Identity elements
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Folder
Title
Account book related to plantations on Grenada and Carriacou, West Indies
Date(s)
- circa 1830-1835 (Creation)
Extent
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
"...[56]pp...Folio. Contemporary three-quarter calf and marbled boards, marbled endpapers...Clipping from the July 15, 1797 issue of the St. James's Chronicle, or the British Evening Post laid in.
A significant account book documenting transactions with several plantations in the West Indies in the last years of (legal) slavery in the British Empire. Possibly belonging to a bookkeeper for a plantation agent/merchant, the manuscript records document debits and credits, noting trade in rum, cattle, flour, sheep, sugar, wine, lumber, oats, and even lottery tickets. There are also two slavery transactions (embedded in larger transactions), both dated July 9, 1832: '...to the sum assumed on A/c of Miss Mary Robertson for the manumission of Thomas a slave belonging to Meldrum [Estate]...assumed the sum on A/c of Miss Bess Urquhart for the freedom of her daughter Nancy...' The account also includes orders for books of magazines, including Blackwood's Magazine, Glasgow Courier, and a copy of J. W. Norie's Epitome of Practical Navigation, acquired for Daniel Polson. There are also expenses for 'repairing the clock' (July 22, 1833), 'Shoeing a horse on his fore feet' (June 24, 1834), and credit related to the 'Hurricane at Barbados' (June 25, 1832).
This book appears to have functioned as a receipt book, and it seems unlikely that it was the master record for the merchant or plantation agent to whom his bookkeeper reported. The transactions are not ordered chronologically or alphabetically. Each set of transactions are headed by a name, although it is not clear how the name is associated with the transactions listed. Finally, there are transactions with the entries 'Remitted to my Parents...' throughout, and a few transactions with entries 'Cash given you...' and 'To your order...' which seems to lack the formality or clarity expected in a ledger. Nevertheless, the hand is professional, strong, and clear through about two-thirds, at which point it changes to a smaller, tighter hand. Corrections are rare, although a few pages have partial pages pasted over previous entries.
A number of individuals and estates recur throughout the volume. As well, a few of the individuals noted are non-resident owners (or trustees or beneficiaries), with addresses in England and Scotland. Notable recurring people include: Alexander George Milne (London), John Dallas, George McLean, William Kirkland, and Simon Fraser. Many of these people owned or held shares in several different estates, sold and bought estates from each other, and were often related through marriage. Estates mentioned include: Harvey Vale, Craigston, Limlair, Beausejour, Dumfries, Belair, Grand Bay, Orange Vale, and Meldrum. The prevalence of Scottish names is due to the large number of Scottish settlers who came to the Caribbean as prospects in Scotland diminished after the Jacobite rebellion and subsequent Highland clearances.
One particularly interesting figure mentioned in the volume is Edward Gibbs, of Edward Gibbs & Co. of Grenada and London. Gibbs was a 'free man of colour' and acted as the London agent of the 'free coloured' community of Grenada. While not larger, the freed community played a significant role in the plantation economy. At the same time, it is likely that most of the owners had not forgotten that Julian Fédon, who led the slave revolt in 1795, was a 'free coloured' Grenadian (his mother was a freed slave from Martinique) who owned a substantial plantation and many slaves.
An intriguing glimpse into the plantation economy of Grenada as slavery was ending." –Description from William Reese Company