Taylor family of Jamaica (1770-1835)

IDENTITY STATEMENT AREA

Reference code(s): ICS 120

Title: Taylor family of Jamaica (1770-1835)

Date(s): 1770 - 1835 [predominantly 1770-1819]

Level of description: Fond

Extent and medium of the unit of description: 12 letterbooks and approx. 1400 letters

CONTEXT AREA

Name of creator(s): Taylor, Simon, 1740-1813, Jamaican Sugar Planter
Taylor, George Watson, 1770-1841, Jamaican Sugar Planter

Administrative/Biographical history: Simon Taylor was born in Jamaica in 1740, eldest son of Patrick Tailzour, who had assumed the name Taylor on his marriage to Martha Taylor. Patrick had come out to Jamaica from Borrowfield, Scotland and established himself as a merchant in Kingston. Simon Taylor began his career as an attorney for absentee planters, became a sugar planter in his own right and at his death in 1813 he was reputedly the richest man in Jamaica. He was active in Jamaican politics and society, being member for Kingston in the Jamaican Assembly, 1763-81, and for St. Thomas in the East, 1784-1810; Custos; Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas; and Lieutenant Governor of Militia. He never married, although he had a large illegitimate family. For an account of his life and business, see R.B. Sheridan, Simon Taylor, Sugar Tycoon of Jamaica, 1740-1813 in Agricultural History Vol.45, No.4 (Oct. 1971) pp. 285-296 (a copy is available at ICS) General Nugent, Governor of Jamaica, 1801-1806, described Taylor in 1806 as ...by much the richest proprietor in the island, and in the habit of accumulating money, so as to make his nephew and heir one of the most wealthy subjects of His Majesty. In strong opposition to Government at present and violent in his language against the King's Ministers, for their conduct towards Jamaica. He has great influence in the Assembly, but is nearly superannuated. He has most extraordinary manners and lives principally with overseers of estates and masters of merchant vessels; but he has had an excellent education [he went to Eton], is well informed and is a warm friend to those he takes by the hand. He is also very hospitable and civilised occasionally, but is said to be most inveterate in his dislikes. [P. Wright, ed. Lady Nugent's Journal (4ed., Institute of Jamaica 1966) p318] Simon's heir was his nephew, Sir Simon Richard Brissett Taylor (1785-1815), and after the latter's death his eldest niece, Anna Susannah Watson Taylor (1781-1853), inherited the estates. She had married George Watson in 1810 and the additional name Taylor was assumed at the time of the inheritance.

Archival history: The correspondence of Simon Taylor, his brothers, their children and other family members was brought together and descended in the Watson Taylor family. They were purchased from Mr C.E. Watson Taylor by the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, with assistance form the Victoria and Albert Purchase Grant Fund, in 1982. Some letters were sold separately for their postal marks; xeroxed copies were placed in the Papers.

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer:

CONTENT AND STRUCTURE AREA

Scope and content: Mainly letters written and received between 1770 and 1835 by Simon Taylor, his family and heirs, and his friends, agents and business partners. Over a quarter are contained in Simon Taylor's letterbooks. Though the majority of the correspondence consists of letters either to or from Simon Taylor up to his death in 1813, there is also correspondence of other family members, like his brother Sir John Taylor (1741-1786) and his widow Lady Elizabeth Haughton Taylor (1758-182[?2]), their son and his heir Sir Simon Richard Brissett Taylor, and his cousin and business partner Robert Taylor. Subject matter ranges from the domestic (illness, family quarrels, disinheritance, bigamy) to business (slaves, sugar, trade and shipping, the effects of hurricanes, the introduction of a steam engine on an estate), to the Maroon and French wars and the politics of Abolition. The collection also includes correspondence of George Watson Taylor, 1815-1819, and detailed reports on the estates made for Anna Susannah Watson Taylor in 1835. Genealogical tables for the Taylor, Haughton, Brissett and Hibbert families have been added to the collection at a later date.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:

Accruals:

System of arrangement: By correspondent and by date

CONDITIONS OF ACCESS AND USE AREA

Conditions governing access:

Conditions governing reproduction:

Language/scripts of material: English

Physical characteristics:

Finding aids: Hard copy item level descriptive list and index of principal correspondents available in ICS Library

ALLIED MATERIALS AREA

Existence and location of originals: Location of those originals sold for postmarks not known

Existence and location of copies:

Related units of description: The ICS also holds papers relating to the Castle Wemyss Estate, Jamaica, 1802-1990 [predominantly 1802-1845] (Ref. ICS 101) There are also relevant publications available in the ICS Library.

Publication note: RB Sheridan, Simon Taylor, Sugar Tycoon of Jamaica, 1740-1813 in Agricultural History vol 45 no 4 (Oct 1971) pp 285-296
See KE Ingram, Sources of Jamaican History 1655-1838 (Switzerland, 1976).

DESCRIPTION CONTROL AREA

Recorder's note:

Rules or conventions: Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions: February 2002

Interest: Caribbean

Specific group:

Subjects

Agricultural products

Plant products

Sugar

Social structure

Slavery

Transport

International trade

Colonial trade

Personal/Corporate names

Taylor, Sir, Simon Brissett, d 1815, Jamaican Sugar Planter

Taylor, Elizabeth Haughton, 1758-[1822], wife of Sir John Taylor

Taylor, George Watson, 1770-1841, Jamaican Sugar Planter

Taylor, Simon, 1740-1813, Jamaican Sugar Planter

Taylor, Sir, John, 1741-1786, Knight

Places

Caribbean

Jamaica