Author Archives: Admms
Simon Taylor to Chaloner Arcedeckne, 8 May 1782
08/05/1782
During the early 1780s, Simon Taylor’s already tense relationship with John Kelly, the overseer of Chaloner Arcedeckne’s Golden Grove plantation, worsened. Arcedeckne was persuaded to dismiss Kelly in favour of his friend, Taylor. Here Taylor bemoans Kelly’s mismanagement of Golden Grove and ill-treatment of the estate doctor, before thanking Arcedeckne for trusting him over Kelly. […]
Posted in Enslaved people, Kingston, Plantation management, The Letters Tagged Chaloner Arcedeckne, John Kelly, Simon Taylor Comments Off on Simon Taylor to Chaloner Arcedeckne, 8 May 1782
Simon Taylor to Chaloner Arcedeckne, 19 March 1782
19/03/1782
An invasion scare in Jamaica was at its height during the early part of 1782. The new Lieutenant-Governor, Archibald Campbell, made detailed plans for a defence of the island against attack by French and Spanish troops. These were time consuming and expensive. White men were obliged to serve in the militia, and Taylor, as a […]
Posted in Armed forces, Cuba/Havana, Disease/health, Enslaved people, France, Lyssons (plantation), Militia, Spain, St Domingue/Hispaniola, The Letters, War Tagged Chaloner Arcedeckne, Simon Taylor Comments Off on Simon Taylor to Chaloner Arcedeckne, 19 March 1782
Simon Taylor to Chaloner Arcedeckne, 26 November 1781
26/11/1781
By the end of November 1781, news of the British capitulation at Yorktown had reached Jamaica. In Taylor’s formulation, the failure of British forces in America, combined with the new high duties on sugar, amounted to a catastrophe for Jamaican planters. This war with the whole world must and will involve Britain and her dependencies […]
Posted in British Government, Kingston, Navy, North America/USA, Sugar, Taxes/duties, The Letters, War Tagged Chaloner Arcedeckne, Simon Taylor Comments Off on Simon Taylor to Chaloner Arcedeckne, 26 November 1781
Simon Taylor to Chaloner Arcedeckne, 26 November 1781
26/11/1781
Taylor saw enslaved people as little other than units of production but understood the necessity of enforcing routines that were conducive to efficient and sustained work. Here he talks about the value of having a medical doctor resident at Arcedeckne’s Golden Grove estate and critiques the practices of the white overseers who superintended the daily […]
Posted in Disease/health, Enslaved people, Food/provisions, Jobbing, Kingston, Plantation management, Slave trading, The Letters Tagged Chaloner Arcedeckne, Simon Taylor Comments Off on Simon Taylor to Chaloner Arcedeckne, 26 November 1781
Simon Taylor to Chaloner Arcedeckne, 28 August 1781
28/08/1781
Taylor’s callous disregard for enslaved people as anything other than commodities and units of labour is evident in his reaction to the effects of the storm at Arcedeckne’s Golden Grove estate, which he managed as Arcedeckne’s attorney. The shocking human cost of the hurricane is nevertheless apparent, although Taylor conflates this with a diatribe about […]
Posted in Disease/health, Enslaved people, Famine, Food/provisions, Kingston, Navy, Plantation management, Spain, Taxes/duties, The Letters, Trade, War Tagged Chaloner Arcedeckne, Simon Taylor Comments Off on Simon Taylor to Chaloner Arcedeckne, 28 August 1781