The Mystery of the Mysterious Grandmother

The 1817 slave register and later returns from John Tharp's Good Hope estate list eight children with a mother called Catherine: Tabia (b. 1804), Nancy (b. 1806), Archy (b. 1812), Hannibal (1813-12th of February 1820), Joseph (b. 1817), Hercules (b. 23rd of January 1820), Nicholas Smith (b. 1824), who  was described as Mulatto,  and Isabella Williams (b. 1825).   There were four women called Catherine on the estate, but Catherine Oldham was described as Quadroon and cannot have been the mother of any of these children (see ' Keaty of Good Hope '). The three who could have been were: 1. Catherine (b. 1782), whose mother was not named. She was between 22 and 43 when these children were born and could therefore have given birth to any of them. As we'll see, she must have been the mother of the six oldest children. 2. Catherine (b. 1808), whose mother was Minerva (see ' Claritta of Good Hope '). She is unlikely to have given birth to Hercules at the age of 12, but w

The 1817 slave register for John Tharp's Good Hope estate listed  nine individuals with a mother called Betty: Behaviour (b. 1768, whose mother was called Betty C [=?Coromantee, from  Fort Kormantine in Ghana ), Duke (1769-26th of November 1818,* who was described as Sambo), Mary (b. 1779), Atty (b. 1780), Lacoo (1780-28th of September 1819),* Joe (b. 1783), Yankee (b. 1784, whose mother was listed as A. Betty [=?African]), Nancy Grey (1790-1820) and Cuba (1793-5th of October 1818).*  There were five women called Betty who could have been the mother of some or all of these children: 1. Betty (b. 1745), who was born in Africa. She would have been 23 when Behaviour was born and 48 when Cuba was, so could have given birth to any or all of these children. 2. Betty (b. 1753), who was born in Africa . She would have been between 15 and 40 when these children were born, so could have given birth to any or all of them. 3. Betty (b. 1755), who was born in Africa . She would have been 13 whe

The 1817 slave register for John Tharp's Good Hope estate includes eight individuals whose mother was called Rose: Jack (b. 1787), Aaron (b. 1794), Catalina (b. 1797), Dapper aka Davy (b. 1799), Jemmy (b. 1800), Phillis (1804-1830), Joseph (b. 1807) and Nancy (b. 1814).  There were four women called Rose on the estate who could have given birth to some or all of these children: 1. Although she was not included in the 1817 register, the death of an African-born woman called Rose (d. 5th of November 1819) was recorded in the 1820 return for the estate, in which she was estimated to have been 90 years old (b. 1730). If her estimated age was accurate, she was too old to be the mother of any of these children, but 90 probably just meant 'very old' and she could have been a decade or more younger. If she had been 80 when she died, she would have been 47 when Jack was born and could have been his mother. 2. The next oldest Rose was born in about 1771, in Africa. She would have bee

In the 1817 slave register and later returns from John Tharp's Good Hope estate,  5 individuals are listed with a mother called Nancy: Kent (b. 1780), Mimba (b. 1805), Susannah (b. 1810), Catolina (1816-1820) and  Sammy (b. 1825).  In addition, the mother of Elizabeth Shellwid (b. 1818), who was described as Quadroon,  and John Irving (b. 1829), who was described as Mulatto, was named as Nancy Bailey , the mother of Spim (m) (b. 15th of March 1819) was Nancy Grey, the mother of Robert (b. 29th of January 1819) was Nancy (Little) and the mother of Maria Shellard (1821-1824), who was described as Quadroon, was Nancy Bartlett.  There were six women or girls called Nancy on the estate: 1. Nancy (1753-1820), who was born in Africa. She would have been 27 when Kent was born and 52 when Mimba was. Although it's feasible that she could have had Mimba at that age, it seems more likely that Kent was her only surviving child. 2. Nancy Grey (1790-1820), whose mother was Betty . Nancy Grey

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

The 1817 slave register for John Tharp's Good Hope estate lists five individuals whose mother's  name was Louisa: Marina (b. 1800), Nancy (b. 1800), Patty aka Eve (b. 1803), Neptune (b. 1806) and Delia (b. 1809). Louisa's age was estimated as 42 (b. 1775), and her place of birth was given as Africa. Going down a generation, possible children for Marina, Nancy and Delia are discussed in posts called ' Three women called Marina on Good Hope ', ' Six women called Nancy on Good Hope ' and ' Two women called Delia on Good Hope '. When Juliet was born in 1817, her mother was named as Patty, and although Louisa's daughter would have been only 14, she was the only woman or girl of that name on the estate. More about Good Hope More about sources What are the limitations of the evidence? Isn't this too neat to be convincing? A note about the identity of fathers A note about the ages of mothers A note about descriptions of colour A note on language and

The 1823 return for John Tharp's Good Hope estate records the birth of a boy called John (b. 1822) to a  mother called Prue. Two women called Prue were listed in the 1817 slave register: 1. Thirty-one-year-old Prue (b. 1786) was the daughter of Keaty (see ' Keaty of Good Hope '). She would have been 36 when John was born and her death at the age of 37 was registered in the 1826 return. 2. Twenty-six-year-old Prue (b. 1791) was the daughter of Bella (b. 1768) and would have been 31 when John was born. Unfortunately, based on the evidence of these slave lists, it isn't possible to determine which Prue was John's mother. Bella's mother was called Chance (b. 1752), who also had a son called Quaw (b. 1773). Chance's death, at the age of 71, was recorded in the 1823 return. More about Good Hope More about sources What are the limitations of the evidence? Isn't this too neat to be convincing? A note about the identity of fathers A note about the ages of mothers

The 1817 slave register for John Tharp's Good Hope estate provides the mother's name Bessy for six children: Nancy Bailley (b. 1801), Thomas (b. 1803), John White (b. 1807), Peggy White (b. 1809), Sabina (b. 1812) and Olive (b. 1815). The 1820 return of 'increases' and 'decreases', the only one to provide precise dates, adds Billy (b. 19th of January 1818). Thomas was described as Sambo, which indicates that one of his parents was of mixed heritage. Nancy Bailley and John White were described as Mulatto, indicating that their father was white. The other children were all described as Negro.  Two women called Bessy could have been the mother of these children: 1. Bessy (1759-1826), who was born in Africa. She would have been 42 when Nancy Bailley was born and could also have given birth to Thomas, John White and Peggy White by the age of 50. It is progressively less likely that she was the mother of the younger children. 2. Bessy (1781-1822) was the daughter of L

The 1817 slave register and later returns for John Tharp's Good Hope estate list four individuals whose mother's name was given as Marina: Maria Cross (b. 1809), Catherine (b. 1813), Cretea [sic] (b. 1816) and Quacco (m) (1st of November 1818-1820).* There were three women on the estate who could have been the mother of some or all of these children: 1. Marina (b. 1778), who was born in Africa. She would have been 31 when Maria Cross was born and 40 when Quacco was, so she could have been the mother of any or all of these children. 2. Marina (b. 1794), who was the daughter of Lucretia (see ' Cretia and Lucretia of Good Hope '). She would have been between the ages of 15 and 24 when these children were born and could therefore have been the mother of any or all of them. Cretea [sic] (b. 1816) may have been named after her grandmother. 3. Marina (b. 1800), who was the daughter of Louisa (see ' Louisa of Good Hope '). She would have been only 9 when Maria Cross was

The 1817 slave register for John Tharp's Good Hope plantation lists Ann Nott (b. 1816) as the daughter of Jane Keith, and the 1820 return of 'increases' and 'decreases', the only one that gives dates, added Charlotte Nott (b. 12th of February 1818). Jane Keith was also listed in the 1817 register. She and both of her daughters were described as Mulatto, indicating that all three had a white father. Jane Keith's mother was not named. The 1823 return records Jane Keith's death at the age of 25. That is all there is to say about Jane Keith's little family, but three other babies were recorded with the last name Nott on Good Hope: 1. Betsy Nott, whose death was recorded in the 1823 return for Good Hope at the age of two. She was described as Mulatto and h er mother was not named, but the birth of a girl called  Betsy Nott (b. 24th of September 1820) had been registered on the Potosi estate in the 1820 return, which named her mother as Sarah Keith. Unfortunat

The 1817 slave register for John Tharp's Good Hope plantation includes a woman called Keaty, who was born in Jamaica in about 1762. She was also named as the mother of six children on Good Hope: George R. Smith (1782-1823), Rabbe (m) (b. 1784), Nelly Grey (1785-1824), Prue (1786-1823), Quashie (m) (b. 1794) and Molly (b. 1801).  Nelly Grey was described as Mulatto, and she appears to have had at least eight children in her turn, all of whom were described as Quadroon. [1]    For five of the children, the mother's name was given in full as Nelly Grey:  Anne Cowie aka Helen (b. 1811), Sarah Cowie (b. 1814), Margaret Cowie (b. 1817), Elizabeth Cowie (b. 27th of April 1819) [2]   and Allick (b. 1822).   Three more children were born to Nelly Mulatto: Mary Oldham (b. 1803), Catherine Oldham (b. 1805) and John Oldham (b. 1808).  Nelly Grey was the only woman of that name on Good Hope who was described as Mulatto, so the two different surnames, in chronologically distinct periods, sug

Three girls were listed in the 1817 slave register and later returns for John Tharp's Good Hope estate with the mother's name Cretia: Mary (1815-August the 18th 1818) and twins Ann and Mary (b. December the 29th 1819). Ann and Mary were described as Sambo, indicating that one of their parents was of mixed African and European heritage and the other wholly African.  For a possible daughter for Ann, see ' Jane Keith of Good Hope '. No woman of the right age named Cretia was listed on the Good Hope estate , but there were two women of the right age called Lucretia. One (b. 1783) was the daughter of Binah (see ' Binah of Good Hope '). The other was born in 1769 and her mother's name wasn't provided. The older Lucretia would have been 45 when the older Mary was born and 50 when the twins were. The younger Lucretia could also have given birth to all of them. She would have been 32 when the older Mary was born and 36 when the twins were. However, it is also pos

The 1817 slave register for John Tharp's Good Hope estate included six children with a mother called Jenny : Sarah Oldham (b. 1799), Eliza (b. 1803), Charlotte (b. 1805), Caesar (b. 1811), Daniel (b. 1814) and Beck (f) (1815-1824). Later returns add Jacob (b. 20th of January 1818),* George (b. and d. 1823) and George (b. 1824). Sarah Oldham, Eliza and Charlotte were described as Mulatto. The register includes four women called Jenny: 1. A 56-year-old Jeny [sic] (b. 1761), who could have been the mother of Sarah Oldham, Eliza and Charlotte. She'd have been 50 when Caesar was born, 53 when Daniel was born and 54 when Beck was born, none of which is entirely impossible, but they are progressively less likely to have been her children. 2. A 36-year-old Jenny (b. 1781), who was the daughter of Binah (see ' Binah of Good Hope '). This Jenny would have been 24 when Sarah Oldham was born and 43 when the younger George was. It's tempting to assume that Beck (1815-1824) was n