," "Time flies, but
" I hate to learn the ebb of time
"From yon dull tower's drowsy chime."
On passing the picture of Archer on the landing, I remarked on the delicate formation of his hand.
“There's no doubt about it, he held his horses with a silken thread, and had a ' touch as gentle as the morning light.' "
“Goodbye” called out “Daybreak” as I traversed the well-gravelled path, “and don’t give me away.”
Which I have not done.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
The North - China Herald and Supreme Court & Consular Gazette (1870-1941); Jul 2, 1897; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chinese Newspapers Collection Pg- 36
“DAYBREAK”
By one who knows him
“Master have got?”
“No, have got.”
“Yes, have got.”
These were the contradictory sentences that passed between myself and one of the servants shortly after I had rung the bell at the front door of the hong occupied by the founder of Sport and Gossip and upon presenting my card to the Celestial in question he placed it on a silver salver and invited me to the "drawingroom. topside," which was his pidgin-English way of putting it
" So far, so good," said I to myself, "I shall beard the lion in his den," and with these words in my mind the Celestial disappeared. Left to my own resources my curiosity led my eye to wander over the artistically Furnished drawing-room, upon the walls of which were some beautiful oil paintings of scenes down the Clyde. On the top of the grand piano I noticed a lot of songs, the "book" of the Gay Parisienne, etc., and on the wall facing me was a picture of the Grand National, and underneath an excellent engraving of Cloister; on the silver table were cups innumerable, trophies won in the Races and Paper Hunts, etc, and these, with the beautiful Japanese and Chinese curios and the flowers and ferns, added greatly to the beauty of a beautiful drawing-room. A few minutes later the door opened and "Daybreak" himself gave me a hearty welcome.
"Good gracious, old man, why didn't you yell as you came upstairs; now I'm a bachelor this sort of thing is allowed. And what is the joke in sending up your card?"
"No joke at all; I have been asked to call upon you officially to gain some information with regard to Sport and Gossip. It is now just six months since you started your paper and the experiences you can give me I am sure will be very interesting."
"Really I don't know what I can say, but come away into my den and we'll have a whisky and soda, and perhaps that may bring some ideas into my head."
With these words "Daybreak" led the way to the other side of the house, his cheery manner making me feel quite at home, and on arriving in the room, touching the electric bell, he remarked "Now we shan't be long." Had anyone deposited me blindfold in his study without previously telling me who the owner was I should at once have said "Daybreak," for everything in it spoke of him. On the large desk in the centre were numbers of race books dating from years back to the present time, each one containing a full account of all that was between the covers; home papers, Country Life, the Sportsman, the Pink’ un were upon one side and on the other was a file of Sport and Gossip. Close at hand I noticed a stop watch and field-glasses and on the walls were photos of celebrated Shanghai race ponies and jockeys, and above a picture of Orion I observed a red flag which "Daybreak" informed me he valued very highly as with it he started the Criterions in the Spring of 1895 which was won by Orion in the fastest time on record, 2.2 ½ ."Ah, that was a race," said "Daybreak," "Sweet William on Orion beat Blackberry, Chuck up, a short head."
Amongst the many pictures I noticed quite a number that recalled to mind dramatic pieces I had seen in the Lyceum and Country Club and by my side was an easel on which was an engraving entitled "Top Weight." "Daybreak" observing me taking note of it said: " Is that not a beautiful picture? It was given to me by an old chum when he came out from home a few years ago." On the left hand were two enlarged photographs of the Race Club Amateur Circus, between which I noticed a coloured drawing which "Daybreak" informed me, and to quote his words, was the work of the Phil May of the Far East, Mr. Hayter. It represented a meet of the S.P.H.C. at the Bubbling Well in which the faces of many of the most prominent riders were easily recognisable; the date on it was 1883-4 and from a note at foot I observed that during that year my host was Secretary and Mr. J. S. Fearon Master. Another picture very highly valued by "Daybreak," and by the same local artist, was entitled "A cast-off griffin;" in the middle of the country the animal has deposited his rider and is making his way for home." Money couldn't buy that," was "Daybreak's " remark.
"What is the name of that pony a lady is holding ?" was my next question as I pointed to a large picture above me. " Oh that’s Petronel," replied "Daybreak." "I owned a bit of him with Mr. Common; he ran second to Beeswng in the Maidens of 1892," and, observing me comparing the lady in the picture with an enlarged photograph over the mantelpiece, "Daybreak" said: " Ah, that's the better half; at this time last year we were spending our time in the Highlands;
and what times they were! Well, well, here's luck, old man !"
" Have you seen the Academy pictures ? " said "Daybreak" as he handed the book of engravings to me, "there is one that I like immensely and intend having framed. Here it is, 'The Gipsies' Rest,' by Crowe. It takes my fancy immensely. Look at the old horse in the foreground; it must be a grand painting. I would give worlds to see it. And the gipsies' vans in the distance, how they remind me of this time last year! Eighteen consecutive summers in China do indeed make you enjoy one at home, and that picture takes me hack to the corner of an English hayfield in Kent near where a was staying. What would I give for just I whiff of a hayfield now and a chance of wandering through those lovely orchards? At the side of the road the gipsies' vans are drawn up, the horses are grazing close at hand—jaded poor-looking animals—on the grass two or three of the male members of the camp are fast asleep, and as we pass two or three bright-eyed girls offer to tell our fortunes. From the last van the blue smoke is curling up, the breeze carrying it into the pretty copse close by, while as we approach the peaceful quiet of the scene is broken by the yelping of two dogs under the cart—mongrels certainly, but ones that any rabbit or hare would have a poor chance with. That picture brings the whole scene back to me. But I am wandering, and really I don't know what I can tell you about Sport and Gossip."
"Well, I suppose you are pleased with the great success that has attended your efforts?''
“Oh, yes," was the reply, "our fondest hopes have been more than realised and I believe Sport and Gossip is the only paper started in Shanghai that has showed a profit from the commencement."
"Yes, I think you are quite right there, but don't you find it a great deal of work?"
"Yes, if you look upon it as work, and especially as we have our own businesses to attend to; but we look on it as pleasure; every one must have a hobby and Sport and Gossip is mine. The many kind letters I have had from people here alone make what to many would be hard work to me a great pleasure."
" Do you intend making any alterations in the paper after this month ? "
"Nothing of importance; we thought of changing some details in connection with it, for instance, the price, which at $15 per annum is not cheap, but we have decided to continue at this figure until the year is finished. One thing we are very pleased to find is that dozens and dozens of people, although they are not subscribers, know each Sunday the contents of the paper, which shows that although the price may debar them from subscribing they still enjoy reading the paper as it is passed on to them by friends "
"And can you tell me what changes you are likely to make next year?"
"Well, I must not give away stable secrets but we have had three or four offers from people who wish to put money into the paper and so make it cheaper and within the reach of all, and at the same time make the work lighter for us."
"Do you not think that you have been rather hard in some of the remarks you have made in Sport and Gossip f
" Certainly not. ’Play the Game' is our motto and that we have always done, and shall do to the best of our ability."
"But, by writing as you have done, have you not sometimes found that you have made enemies?"
"No, certainly not; I have never made an enemy of anyone that I would wish to call a friend."
“And how does having to write each week compare with only writing when you felt like it. as you used to do for the North-China Daily News before Sport and Gossip started?" "Well, now you are getting inquisitive. I do find a difference, and sometimes am a little anxious about the front page, to say nothing of the interior ones, but our Editor is one of the best of good fellows and helps things along splendidly. I have been amused though at some remarks he has made to me since Sport and Gossip first saw the light. I feel quite at home in writing "Notes and Notions" and on sporting matters I find no difficulty, but I was very much startled when our Editor came to me one Friday and said: 'Better get your obituary notice ready for poor old ____, he won't last many hours longer and if he steps off before Sunday we must get him in this week. This took my breath away, for the person in question was a very old friend of mine, and here I was asked to write an account of his life in Shanghai before the sad end had come. Such is journalism! Another embarrassing ordeal to go through was writing a report of the Flower Show, especially as I hardly know a daisy from a dahlia, but with a few Latin names dropped in I got through fairly well. If I am ever told off to 'do' a garden party though it will be the last straw, and I have told the Editor so “
"And have you tried your hand at proof-reading?"
"Yes, rather, and I positively hate it; can't do it in fact I tried my best but broke up altogether. When reading a proof of something I had written about a sale of griffins at the Horse Bazaar it commenced as follows: “The first Auction of Spring Chickens at the Horse Bazaar.” Since then I have done as little proof-reading as possible; my temper won't stand it. It reminded me very much of Mrs. Langtry’s mistake in the piece she was acting in, when to her lover she should have said: 'Come, let us seek some cosy nook’ but instead remarked: 'Come, let us seek some nosey cook;' it sort of takes the poetry out of the words, does it not? What going? You must have the other half of that soda," said "Daybreak." And after that I said good-bye.
Sports and Pastimes:
The North China Herald Oct 25 1924.
Sporting Gossip
A Backward Glance on Shanghai’s Racing History: The Old Sporting Spirit.
By Sunrise
"After an absence of only 12 short years, and what a change has been wrought in the 'Model Settlement,' so spoke a well known sportsman to me the other day. When asked for his impressions he continued; "I am more than agreeably surprised with the growth of the port—-it has been stupendous, and hardly anyone in my day could possibly have visualized such a transformation, but of course you know that my sole interest in life then— after business—was centred on the China pony with all the attendant joys attaching to racing, paper hunting and polo. The love of my youth is still very strong in me. Give me the conditions which obtained in 'my days.' We had two Race Meetings a year; training was taken up very seriously by owners and jockeys alike; the rails were patronized by as keen a crowd of sportsmen as the most critical of men would wish to meet: jokes and chaff bubbled on all sides and the conversation centred round the ponies and their prospects of putting up good gallops. All this merriment was duly recorded in the inimitable lines penned by the well beloved and much respected 'Daybreak' in ‘Sport and Gossip’ which ceased publication some 20 years ago and is still missed to-day. John Peel and the sound of his famous horn did not appeal more to hunting men of his day than did 'Sport and Gossip' on a Sunday morning to the patrons of all local sports. Breezy and critical with the' higher tone of true sportsmanship it scored many friends but hurt the susceptibilities of no one, Even those who were the most criticized were at the same time the keenest to read the pithy paragraphs of 'Daybreak' and to be whole-heartedly in accord with the spirit therein."
"Racing and the training necessarily associated with it formed such a part of the life of the sport in those less material days that it was considered sufficiently a function to be reported in extenso as a special feature in the local papers at least a couple of times a week while the Season lasted, although there were not as many followers of the turf then as now."
"Taking place as they did twice a year our old Spring and Autumn Meetings were considered the two great social functions of the year, when women vied with each other in displaying the latest in dress. As a necessary adjunct to such display, it was natural to have convivial gatherings on the part of leaders of society, to which were invited friends, local and from the Outports. The picnic spirit of these functions continued merrily for the remainder of the day and the biggest losers were the first to congratulate the successful."
"Then as now the lotteries formed one of the leading attractions for a couple of weeks prior to the meeting, but the spirit in the old days which I speak of never left the region of the picnic style of jocularity and open bidding as was natural as when training performances were a matter of open knowledge to all."
So sincere was my companion in all that he had to say over the little bottle, that I was forced to reflect on the then and now and reasoned for myself why the picnic nature of our racing should have disappeared. After all this was natural when we consider that from two Meetings a year coupled with a Paper Hunt programme we have now over 30 racing days annually. As a consequence ponies have to be kept fit and to keep them in such condition it is essentially a serious business without any room for the picnic spirit.
The increase in the number of races has caused an increase in the number of ponies taking part both in these races and in the training, rendering it very difficult to record in full the times of all, without which any record worth having would be incomplete. It would be asking too much from our voluntary Time-Keepers to be present at the rails in the wee sma' hour's watching those who desire to gallop in the dark and remain throughout the morning for those who perform more openly.
It shall, however, be my endeavour in various notes through the present season to re-instil the spirit of the past in these pages as a token of regard towards one of the finest of sportsmen that ever adorned the local turf and wrote under the name of "Daybreak."
I would like to have written something about the forthcoming
Meeting on this occasion but the Race Books have only just come out, so in my
next article I shall attempt to write fully on the chances of the various
ponies competing in the races.
1779 Almanack:
Simon Facey, Magistrate St E, also Col in Militia
Simon Facey having children in St E PR with wife Ruth abt 1764 (V1/24).
St Elizabeth 1782/4:
For St E
Simon Facey
Col of Militia, St Elizabeth
Simon Facey
Commissioners to take Affidavits out of Grand Court, Peter Sargeant and John
Delaroach [Delaroche] (also Magistrate), Esquires
Coroner, Thomas Chambers, Esq.
Clerk of the Peace and Court, Edward Badnedge, Esq.
Clerk of the Vestry, Sampson Delaroach
St Elizabeth 1782/4:
For St E
Simon Facey
Col of Militia, St Elizabeth
Simon Facey
Leonard Claiborne:
http://www.thepeerage.com/p19853.htm
Colonel John Campbell1
M, #198530, b. 1673, d. 29 January 1740
Last Edited=24 Apr 2009
Colonel John Campbell was born in 1673 at Torblaren, Glenaray, Argyllshire, Scotland.1 He was the son of Reverend Patrick Campbell and Jean McIver Campbell.1 He was baptised on 13 March 1673 at Kilmichael, Glassary, Argyllshire, Scotland.1 He married Elizabeth (?).2 He married Katherine Claiborne, daughter of Colonel unknown Clayborn, between 1700 and 1708 at Jamaica.1 He died on 29 January 1740 at St. Elizabeth, Jamaica.1
Colonel John Campbell also went by the nick-name of John 'Black River'.1 He emigrated to Jamaica arriving on circa 1700.1
Children of Colonel John Campbell and Katherine Claiborne
John Campbell1
Elizabeth Campbell1
Colin Campbell+2 d. 26 Jan 1752
William Campbell2 d. 1747
Anne Campbell+1 b. 1700, d. 1783
Films held by LDS at Exhibition Road, London (& Utah).
Examination of the St Elizabeth Parish records show many Maitlands, the
earliest of which is our Francis (1). Index film no 1224314 refers to all the
missing second generation shown on the original Maitland Tree. The Copy
Registers are on film 1368561 (later ones on 1223998) and are photographs of
the registers held by the Registrar General in Jamaica.
These are the original texts noted from the records. Where relevant, they are
repeated under the individual concerned in their family file.
INDEX:
The significant baptismal entries indexed on film 1224314 are:
1720-1800 Rebecca D. Wright 1 8
1720-1800: Francis M. Vol 1 Folio 49
Richard M. 1 54
1801-1825 Andrew Wright M 1 190
John 1 190
Francis 1 190
Richard 1 190
George 2 57
Alexander 2 57
Septimus 2 57
Numerous other entries are in the index: they mostly refer
to slaves who have taken the owner's name.
Other entries of interest are:
Marriages:
1832 Emma Rebecca M.
1847 Andrew Wright M.
Burial:
1840 Octavius: ours was baptised in London: this is probably a
slave, named after Octavius. See below.
1856 Andrew Wright M.
Vol 1, folio 8 (1720-1800):
Rebecca Dunston Wright, daughter of Patty, a mulatto, lately a slave belonging
to Mr Roderick Rose, three years old last May and baptised Nov 12 1752.
Vol 1, folio 35 (1720-1800):
1773 August 1, baptised, Elizabeth M., reputed daughter of Richard Parchment
(?) by Sarah M., born 18 August 1772.
Also: William 28/12/1775, John 12/2/1782, Richard 14/1/1779, Nicholas 2/9/1785.
Vol 1, folio 49 (1720-1800):
1784 May 23: Francis Maitland baptised, reputed son of John Maitland by Rebecca
Wright. Born 25 feb 1784. (Listed under Non White).
Vol 1, folio 54:
1788: Richard Maitland baptised, reputed son of John Maitland by Rebecca
Wright. Born 4 August 1786.
Under "Persons non-white" category, crossed out,
which appears not to be used any more.
Vol 1, folio 190 (1801-1825)
1814 April 12, at Giddy Hall
Andrew Wright M. )
John M. ) Children of Francis Maitland and
Francis M. ) his wife Mistress.
Richard M. )
Rebecca Wright ) Slaves Belonging ( Billy Wright
Jane M. ) to Francis M. ( Benjamin Brown
Fanny M. ) ( Thomas Brown
Johnson M. ) ( William Roberts
Louisa M. ) ( John M.
Richard M. ) ( Fanny Wright
Thomas Clark ) ( Eliza Read (?)
Thomas Wright
Elizabeth Wright ( Slaves belonging Bify (?) Wright
Clarissa Wright ( to Estate of Mary Wright
Celia Wright ( Andrew Wright
Vol 1, folio 195:
1814 Dec 11 at Black River, Margaret Carpenter Honneywell, Sambo Woman, the
property of Francis Maitland, aged 20 years.
Vol 2, folio 57:
3 baptism entries on 23/3/1821 for George, (Born 14/4/1818), Alexander (born
31/5/1819) and Septimus (born 20/1/1821) M. "... the son of Mr Francis
Maitland, a free person of colour and Ann, his wife, reputed white, baptised 23
March".
Also baptised same day, 48 slaves belonging to Francis M.
1821 June 21:
94 slaves, the property of Mitcham & Silver Grove (best Guess)
baptised: many were called Maitland.
Several Maitland marriages were at Giddy Hall in the 1830's between people
described as apprentices.
Francis M and Eliza Wright married at Giddy Hall by banns on 9/4/1837. Probably
a slave, not ours. A negro called Francis M. was baptised in 1835, aged 50
years.
Edward M & Catherine Griffith, apprentices at Giddy Hall, baptised 24/7/1836.
Several similar entries are shown.
On cursory reading, I found a number of burials of Wrights at Lacovia between
1789 & 1806. James Cooper Wright, buried 2/5/1806, had a daughter called
Mary Frances by Ann, his wife, b: 14/6/1760.
Several early (1750's) Wright baptisms refer to Westmoreland.
Marriages (1223998):
Octavius M. and Christiana Williams 9 May 1850.
"Samuel Maitland and Camilla Beckford, both of Font(?) Hill married 18
October 1850."
John Bennet and Flora M. both of Burnt Savannah married 12 August 1842.
PORT ROYAL parish records (film 1291768):
Charles Maitland bapt 5/5/1814, free mestu(?) son of Charles Maitland and Maria
Lucri???? (rem unreadable), (V1/83).
Kingston PR:
William Maitland bapt 25/8/1794, son of Milborough Merchant by John Maitland,
mulatto.
"non white person": John Maitland Munro, b18/7/1809, reputed son of John
Munro by Elizabeth Hutchinson, ch 30/3/1811 at Sacridd?
Lacovia?. Next entry is for John Munro, about 33 years, free mulatto.
There is mention of a James Maitland, planter, dying in Jamaica in September 1773. (ref Scots Magazine, Issue 35 p 559, Nov 1773,
National Library of Scotland checked June 1995). No trace has been found in the
Jamaica microfilms.
1851 Census 72, Upper Stamford St, Lambeth.
Peter Halahan (Hd 35 House Agent Kilkenny), Harriet (33, Exeter), Frank (named
Halahan, but actually Maitland, 14, Scholar at home, Lancs, Liverpool), John
(also Maitland, 12, scholar at home, Jamaica), James (4), Harriet (2) Emma (5
mths) last 3 Lambeth, Ellen O'Brian (servant, Limerick).
1845 Post Office Directory:
Peter Augustus Halahan House Agent, 72 Upper Stamford St.
1861 Census 21, College St, Chelsea (became Fulham Rd)
(RG9-35 f3-6):
Peter A Halahan (42, Landholder, Kilkenny, Ireland), Harriet (44, Devonshire
[difficult to read - best guess]), James (son? 13, London), Harriett (11, London) Emma (10, London).
1871 Census (RG10-79,f64-74) 407 Fulham Rd, Chelsea:
Peter Halahan (wid, 50, Estate Agent, Ireland), Harriet (22, London), Emma (20,
London), Jane Williams (servant, Caernavon), Teresa Ambrose (visitor,
Governess, Surrey).
1881 Census: 407 Fulham Rd, London. (0080 f13 p19).
Peter A Halahan (wid, 57, Gent, Ireland), Emma (25, London), Harriet (27,
London).
APPENDIX – DESCENDANTS OF THE HON. JOSEPH JAMES SWABY
Included as this family was commercially connected with the Maitlands and
earlier on with the Burtons.
The Honourable Joseph James Swaby was custos (chief magistrate) of St. Elizabeth parish, Jamaica in 1787, the 1790s and the first decade of the 1800s (Jamaica Almanacs) and owned several properties in that parish and the adjoining parish, Manchester. His descendants play an important part in Robertson family history. The relationships get quite complicated though, which is why I’ve decided to deal with the subject in this separate appendix rather than clutter up the main history of Peter Robertson and his descendants. These notes were finished on 23 March 2012.
As with the main history, a handwritten tree has been provided to accompany the notes.
Origin and birth
The Hon. Joseph James Swaby seems to have been born in 1733 or thereabouts. My evidence for this is the record of his burial in the parish registers of St Elizabeth, Jamaica. The registers say that he was buried on 15 August 1811 at New River, aged 78 (LDS film 1368561, folio 346).
However, I have searched in vain for a birth in the St Elizabeth parish registers around the date suggested by his burial record. The thought therefore occurs that he may have been born off the island. He may even be the first Swaby to have arrived in Jamaica or at least in this part of Jamaica.
But if he wasn’t born in Jamaica, where did he come from? Although I haven’t been able to find any conclusive proof, the odds-on favourite seems to be Yorkshire. As will be described later, one of his sons born in Jamaica was apparently sent to school near Barnet Castle in Yorkshire. Another son died in Knottingley, West Yorkshire, is commemorated in a plaque in the nearby parish church at Kellington and lived at some time in Kilnsey, North Yorkshire. Also a grandson, George Swaby MD, husband of Ann Robertson (number 9 on the main tree), though born in Jamaica married in Scarborough. And the first son of George Swaby MD was born near Doncaster. The fact that all these people gravitated towards Yorkshire is surely a strong indication that Joseph James himself may have come from that county.
Interestingly, a representative from a Yorkshire family history research organisation (Mintwood Services) that I got talking to at the Who Do You Think You Are exhibition has recently sent me an email (15 March 21012) saying: “The name Swaby appears in the East Riding of Yorkshire, in the Hull and Beverley areas, for a long time, but I have not come across it in other parts of Yorkshire.”
Liaisons and Marriage
Liaisons
The only marriage that I have been able to trace for Joseph James is in 1784 in St Elizabeth parish, Jamaica (see below). This may or may not be his only marriage. What seems indisputable, however, is that he had children by at least a couple of women outside wedlock before his marriage in 1784.
Ruth Burton
Joseph had one, perhaps two children, by Ruth Burton in the 1750s when he would have been in his twenties.
Ruth was possibly the daughter of Nicholas Burton and Sarah Witter and born around 1735. This is a theory I found on a website called Wrights of St Elizabeth Family (http://www.antonymaitland.com/wright01.htm#_Toc318011999). The author of that website speculates that a baptism on 5 September 1753 in the St Elizabeth register (LDS film 1368561, p. 14) “Judith and Ruth, base daughters of Sarah Witter” (no father named) refers to the baptism of Judith and Ruth Burton daughters of Nicholas Burton and Sarah Witter. He has worked back to approximate birth dates from the birth dates of the children of Judith and Ruth Burton. But the author has only named the father of Sarah Witter’s “base daughters” as Nicholas Burton on the grounds that a later daughter called Johanna Marks Burton baptised in April 1768 when 12 years old has parents actually named as Nicholas Burton and Sarah. As the author admits, this theory is “somewhat shaky”. The author believes that the Judith baptised in 1753 was probably a quadroon, i.e. with one black grandparent, so if he’s correct Ruth Burton would also have been a quadroon.
Martha Wilson Brown
Then towards the end of the 1770s and almost up to the year
in which he married, Joseph was fathering children by Martha Wilson Brown, who
is described in his will as “a free mulatto woman”. She was baptised on 16
June 1783, at which time she is described as being about 34 years of age (St
Elizabeth parish register).
Marriage
Joseph married Ann Wilson, a widow, on 28 September 1784 in St Elizabeth parish by licence (parish register: LDS film 1368561). It seems to be an odd coincidence that barely over a year before Martha (above) was baptised with the middle name “Wilson”.
Anyway, Ann Wilson, Joseph’s wife, was born Ann Badioli, the daughter of John Badioli, an Italian merchant who had business premises at The Italian Warehouse, 3 The Haymarket, London. Discovering all this was quite a neat bit of detective work, if I do say so myself.
One of Ann and Joseph’s sons born in Jamaica (see “Children” below) has the unusual middle name “Badioli”. I then discovered that one John Badioli made a PCC will in October 1802 in which he left legacies to his grandson, John Matthew Wilson, and his granddaughter, Elizabeth Wilson. A search on the LDS site came up with baptisms of these two grandchildren at St James, Piccadilly, London, in 1776 and 1779, parents Matthew and Ann Wilson. Then it was just a question of finding these parents’ marriage. However, the LDS site didn’t come up with the answer. So then I went to the Westminster archives and trawled through the marriage register of St James, Piccadilly, the church where the children had been baptised. No luck again. Then I thought what other churches are nearby. Answer St Martins-in-the fields. And sure enough on 19 August 1775 Matthew Wilson and Ann Badioli were married at that church by L.B.L (a licence issued by the Bishop of London) in the presence of J. Badioli (parish register). To acquire that licence a marriage allegation had to be sworn. I’ve got a copy of that too from the London Metropolitan Archives which states that Ann in August 1775 was a spinster “upwards of twenty one years of age”.
What is strange is that Ann is not mentioned anywhere in Joseph’s will made on 5 November 1807 and yet up to now I have been unable to find her death before that date, or indeed at all.
The information about The Italian Warehouse comes from Kent’s Directory for the Year 1794 – Cities of London and Westminster, & Borough of Southwark.
Children
Children of Joseph James Swaby and Ruth Burton (and there may be more) were:
Joseph Swaby, born 16 March 1755, baptised 22 April 1759 (St Elizabeth parish register); date and place of death unknown ………… (2)
John Swaby, born about 1758 (Hon. JJS will naming a son John by Ruth Burton, birth date deduced from age at which he died); buried Pleasant Prospect, Manchester parish, 17 November 1825, aged 67 (Manchester parish register) …………….. (3)
Children of Joseph James Swaby and Martha Wilson Brown were:
Thomas Swaby, born 26 February 1778 (St Elizabeth parish register)
Martha Swaby, born 12 November 1781 (St Elizabeth parish register)
Eleanor Swaby, born 7 April 1783 (St Elizabeth parish register)
Ann Wilson Swaby, baptised 26 September 1798 about 13 years of age (St Elizabeth parish register)
I haven’t bothered to follow up the history of Martha’s children. I may be wrong but I don’t think they play any future part in Robertson family history.
Children of Joseph James Swaby and Ann Swaby (formerly Wilson, née Badioli) were:
Caroline, born 9 October 1785 in Jamaica, baptised 11 April 1788 in Dickleburgh, Norfolk, England (baptism and birth information from Dickleburgh parish register, LDS film 1951632) (but tomb inscription at Belmont estate apparently says birth date was 11 October 1785); died 7 April 1874 (per tomb inscription according to Brett Ashmeade-Hawkins) ………. (4)
Joseph James, baptised 28 June 1789 in Dickleburgh, Norfolk (parish register); died 3 October 1821 at Knottingley, Yorkshire (Gentleman’s Magazine July to December 1821 and July to December 1831) ……………… (5)
Frederick Badioli, born 25 September 1791 in Jamaica, baptised 12 March 1792 (St Elizabeth parish register); died November 1875 in Seneca Falls, New York, USA (Papers Read before the Seneca Falls Historical Society for the Year 1906, article on “The Swaby Family”, p. 71) ……………….. (6)
More about Hon. Joseph James Swaby
Parochial offices
According to the Jamaica Almanacs, Joseph James Swaby was a magistrate for St Elizabeth parish as early as 1776. The 1776 Almanac is the second oldest Almanac available at the National Library of Jamaica (Jamaica Family Search website).
The Almanacs available on the Jamaica Family Search website at the time of writing show that Joseph continued to be a magistrate for St Elizabeth parish in 1779, 1782 and 1784. The next available Almanac, the one for 1787, shows him as custos (chief magistrate) of St Elizabeth and chief judge of common pleas. In the next Almanac, however, that for 1790, he is neither custos nor a magistrate. I presume this is because he was in England at the time (his first two legitimate children were baptised there in 1788 and 1789 – see above). In the next available Almanacs, those for 1796, 1799, 1802, 1805 and 1808, he is once again custos of St Elizabeth and chief judge of common pleas. The next Almanac is the one for 1811, the year in which he died and the Jamaica Family Search website does not reproduce the civil list details from that Almanac.
Properties
The earliest evidence I’ve come across so far concerning properties owned by the Hon. Joseph James Swaby is in Papers presented to the House of Commons on the 7th May 1804 Respecting the Slave Trade; &c. This report shows the number of negro slaves on properties in St Elizabeth parish as at 17 December 1799. The Hon. Joseph James Swaby appears as the proprietor of two properties: Montpellier and New River with 250 slaves on the two taken together.
I’ve no idea when or how he acquired these properties. It is clear, however, that he still owned them when he made his will. Reference is made in the Chancery case of Swaby v Swaby (1835) (National Archives ref C 13/1086/7 – parchment rolls) to properties he owned at that time. They were “a coffee plantation called ‘Hope’ in the parish of Manchester, a breeding Penn called Montpelier in St Elizabeth and a large piece or parcel of Moras land called New River in St Elizabeth also”.
It looks as if Joseph must have acquired “Hope” after 1799. It doesn’t show up in the Papers presented to the House of Commons that show properties owned in St Elizabeth in December that year. And the territory where I believe this plantation later became located would still have been part of St Elizabeth parish then. Manchester parish was not formed until 1814.
The Almanacs are not very helpful regarding the individual properties owned by the Hon. Joseph James Swaby during his lifetime. The first Almanac on the Jamaica Family Search website to show proprietors is the 1811 issue based on “givings-in” for 1810. In the case of the Hon. Joseph James Swaby in St Elizabeth parish, it just lists “Montpelier etc” with 340 slaves and 500 head of stock.
Will
The Hon. Joseph James Swaby made his will on 5 November 1807. Among his trustees he appoints “my Son in Law John Robertson of the said parish of Saint Elizabeth practitioner in physic and Surgery and my son John Swaby Son of Ruth Burton late of the said parish deceased their Executors and administrators”.
The trustees are directed to use the interest from £10,000 worth of 4 per cent Consols for the maintenance and education of Joseph’s younger legitimate son, Fredrick Badioli Swaby, who at the time that the will was made is said to be “now in England for his education”. When Frederick reaches 21, they are to continue paying the interest to him for his “use maintenance and benefit”. If Frederick dies without leaving lawful issue, the £10,000 is to revert to and form part of the residue of the Hon. Joseph James Swaby’s estate. Since Frederick has “expressed a wish and desire to remain in and follow the farming business in England”, the will also empowers the trustees to use up to £1,000 of the capital, if Frederick requests, to stock a farm. Finally, Frederick is to be paid an annuity of £200 for life.
The will leaves £2,000 to Joseph’s grandson, Swaby Plummer. [He is the son that Joseph’s daughter Caroline had from her first marriage, i.e. to Thomas Plummer.]
Joseph leaves 100 pounds Jamaican money to his “said son John”, which must mean the son John previously mentioned in the will, that is, his son John Swaby son of Ruth Burton. The 100 pounds is “to purchase mourning”. The will goes on to say of John that: “his dutiful & affectionate attention towards me and his [illegible] of my [illegible] merit a much larger bequest & I would give it to him did not the amplitude of his own property render it unnecessary”. John also gets a legacy of 1,000 pounds Jamaican money that is expressed to be “exclusive of what I have hereinbefore to him given and bequeathed”.
The will leaves 500 pounds Jamaican money to Joseph’s illegitimate son Thomas Swaby. But to get the money Thomas must release his future right to a parcel of land that Joseph conveyed to his mother, Martha Wilson Brown, back in 1784. The original deed of conveyance had entitled Martha to hold the land during her lifetime and Thomas and his heirs to hold the land for ever after her death. There is a marginal note in the will that Thomas complied with this condition and was paid the 500 pounds.
In his will, Joseph sets free from slavery Roberta Franklin, a quadroon woman, “as a reward & compensation for her faithful service and attention to me” and provides for her to be paid an annuity of 20 pounds Jamaican money for life.
There is a legacy of £100 payable to Joseph’s goddaughter and an annuity of £50 payable to her mother.
Otherwise, the residue of Joseph’s substantial estate (Montpelier, New River and Hope) goes to his first legitimate son, Joseph James Swaby junior and his lawful issue for ever. At the time the will was made Joseph James junior is described as “now in Scotland for his education”. If Joseph James junior dies without issue, the residue is to go to the legitimate children of his “dearly beloved daughter Caroline Robertson the wife of the said John Robertson”. (But Joseph James junior did have issue, two daughters, so the estate never came the way of the Robertson family.)
Slave compensation
Montpelier
The St. Elizabeth Register of Claims (TNA reference T 71/870) gives the details of Claim 104. The claim is made by James Swaby, Absentee – Trustee of Joseph James Swaby Snr. Montpelier Pen – 240 slaves. Then there is a note that there was a letter from S B Hamer dated October 20th 1835 giving notice of a suit in Chancery. The final paragraph says: “Paid into Court £4,332 18s 4d, 14th March 1836, in ‘Swaby & anr., Infants v James Swaby & ors’”.
So I’m not clear if the compensation money eventually found its way to the granddaughters of the Hon. Joseph James Swaby, their father, Joseph James Swaby junior5, having died on 3 October 1821. One would need to follow the case of Swaby v Swaby through to its conclusion perhaps.
Swaby’s Hope
The Manchester Register of Claims (TNA reference T 71/860) gives details of Claim 116. The claim is made by James Swaby, Absentee – Trustee of Joseph James Swaby Snr. Swaby’s Hope – 120 slaves. Then there is a note that there was a letter from S B Hamer dated October 20th 1835 giving notice of a suit in Chancery. The final paragraph says: “Paid into Court £2,478 14s 9d, 14th March 1836, in ‘Swaby & anr., Infants v James Swaby & ors’”.
See Montpelier above re where the compensation ended up.
New River
I haven’t been able to find any claim for compensation. Maybe there were no slaves attached to this property at the claim deadline, 1 August 1834.
I’ve only included a separate item about this Joseph Swaby because some postings on the internet seem to have confused him with the legitimate son, Joseph James, baptised some 34 years later in 1789.
The entry in the St Elizabeth parish register for the earlier Joseph Swaby simply says: “Joseph Swaby born March 16th 1755 the Base child of Ruth Burton was Baptised April 22nd 1759”. Using this information I assume, someone on the GENI website has created a page showing Joseph James Swaby son of Ruth Burton and the Hon. Joseph James Swaby, born 16 March 1755, died 3 October 1821 in Knottingley, England. This is clearly wrong because the Joseph James who died in Knottingley was reported in the Gentleman’s Magazine as being aged 33!
All I think we can say about the earlier Joseph is that he probably was the son of the Hon. Joseph James Swaby, that he was simply called Joseph (not Joseph James) and that he was born and baptised on the dates shown in the St Elizabeth parish register. I haven’t been able to discover where or when he died.
3. JOHN SWABY
Identifying John
The first thing to say is that I’ve been unable to find a baptism of a John Swaby son of the Hon. Joseph James Swaby in the St Elizabeth parish register. However, the will made by the Hon. Joseph James Swaby on 5 November 1807 clearly indicates that he had a son by the name of John who was still alive when the will was signed. In the will he appoints “my son John Swaby son of Ruth Burton” as one of his trustees.
We therefore come back to the question of when this son of the Hon. Joseph James Swaby and Ruth Burton was born and when he died. I’ve concluded that he must be the very same John Swaby whose burial in 1825 is recorded in the Manchester parish register as follows: “November 17th John Swaby Esq aged 67 years was buried at Pleasant Prospect Plantation”.
So what are the grounds for reaching that conclusion?
The Chancery case referred to earlier in connection with the properties owned by the Hon. Joseph James Swaby (Swaby v Swaby (1835) (National Archives ref C 13/1086/7 – parchment rolls)) provides part of the answer. The proceedings in that case start by recalling the details of the Hon. Joseph James Swaby’s will and mention the fact that “his son John Swaby therein also described (but since deceased)” was one of the trustees. The proceedings then go on to say that: “in or about the month of November one thousand eight hundred and twenty five the said [my emphasis] John Swaby departed this life having first duly made and published his last will and testament in writing whereby he appointed the said James Swaby and Thomas Oxley in the County of York Doctor of Medicine (and another Defendant hereto) the Executors thereof who have since duly proved the said will in the Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury”.
So from this we know that the son John mentioned in the will of the Hon. Joseph James Swaby as his trustee died sometime in November 1825, which of course ties up with the date in the Manchester parish register. The Chancery case also informs us that the same John Swaby made a PCC will and names the executors. I’ve downloaded a PCC will made by a John Swaby which he signed on 16 July 1824. A codicil was signed on 6 October 1825. It is clearly the will of the John Swaby referred to in the Chancery case. James Swaby and Thomas Oxley of Yorkshire are named among the executors. The will starts: “I John Swaby of the parish of Manchester in the County of Middlesex and Island of Jamaica”.
So now we know that the son John mentioned in the will of the Hon. Joseph James Swaby as his trustee died sometime in November 1825 and was based in the parish of Manchester.
But was the son referred to in both wills buried at Pleasant Prospect Plantation in the parish of Manchester? Well if I’ve got the right death, you would expect to see some change in the ownership details of Pleasant Prospect Plantation between 1825 and 1826. And sure enough, the 1826 Jamaican Almanac, based on “givings-in” for the quarter ended 31 March 1825 shows John Swaby proprietor of Pleasant Prospect but the 1827 issue, based on “givings-in” for the quarter ended 31 March 1826, shows Pleasant Prospect owned by the estate of John Swaby.
So, case proved I think. And here is just one final thought. John Swaby’s presumed birth year of 1758 arrived at by working back 67 years from 1825 is close to the birth date, 1755, of the Hon. Joseph James Swaby’s other son, Joseph, whom we assume he had by Ruth Burton.
Liaisons
John never married as far as I can determine. However, he had a number of children by two different women whom he refers to in his will as his “friends”. The first of these was Frances King, who is referred to in the St Elizabeth parish register as a free mulatto. Later he fathered children by Ann French described in that parish register as a free quadroon.
Children
Children of John Swaby and Frances King named in his will and also, excepting Ruth, recorded in the parish register were:
James Swaby, born 28 October 1787, baptised 18 December 1789 (St Elizabeth parish register); date and place of death not yet researched …………………… (7)
Ruth Swaby, born Jamaica about 1791 (named in the will but not found in the registers, mother assumed to be Frances, birth year based on the age at which she died reported in Gentleman’s Magazine, July to December 1853, p. 430); died 5 September 1853, aged 62 at Thringstone, Leicestershire (Gentleman’s Magazine) …………. (8)
George Swaby, born 16 June 1800, baptised 27 November 1800 (St Elizabeth parish register); died 12 September 1859 at St George’s Hospital, Hyde Park, London, from a fatal accident (The West Middlesex Advertiser, September 17 1859, p. 3) ……………… (9)
Eliza Susan Swaby, born 16 June 1804, baptised 3 February 1809 at “The Gutters” (St Elizabeth parish register); date and place of death not yet researched
Frances Swaby, born 15 January 1808, baptised 3 February 1809 at the “The Gutters” (St Elizabeth parish register); date and place of death not yet researched
Children of John Swaby and Frances King who appear only in the parish register but not in the will and are therefore presumed to have died before 6 October 1825 (the date of the codicil) were:
Elizabeth Judith Swaby, born 23 October 1789, baptised 18 December 1789 (St Elizabeth parish register)
Lewis Swaby, born 8 June 1792, baptised 21 December 1792 (St Elizabeth parish register)
John Swaby, born 21 December 1793, baptised 27 October 1794 (St Elizabeth parish register)
Children of John Swaby and Ann French, all of whom appear both in the will and the registers, were:
Charles French Swaby, born 18 June 1806, baptised 14 February 1809 at “The Cottage” (St Elizabeth parish register)
Sarah Ann Swaby, born 15 November 1808, baptised 14 February 1809 at “The Cottage” (St Elizabeth parish register)
John Swaby, baptised 4 April 1819 aged 7 years (Manchester parish register)
Horatio Swaby, baptised 4 April 1819 aged 3 years (Manchester parish register)
Mary Antoinette Swaby, born 11 August 1821, baptised 5 April 1822 (Manchester parish register)
I have not researched the date and place of death of any of John Swaby’s children by Ann French.
More about John Swaby
Property
I think John Swaby initially had just the one property, that is, “Pleasant Prospect”. He is shown as owning it as at 17 December 1799 in the Papers presented to the House of Commons on the 7th May 1804 Respecting the Slave Trade; &c. At that time there were 130 slaves on the property. The 1804 map of Jamaica prepared by the surveyor James Robertson (now available on Jamaica Family Search) shows only one property with the name “J Swaby’s” beside it. It appears to lie on the May Day Hills east and somewhat south of “Gutters Tavern”. These hills are situated to the south and west of Mandeville. There are properties lying to the southeast and southwest of the J Swaby’s property that are labelled on the 1804 map with the name “Hon. J.J. Swaby’s”. Are these Montpelier and Hope?
Later John Swaby appears to have acquired an additional property in St Elizabeth parish called “Retreat”. He makes his first appearance as owner of this property in the 1820 Jamaica Almanac, which is based on “givings-in” for the March quarter of 1819. He continues to be shown as the owner in the next six Almanacs up to the 1826 one (based on “givings-in” in for the March quarter of 1825). But neither he nor his estate is shown as the owner in the 1827 Almanac (based on “givings-in” for the March quarter of 1826, i.e. after he died). So presumably his executors sold the property.
Will
John Swaby made his will on 16 July 1824. He signed a codicil on 6 October 1825. Probate was granted in Jamaica on 25 December 1825. The will was proved in London as a PCC will on 18 May 1829.
He appointed the following individuals as executors of his will and guardians of his children : Jonathan Samuda (? spelling) merchant of the City of London, Thomas Oxley of Yorkshire, Richard Boucher of Manchester parish Jamaica, John Salmon the elder and Charles Farquharson of St Elizabeth parish, and his “beloved son James Swaby of the parish of Manchester”.
John bequeathed the residue of his estate, land, slaves, cattle and stock (not otherwise disposed of by his will) whether real, personal or mixed, of whatever nature or kind, situated in Jamaica or Great Britain, to his sons John Swaby and Horatio Swaby, to share and share alike as tenants in common, and then to their respective lawful heirs and assigns for ever.
Numerous legacies and bequests were made before arriving at the residue:
100 pounds Jamaican money to his friend Frances King to purchase mourning
100 pounds Jamaican money to his son James son of Frances King to purchase mourning “he having a sufficiency of his own any further bequest of money would be unnecessary”
300 pounds Jamaican money to his friend Ann French and also a well shod horse and side saddle
£500 to each of his grandchildren Frances Oxley, John Swaby Oxley and Lewis Oxley, the daughter and sons of Thomas Oxley of Yorkshire by his daughter Ruth Oxley (formerly Ruth Swaby)
£3,000 to his daughter Ruth Oxley
£10,000 to each of his daughters Sarah Ann Swaby and Marie Antoinette Swaby “(begotten of the body of the said Ann French)” to be invested in 3 per cent Consolidated Annuities or similar Government stock. The interest is to be used for their education and maintenance (any surplus being added to the principal) during their minorities. On reaching 21 they get free and absolute use of the principal.
£5,000 to each of his daughters Eliza Susan Swaby and Frances Swaby “(begotten of the body of the said Frances King)”. These sums are to be used in the same way as the £10,000 legacies, i.e. invested, the interest used for the children’s education and maintenance, and the principal becoming theirs absolutely at age 21.
“Item. I give and bequeath unto my Grandson, supposed to be named George Swaby, the Son of George Swaby of Yorkshire aforesaid practitioner in physic and surgery the legacy or sum of fifteen hundred pounds sterling”
40 pounds “currency” (means Jamaican money presumably) per annum for life to his son Charles Swaby
To his daughter Marie Antoinette Swaby “all the ready Monies that I may die possessed of or have by me at either of my residences in this Island”.
In the codicil he leaves a legacy of £5,000 to his son Charles Swaby.
A few points emerge:
I’m not sure in what sense the first son, James, was considered to have “a sufficiency of his own”. Despite what I’ve read in some GoogleBook snippets, I don’t think he had any estates of his own.
The “Grandson, supposed to be named George Swaby” is surely the George Swaby22 who was born on 22 September 1823 at Maltby Hall, near Doncaster (see main “Peter Robertson and his descendants” tree and notes). He was the son of George Swaby MD.
The reference to “either of my residences” in the ready money bequest to Marie Antoinette Swaby lends support to my conclusion that John Swaby owned two properties: Pleasant Prospect and Retreat.
Slave compensation
This will need some further research.
I’ve been unable to find any claim in the Manchester Register of Claims (TNA reference T 71/860) for slaves attached to a property called Pleasant Prospect. However, Claim 165 contains references to the Swabys in connection with a property called “Spur Tree” and it occurs to me that maybe Pleasant Prospect changed its name to “Spur Tree” by the time claims for slave compensation were filed.
The details of Claim 165 are as follows:
Claimant: Samuel Carson – Receiver in the cause Swaby v Swaby in Chancery – “Spur Tree” – 388 slaves
Counterclaim 14th August 1835 by Ann French – Legatee of John Swaby under will dated 16th July 1824 –£10,000 & interest
Counterclaim by Eleanor Allen & Ann Bridges as owners by a judgment in ejection in 1833 against the receivers
Counterclaim by Eleanor Allen & Ann Bridges by certain Orders of Chancery in the case of Swaby v Swaby –£2,000
Awarded (? illegible word) £8,269 15s. 11d
£191 3s. 10d & interest part of the Compensation money paid by Acct General under Order of Colonial Court in Jamaica Certificate dated 9 September 1836
17th October 1836: Affidavits of Service of Notice of Eleanor Allen & Ann Bridges and of Ann French
27th April 1840 Order of the Master of the Rolls to pay the residue of the Compensation money into Court
Paid into Court residue £8,078 12s 1d with interest and accumulations thereon – Morrice & others v Oxley & ors 4th May 1840 [NB that name Oxley again, one of John Swaby’s executors]
So had Pleasant Prospect changed its name and been put into the hands of a receiver while the case of Swaby v Swaby was making its way through the Court of Chancery? And who finally received the £8,078 12s 1d paid into Court when the case was finally concluded?
Some further evidence that suggests Pleasant Prospect may have changed its name is to be found in the series of Jamaica Almanacs available on the Jamaica Family Search website. The last time that the property Pleasant Prospect is referred to by name is in the 1829 issue (based on givings-in for the March 1828 quarter). The reference is “Swaby, John, estate of, Pleasant Prospect, 376/144”, the numbers being slaves and stock. In the 1831 Almanac, the next available one, there is no mention of J Swaby or Pleasant Prospect. However, a new property called “Spur Tree” appears in the list. The reference is “Brooks, George, Spur Tree, 387/166”. Was he the receiver at the time? In the 1832 Almanac J Swaby reappears but without the name Pleasant Prospect. The reference is “Swaby, John, estate of, 387/ 188”; Spur Tree has disappeared. In 1833, Spur Tree reappears and J Swaby disappears. The entry is “Brooks, George, Spur Tree 380/ 180”. Finally in 1838, we have the entry “Berry, Hon. C. P. receiver, Spur-Tree 308”. The number refers to the number of “apprentices”.
4. CAROLINE SWABY
Caroline Swaby, the first legitimate child of the Hon. Joseph James Swaby1 and Ann Swaby (formerly Wilson, née Badioli) was born on 9 October 1785 in Jamaica and baptised on 11 April 1788 in Dickleburgh, Norfolk, England (baptism and birth information from Dickleburgh parish register, LDS film 1951632). However, according to a gentleman called Brett Ashmeade-Hawkins, a tomb inscription at Belmont estate in Jamaica says her birth date was 11 October 1785. What’s a difference of two days though?
I still haven’t managed to discover why the Hon. Joseph James Swaby and his wife were in the Norfolk village of Dickleburgh and why Caroline was baptised there. It did occur to me that maybe Caroline’s mother’s family came from there. A proper trawl through the Dickleburgh parish registers might yield a clue.
According to the tomb inscription at Belmont as recorded by Brett Ashmeade-Hawkins, Caroline died on 7 April 1874. However, I’ve been unable to find a record of her burial in the Jamaican parish registers so far. I thought she might have returned to Scotland to die but the one death of a Caroline Robertson (her final married name) in 1874 on Scotlands People wasn’t her. Another possibility, a remote one maybe, is that she became a Catholic convert. Her daughter Isabella (number 17 on the main “Peter Robertson and his descendants” tree) was out in Jamaica in the 1860s I think and was married to a Catholic convert, Joseph Berry King, MA, MD. Influenced by her daughter, maybe Caroline converted in which case her burial wouldn’t appear in the LDS Jamaican parish registers. These are all Anglican registers. Anyway, the mystery remains unsolved at the time of writing.
Marriage number 1
Caroline married Thomas Plummer some time in 1801. Thomas was a descendant of the Barrett family of Jamaica. It seems that Plummers married into the Barrett family in the 1760s. All this information comes from a family tree contained in the appendix to a book called The Barretts of Jamaica © 2000 by Robert Assheton Barrett.
I've never tried to contact the author of the Barrett book to find out precisely when in 1801 and where the Swaby –Plummer marriage took place. What I have found, however, is an entry in the St Elizabeth parish register of Thomas Plummer Esq being buried at “New River” on 7 August 1803 (parish register).
Child
Caroline Plummer (née Swaby) and Thomas Plummer had one child, a son:
Swaby Plummer, born 2 December 1802, baptised (after Thomas died) 3 January 1804 (St Elizabeth parish register); buried 3 January 1823 in Paris aged 21 (Register of Burials in the City of Paris from 1815 to 1850)
Swaby received his degree as a doctor of medicine from Edinburgh University on 1 August 1821 (Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, 1821, p. 636).
Marriage number 2
Caroline Plummer (née Swaby) married John Robertson of Belmont estate on 3 January 1804 in St. Elizabeth parish, Jamaica (parish register). This is the first link between the Swabys and the Robertsons.
See the main “Peter Robertson and his descendants” tree and notes for details of their children and their descendants.
More about Caroline Robertson (formerly Plummer, née Swaby)
Caroline clearly did not spend all of her long life, nearly 89 years if the tombstone is to be believed, in Jamaica. She must have been off the island on all of the following occasions at least:
10 April 1809 when her second daughter, Janet, was born at Newton House at Kilmadock, Scotland
10 April 1817 when her fifth daughter, Mary Margaret Adlam, was baptised at Kilmadock (she was born in Gartincaber House)
September 1818 when her husband John died in Edinburgh and possibly up to the end of April 1819 to give birth to her sixth and last daughter, Isabella, after John died
1 November 1822, when she was a witness to the marriage of her first daughter, Ann, in Scarborough to George Swaby MD
Autumn of 1826 to autumn 1827 at Portobello, near Edinburgh, Scotland with her daughter Janet (evidence in the Scottish “Freedom and Putting to Silence” case requiring Janet’s unwanted stalker, Archibald Valence, to desist)
3 March 1836 when she was a witness to the marriage of her sixth daughter, Isabella, in St James’s church, Westminster, London
29 May 1841 when she was a witness to the marriage of her fifth daughter, Mary Margaret Adlam, in the British Embassy Chapel, Paris
Joseph James Swaby, the first son of the Hon. Joseph James Swaby1 and Ann Swaby (formerly Wilson, née Badioli) was baptised on 28 June 1789 in Dickleburgh, Norfolk (parish register). I’m assuming he may have also been born there since there is no entry in the register indicating that he was born in Jamaica as there is in the case of his sister Caroline. He died on 3 October 1821 at Knottingley, Yorkshire (Gentleman’s Magazine July to December 1821 and July to December 1831).
Marriage
Joseph James (henceforth “Joseph James junior” to distinguish him from his father) married Ann Clark on 16 June 1817 at Snaith, Yorkshire (Northern Star and Yorkshire Magazine, July 1817, p. 77). Ann, the only daughter of Thomas Clark, was born around 1799 in Knottingley, Yorkshire (The London Magazine January to June 1824, p. 577 for father and 1861 census for place and date of birth). She died on 6 November 1867 at Daleside Cottage, parish of Hawnby, Yorkshire (England wills calendar).
Children
Children of Joseph James junior and Ann Swaby (née Clark) were:
Ann Margaret Eleanor, baptised 14 February 1819 in Conistone in Craven, Yorkshire (LDS transcription of parish register); died before 1 August 1866 (date of her mother’s will from which it is clear that Ann Margaret had already died) ……………………… (10)
Catherine Atkinson, baptised 30 August 1820 in Kirkby Ravensworth, Yorkshire (LDS transcription of parish register); died 14 December 1879 at 106 Hereford Road, Bayswater, London (England wills calendar) ……………. (11)
More about Joseph James junior
His residence
In his will made in September 1821 Joseph James junior describes himself as “late of Chapel House in the parish of Burnsall in the County of York but now of Knottingley in the said County”. This is just one of several instances where descendants of the Hon. Joseph James Swaby seem to gravitate towards Yorkshire suggesting that he also may have come from that county originally.
As regards Chapel House, a magazine announcement of his elder daughter’s marriage serves to further pinpoint its location. It is near the village of Kilnsey (The Court, Lady’s Magazine, half yearly volume ending June 1842, p. 516) and that was in the ancient parish of Burnsall (GENUKI). Kilnsey is a small village in the Yorkshire Dales about 12 miles north of Skipton. Why Joseph James junior chose to settle in this particular part of Yorkshire I don’t know. Chapel House is a Georgian grade II listed building that was owned by the Tennant family and is now apparently a hotel (britishlistedbuildings.co.uk). Joseph James junior must have leased it.
Knottingley, where his wife was born, is off the M62 near Pontefract.
Will
Joseph James junior made his will on 29 September 1821. He signed a codicil on the following day replacing one of his executors.
He appointed the following individuals as joint executrix and executors of his will: his wife Ann Swaby, David Samuda of the City of London, John Salmon of St Elizabeth parish Jamaica and Thomas Clark of Knottingley surgeon. The codicil then appointed Edmund Francis Green of London in place of John Salmon. His trustees were the same individuals as his executors.
The first instruction in his will is to his executors to pay his wife the £4,000 proceeds that should become due under a life assurance policy taken out with the Union Assurance Company in London. He then gives his wife his carriages and horses. He also instructs his executors to permit his wife “to make choice of and select so many and such part of [his] dogs and guns as she may think proper”. He bequeaths to his wife the use of his plate for her life. After her death the plate is to go his children in equal shares. If all his children die while his wife is still alive (which didn’t happen in fact), the plate is to go to “Swaby Plummer Esquire son of Mrs Caroline Robertson his executors, administrators and assigns absolutely”.
After all these bequests have been taken into account, the residue of his personal estate wherever situated is conveyed to his trustees with instructions to invest it in securities, after it has been converted into money where not already in that form. The interest and dividends from the trust monies are to be paid to his wife during her lifetime for her use absolutely and not to be “liable to the debts, control or interference of any future husband”. After his wife dies the trust monies are to be transferred in equal shares to his children who have reached the age of 21 (if sons) or reached that age or married (if daughters). If his wife dies during the minority of any of his children, the share of any such child is to be invested and the income used for the maintenance and education of the child until the child reaches the age of 21 (if a son) or reaches that age or marries (if a daughter). If all his children die unmarried before they reach 21 and before their share of the trust monies becomes due, then the trust monies, interest, dividends and accumulations are to go to Swaby Plummer.
Memorial
In Kellington parish church there are apparently two neat marble slabs upon which are inscribed the words:
Sacred to the memory of Joseph James Swaby, esquire, son of Honble Joseph James Swaby, late of the parish of St. Elizabeth in the island of Jamaica, a gentleman whose many virtues and affability of manners will render his memory long regretted. He died Oct. the 3rd, 1821, in the 32nd year of his age.
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Kellington is a village near Knottingley.
Source: Gentleman’s Magazine, July to December 1831, p. 16.
His portrait
In her will, Ann Swaby (née Clark) left her daughter Catherine Atkinson Swaby a portrait painting of her father Joseph James junior. By that time Caroline had married a Mr John Murray so the will actually refers to her by her married name. So maybe there is still a portrait of Joseph James junior surviving somewhere.
Ann Clark and another Swaby/Robertson link
After Joseph James junior died, his wife Ann (née Ann Clark) married her second husband, a lawyer called Samuel Bamford Hamer. The marriage took place on 9 April 1824 at Pontefract (The London Magazine January to June 1824, p. 577). Another indirect Swaby/Robertson connection arose as a result of this marriage. The only daughter of Ann Hamer, the widow of Joseph James Swaby junior, and Samuel Bamford Hamer was Everilda Jane Dickon Hamer (born around 1825 in Littlehampton, Sussex). And Everilda married the grandson of John Robertson of Belmont, the Crimean war hero John William Swaby (number 24 on the main tree), son of John Robertson’s first daughter Ann (number 9 on the main tree).
Samuel Bamford Hamer
Samuel Bamford Hamer, the husband of Joseph James junior’s widow, Ann, is an interesting and seemingly devious character. He keeps cropping up in Chancery cases involving the Swabys. I started looking at these cases hoping that they would throw some light on family relationships but they turned out to be quite intriguing in themselves.
The two cases I’ve had a look at are Swaby v Hamer and Swaby v Swaby. But a word of warning: it is very difficult to follow the progress of these cases because of the way that the records are filed. So I may not have fully understood them. There were various distinct stages in a Chancery case. However, the records relating to these various stages of a given case are not filed together at the National Archives. The records relating to some stages are kept off site and have to be specially ordered. They come in the form of huge scrolls of parchment rolled together like carpet rolls with the records from those same stages of unrelated cases. The records for other stages of the case are to be found scattered throughout large bound volumes kept at Kew and can involve several years’ volumes, each containing the details of many cases, before you get to the record of the final decision.
Swaby v Hamer
Anyway, in Swaby v Hamer the plaintiffs were Samuel Bamford Hamer’s two step-daughters, Ann Margaret Eleanor Swaby and Catherine Atkinson Swaby, and his own daughter, Everilda Jane Dickon Hamer. The defendant was Samuel himself. The three plaintiffs were still children when the case started so it was brought by various adults on their behalf as so-called “next friends”.
The gist seems to be that Samuel was alleged to have been playing fast and loose with property that the girls’ great uncle on their mother’s side had intended in an unproved will to come their way. Specifically, Samuel had entered into a contract with the Earl of Chichester to purchase Daleside and other properties in Yorkshire for the price of £50,000 and in order to do this had taken £25,000 out of the great uncle’s property earmarked for the girls and also raised a mortgage of £25,000 secured against this property. At the time, so it was alleged, he had had no means of purchasing Daleside, etc. out of his own funds. I got as far as June 1832 with this case at which point the Court ordered an investigation of the parties’ books of account to ascertain what portion of the purchase price of Daleside had come from the estate of the great uncle and what portion from Samuel Bamford Hamer’s own funds. I suspect from a somewhat vague newspaper report that the case may have gone on for another six years but I haven’t found the final decision in the official records yet.
Incidentally, Samuel had been in a position to “misappropriate” the girls’ funds, if indeed it turns out that he did so, because none of the executors named in the great uncle’s will wanted to prove it and Samuel had been granted letters of administration. Interestingly, it seems that Samuel did eventually end up as lord of the manor of Dale Town, or Daleside, with his seat at Daleside Cottage (History and Topography of the City of York and the North Riding of Yorkshire, Volume II, by T. Whellan & Co, 1859, p. 685). So maybe he got away with it!
Swaby v Swaby
In this case Samuel took on the role of “next friend” to his two stepdaughters, having allegedly diddled them out of a potential inheritance in the other case! So are my accusations of deviousness unfounded? The plaintiffs were Ann Margaret Eleanor Swaby and Catherine Atkinson Swaby and the defendants were James Swaby and others.
The James Swaby named as defendant in this case was the son of John Swaby3, who in turn of course was the son of the Hon. Joseph James Swaby by Ruth Burton. The allegation in this case seems to be that James Swaby was mismanaging the estates that had belonged to the Hon. Joseph James Swaby (i.e. Montpelier, Swaby’s Hope and New River) and that had now been inherited under the Hon JJS will by his two granddaughters, Ann Margaret Eleanor Swaby and Catherine Atkinson Swaby. It seems that James had taken on this management role as the successor to his father, John Swaby, one of the trustees named in the will of the Hon. Joseph James Swaby. The allegation was that James had not accounted in full for the profits from the estates to the two girls and a plea was entered for him to be replaced as manager by Edmund Francis Green of Leadenhall Street in London. And that’s basically as far as I’ve got with this case. The only other thing that I’ve noted is that in 1836 the Court ordered the slave compensation for Montpelier and Swaby’s Hope to be paid into a Bank of England account while this case was in progress (TNA file C 33/873).
In summary, we have the granddaughters of the Hon. Joseph James Swaby descended along the legitimate line at loggerheads with the grandson of the Hon. Joseph James Swaby descended along the illegitimate line.
Frederick Badioli Swaby, the second son of the Hon. Joseph James Swaby1 and Ann Swaby (formerly Wilson, née Badioli) was born on 25 September 1791 in Jamaica and baptised there on 12 March 1792 (St Elizabeth parish register). He died in November 1875 in Seneca Falls, New York, USA (Papers Read before the Seneca Falls Historical Society for the Year 1906, article on “The Swaby Family”, p. 71).
Marriage
Frederick married Ann Haigh on 25 June 1813 at Eton School Chapel (parish register). She was the daughter of Captain John Haigh, an officer in the 33rd Infantry of the British Army (Seneca Falls article)
Children
These notes don’t go into the details since there are no obvious links back to the Robertson family. The article mentioned above (at http://www.archive.org/stream/papersreadbefore03sene/papersreadbefore03sene_djvu.txt) published by the Seneca Falls Historical Society takes the story on some way. From a rather inconclusive investigation, I suspect that Frederick’s line probably died out in the USA.
More about Frederick Badioli Swaby
The Seneca Falls article contains some interesting information about Frederick’s early education which once again suggests that the Hon. Joseph James Swaby may originally have come from Yorkshire. This is the relevant extract:
“Mr F. B. Swaby was educated in England and during the years 1805–1806, was a scholar in the school near Barnet Castle in Yorkshire, described in amusing caricature by Dickens in his novel Nicholas Nickleby under the name of Dotheboys Hall. Mr Swaby was perhaps the last survivor of that institution. From there he was sent to Eton.”
I don’t know how accurate this information is though because the same article erroneously refers to the Hon. Joseph James Swaby as a governor of Jamaica and as having married Ann Badioli in London rather than Jamaica.
James Swaby, grandson of the Hon. Joseph James Swaby1 and Ruth Burton, and first son of John Swaby3 and Frances King, was born in Jamaica on 28 October 1787 and baptised on 18 December 1789 (St Elizabeth parish register). The date and place of his death are unknown so far.
Marriage
James married Elizabeth Sutton, second daughter of Robert Sutton of Rossway, Hertfordshire, on 21 March 1829 at North Church, Hertfordshire (Gentleman’s Magazine, January to June 1829, p. 366 and LDS transcription of register). Although, neither of these sources names James as the son of John Swaby, I’m pretty positive I’ve got the right marriage. The Gentleman’s Magazine refers to the groom as James Swaby of Thorne House and one of the counterclaims against James Swaby by Samuel Bamford Hamer for slave compensation (TNA file T 71/1188) gives James’s address as The Thorne, Chesham, Bucks.
Robert Sutton, the bride’s father, was a member of the landed gentry (Burkes Dictionary of the Landed Gentry, 1847, Vol. II, p. 1335). So James did well.
Children
I haven’t bothered to follow up this line any further at the moment.
More about James Swaby
I’m slightly confused by what I’ve read on the internet about James Swaby on more than one occasion.
For example, The Reaper’s Garden © 2008 by Vincent Brown suggests on p. 113 that following the revocation of legacy constraints in Jamaica in 1813 “John Swaby was able to bequeath two large estates to his mulatto son James in 1826. Listed in the Jamaica Almanack of 1828, James owned 217 slaves and 331 head of stock.” But all I can see in the 1828 Almanac, under St Elizabeth parish, is: “Swaby, Joseph James, deceased, Montpelier and New River, 217/331.” That’s not a reference to estates bequeathed by John to James. It refers to estates previously owned by the Hon. Joseph James Swaby that were bequeathed to his legitimate son Joseph James junior.
Or again in The Slavery Reader © 2003 Edited by Gad Heuman and James Walvin, in a passage on p. 662 talking about the general exclusion of people of colour from white society, the author says: “Yet there were free coloureds — like the privileged brown man James Swaby — who were not subject to these restrictions. Swaby was a rich planter who owned at least two estates and several hundred slaves; he was educated at Charterhouse and served in the British army.” Well, once again I haven’t been able to find any evidence up to now that James actually owned estates; he may have managed them as a trustee. As for the business about Charterhouse and the British army, that might be worth investigating a bit further.
What does seem to be true is that James Swaby successfully petitioned the Jamaican Assembly to pass a private Act in 1823 entitling him and “his lawful issue to the same rights and privileges with British subjects, born of white parents” (The Laws of Jamaica, 1824, Table of Public and Private Acts). Judging from an article on the Jamaican Family Search website, it looks as if the full text of the original Acts is to be found at the National Archives in series CO 139 (Acts). So this might be worth checking up to see if there is any further genealogical information. Also the Sessional Papers in CO 140 may be worth checking to see what grounds were advanced by James Swaby to convince the Assembly to pass this private Act. Did he actually refer to named properties that he owned as justification of his status?
Ruth Swaby, granddaughter of the Hon. Joseph James Swaby1 and Ruth Burton, and first daughter of John Swaby3 probably by Frances King, was born in Jamaica about 1791 (named in John’s will as his daughter but not found in the registers, birth year based on the age at which she died reported in Gentleman’s Magazine, July to December 1853, p. 430). She died on 5 September 1853, aged 62 at Thringstone, Leicestershire (Gentleman’s Magazine, same issue).
Marriage
Ruth married Thomas Oxley on 15 June 1816 at Pontefract, Yorkshire (LDS transcription of parish register). So this is yet another instance of a Swaby born in Jamaica gravitating back to Yorkshire.
Children
Ruth’s father, John Swaby, mentions three children of this marriage in his will dated 16 July 1824: Frances Oxley, John Swaby Oxley and Lewis Oxley.
I haven’t bothered to track forward any further.
George Swaby, grandson of the Hon. Joseph James Swaby1 and Ruth Burton, and fourth son of John Swaby3 and Frances King, was born in Jamaica on 16 June 1800 and baptised there on 27 November 1800 (St Elizabeth parish register). He died on 12 September 1859 at St George’s Hospital, Hyde Park, London, from a fatal accident (The West Middlesex Advertiser, September 17 1859, p. 3).
Marriage
George married Ann Robertson by licence with the consent of Caroline Robertson on 1 November 1822 in the parish church of Scarborough, Yorkshire, England (Parish register). Ann Robertson (number 9 on the main tree) was the first daughter of John Robertson (number 3 on that tree) and his wife Caroline Robertson (née Swaby).
So here is another link between the Swabys and the Robertsons.
What is my justification for identifying the George Swaby, son of John Swaby and Frances King, with the George Swaby shown in the Scarborough parish register as marrying Ann Robertson in 1822? These are the main reasons:
1. |
There is an announcement in The Edinburgh Magazine, July to December 1822, p. 751, that reads as follows: “Nov. 1. At Scarborough, Yorkshire, George Swaby, Esq. M.D. second son of John Swaby, Esq. of Pleasant Prospect, St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, to Anne, eldest daughter of John Robertson, Esq. of Belmont, in the same parish, Jamaica.” Well the John Swaby I’ve written about in these notes (number 3) certainly seems to have been “of Pleasant Prospect”. And he had a fourth son called George (by Frances King). But it seems likely that his second and third sons had probably died by 1822 (not being mentioned in his will of 1824), so George would have been his second surviving son at the time of the Scarborough marriage. Also the John Swaby of Pleasant Prospect indicates in his will that he has a son George Swaby in Yorkshire who is a “practitioner in physic and surgery”. |
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2. |
The report in the The West Middlesex Advertiser of the fatal accident in which a George Swaby is run over by a London omnibus in September 1859 contains this extract: “Mr. Thomas Sargeant, 1, Selsley‑place, Whitehead’s Grove, Chelsea, deposed he was a private gentleman, and brother-in-law of deceased, whose name was George Swaby, aged 59. He formerly resided at 92, Sloane-street and latterly at Newland-street Kensington. He had just taken apartments at 78, Sloane-street, having returned from Ramsgate that day. Deceased was a medical man, having received a Scotch diploma, but did not practice; he had property in Jamaica, and lived as a private gentleman. Witness was not with deceased at the time of the accident, but saw him soon after at the hospital, by whom he was recognised.” Well, there is a Mr Thomas Sargent on the Peter Robertson tree who was a brother-in-law to a George Swaby who was a medical man, namely the George Swaby who married Ann Robertson. This Thomas Sargent was the husband of Ann’s fifth sister, Mary Margaret Adlam Robertson. What with the mention of Jamaica, I feel sure that the George Swaby identified by the witness, Thomas Sargent, is Ann Robertson’s husband. And the fact that the witness was able to confirm that George’s age was 59 ties in neatly with the birth date of 16 June 1800 recorded in the St Elizabeth parish register for the birth of John Swaby’s son George. |
In summary, if all this is correct (which I feel sure it must be), we have the grandson of the Hon Joseph James Swaby, George Swaby, marrying the granddaughter of the Hon Joseph James Swaby, Ann Robertson. However, George has come down the illegitimate line being the son of John Swaby by Frances King, and John being the son of the Hon Joseph James Swaby by Ruth Burton. Ann has come down the legitimate line being the daughter of Caroline Robertson (formerly Plummer, née Swaby) and her husband John Robertson of Belmont, and Caroline being the legitimate daughter of the Hon Joseph James Swaby and his wife Ann Swaby (formerly Wilson, née Badioli).
Children
See the main “Peter Robertson and his descendants” tree and notes for details of George and Ann’s children and their descendants.
10. ANN MARGARET ELEANOR SWABY
Ann Margaret Eleanor Swaby, granddaughter of the Hon. Joseph James Swaby1 and Ann Swaby (formerly Wilson, née Badioli) and elder daughter of Joseph James Swaby junior5 and Ann Swaby (née Clark) was baptised on 14 February 1819 in Conistone in Craven, Yorkshire (LDS transcription of parish register). She must have died before 1 August 1866 (date of her mother’s will from which it is clear that Ann Margaret had already died).
Marriage
It seems that Ann married three times. Her first marriage was on 5 March 1842 to Frederick Peart of Newark estate in Jamaica. The marriage ceremony took place at the Hope estate in Jamaica (i.e. presumably Swaby’s Hope, her grandfather’s property). These details come from The Court, Lady’s Magazine, half yearly volume ending June 1842, p. 516.
When Ann’s mother (also Ann, i.e. Ann Hamer (formerly Swaby, née Clark)) made her will in August 1866 she refers to her daughter as “my late daughter Ann Margaret Eleanor Ward”. There is an internet posting (on the Ancestry Family History & Genealogy Message Board by “mslade 53”) that Frederick Peart died at Newark on 30 June 1848 and that Ann Margaret then went on to marry a Mr Ward and after he died another Mr Ward! I haven’t bothered to check any of these subsequent marriages.
Children
I haven’t bothered to track forward any further. The internet posting referred to above suggests that Ann had two children by her first marriage, three by the first Mr Ward and five by the second Mr Ward and concludes with the words “What stamina!” Don’t know how true any of this is.
The author of that internet posting says she has a description by Ann Margaret Eleanor Swaby (signed as M A E Ward) of her first daughter’s wedding in 1863 in Mandeville. In the letter apparently she refers to other family members and neighbours. She used the address Newark, May Hill and refers to visiting Montpelier. It might be very interesting to contact “mslade 53”. Any Robertson neighbours mentioned I wonder? Caroline Robertson at Belmont mentioned maybe?
11. CAROLINE ATKINSON SWABY
Caroline Atkinson Swaby, granddaughter of the Hon. Joseph James Swaby1 and Ann Swaby (formerly Wilson, née Badioli) and younger daughter of Joseph James Swaby junior5 and Ann Swaby (née Clark) was baptised on 30 August 1820 in Kirkby Ravensworth, Yorkshire (LDS transcription of parish register). She died on 14 December 1879 at 106 Hereford Road, Bayswater, London (England wills calendar).
Marriage
Caroline married John Murray, a son of the Reverend Sir William Murray, 9th Baronet Murray, of Dunerne, on 14 August 1843 in the St James, Westminster registration district (Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition and Free BMD).
Children
I haven’t really bothered to track forward very far. A Murray family website suggests there were seven children: John, Jesse, Charles, William, Arthur de Monte, Laura and Annie. No doubt Burke’s will contain full details.
More about Caroline Atkinson Murray (née Swaby)
Will
I found a microfilm of Caroline’s will at the Mormon’s Family History Centre in London (film 1866625). She bequeaths all her “personal property and effects” to her sons John, William and Arthur Murray in equal shares and proportions. But the wills calendar reveals that her personal estate at probate date was under £600!
As for her share of her grandfather’s estates (Montpelier, Swaby’s Hope and New River) or the proceeds therefrom, I guess that must have ended up with her children if the provisions in the will of the Hon Joseph James Swaby’s will were followed through. The residue of his estate was willed to Joseph James junior and his lawful issue for ever to share and share alike.
(Aug 00: JAM will - Wright wills)
(11 Oct 00: editorial)
(19 Oct 00: C1881 Septimus)
(25 Oct 00: Andrew & Rebecca Wright family)
10/11/00: create new file Wright01
(11/11/00: added descendants of Andrew Wright M.)
10/3/2001: Rushbrookes & Dr AWM's story.
17/3/2001: Summaries.
29/3/2001: Link to Nicol family.
14/6/2001: resaved HTML from Word
24/9/2001: notes re Wedderburn.
15/10/2001: added Parchment details.
25/10/2001: editorial
2/11/2001: minor details, Move Parchments to CaptFred.
14/3/2002: Gazette quote
14/3/2002: extra details from Rushbrooke. Edited.
17/3/2002: Tomlinson.
27/3/2002: intro added.
23/7/2002: edited
16/9/02: FM 2 Marriage. & John Maitland DC
24/9/2002: York Place Census.
6/3/2003: Dr AWM's diary - minor additions ref Rushbrookes.
6/5/2003: Transfer AWM Diary, Slaves & Jam PR to Appendix.
19/1/2004: added putative Mugford Line
25/2/2004: Goodfellow Line
5/3/2004: Swaby notes.
28/4/2004: Carpenter line extended from IGI.
12/5/2004: edited
3/3/2005: edited Roberts layout
9/6/2005: Rushbrooke info
15/8/2005: misc census.
20/11/2005: John Maitland antecedents
13/2/2006: Summary and correct links.
11/4/2006: More editing on John Maitland, emails to endnote
22/9/06: Cooper & Andrew Wright Info.
26/11/2006: Septimus/Wasbrough issue & editing
10/1/2007: editing
4/6/2007: Edited & TOC
26/3/2008: added Jamaican records, edited, added Francis Mugford information.
10/9/2008: Small changes
13/3/2009: Edited layout
18/1/2010: small changes
15/2/2010: Jamaica visit 2010
23/7/2011: Revised Carpenter Line
25/2/2012: Jamaica visit 2012
6/7/2012: edited
20/12/2012: Added John Roberts 1833 descendants
1/03/2013: Slave Compensation & other updates.
1/03/2014: Extensive editing and extra detail of voyages
2/7/2015: various small additions.
13/10/2015: web frame
22/10/2015: included Roberts family.
29/10/2015: added some data to Francis 2 from other files.
28/12/2016: small changes.
18/4/2018: move Roberts to Wright01 file.
26/1/2020: Added AWM Diary
9/4/20 added Poll books to JM & AWM.
26/6/2020: edited & printed.
10/7/2020: new image for Uncle JAM.
14/7/2020: FM2 will P4-3
20/8/20: James Maitland g.g/son of JAM details – P4/17
27/8/20: added Swaby info P11/5 on
15/10/20: slight change to P4-4.
4/3/2022: edited Shermans sect 6, extra notes on Giddy Hall sale Uncle JAM
15/3/2022: John Sherman interview.
22/1/2024: Misc updates & Corrections
Newcastle Customs & Shipping records
[ii] Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette 16 October 1806
[iii]
William & John Salmon of St Elizabeth, intending to leave the island, 28
March 1794.
John Salmon ch 13/3/1774, Stoke St Michael, Somerset, of John & Mary
John Salmon esq married Elizabeth Vassal, widow, both of St Elizabeth, 24 Oct,
1794. They appear in Gloucestershire 1851 census.
John was an executor of Francis’s will.
Thornbury Roots website has a good right-up of the Salmons of Thornbury.
[iv] Donna Kenny redkenny@optusnet.com.au 2/2012 She also gave notes on the deed between Francs M & George Roberts.
[v] : Eric Politzer E4politzer@aol.com of Brooklyn, New York
[vi] Hew Stephenson Dovebooks@aol.com
[vii] 13 Nov 2006 Alistairangus@aol.com
[viii] Royal Gazette of Jamaica 12 March 1836
[ix] HardingDevon@aol.com several emails Dec 2003/Jan 2004 re Carpenter/Mugford families.
[x] Thomas Cole" colestips@sympatico.ca 1/2007
[xi]
william_marshall@bellsouth.net
3/2010,
I am Andrea Marshall (Sherman) of Jamaica, and I have found your reports on the
Maitland family most compelling and informative. My father was Denzil Earle
Sherman. (he died here in Miami Fl. 5 years ago}. His father was Negil Sherman
and his Mother was Annie Elise Arscott from the Arscotts of Spauldings. I
believe that Samuel Sherman was a relative of my father as I grew up hearing
all about Giddy Hall, Goshen and Mitcham. My cousin and I have been trying to
connect the dots to find details on Negil's parents as well as information
pertaining to the lineage of Samuel Sherman. Thanks to you, we have a fairly
complete picture of the Maitland clan. I would appreciate any additional input
that you might be able to supply on the subject, and will be more than happy to
fill in any blanks that you may have.
[xii] Bill & I got married in 1974 and moved to Virginia where he was in college. Dad and Mom moved up to Virginia in 1976 and were between Ja and Va for a while until they decided to settle in Miami. Family rules, so we eventually ended up here too. Ironically, our two eldest daughters have grown up and moved faaaaaaar away. One is in Michigan, and the other in Dallas, Texas.
[xiii] Springhill, POB 83, Black River, 876 328 6890 or 876 368 6623
[xiv] June Hire-Miller later told me that Percy Miller, a Jamaican, was so highly regarded that the bank often sent promising young men like John, Philip Dodd and Lloyd Mogg to the branch to learn.
[xv] Negil Eric Sherman m. Annie Elise Arscott on 29 June 1926 at Spalding, Clarendon.
[xvi] Greg Finch" gregpfinch@hotmail.com 5/2005
[xvii] "Diana Gendron" mgendron@bconnex.net
[18] "Brett Ashmeade-Hawkins" plantocrat@hotmail.com
[1] In her Loyalist Claim after the American War of Independence
[2] Painting from the collection of Jamaica National Library.
[3] Jamaica Family search & Westmoreland PR bur & bap.
[4] (PR Page 167, 1806 no 508).
[5] She was commemorated by a tomb stone in Black River churchyard, although there is no parish record of any burial, but the tombstone was probably of a later date.
[6] Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette 16 October 1806 (findmypast)
[7] A likely period, early 1824 is not in the UK National Archives collection.
[8] PRO: CO141 22 postscript
[9] Public Record Office On 8/12/93, found his will which had been proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury in the Public Record Office on microfilm PROB11 1694. Also Jamaica Supreme Court Wills 104/215, Francis Maitland entered 13/11/1824.
[10] Peter Durbin email with Joseph Swaby History 1/2013.
[11] 140/136 ent 9/12/1824
[12]
635/177 Feb-18 Date 24/3/1809 Ent 26/3/1814. Francis & Ann Maitland for
J£120 Mary Hook, free WoC of St Elizabeth a tennement on Black River Bay, adj
Mary Hook for ever. Small house.
[13] 635/178 Feb-18 Date 13/1/1809, Ent 26/3/1814
[14] 595/53 Feb-18 Date 1/11/1809 Ent 27/4/1810.
[15] St Elizabeth 646, Lower Works Estate. On Maitland-Wright Land CAD.
[16] 592/227 Feb-18 Date 13/7/1809 Ent 3/2/1810. Ind btw Francis Maitland of St Elizabeth free MoC planter and Thomas Hogg of Westmoreland esq. Francis Maitland & Ann for J£1500 from Thomas Hogg for 213 A The Cove Butting E on Maj Gen James Bannister now Fonthill est N on late Thomas Parris and late Ben Heath formerly Griffith Jenkins W & S on Sea for ever - Thomas Hogg was exec to Rebbecca Dunston Wright. Plat as for earlier transactions. Copy on file
[17] deed ref 561/161, Dated 20 March 1808, Ent 25 April 1809. A full transcript is in the Wills volume.
[18] 701/43 Feb-18 Date 1/1/1821 Ent 8/3/1821 Photo plat 1410 12/2. George Graham Stone of St Elizabeth and Frances wife esq of 1st part & Francis Maitland esq of St Elizabeth 2nd pt. For J£1050 George Graham Stone & Frances sell to Francis Maitland 300 acres NE on Giddy Hall, SE on part of same run of Mount Pleasant, SW and E Glebe Land, S & SW Brompton Pen & Thomas Simpson and NW on Forest Pen.
[19] 950/88 Dated 23/4/1869, Ent 30/7/1869
[20] 722/19 Feb-18 Date 8/4/1823 Ent 20/5/1823. Photos 1430 12/2 Full copy on file.
[21] 722/21 Feb Grand Court 1823. Hart v Mullins Black River 27/1/1823. For £70 from Francis Maitland for 1 slave from Deputy Marshall William Salmon.
[22] 703/3 Feb-18 Date 14/2/1821 Ent 22/7/1821 A full copy of the text is on file in the Wills Volume.
[23] A tierce was a British measure of coffee equivalent to between 5 and 7 hundred weight, in use during the 19th century. A tierce is a cask containing 42 gallons.
[24] The Past and Present State of the Tea Trade 1832 P85
[25] 727/218 Feb-18 Date 9/1/1824 Ent 23/7/1824.
[26] Jamaica St Elizabeth 602 & T71/870
[27] Ann Maitland From Henry Warlock – 1826 743/45 Feb-17 Date 13/6/1826 ent 19/10/1826
[28] LOS 883F26 dated 27/3/1845, ent 4/2/1847.
[29] 916/17 Date 5/8/1850 ent 20/4/55 AWM & Katherine sell 1/4 of GH ph early part 1725 8/2
[30] 945/114 Date 18/3/1859, ent 30/11/1866 Septimus Maitland & Susan Houston of Ditton Place, sell Septimus's 1/4 of Giddy Hall for £750. Most the same as 916/17 photo 1800 8/2
[31] 851/137 Feb-18 Date 20/9/1841 Ent 30/7/1842 – full copy in Wills file.
[32] 861/181 Feb-18 Date 3/11/1842 Ent 22/5/1844 Full copy in Wills File
[33] From UCL website: Fiat in bankruptcy versus Edmund Francis Green of 147 Leadenhall Street 1842; 4th dividend 1853. Coroner's report after his death: : 'It had by some been rumoured that the deceased had taken poison, and by others that he died of a broken heart, owing to misfortune, he having lost a large fortune in merantile pursuits, and become bankrupt... After the jury had been sworn, the Coroner said he had been informed of some fact connected with the deceased’s affairs which would remove any doubt which might exist as to whether the fear of actual distress, in consequence of his bankruptcy, had operated upon his mind. The deceased had a pension of 200l per annum, and a situation under the Mercers’ Company of a much larger amount, unattachable under his bankruptcy.' Verdict was deceased from natural causes. The court was due to sit 18 October, 1842 (London Gazette, 7 Oct 1842).
[34] 865/209 Feb-18 Date 2/12/1844 Ent 10/12/1844. Full copy in wills file.
[35] found by Jackie Ranstone and later copied by AM from RGD: Ann Maitland, Supreme Court Wills 114/172, dated 10/5/1826 entered 22/5/1834.
[36] 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.
[37] 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.
[38] 1B/11/3/151f45 Inventory 10 March 1835, Ent 18 April 1835.
[39]
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=47056
(2/2014) Chester Place not found in "Sewer Rates" Records for Lambeth
1834.
Chester Place is now 233-291 (odd numbers), Kennington Rd, Lambeth, and form a
balanced terrace of three storeys with basements and attics. A number of houses
have ground floor windows set in round-headed openings of the same size as
those of the entrances. Extending above the parapets of the three houses
slightly set forward at the centre of the terrace is a weakly-designed
pediment. They were erected about 1788–1792 (fn. 3) on part of the demesne land
of Kennington Manor, called White Hart Field. (fn. 2) The field had been known
previously as the “eight acres,” and early in the 17th century was called the
“Coney Warren.”
[40] The woman of Colour, edited by Lyndon J Dominique: “In 1806, Andrew Wright, a prosperous white English planter from Jamaica, died in England leaving a very curious demand in his will. To his two illegitimate daughters of color, Ann and Rebecca, (who, it seems, were in England at the time), he bequeaths considerable wealth both to them and their future issue. But to obtain this wealth, Wright emphatically demands that these daughters marry in England. If they do not, Ann and Rebecca entirely forfeit their entitlements in the will. A clause this extreme seems more than incidentally designed to ensure that these young women married white Englishmen. Yet Ann, the eldest daughter, seems to have maneuvered around this by marrying Francis Maitland, a free man of color, in England only a few months after her father’s death. Two years later, The Woman of Colour appears on the boards of Samuel Hamilton’s printing press in Weybridge, not twenty miles from the Mitcham area where Wright allegedly died and within thirty miles of his last recorded address at Great Tower Street, London. It is entirely plausible that someone in this area knew of the Wright will and wrote the tale to popularize the way it wrongs the marital choice of a free colonial woman of color. Indeed, Ann Wright could have been that person. The Woman of Colour could be her response to the will of her benevolent yet erring father. Without direct proof, however, this idea is merely an intriguing speculation. But even without proof, The Woman of Colour is a stronger candidate than Behn’s Oroonoko to be called the first novel in British literature to be based on the literal experiences of a real woman of African descent even if we’re not entirely sure it was written by one.”
[41] 918/165-6 Feb-18 Date 10/11/1850, ent 19/2/1856. Both the main purchase and subsequent 181 acres recorded sequentially in the deed books.
[42] 952/6
[43]
National Library, Kingston, ref St Elizabeth 689,
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.
[44]
918/165: Date 20/12/1853 Ent 19/2/1856. Ind btw John Campbell Fisher of Merton,
Devonshire, and Isabella Ann Fisher of Budleigh Salterton Devon Spinster
devisees in trust of the will of John Fisher late of East Budleigh gent re
Luana Pen via John Salmon as attorney of the English 180 acres N & W on
Mount Charles, S& E on Luana Pen photos 1210 13/2.
National Library, Kingston, ref St Elizabeth 643: 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.
[45] Crop return for Mount Charles - 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 lbs @2/- £201 estate negroes £245/8/4. Total £921/15/11
[46] 966/94. Mt Charles Con Land Date 1/1/1874 ent 30/9/1874
[47] 1B/11/3/159f123, Inv Date 11 April 1857, Ent 3 June 1857
[48] St E. Vol4 349. B/M/B V4 1840-59 F349, #68
[49] St Elizabeth v4p485
[50] 134/417 1875 Ann Katherine Maitland Mar-20 Dated 27/2/1875 Ent 31/7/1886
[51] (all parishes record volume 3)
[52] North China Herald February 20, 1899
[53] North China Herald September 30, 1904
[54] http://gwulo.com/node/8738
[55] North China Herald December 18, 1901
[56] 885/110 no further info.
[57] Estate Map 208 text.
[58] London Standard June 27, 1902
[59] The British Concession or Settlement was a foreign enclave (a "concession") in Shanghai within the Qing Empire which existed from around 1845 until its unification with the American area, located directly north of it across Suzhou Creek (Soochow Creek) to form the Shanghai International Settlement in 1863.
The settlement was bordered at north by the right bank of Suzhou Creek before it flows into the Huangpu River, at east by the Huangpu, and at south by a channel, the Yangjing Bang (Yang-King-Pang, now Yan'an Road), which would be the future boundary with the French Concession.
The British occupied Shanghai during the First Opium War and it was opened to foreign trade by the terms of the Treaty of Nanking. The British settlement was established by the 1845 Land Regulations, undertaken on the initiative of the intendant Gong Mujiu.[1] On 20 November 1846, a formal concession was established; this was expanded on 27 November 1848. After a proposal to make Shanghai an independent "free city" was rejected in 1862, the British area agreed to merge with the American on 21 September 1863 as the Shanghai International Settlement. This occurred in December of the same year. (Wiki).
[60] The Times 1902 obit
[61] http://www.bexleyarchives.org.uk/Calmview/TreeBrowse.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&field=RefNo&key=LABX%2FDC%2F4%2F1%2F616
[62] NORTH CHINA HERALD WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6, 1902 – Newspaper Archive.
[63] Morning Herald (London) 25 June 1863
[64] 16 January 1856 - Glasgow Herald - Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland & Observer January 21, 1856
[65]
Issue of John & Margaret McBride from SRO:
William McBride ch 10/3/1811, Sorn
Jean McBride ch 25/4/1813, Sorn
James McBride, ch 9/4/1815 & 27/6/1819, Sorn
Agnes ch 13/7/1817, Sorn
Adam Mc Bride ch 9/5/1825, Sorn
Sarah McBride ch 13/9/1821, Sorn
Janet ch 7/4/1823, Sorn
Susanna McBride, ch 31/1/1830, Gorbals.
Hugh Black McBride, ch 4/3/1832 & 2/11/1834, at the Gobals.
[66] The Mechanics' Magazine, Museum, Register, Journal, and Gazette, Volume 35, Google Books
[67] (M/C), Certificate (Bath 5c 1101 12/1867)
[68] Morning Post 09 December 1867
[69] London Standard February 28, 1913 – Newspaper Archive.
[70] Kentish Independent 20 December 1856
[71] Newspaper Archive.com London Express November 8, 1867
[72] Commercial Gazette April 3, 1884
[73] Kent & Sussex Courier 07 November 1894
[74] North China Herald February 1, 1907 – FJM Obit
[75] FO 917 Foreign Office: Supreme Court, Shanghai, China: Probate Records Subseries within FO 917/1262 Administration and Probate of Estates and Wills. Will 1907.
[76] ttp://www.dynastyauctions.net/php/lot_auc.php?site=1&sale=9&lot=2195&lang=1
[77] North China Herald February 27, 1899
[78] North China Herald February 28, 1900
[79] North China Herald February 27, 1901
[80] North China Herald December 10, 1902
[81] North China Herald April 15, 1904
[82] North China Herald October 7, 1904
[83] North China Herald November 18, 1904
[84] North China Herald March 4, 1904, & North China Herald March 10, 1905
[85] Kenya Gazette 27 Feb 1918, Google Books.
[86] 1907 SS Vol 3 p87 Daybreak
[87] PROCEEDINGS of the ROYAL COLONIAL INSTITUTE. VOLUME THE TWELFTH, 1880-81:
[88] G;asgw Evening Post 31 Jan 1890, FMP
[89] Sussex Agricultural Express 12 April 1890
[90] Greenock Telegraph 10 April 1890
[91] Morning Post 08 August 1861
[92] North China Herald May 9, 1898
[93] North China Herald March 4, 1904
[94] North China Herald February 24, 1905
[95] North China Herald September 20, 1873
[96] North China Herald May 16, 1925
[97] PR V1/422
[98] UK Nat Archives IR26/1651f764
[99] Nat Archives: BT107/33
[100] London Morning Post February 19, 1842 (newspaper archive)
[101] London Lloyd List September 28, 1843
[102] From Genesreunited Newspaper archive
[103]
: we know that Caroline Ann Maitland, daughter of Caroline (Burgess) and
Patrick John Maitland, was born 30/8/1840 in Camberwell and her brother,
Frederick William Maitland was born 3/4/1843 in Jamaica. So this could have
been Caroline and her daughter Caroline Ann. However where was Patrick John?
(Patrick John Maitland was the son of Patrick Maitland, younger brother of
Frederick Colthurst Maitland from whom the present Earl descends)
All of the above except the last birth are also shown in an old Burgess family
bible. His birth date of 1816 is confirmed on the 1841 census. I have found no
formal evidence as to his date of death but as the date of 1886 closely follows
the Succession case won by his nephew I suspect this date is correct.
We know that Caroline Ann Maitland, daughter of Caroline (Burgess) and Patrick
John Maitland, was born 30/8/1840 in Camberwell and her brother, Frederick
William Maitland was born 3/4/1843 in Jamaica. So this could have been Caroline
and her daughter Caroline Ann. However where was Patrick John? (Patrick John
Maitland was the son of Patrick Maitland, younger brother of Frederick
Colthurst Maitland from whom the present Earl descends)
The Peerage.com Forum, 2009:
Your entry for P J Maitland conforms to the information in Burkes, the clan
records and apparently the House of Lords records of the 1885 Succession case.
However in my researches into this person, which includes correspondence with
the 18th Earl of Lauderdale, I have been unable to discover any formal
independent genealogical sources which confirms this data on his marriage and
family. In contrast I have a marriage certificate and birth certificate plus census
and official records from South Australia (copies all available on request)
which shows the following:
Married Caroline Burgess 24/11/1839 Camberwell - certificate.
Children:
Caroline Ann born 1840 - 1841 UK census.
Frederick William born 1843 Jamaica - SA record.
Laura Sophia born 6/5/1846 Camberwell - certificate.
Emeline born 3/1/1850 - SA record.
[104] date 23/12/ last ent 21/8/1871
[105] DC Held Marylebone 1a704.
[106] North China Herald May 16, 1863
[107] http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Vauxhall#cite_note-4
[108] North China Herald January 2, 1864
[109] http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/architect_full.php?id=201759
[110] The County Families of the United Kingdom, 1909, Edward Walton
[111] PR all parishes, P470 Vol 2
[112] Kingston-Daily-Gleaner-September,8-1898-p-6
[113] 970/98 Mortgage 15/7/1875 ent 27/7/1875
[114] Kingston-Daily-Gleaner-January,12-1927-p-19
[115] Tomlinson, John 1789 PROB-11-1182-156
[116] The Hector 293 tons, Bristol 1824, Capt. Richardson, 3 masted ship, square sail.