Author Archives: Admms
Simon Taylor to Chaloner Arcedeckne, 24 February 1783
24/02/1783
After taking full control of Arcedeckne’s Jamaican properties from John Kelly, Taylor sought to reassure his friend that they would be well managed. This extract illustrates how far the sugar estates relied upon a large and healthy enslaved workforce and aspects of the economic relationship between livestock rearing farms, or pens, and the estates. Both […]
Posted in Enslaved people, Kingston, Plantation management, Spain, The Letters Tagged Chaloner Arcedeckne, John Kelly, Simon Taylor Comments Off on Simon Taylor to Chaloner Arcedeckne, 24 February 1783
Simon Taylor to Chaloner Arcedeckne, 24 February 1783
24/02/1783
Taylor argued that admitting sugar into Britain from St Kitts, which had been conquered by France, at an equal duty to sugar from British territories would provide a vent in the metropole for French sugar. His threat to stop growing sugar appears to have been a symptom of his anger, rather than a serious proposal, […]
Posted in British Government, Cotton, Food/provisions, Kingston, Sugar, Taxes/duties, The Letters, Trade Tagged Chaloner Arcedeckne, Simon Taylor Comments Off on Simon Taylor to Chaloner Arcedeckne, 24 February 1783
Simon Taylor to Chaloner Arcedeckne, 16 January 1783
16/01/1783
At the beginning of 1783, Taylor looked forward to peace, hoping that the post-war British Atlantic would resemble that of 1775, even to the extent of bringing America back into the British empire. He showed irritation with both American patriots and British policy. And, although he had remained loyal to the metropole throughout the conflict […]
Posted in British Government, Coffee, Kingston, North America/USA, Sugar, Taxes/duties, The Letters, Trade, War Tagged Chaloner Arcedeckne, Simon Taylor Comments Off on Simon Taylor to Chaloner Arcedeckne, 16 January 1783
Simon Taylor to Chaloner Arcedeckne, 11 June 1782
11/06/1782
In 1782, Taylor began to speculate about the prospects of the British sugar islands now that peace was to be secured with America. He recognised that the main competition to the sugar produced in the British West Indies came from the cheaper (and better) sugar produced by the French in their colonies, the largest of […]
Posted in France, Kingston, Sugar, Taxes/duties, The Letters, Trade Tagged Chaloner Arcedeckne, Simon Taylor Comments Off on Simon Taylor to Chaloner Arcedeckne, 11 June 1782
Simon Taylor to Chaloner Arcedeckne, 8 May 1782
08/05/1782
The victory of Sir George Rodney over the combined French and Spanish fleet at the Saintes on 12 April 1782 ensured that Jamaica would not face an invasion. Taylor remained fearful of the number of enemy troops who remained in the region and worried about the diminution of the white population of Jamaica. Nevertheless, with […]
Posted in Armed forces, Army, France, Kingston, Militia, Navy, North America/USA, Spain, St Domingue/Hispaniola, The Letters, War Tagged Chaloner Arcedeckne, Simon Taylor Comments Off on Simon Taylor to Chaloner Arcedeckne, 8 May 1782