Countess of Covey



When a woman called Countess was included in a list of enslaved people on John Tharp's Covey Estate in 1817, her age was estimated as 84 and her birthplace was given as Jamaica. She had one surviving daughter, called Grace, who was listed as the mother of four other individuals: Rebecca (b. 1781), Frank Trenham (b. 1792), Armenia (f) and Fannal (m) (both b. 1800). Rebecca and Frank had a white father; Armenia and Fannal didn't. For a possible additional daughter for Grace, see 'Three women called Jane or Jean on Covey'.

Going down a generation, Rebecca was named in later returns from the estate as the mother of six children: Henrietta (b. 1802), David Oliphant (1803-1829), John Oliphant (1806-1826), Robert Butchart (b. 1812), Mary Butchart (b. 1814) and Alexander Butchart (b. 1816).

Rebecca's children were all described as Quadroon, indicating that they too resulted from rape or sexual exploitation. The change of last name may indicate that they were fathered by different men.


There is one other child who could be Rebecca's, and that's Elizabeth Dixon, also known as Betty, who was described as Mulatto. Her mother's name was given as Beck and there were no other Rebeccas or Becks on the estate who were of child-bearing age. If Countess's Rebecca was Elizabeth Dixon's mother, and if the colour descriptions were accurate, Elizabeth Dixon's father must also have been described as Mulatto.

Sarah Joy's mother was listed as 'Betty Mulatto', Jane Wilson's as 'Betty Dixon', and Amelia Dixon's as 'Elizabeth Dixon'. All three had a white father and were described as Quadroon. If Elizabeth or Betty Dixon was Sarah Joy's mother, she would have been only 17 when she was born.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bessy of Lansquinet

Image
The 1817 slave register for John Tharp's Lansquinet plantation includes three individuals with a mother named Bessy: Quashiba (1791-1825), Damsel (b. 1799) and Isaac (b. 1803). The 1826 return records the birth and death of Phama Neilson (f), whose mother was also called Bessy. Four women called Bessy were listed as being on Lansquinet in 1817: 1. Bessy Cook (b. 1744) (see ' Bessy Cook of Lansquinet ') 2. Bessy (b. 1764) 3. Bessy Smart (b. 1789), who was described as  Mulatto and whose mother's name was Phillis (see ' Three women called Phillis on Lansquinet ' )  4. Bessy (b. 1800), whose mother was Rosalinda. Because of her age, this Bessy  could only have been the mother of Phama Neilson. Since none of other other women could have been (the first two were too old and Bessy Smart could not have had a daughter described as Negro), Phama is included in the family tree in ' Rosalinda of Lansquinet '. Assuming the age estimates are accurate, Bessy Cook woul
Read more

Memorial and index to the family trees of people enslaved on John Tharp's estates in Jamaica

How to find what you're looking for, and what it means when you've found it To avoid endless scrolling, use ctrl-s to search  Abba 1788-1821 Covey Abba b. 1801 Covey Abba b. 1808 Chippenham Park Pen. d. of Beneba b. 1777, who was b. in Africa Abbreba b. 1770 Covey Abel b. 1799 Covey Abraham or Henry Philips, b. 1783 Covey Abraham b. 1795 Covey Abraham b. 1811 Chippenham Park Pen   Abram see Abraham Adam 1750-1826  Chippenham Park Pen . b. in Africa  Adam b. 1775 Covey Adam b. 1776  Chippenham Park Pen . b. in Africa Adam b. 1805 Covey Adam Reid b. 1814 Covey Adam b. 1815 Chippenham Park Pen Affen b. 17 Aug. 1817 Top Hill Pen Agnes 1769-1826 Covey Agnes 1771-24th Feb 1820  Chippenham Park Pen . b. in Africa Agnes b. 1805 Covey Agnes 1808-1832 Chippenham Park Pen   Alex b. 1768  Chippenham Park Pen . b. in Africa Alex Campbell b. 1818 Covey Alexander Williams b. 1785 Covey Alexander Shackleton or Natty b. 1786 Covey Alexander McFarlane or Allick 1794-1832 Covey. s. of Maria n.d.
Read more

Introducing the Mysterious Grandmother

Image
She was actually my mum's grandmother, and her name was Christine Cambridge. The mystery is that she never knew who her parents were. Naturally, she told stories, but her grandchildren took them with a pinch of salt.  The problem was that Christine wasn't particularly nice. When her husband died, she made her children promise they wouldn't get married and leave her. When they inevitably did, they had to make it up to her by giving her money every week. None of them realised the others were too -- Christine was living in (relative) luxury while they were struggling to make ends meet.  To the end of her life, my Nanna used to keep tins and packets of food in her bedroom (which, ok, is weird). She started doing it when she came out of hospital after a serious operation and was recuperating upstairs. Her mother-in-law, Christine, would come round 'to help', and instead help herself to anything she fancied from the kitchen. The pattern in these stories is that Christine
Read more