Full helpers description

Castle Wemyss Estate papers, Jamaica

Institute of Commonwealth Studies

Overview

Papers relating to the Castle Wemyss sugar estate in Jamaica between 1802 and 1845. They include information on the slaves who worked the estate. If you have a relative you believe may have been a slave in Jamaica during this period then this archive may provide some additional information about them.

Detailed usage description

Amongst the records of the Castle Wemyss sugar estate in Jamaica held by the Institute of Commonwealth Studies are lists of slaves which can be found in the title deeds to the estate after the abolition of the slave trade in 1807. Each record indicates the slaves name, any alternative names, their age, whether they were classed as black or creole and sometimes additional extra details. There is also a series of 'returns' which give extra information about the slaves' conditions.

This information could be useful if you are tracing your family history and believe that an ancestor of yours may have been a slave in Jamaica in the first half of the nineteenth century.

How to tell if the collection is useful

If you know or have reason to believe that an ancestor was a slave in Jamaica between 1807 and 1845 then this collection may be of use to you. You can email a query to the ICS , providing as much detail as possible. Obviously they would need a name, and any indication of what dates your ancestor may have been in Jamaica would also be useful.

If it turns out that there is a record of your ancestor in the lists of slaves you may wish to visit in person to consult both the lists and the rest of the Castle Wemyss archive. There is a descriptive list of the contents available in the ICS library

If you plan to email the archivist with a query we suggest that you read our tutorial on how to do this most effectively.

Access arrangements

Membership of the Institute is free to members of academic (and academically related) staff - including retired members - and registered postgraduate students of an institution of Higher Education whether in Britain or abroad. Other persons are admitted at the discretion of the Director or the Institute Board on payment of an annual fee of £65 (£30 for the unwaged). Non-members can use the library as Occasional Readers on payment of the following fees: £5 a day or £15 a week (£2 and £6 for the unwaged).

It is advisable to contact the above e-mail address in advance to arrange an appointment to see the archive.

More Information

A collection level description is available on AIM25.

Example(s) of the holdings

Certificate of Compensation 1836 - ICS 101/4/18. (Clicking on the image shows it at full size.)

User comments

There are 0 user comment(s) about this description.

Add a comment

Abstracting information