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Boarded Hall Estate (Barbados) Plantation Records, 1676-1887 (bulk 1712-1845): Finding Aid

C1227

Key to drawing of Boarded Hall Estate buildings, 1821

Published on January 1, 2008

©2007 Princeton University Library

Summary Information

Creator:

Harnage, George, compiler.

Title and dates:

Boarded Hall Estate (Barbados) Plantation Records, 1676-1887 (bulk 1712-1845)

Abstract:

Consists of eighteenth and nineteeth-century records of Boarded Hall Estate, a slave plantation in Barbados in the West Indies. The material was found on the estate in the 1820s by George Harnage, the son of its last English owner, and annotated by him in subsequent years.

Size:

1.5 linear feet (1 oversize custom flat box, 1 four-flap enclosure)

Call number:

C1227

Location:

Princeton University Library. Department of Rare Books and Special Collections.
Manuscripts Division.
Princeton, New Jersey 08544 USA

Language(s) of material:

English.

Storage note:

This collection is stored onsite at Firestone Library.

History of Boarded Hall Estate

Boarded Hall Estate was located in the parish of St. George on the island of Barbados in the West Indies. According to records in the collection, George Keyzar was probably the first owner of the estate when it consisted of one hundred forty acres of land and thirty "Negroes," or, according to historian John Camden Hotton (see Works Cited), forty-two "Negroes" and one white servant. The property was then sold to General Henry Peers (d. 1740), and in 1748 it was bequeathed to the Hon. John Lyte, a judge in Barbados, who in 1743 married Susannah Blackman, George Harnage's great-great aunt. An account dated 1748 (item no. 5) indicates that the estate, divided between John Lyte, Tobias Frere, and Peers Alleyne, was valued at £23,335 that year. In 1785 it became the property of John Lucie Blackman, Harnage's grandfather. At his death in 1799, the estate was passed down to George Harnage's father, in whose hands it remained until he fell into bankruptcy and mortgaged it to Admiral Sir Edmund Nagles and to Nathaniel Saxon, Esq., in 1823.

Sir George Harnage, Baronet, was a captain in the British Royal Navy.

Description

The collection consists of records -- correspondence, manuscripts, accounts, slave lists, drawings, a deed, and a newspaper -- relating to the life history of Boarded Hall Estate, a Barbados slave plantation, starting with its first owner in 1676. Compiled by the son of its last English owner, Captain George Harnage, the material documents an important period in the history of Barbados and its slave plantations. Harnage found much of the material during his visits to the plantation in 1819 and 1820. He also supplied annotations and footnotes on almost all of the items which he signed and dated, the last of which (item number 6) is dated 1887 (probably by someone else). One of the main documents in the archive is a narrative in the hand of General Henry Peers, an earlier owner, which provides a history of the seventeenth-century origins of the estate and its owners. There are figures about the production of sugar and rum on the plantation from 1789 to 1828. There is an account book for the years 1823 and 1824, which itemizes salaries, purchases, money paid for physicians attending to sick "Negroes," necessaries for sick "Negroes," cost of a cage for a "Negro" who absented himself from work , cost of a trial and execution of one "negro" who committed a robbery, as well as the cost of purchasing candles and nails. At the time, plantation owners were required to keep records of their slaves, and an account book, dated 26 April 1824, contains a list of "Negroes" on the estate with their names, gender, age, value, state of health, and occupation. There is also a list showing an increase or decrease in slaves since the last account.

Correspondence includes a letter (1745) from Tobias Frere in London to the Hon. John Lyte, an owner of Boarded Hall Estate in 1740, regarding its management. In letters to George Harnage, Sr., John Goring, manager from 1785 to 1823, writes about the mismanagement of the estate after it was taken over by Edmun Nagels, and his mistreatment by Nagel's trustee, a "Mr. Powell." He writes about the destruction of "Negro huts" after the hurricane of 1831 and refers bitterly to the aftermath of the 1833 abolition of slavery act in England and its effects on the economy in Barbados. Other correspondents include Catherine Perry, who wrote to Harnage about the destruction of Goring's home in the fire of 1845, and Thomas Pierrepoint, the attorney for the estate.

Also included are a deed for property in Jamaica, dated 26 March 1712 and signed by John Lucie Blackman and a "Mr. Thompson," pen drawings of building structures on the estate, and an issue of the newspaper Barbados Globe for 6 February 1845, reporting the destruction of 180 homes in Bridgetown by a fire on February 3rd and 4th. In 1824, Harnage had the collection of documents he found bound in England.

Arrangement

The collection is organized into one series with all the material arranged in chronological order with the exception of the first and last end-papers.

• Series 1: Records, 1676-1887

Access and Use

Access

The collection is open for research.

Restrictions on Use and Copyright Information

Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish material from the collection must be requested from the Associate University Librarian for Rare Books and Special Collections.

Acquisition and Appraisal

Provenance and Acquisition

The collection was purchased on October 8, 2007.

Processing and Other Information

Conservation

Some of the material was originally bound in a dark blue, half calf, English case. (Go to Box 2 for a description of the case.) It was disbound so that individual records could be organized and stored in a flat box. Paper conservation was completed by Ted Stanley on November 28, 2007.

Works Cited

The Original Lists of Persons of Quality (1986), edited by John Camden Hotton, and Emigrants from England 1773-1776 (1976), transcribed by Gerald Fothergill, were consulted during preparation of the biographical note.

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Dina Britain on December 18, 2007. Finding aid written by Dina Britain on January 2, 2008.

Descriptive Rules Used

Finding aid content adheres to that prescribed by Describing Archives: A Content Standard.

Encoding

Machine-readable finding aid encoded in EAD 2002 by Dina Britain on January 1, 2008.

Finding aid written in English.

Preferred Citation

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Boarded Hall Estate (Barbados) Plantation Records, Box and Folder Number; Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Subject Headings

These materials have been indexed in the Princeton University Library online catalog using the following terms. Those seeking related materials should search under these terms.

• Boarded Hall Estate (Barbados)
• Barbados Globe.
• Plantations -- Barbados -- History -- Sources.
• Slavery -- Barbados -- History -- Sources.
• Slaves -- Emancipation -- Barbados -- 19th century.
• Barbados -- Race relations -- History -- Sources.
• Barbados -- History -- Sources.
• Barbados -- Economic conditions -- History -- Sources.
• Bridgetown (Barbados) -- History -- 19th century -- Sources.
• Account books -- Barbados -- 19th century.
• Correspondence -- 19th century.
• Deeds -- Jamaica -- 18th century.
• Estate records -- Barbados -- 19th century.
• Manuscripts -- 18th century.
• Newspapers -- Barbados -- 19th century.

Contents List

1. Series 1: Records, 1676-1887 Arrangement The records are arranged chronologically.

   Box , Folder

2. End papers End papers of the original binding of the manuscripts. It contains notes by Harnage regarding a letter he received from "Mr. Crichlow," December 28, 1838, about the main house on the estate having been blown down by the hurricane of 1831, about Goring owning a store in Bridgetown, and about another letter from "Mr. Pyle," proprietor of Brighton Estate which is also in the Parish of St. George.

   Box 1, Folder 1

3. Indenture, March 26, 1712 Deed for land in Jamaica signed by John Lucie Blackman and "Mr. Thompson." The deed is written on vellum.

   Box 1, Folder 2

4. "Narrative of the Title of the Estate I Bought of Capt. W[illia]m Hunt, " 1736 A significant manuscript in the archive providing a detailed history of Boarded Hall Estate, its original owners, size, and number of slaves, in the 17th century. The manuscript is apparently in the hand of General Peers. It explains that the estate originated with George Keyzar prior to 1676. The manuscript contains many annotations and explanations by George Harnage, all bearing different dates.

   Box 1, Folder 3

5. Frere, Tobias, December 28, 1745 A long autograph letter signed by Tobias Frere to John Lyte, Esq. sent from London to Barbados requesting assurance to a proper title for the estate, and discussing the management of the estate, merchandise shipments to England, the price of rum, and financial and banking problems due to the Jacobite Rebellion and threats of a French invasion.

   Box 1, Folder 4

6. Balance of Accounts, October 18, 1748 Accounts for the year 1748 related to the distribution of Peers's property. Also includes notes by Harnage; 4pp.

   Box 1, Folder 5

7. Untitled notes, October 18, 1748 Notes which may have been written by George Harnage, Sr., regarding the passing of title of Boarded Hall Estate from Henry Peers, who died in 1740, to John Lyte, who married into the Blackman family. It also contains annotations and notes by George Harnage (son).

   Box 1, Folder 6

8. Seals of the Blackman Family Crest, 1780 One folio which bears two red seals stamped with the Blackman family crest which, according to Harnage's notes written on both sides of the folio, he found on one of the letters from John Lucie Blackman to his great grandfather, also by the same name, who died in Barbados in 1780. Harnage's notes are dated 1837 and 1844.

   Box 1, Folder 7

9. Drawing, circa 1800-1820 Pen-and-ink drawing of building structures on Boarded Hall Estate with a key indicating the function of each building.

   Box 1, Folder 8

10. Cromarlie, John G.?, circa 1820 ALS (undated) regarding sending the picture of Harnage's father, and also mentions the good health of John Goring and the deteriorating condition of Boarded Hall Estate. The letter is pasted down to the verso of a drawing of a plan of the buildings on Boarded Hall Estate. The plan also includes a key to the buildings. The date of November 1, 1820, is written in pencil on the drawing.

    Box 1, Folder 9

11. Account Book, January 1823 - April 1824 It starts with a table of contents listed in alphabetical order. In addition to accounts for mundane items, such as candles, nails, rum and sugar, that are listed under personal names, there are others that include expenses of a voyage to London, accounts of Boarded Hall Estate, money paid to the apothecary who looked after 178 "Negroes", i.e. slaves, when they were sick, necessary items purchased for those sick "Negroes," taking a "Negro" who absented himself from work out of a cage, accounts of a levy or tax on land and on slaves, and accounts for the trial of a "Villain Negro" named Cooper, who broke open and robbed the buildings twice. In addition, the book contains detailed lists of the "Negroes" on Boarded Hall Plantation, together with their name, age, value, gender, occupation, and health, ending with a number showing the increase or decrease in slaves since the last count. This is followed by a list of cattle, a list of fields and what was planted on them, and finally an estimated appraisal of the value of all items mentioned above, which was the value of Boarded Hall Plantation. The book is signed by S. T. Partridge, Apothecary, D. Walcott, Samuel Drayton, and John Manning.

    Box 1, Folder 10

12. Goring, John, January 10, 1824 ALS to George Harnage about the death of Harnage's father, and lamenting the loss of the estate.

    Box 1, Folder 11

13. Pierrepoint, Thomas, March 25, 1824 ALS by Pierrepoint, one of the attorneys for the estate in Barbados, to Harnage, concerning the settlement of sale proceeds of Boarded Hall on Harnage's mother.

    Box 1, Folder 12

14. Goring, John, January 4, 1825 ALS in reply to a letter of Harnage regarding Harnage's father, conditions at the estate, the sugar cane crop, the will of William Blackman, Mrs. Nagles and the mortgage on the estate, and Mr. Pierrepoint.

    Box 1, Folder 13

15. Returns of Boarded Hall Estate, 1789-1828 A two-page list showing the yearly production of sugar and rum of Boarded Hall Estate.

    Box 1, Folder 14

16. Goring, John, May 31, 1830 ALS to Harnage informing him of the current situation at the estate, and of George's intention to retire due to his mistreatment by the trustee of the new owner, a "Mr. Powell."

    Box 1, Folder 15

17. Goring, Rachel B., June 21, 1830 ALS to Harnage about the death of her aunt Betsey, John Goring's sister, and about her father's deteriorating health.

    Box 1, Folder 16

18. Harnage, Mrs., March 16, 1837 ALS from George Harnage's mother to his sister Caroline about her income and about other family affairs.

    Box 1, Folder 17

19. Goring, John, January 15, 1839 ALS to Harnage, regarding the death of Edmund Nagles, an inquest at the estate that he was called to concerning one of the "Negroes," the destruction of the old mansion from the storm of 1831, and its replacement by "Negro" huts, and the destruction of other buildings on the estate, including Goring's old house. Goring also writes that conditions in Barbados are very bad, that people are almost starving, and that the price of food is two hundred times what it was in 1830.

    Box 1, Folder 18

20. Goring, John, July 20, 1839 ALS to Harnage concerning a letter he received via William Crichlow of Harnage requesting a photograph of Harnage's father. Goring explains that it was destroyed together with Goring's old house in the storm of 1831, and that William Spencer has one which he will send to Harnage. Goring continues to mention the very poor situation in Barbados.

    Box 1, Folder 19

21. Goring, John, July 2, 1840 ALS to Harnage complaining about the very poor state of affairs in Barbados, and the drop in price of land. Goring also writes that a nephew of John Blackman, an ancestor of Harnage, was appointed to the council of Barbados.

    Box 1, Folder 20

22. Obituary, September 1842 Newspaper clipping pasted to paper of an obituary of the Rev. Samuel William Hinkson, who died at Colleton Estate in the Parish of St. John, Barbados, on September 24, 1842. Also contains annotations by Harnage.

    Box 1, Folder 21

23. Goring, John, July 1, 1843 A fragment of a letter sent to Harnage asking him about the details of an accident of Harnage's son and his wife, and discusses other family matters.

    Box 1, Folder 22

24. Perry, Catherine, November 21, 1843 ANS to John Goring regarding George Harnage. The Perrys were friends of George Harnage's aunt Henrietta Blackman.

    Box 1, Folder 23

25. Goring, John, November 23, 1843 ALS to Harnage about family matters, enclosing Catherine Perry's letter.

    Box 1, Folder 24

26. Harnage, Edward, May 18, 1844 ALS to George Harnage from his brother Edward concerning the deed of discharge for Boarded Hall Estate.

    Box 1, Folder 25

27. Perry, Catherine, July 22, 1844 ALS to Harnage signed by Catherine Perry and her sisters Frannie, Mary, and Margaret, who lived at the "Roebuck" until its destruction during the storm of 1831, and who are now living in the Parish of St. Michael.

    Box 1, Folder 26

28. Goring, John, December 23, 1844 ALS to Harnage concerning his ill health and poor eyesight, about family matters, the items Miss Perry found, and about Boarded Hall Estate.

    Box 1, Folder 27

29. Perry, Catherine, December 24, 1844 ALS to Harnage in response to a request for certain documents. Perry informs Harnage that she found a notebook of his ancestor Samuel Blackman, owner of Eagle Hall, and two small volumes that belonged to his great aunt Henrietta Blackman, which were also inscribed by her.

    Box 1, Folder 28

30. Barbados Globe, February 6, 1845 A copy of the newspaper, sub-titled "Official Gazette, and Colonial Advocate," for Thursday, February 6, 1845 (Vol. XXVI, No. 1901). The first page is devoted to advertisements, and it is not until the fourth column on p. 2 that details of the fire of Bridgetown are reported: in addition to some loss of life, one fourth of the brick buildings in the town were destroyed.

    Box 1, Folder 29

31. Perry, Catherine, February 7, 1845 ALS to Harnage regarding John Goring's state of destitution after losing his home and all his belongings in the fire of Bridgetown on February 3 and 4, 1845. Perry enclosed a copy of the Barbados Globe for Harnage to read the list of names of individuals whose houses were destroyed, including that of Goring.

    Box 1, Folder 30

32. End papers, 1841 Signed by George Harnage and dated Cambridge, 1841.

    Box 1, Folder 31

33. Binding, 1824 Half blue-stained calf over pasteboard case of an English binding, with a gilt spine, bearing the title "Boarded Hall Estate. Barbados. Harnage. 1824." The collection of documents in it was disbound in November 2007.

    Box 2, Folder

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