On
the island of Antigua the second most common surname is Martin; such is the
legacy of slavery. The Martins figure prominently in recent histories alongside
the Codringtons after whom a library at the University of Oxford was until very
recently named and the Nibbs with whose family Jane Austen’s father the
Reverend George Austen was connected. I will, however, be brief and informal because
I am inviting my readers to work their way through five complex letters
transcribed below and running to about 5000 words.
Antigua
and the neighbouring small island of Barbuda were colonised by the British as early
as 1632 and were soon given over to slave plantations which produced tobacco,
yams, sugar and rum in proportions which varied over time. Antigua was,
however, probably already in economic decline when the letters below were
written between 1813 and 1822, none of them wildly optimistic about big profits
to be made. Soil exhaustion, the vagaries of local weather, European and
American wars and competition all conspired to challenge the ingenuity of
plantation owners. From the point of view of the enslaved, the British
government’s 1807 ban on the slave trade did provide an incentive for slave
owners to ameliorate conditions at least insofar as they might improve the
birth rate and reduce mother and infant mortality – there is a reference to
that in Letter Three. (Elsewhere on this site, a slave owner writing in 1819 records
having had his enslaved people vaccinated against smallpox:
https://www.otherpeoplesletters.com/2026/07/alexander-cameron-slave-owner-in.html
)
The
first recognised figure in a line of Martin plantation owners - planters is the
word - was Major Samuel Martin who in 1701 was hacked to death in a slave
revolt occasioned by his demand that his people work on Christmas Day. His seven-year-old son (also Samuel Martin)
was spared a similar fate thanks (from the accounts I have read) to a black
nanny who hid him and who was rewarded with her freedom. The fortunate child
later became perhaps the most significant 18the century planter advocate for
improving the lot of the enslaved, advocacy which was grounded in both moral
and prudential calculations and published in a work which went through many
London-printed editions from 1754 onwards; titled An Essay on Plantership it
made many practical suggestions of which the best known may be his proposal
that slaves should be allocated provision grounds – what we would call
allotments – where they could grow food. It also insists on the fundamental
Christian doctrine that there is only one human race. The practical demonstration
of the truth of this claim was to be found in the results of rape and
concubinage: the children of “mixed race” relationships were born very obviously normal and
healthy and did not display genetic defects such as were linked to the repeated first cousin marriages between members of the Royal houses of Europe.
This
second Martin’s eldest son also called Samuel Martin did not succeed him but
instead pursued a political career in Britain which earns him a Wikipedia page;
his father has one too thanks to the Essay. The online genealogies I
have consulted are inconsistent, and I suspect often wrong, and I cannot establish
how as a result of some connection a replacement Samuel Martin was found. However
it was done: the Samuel Martin (1747-1831) who wrote these letters was born in
Scotland the son of a Roger Martin of Glen Cree; the connection is confirmed
among other things by the Glen Cree date line of Letter Four. This successor
went out to Antigua as a young man and in 1778 married Grace Savage born there
in 1759. She died in 1810 and her husband returned to Scotland at the latest by
1813; he re-married and that explains a reference to his growing family. He is the absentee owner writing these letters (from a known
correspondence) to his agent Charles Curtis. Samuel is now being assisted by
his son George Savage Martin (1786 -1849) who goes out to Antigua. shortly before
the abolition of slavery but when George as inheritor came to claim
compensation for lost slaves in the 1830s he was opposed by other claimants;
his estates were mortgaged up to the hilt and the mortgagees wanted their money
and directly from the compensation fund.
The
letters are dominated by a few themes, notably anxiety about obtaining good
prices for sugar exports. Among other relevant decisions is that which decides
on the proportion of an annual harvest which will go to each of the ports in
England where Martin has merchants who handle the sale of his produce. Climate
and weather is a second major theme; they partly or largely determine how good
will be the crop. Slave discontent is never mentioned though there are several
references to the well-being of “my Negroes”; Martin reckons that the Moravian
pastors can do more good for them than the Anglicans and Methodists and, when I
check, it’s true that the Moravian church was very well established in Antigua
and still is. Finally, it is notable that much of Martin’s work involves acting
as Trustee for the estates of a deceased planter Entwistle who owned the
Barnacle Point, Golden Grove, and Jolly Hill estates. I don’t think it is
always realised that there were usually trustees on stand-by in case a planter
– an owner – died or was incapacitated before his children were of age. Trustees
might never be called upon but often were; white colonists were vulnerable to
local diseases as much as anyone. It was as a stand-by trustee that the
Reverend George Austen became involved with the Nibbs estate on Antigua which
this Samuel Martin eventually acquired only to regret it. Interestingly, though
the Nibbses ceased to be planters many remained in Antigua and pursued other
occupations – in my own researches I found one acting as an Auctioneer in the
mid-Victorian period.
All
except one of these letters is endorsed “Copy” but all have gone through the
post. In a period when ships were often seized or shipwrecked it was common to
send two identical copies of one letter by different packets (the usual term
for a mailboat which also carried goods), reckoning that at least one would
survive and arrive.
Transcription
Letter One
Addressed
to: Mr Charles Curtis Golden
Grove Antigua By the Packet [Boat]
Datelined:
Balmae [Scotland] 7th Decembr 1813 Endorsed:
Copy
Docketing
notes: .. p [er] 2d December Packet [arrived on the second
Packet which departed in December] Received 24th Feby 1814
answered 7th March – p. the 2d Dep. [departing?] packet.
The Postage of this letter & one from Mr Johnson of same Packet cost
10/6 [ten shillings and six pence, equivalent to £36– yes, thirty-six - in
2026]. One unclear postmark
Dear
Sir
I
have received your letters of the 17th Augt & 2d Octr & I
regret exceedingly the dispiriting details they give of the situation of poor
Antigua. Were you blessed with seasonable weather, other difficulties might be
surmounted, but while the Sugar Crops are Curtailed, so as to take away the
power of sending provisions from this country, the deprivations of the poor
Negroes must be severe, particularly while the American War continues, & I
fear despite the discomfiture of Mr Madisons friend Buonaparte that peace with
that Country is still at a distance. There is however one thing I strongly
recommend to you (however pinched we may be in our finances) not to curtail the
Corn Allowance under the legal quantity
directed to be given weekly, which if I recollect rightly in nine pints,
perhaps the six pints of meal you have been giving them exceeds the quantity of
six pints of grain, but be that as it may, I shall not be quite easy till I
hear you have given the allowance pointed out by Law & s to the ways
&means to pay for that Allowance we must continue to raise them.
The
good Accounts you sent me of the Weather in August gave me hopes of seeing a
decent Crop in the coming year but yr Oct [October] letter has damped these
hopes. Still I shall not lose all hope of something tolerable for it wd. be
vexatious indeed not to receive Sugars now that prices are high beyond all
example owing to the defeats of Buonaparte & the liberation of Holland.
I
shall desire Mr Johnson to send you Copies of the Sales of the 10 hhds
[hogsheads] & 35 Tierces [a smaller cask] of Sugar recd in England from the
last crop as soon as they can be made up. The Jolly hill Sugars were sold at
92/- [ninety-two shillings; there were twenty shilling to the pound] which is
no extraordinary price if they were as good as usual. I have great hopes that
the Alfred with the Stores for the late Mr Entwistle’s Plantations [ Samuel
Martin was Trustee for them] is now on her way to Antigua, though the Wm &
Alfred with my own Stores is left behind for the next Convoy [ because of the
wars with America and France, merchant ships were vulnerable to attack by
privateers and enemy ships and so travelled in convoys as in later wars]. I
regret your having been so ill paid since you had the direction of Mr Entwistle’s
Concerns & I wish those Concerns would have enabled me to pay you with the
same regularity as when you directed my own Plantation, but you know the
impossibility thereof & I must therefore entreat you to get in the
outstanding debts for the purpose of paying yourself & to assist in getting
Provisions for the Negroes, taking Sugar or Rum, as you think best, to
liquidate the remainder of yr. Acct [Account] up to the 31st of the
present month [of December]. As you talk of 100 Hhds from Jolly hill &
Golden Grove I flatter myself you will be able to ship Mr Johnson, keeping the
remainder & all the Run to carry on the Plantations.
I
hope for a cheering letter soon & to hear that mine of the 7th
Octr with the papers therein enclosed has reached you safe. Say to Mr Gorling I
am particularly anxious for a statement Mr Gilchrist’s account which I hope has
not been overpaid.
I
am Dr Sir Your friend & humb
Servt Sam Martin
In
a different hand, perhaps Martin rather than his Copying clerk:
27the
Decr 1813
Yours
of the 2d Octr is the latest in my possession & I am naturally anxious for
further accounts from Antigua great & favorable changes are daily taking
place in the affairs of Europe, which will soon be restored to its Lawful
Governments & Princes, confining Buonaparte to the Kingdom of France. He hs
sued for Peace & the Funds are rising every hour but the most unexampled
rise has been upon Sugar the average price of which lst week was 105/=
including duty [the Sugar Tax]. This cannot last & I must fear before any
of mine can reach a Market, the Sugar frenzy will be at an end. I wish you many
happy returns of the present Season.
Transcription
Letter Two
Addressed
to: Mr Charles Curtis Golden
Grove Antigua By the Packet [Boat]
Datelined:
Balmae [Scotland] 15th Sept 1814 Endorsed:
Copy
Undated
postmark of CASTLE DOUGLAS, note “double only” meaning double weight for
postage charges
Docketing
note: S.Martin Esqr 14th Novr 1814 Rec’d the 7th Feb …..
answered 21st Feb [rest uncertain but apparently sent by a Packet
destined for Dumfries].
Dear
Sir
Your
letter of the 31st July is a very gratifying one in regard to
weather though rather depressing on the score of provisions. The War with
America is certainly annoying to he Islands in some respects, but it would be
well if it were possible to obtain Supplies through any other Channel for the
Sugar markets will be woefully hurt were we at peace with America., they would
renew their old trade of being Carriers from Cuba & St Domingo all over the
World & the present high price would undoubtedly cease. The Sugar Market
having got up lately I as too hasty in selling my own Sugars, as well as those
of the Trust Estates, Those by the Cato are not landed, but if they sell s well
s some of my last did they ought to fetch 100/- or near it.
I
fear from the payment you say you made the widow of the late Dr Hill Jnr you
did not clearly understand that it is my own & Mr Peters’s wish to withhold
payment of that Balance & the Balance due to Dr Hill Snr till their
Balances had been proved by Vouchers. You will of course take Mr Burke’s advice
on this Subject, but as neither the Accounts of the father or son have been
examined Mr Peters thinks that examination should precede payment &
you will act accordingly. I shall hope to her judges have confirmed the Award
given in the business of Lightfoot & that we shall soon profit
thereby. I shall order the Plantation Stores to be shipped forthwith & I am
&c S.M.
New
dateline: Collin 16th November 1814 [Collin is 36
miles from Balmae]
Dear
Sir, I have your letter of the 24th of Sept & I am sorry to
learn that the good weather had begun to fail, upon looking at last years
letters of a similar date they contained, I see, similar Complaints, & I
shall therefore look forward with hope that the next accounts will be more
favorable & that the good Crop you predicted, many months ago, will
still be reaped, while the markets keep up.
Mr
Johnson has got 110/- for the 10 Tierces by the Cato & such a price makes
me lament our want of the Second sight, when the preceding Sugars of
better quality went off so low, had they been kept, they would have given great
proceeds. The day I recd. your letter I informed Mr Johnso of your having
omitted Ladles & Skimmers in the list of Plantation Stores. I fear the
Invoice was closed & the Ship (the Wm & Alfred) cleared out, but they
will be sent, if possible.
The
last paragraph of your letter mentions the Suit instituted by Mr Scholes for
the enormous sum of £52000 I was concerned to read, but I was much more so,
& indeed astonished, to learn that Mr Horsford has accepted a fee against
the Executors, having hoped he would, in all suits at Antigua, have remained
our Counsel. Though you had received my letter recommending his having a
Retainer, if agreeable to Mr Burke, it does not appear you has acted upon my
advice & I regret the circumstance more than I have words to express. Still
I flatter myself the report of his being retained agt [against] us is
unfounded & should this be the fact & Mr Burke approves of giving him a
fee, a Bill for Fifty pounds Serling as a Retainer would be well laid out. I
shall enclose a few lines to Mr Horsford which may be sealed & delivered to
him, if Mr Burke has no objection. [This enclosure would be the cause of the
“double weight” note]. I wish most sincerely Mr Gorling was in Antigua to
look into the Accounts, particularly as he thought (you say) that the balance
was rather against than in favour of Mr Scholes. I shall write to him &
press his return, though I know not where he is, nor have I ever had a letter
from him.
In
regard to the alteration you wish at Golden Grove to obtain a good Curing house
I have not a shadow of objection but that is a subject on which you
should particularly consult Mr Burke & abide by his advice.
I
never got the Turtle you were kind enough to send, it was landed in good health
& condition, but sent, by mistake the Captain says, to a wrong Owner he
ought not have replaced it & talked of doing so, but the Turtle Season is
gone by, & I have given up all expectation of his keeping his promise at
present. [Turtles were imported to make soup].
I
am Dr Sir Your friend & hum Servt
Sam Martin
Transcription
Letter Three
Addressed
to: Mr Charles Curtis Antigua By the Packet [Boat] Endorsed: Single [sheet]
Datelined:
Balmae [Scotland] 21st febr 1816 Endorsed:
Copy
Docketing
notes: S.Martin Esqr p[er] 1st May mail. Recd 14th
June ---1816 answrd 19th Do. When Express [a ship?] followd
the 2d April packet. 9/- paid for P …to go p[er]Express
Dear
Sir
On
reperusing your letter of the 9th
of Decr it appears that you consider the Custom house rent (£300 currency) as
belonging to me & you have, of course, made use of the money for my Plantation
Concerns but the fact is, I have ceased for some years having anything to do
with it, being merely the Recvr. for Mr Whitehead’s benefit though I desired Mr
G[eorge] Martin to make use of the £300 to help him out in housekeeping &
that I would pay the Stg [sterling] amount to Mr Whithead in this Country. had
Mr Whitehead gone to Antigua this Spring as I advised him to do I would have
desired you to pay over to him the two qrs. you recd from Mr J. Jarvis &
also the qr. you wd. receive the 5th of last month, but as I hear he
has no intention of quitting England & as I do not wish that any of the
monies recd. since Mr G. Martin left Antigua, shd. go through my hands. I must
entreat you to purchase a Bill & remit it to Mr Whitehead mentg. [mentioning]
to him the different sums yo had recd. & the particular qrs, for which they
were recd. his direction is the Revd. R. Whitehead Arnside Lodge Appleby [Westmoreland]
& if you have made use of the money there can be no alternative but
disposing of Rum to purchase the Bill. You will see by my preceding letter that
if my Crop does not exceed 160 Hhds [hogsheads], it is my wish that 30
hhds only shd. go to Whitehaven & 10 to Liverpool so that Messrs OConnor
&Moore may have 120 but I think some of the Sugars from the Trust Estates [
Entwistle estates] (now you expect a good crop) might go to the Outports
leaving 2/3ds for London. Perhaps you might be able to spare 20 hhds
for Bristol, 20 for Liverpool & 20 for Whitehaven, but at all Events I wish
the first 20 for the Bristol Volunteer & I am disposed to help Capt. Dawson
of the ship Antigua Packet. We have no prospect of good prices, which are
indeed declining daily in the few Sales that are made & if it were possible
to get 75/- Currency at Antigua for my own Sugars, paid with good Bills
even at six months date I shd. be greatly in pocket, but doubtful Bills
would not do. I am blamed by some of my W.India friends, both in England &
Antigua, for thinking of sending Beans or Pease from this Country, Indian Corn,
they say at 18/- Currency payable in Rum at 5/- being a more moderate priced
food (at the same time better liked by the Negroes) than any grain sent from
here which must be paid for immediately. My determination will rest on the
account I receive from you of my Yam Crop, having use for every shilling I can
scrape together in this Country & it would be ridiculous to distress my
finances by unnecessary shipments of provisions, if they are not absolutely
wanted for my Negroes.
Balmae
26th April 1816
Dear
Sir
Your
letter of 21st of february to
Mr G.Martin is arrived after being long looked for , & I, upon the whole a
very gratifying one in regard to weather & the price of American Corn,
& there are I understand letters down to the 1st of last months
with accounts equally good, so we have much cause for thankfulness
notwithstanding the failure of the Yam crop. By the bye, I have written to Mr
Johnson to know if any Ship is up for Antigua, so as to forward some white
Pease for the use of my sable friends being disappointed in obtaining the
Oatmeal I intended for them from Liverpool & which I think would have been
a food both palatable & nourishing for I do not like Beans, & Mr G.M. [Martin]
recommends Pease in their stead. If we could be sure of Indian Corn keeping at
the moderate prices you quote in febr. no supply of any kind would be wanted
from England but this you do not seem to expect owing to your cramped trade
with America & I fear from all I hear, Government is not disposed to relax
in this point, so that your St Johns [Antigua] Traders ought to set
seriously to work on dispatching british bottoms for such Articles as the
Islands stand so greatly in need of & which we can have alone from the
United States. This trade merely wants a serious beginning & we shd.
in a short time receive ample Supplies. Mr Johnso will keep you informed of the
miserable state of the Sugar Market & the small expectation of Amendment,
so that the 180 hhds I looked forward to would have very opportunely to meet
the increase & daily increasing wants of my large family, but you stil talk
in yr letter of the 21st of febr of 150 only & I must therefore
submit & be thankful – indeed I ought
to be so after reading your detail of he poor returns of the neighbouring
Plantations particularly the short Crops expected at Jarvis’s which will prove
a sad disappointment to my friend Mr Nibbs.
I
regret to see by your last letter that your old complaint the jaundice has
returned & should you, on Mr G.M.’s return to Antigua consider a change of
climate absolutely necessary I cannot have a shadow of objection, or of
continuing to you (as far as my power extends) your Salary during your
absence. You will of course place the Trust Estates in proper hands for the
time & I need not assure yo of my son’s readiness to repay what you are now
doing for him, by a similar accomodation. It is not possible however to fix the
time of his return, for though he has recovered his strength, his stomach
considers i a very disordered State, & he is still following regimens
recommended by medical men. My own opinion is that the good weather now
beginning will do more for him than any prescriptions.
I
hope you will find the Ploughman [ an improved plough, using sharper metal
and lighter to handle] I sent from Liverpool a valuable acquisition to the
Trust Estates. Should you be inclined to make a tryal of clay ashes, he will be
useful in that way also & Mr Hodge will give you a reading of the documents
I cut out & sent him from the Scotch Newspapers. I fear we can do noting in
that way at H[igh] Point or Nibbs’s, but I hope in time to hear of the
Negroes there from the use of the Plough , for we must now do all in our power
( putting humanity out of the question) to Ease their labour & keep up our
numbers [after the abolition of the slave trade] & more than usual
attention should be given to the Children & their Mothers both before &
after their Confinement, in addition thereto, religious principles & the
necessity of being faithful to their Husbands should be invariably inculcated,
as well as the constant attendance (when in their power) o the Moravian
Pastors, who in my mind should have a preference to the Church of England &
the Methodists, as being better suited to their capacities.
I
am glad to hear the Trust Books have got into the hands of the Master & I
hope your next letter will announce Mr Gorling’s being set seriously to work in
the investigate of the Accounts, from which I anticipate incalculable benefit
to Mr Entwistle’s heirs from his knowledge & diligence. I had nearly forgot
to say that my friend Sir David Maxwell was for many years subject to
periodical attacks of jaundice, from which he has been completely relieved by
James’s Analeptic Pills. He takes two every day between dinner & Tea, which
have little or no operation & require neither confinement nor change of
living. You had better try them.
I
am Dr Sir Your friend & humb
Svt Sam Martin
Transcription
Letter Four
Addressed
to: Mr Charles Curtis Golden Grove Antigua
By the Packet [Boat]
Endorsed: Single [sheet]
Datelined:
Glen Cree [Scotland] 20th Novemr 1821 Endorsed:
Copy
Postmarked
NEWTON STEWART [on the River Cree] and DUMFRIES
Docketing
notes: Recd the 11th
January 1822 …. 17 Do. [Ditto] answrd
pr return of November packet.
Dr
Sir
I
have been favored with your letter of the 26th of Sepr & I
regret sincerely your not having it in your power to speak so favorably of the
weather as my previous letters from Antigua gave me reason to expect. My son
George’s of the 13th while it detailed the damages sustained by the
Buildings on the 9th, was nonetheless a cheering one in consequence
of the abundant rains which accompanied the Gale & the showers which had
succeeded for two or three days afterwards, but it appears from your letter
that their continuance was of short duration & that the Canes were not
recovering. This account added to the afflicting prospect of a Yam Crop, cannot
fail damping my spirits, at a time when my finances re exhausted & (in
consequence of the miserable state of the Sugar Markets) the poor West Indian
can only keep from sinking by abundant Crops.
My
best Sugars this year will scarcely give me £15 p hhd [per hogshead] & as for the trash shipped in the William
I have no prospect of their reaching £12. Surely some plan might be devised to
improve the quality even in the worst Sugar soils, for though we can
never expect them to approach the Green Castle qualities, which are now
fetching 84/- in the Irish market while mine cannot command 61/- still were a
trifling amendment obtainable they might produce 18 or 20 £ phhd, beyond which
I never expect to see mine.
I
entertain some hope from the Iron Sugar Boilers, in consequence of
hearing that the Demerary Sugars had been thereby improved dull 4/- p cwt [per
hundred weight?], & to me such an improvement would be invaluable, during
most of the time you lived at High Point & for a few years afterwards, my
Sugars had so good a character in the
Dublin Market, as to be enquired for by the Buyers, & it was only about the
year 1815 they began to be complained of, since which they have been yearly
getting worse. It is this which puzzles Messrs OConnor & Moore & it is
not of my power to give them a satisfactory reason for it. When the Barnacle
point Sugars sold so well this year my hopes were raised in consequence,
thinking my qualities could not fail being similar, but I have been woefully
disappointed, for they so not sell even so high
as those from Golden Grove [in trust with Martin] – by the bye
your first shipment from the latter Estate is, I believe, still on hand, but
the others, considering the Credit given & some other circumstances, are
equal to the Whitehaven sales. From Messrs Hyndman & Co I have merely heard
that the 10 hhds to their address had arrived safe, but I have heard nothing as
yet of their being sold & I therefor suspect the Irish Market has not this
year supported its former good Character, owing to the general distress in that
Country.
The
same Post which brought me your letter of the 26th of Sepr brought
me yours of the 14th of that month to Mr Peters, sent me by his
desire under cover from Mrs Peters, he being unable from some indisposition to
attend at present to business. As it is similar in its Contents to yours of the
11th of August to me, both of which I could not fail to red with
surprise as well as regret, I shall at the end of this letter, give you a copy
of my answer to Mrs Peters and I assure you, in the arrangement contemplated by
Mr Peters, not the most distant disrespect was intended to yu, both of us being
sensible of your knowledge & ability in the line of your profession &
equally so, of the improved condition of the Trust Estates from your attention.
Mr
Osborn being an old schoolfellow of Mr Peters’s & a man in whose praise he
has heard much from more quarters than one, has ever been intended as one of
his Attorneys at the termination of the Trust. Mr Burke’s name would, of
course, stand first in the Power, & my Son George would, in all
probability, be considered the acting Attorney, but surely none of the
Gentlemen just named would interfere unnecessarily with you , if your health
permits you to remain in yr. present Situation.
Mr
Bell (with whose Chancery knowledge Mr Burke is well acquainted) in his opinion
on the Trust Concerns thinks the Lord Chancelor would appoint Mr Petres to conduct
those Concerns for his own & Mr Hague’s benefit, but Mr Peters never had a
thought of sending out a power to Attorneys to act for his benefit alone. When
Mr Peters is better I shall, in all likelihood, have some further
correspondence with him on the subject & in the meantime I am & have
always endeavoured to be, Dr Sir, Your friend & Humb.St. Sam Martin
Quote
marks indicate this is the copy of the other letter he mentions: “Dr Madam
I
have been favored with your letter of the 7th enclosing one from Mr
Curtis, the contents of which being similar to one written to me I have nly to
observe that I know not how to account for his dissatisfaction, for if you will
attentively peruse his quotation from my letter to him, so far from giving the
most distant hint of a wish for removing him from his present situation I
expressed a hope of his health permitting him to remain. He has hitherto acted
under Mr Burke’s direction & he acted under mine during the short time I
resided at Antigua & should my so & Mr Osborn be appointed Mr Peters’s
Attorneys at any future period he would act under them, but as those gentlemen
are well acquainted with Mr Curtis’s knowledge & abilities as a Planter it
is not to be supposed they would interfere more than would be absolutely
necessary in their capacity of Attorneys, Sensible of the value of Mr Curtis’s
service I some years ago recommended, unsolicited by him , an addition to be
made to his Salary, with which he appeared to be quite satisfied, in a letter
which he wrote to me last year he said his health was in so dangerous a state
that he feared he could not remain at Antigua more than a few months. The
letter from me, which Mr Curtis quotes, was in answer, i which I said I hoped
to receive better accounts of his health so as to enable him to retain his
situation to the termination for the Trust & that if his health would
permit his remaining beyond that term I was persuaded the Attorneys wd. be
happy go receive his services, more I could not say then, nor can I say more at
present, but when Mr Peters is better able to attend to business I shall be
ready & willing to do whatever he recommends on this subject” S.M.
Pray
rembr. me most kindly to Mr Burke when you show him this letter. I have long
been in the hope of hearing from him & I am happy to hear from you that he
continues in tolerable health.
Transcription
Letter Five
Addressed
to: Mr Charles Curtis Golden Grove Antigua
By the Packet [Boat]
Endorsed: Single [sheet]
Datelined:
Cardoness [Scotland] 9th febr. 1822 Not
endorsed: Copy
Postmarked
GATEHOUSE [Scotland] and DUMFRIES
Docketing
notes: pr 1st Feby Mail [Packet]Received the 4th
April …1822 answrd 22d April Do. [ditto] …of 2d Feby packet 1st
Mrch mail do answered… Second March mail reached Antigua the 26th
April ‘22
Dr
Sir
Being
from Home without my papers with me, I do not recollect the dates of yur two
last letters which conveyed the melancholy tidings of the death of my old &
respected friend Mr Burke who I had hoped it would have pleased God to have
spared to see a termination of the long Trust committed to his care & mine
by the last Mr Entwistle. His character stood high in the community where he
had so long resided & if he had Enemies (for which of us can boast of not
having some) they were fewer than fall to the lot of most men, & occluded
as his latter days were, still his loss will be felt.
I
was gratified to understand that my son’s interference in the Trust concerns
was not greater than to give you satisfaction & having no doubt of the
continuance of this friendly intercourse I flatter myself you will remain in
your present situation beyond the period you mention in a late letter to Mr
Johnson. The termination of the Trust
ought to take place next Sepr., but owing to Mr Hague’s unfortunate state of
mind, some delay is likely to take place & if your health would permit Mr
Peters & I would be glad if you could postpone your return to England ‘till
the Summer of 1823, before which period the Trust business will be brough to a
close. IN order to effect this it will be necessary to have the Accounts during
Mr Burke;s administration (commencing at the time I quitted Antigua) sent to
England & I mentioned this in a letter I had occasion to write to Mr
Gorling some months ago, adding that copies of the Books would not assure the
purpose (they would indeed rather perplex than make matters clear) but that
kind of Plantation Account which is usually transmitted by Attorneys to the
Proprietors in England.
There
is one Account in which I am materially interested & in the making
up of which I must beg you will give yr assistance. I mean an account of all
the Crops made on the Trust Estates since Mr Entwistle’s death, with their
disposal, particularly noting [?] those, the proceeds of which came into my
hands, such as were appropriated by Mr Burke in paying off Mr Scholes &
such as were disposed of in the Island for the support of the Plantations. To
the making up of this Account I beg your particular attention. I am much
puzzled what to recommend to my son about the unfortunate property at St
Vincents, the lease of which expires on the 1st of July next, The
regular way would be to have a reappraisement previous to that date & to
require payment of the sum due thereon. In consequence of the mortality among
the Negroes it is likely that the sum will be a large one & Messrs Purnell
& Huggins as honest men would no doubt pay it, but then they (for the wish
to have a new lease) would give little or no rent now that the Negroes re so
reduced in number. I think you said you had an acquaintance at St Vincents to
whom you would write on the subject & I shall of course be anxious to know
what answer he has sent. As Mr Burke had in all probability some plan in view
about that property he would naturally communicate it to you & if so I beg
you will assist my son i coming to some determination on the Subject. In case
no satisfactory information can be obtained from the St Vincents Gentleman just
alluded to, I think my son shd. send some judicious person from Antigua to
examine into the business & see what can be done.
In
my last lettr to my son George I mentioned my expectation & desire that the
supplies for the Trust Estates might be effected as they have heretofore been
done, without drawing Bills upon te exhausted funds in England & I
earnestly entreat your attention to this subject.
On
a supposition that the Crop from the Trust Estates in the present year might
reach 150 hhds I requested that60 might be sent to Mr Johnson; 40 or 50 to
Messrs OConnor & Moore & the remr. [remainder] to Whitehaven,
after the necessary reserve for purchasing plantation supplies. From what you
say in your last letter to Mr Johnson it appears you have no expectation of more than 100 hhds. This is depressing
intelligence indeed & all I ca say is that shd your expectation be
unfortunately realized, the remr of what is left after you have calculate or
provided for paying for supplies must be divided between Mr Johnson & Messrs
OConnor & Moore & in case I shd, not write to my Son by this Packet I
beg you will communicate this to him.
IN
an old letter you said it was a general opinion that Messrs Hyndman were better
Sugar Sellers than the other House, but I have had proofs to the contrary for
while the former were getting 61/6 for the G[olden] Grove Sugars my last
shipment to the latter (which were equally bad) brought 63/- Irish.
I
dread receiving letters from Antigua in consequence of the unfavorable weather
in Decr, for having entangled myself with engagements in this Country I never
had more occasio for abundant crops. I would indeed prefer a small & secure
Income her to double the amount from an uncertain & precarious Income from
abroad & I wish you would persuade some of your rich mercantile friends in
St John’s to give me a good price for Nibbs’s [purchased during the period
covered by this correspondence] so as to induce me to part with it. Wishing
you health I remain Dr Sir Your assured friend
Sam Martin
References
https://sugarmills.blogs.bucknell.edu/
Wikipedia:
Samuel Martin (planter)
Wikipedia:
Samuel Martin (Camelford MP)
https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/critical/aboutus/resources/stella/projects/starn/prose/journal-of-a-lady-of-quality/antigua-and-st-christopher/
Padraic
X Scanlan “Slaves
and Peasants in the Era of Emancipation.” Journal of
British Studies 59, no. 4 (2020): 495-520.
Chris
Jeppesen, ‘East meets west: exploring the connections between Britain, the
Caribbean and East India Company, c.1757–1857’, chapter in R. Hanley, J. Moody
& K. Donington (eds.), Britain's History and Memory of
Transatlantic Slavery: Local Nuances of a ‘National Sin (Liverpool
University Press, 2016).
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