Category Archives: Armed forces
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 […]
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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 […]
Also posted in 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 […]
Also 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, 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 […]
Also 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
Simon Taylor to Chaloner Arcedeckne, 26 June 1781
26/06/1781
The increase in the duty on sugar came in the budget of March 1781. A duty that had been a little under 6s 4d per hundredweight in 1776 now rose to over 11s 8d. The Prime Minister, Lord North, explained that the new tax was necessary because of the expenses of the war, which compelled […]
Also posted in British Government, Hurricanes, Kingston, Navy, Sugar, Taxes/duties, The Letters, Trade, War Tagged Chaloner Arcedeckne, Simon Taylor Comments Off on Simon Taylor to Chaloner Arcedeckne, 26 June 1781