Two women called Delia on Good Hope


In accounts of 'increases' and 'decreases' on John Tharp's Good Hope estate from 1820, 1823, 1826 and 1832, the births of nine children were recorded to a mother or mothers called Delia. They were Rebecca (b. 21st of October 1817), Elizabeth (b. 1822), Jessy (b. and d. 1823), Sarah (b. and d. 1823), A. Mitchell (b. and d. 1826), John Brown (b. and d. 1826), James Walker* (1831-1832), Jane Keith (b. 1832), whose mother was named as Little Delia, and Louisa Wright (b. 1832). 

There were two Delias on the estate, both born in Jamaica: 

1. Delia (b. 1789), who would have been 28 when Rebecca was born and 43 when Louisa Wright was. In theory, she could have given birth to any or all of these children.

2. Delia (b. 1809), who was the daughter of Louisa (see 'Louisa of Good Hope'). She could not have been Rebecca's mother, but would have been about 13 by the time Elizabeth was born, and therefore theoretically old enough to be the mother of the eight younger children. Louisa Wright may have been named after this Delia's mother. 

Jessy and Sarah were both born (and died) in 1823. A. Mitchell and John Brown were both born (and died) in 1826. Jane Keith and Louisa Wright were both born in 1832. These pairs of children may represent the two women having babies in the same year as one another, but they could be twins or close-in-age siblings born to the same mother. Note that Sarah was described as Sambo, but Jessy was not, which suggests that they were not twins.

When Jane Keith was born, the two Delias were 43 and 23. Since they were both adults, 'Little Delia' was presumably a physical description, and could have referred to either woman.


* Note that there was an enslaved man called James Walker (1786-1832) on the same estate, who could have been this boy's father. He was closer in age to the older Delia and may be more likely to have been her partner.


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