The Mystery of the Mysterious Grandmother

  The 1817 slave register for John Tharp's Chippenham Park Pen lists two individuals with a mother called Susie: Phillis (b. 1799)* and Christmas (f) (b. 1807). Susie's age was estimated as 42 (b. 1779) and her birthplace given as Africa. The 1823 return records the birth of Stepney (m) and Susie's death, both apparently in that year. The next return, from 1826, notes that Christmas had given birth to London (m) who was, by that time, 8 months old. * Cambridgeshire County Archives hold a list of children on the estate. Their catalogue dates it to 1795/1803, but comparison with the 1817 register suggests it was compiled in around 1803. It includes a one-year-old called Phillis who may have been Susie's daughter, since all age estimates were approximate. More about Chippenham Park Pen 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 desc

The 1817 slave register for John Tharp's Chippenham Park Pen lists four individuals with a mother called Sidney: Eliza (b. 1799), Cuffee (m) (b. 1801), Quaco (m) (b. 1808) and Hannah (b. 1811). Sidney's age was estimated as 31 (b. 1786), and her place of birth was recorded as Africa. If this was accurate, she had Eliza at the age of 13, when she was already in Jamaica. Although that's not impossible, it would be unusually young. The 1826 return records Hannah's death at the age of 15 and the 1832 return record's Sidney's death at the age of 50. This pushes her birth back to 1776-1782, making her between 17 and 23 when Eliza was born. The dates given for her in the family tree are arbitrary, in that I could have selected any fifty-year period between 1776 and 1832. More about Chippenham Park Pen 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 mothe

The 1817 slave register for John Tharp's Chippenham Park Pen listed three girls with a mother called Rose: Jenny* (b. 1801), Dorinda (b. 1805) and Lucretia (b. 1812).  Rose was also listed, with her age estimated as 38 (b. 1779) and her place of birth given as Africa. Going down a generation, the 1823 return of 'increases' and 'decreases' recorded the births of one-year-old William, whose mother was Dorinda, and two-month-old Hercules, whose mother was Jenny. The 1826 return recorded the birth of a brother for William in the sixth-month-old Manuel (b. 1826). The 1832 return notes the birth of Lucretia's daughter Signey, and her death at the age of one. Since no dates were given, she could have lived her short life at any point since the previous return of 1826, so 1826/31-1827/32 would be a more accurate, but potentially more confusing, representation of her dates. * This may not be the earliest record for Jenny. A list of children on Chippenham Park Pen survive

The 1817 slave register for Chippenham Park Pen lists three girls with a mother called Polly: Sue [1] (b. 1803), Nancy (b. 1806) and Jane Wallace (b. 1812).  Polly was also listed in the register, where her age was estimated as 41 and her birthplace given as Africa. Later returns of 'increases' and 'decreases' record that Polly died at the age of 50 and Sue at the age of 23, both in 1826. In 1832, Jane Wallace was 'killed by accident' at the age of 20. Going down a generation, Sue was listed as the mother's name for three children: Bessy (b. 1821), Peter (b. 1825) and Sam, [2]  who was born and died in 1826.  [1]  An earlier record survives for Sue, who was included on a list of children on Chippenham Park Pen which is preserved among the Tharp family papers in Cambridgeshire County Archives. Their catalogue dates the list to 1795/1803, but comparison with the 1817 register suggests that it was compiled in 1803.  [2]  Sam's birth and death are listed as

  The 1817 slave register for John Tharp's Chippenham Park Pen listed three children with a mother called Molly: Charles* (b. 1800), Rebecca* (b. 1803) and Cupid (b. 1817). Molly was also listed, with her age estimated as 41 (b. 1776), and her birthplace given as Africa. Later returns of 'increases' and 'decreases' on Chippenham Park Pen record that Rebecca  had three sons: John (b. 1823), Thomas (b. 1825) and another John (b. 1826). It is possible that the older John died before the younger one was given his name, although his death wasn't recorded.   Charles and Cupid may also have had children, but only the maternal lines were documented.  * A list of children on Chippenham Park Pen survives among the Tharp family papers in Cambridgeshire County Archives. Their catalogue dates it to 1795/1803, but comparison with the 1817 register suggests it was compiled in 1803. It includes a boy called Charly [sic] and a baby girl called Rebecca. More about Chippenham Park

The 1817 slave register for John Tharp's Chippenham Park Pen includes two boys with a mother called Luna. Anthony* was sixteen (b. 1801) and Bowman six (b. 1811). The 1820 return of 'increases' and 'decreases' records the birth of Luna's daughter Lucia on the 13th of December 1819. Luna's age was estimated as 49 in the 1817 register (b. 1768), and her birthplace was given as Africa. * This isn't the earliest record for Anthony, who was included on a list of children on Chippenham Park Pen which is preserved among the Tharp family papers in Cambridgeshire County Archives. Their catalogue dates the list to 1795/1803, but comparison with the 1817 register suggests that it was compiled in 1803. More about Chippenham Park Pen 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 tone

The 1823 return of 'increases' and 'decreases' on John Tharp's Chippenham Park Pen records the birth of a girl called Mary (b. 1822) to a mother called Hardtimes. The 1826 return records Mary's death at the age of two, and the births of James (b. 1825) and Juliet (b. 1826). Hardtimes is listed in the 1817 slave register, where her age was estimated as 11 (b. 1806), making her 16 when Mary was born. Hardtime's mother was named as Kitty. Kitty was also included in the 1817 register, where age was estimated as 40 (b. 1777), and her birthplace was given as Africa. More about Chippenham Park Pen 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 tone Why have I posted this family tree?          Want occasional email updates on John Tharp & his family? Want daily updates with family

The 1817 slave register for John Tharp's Chippenham Park Pen lists two children with a mother called Fanny: Rochester (b. 1803) and Moll (b. 1807). Later returns of 'increases' and 'decreases' add Roger (b. 4th Apr 1820) and Isaac (b. 1823).  The 1817 register includes a woman called Fanny who had been born in Africa in about 1781.  Another Fanny is included as a one-year-old in a list of children on Chippenham Park Pen which survives among the Tharp family papers in Cambridgeshire County Archives. It is dated in their catalogue to 1795/1803, but comparison with the 1817 register suggests that it was compiled in 1803. The younger Fanny was too young to be the mother of Rochester or Moll. Unless she was recorded under a different name, she is not listed in the 1817 register, suggesting that she had died before it was compiled. The older Fanny would have been between the ages of 22 and 42 when these children were born and could have been the mother of all four. This i

The 1817 slave register for John Tharp's Chippenham Park Pen listed six children with a mother called Diana: Prince (b. 1801)*, Princess (1805-1823), Isabella (b. 1807), William (b. 1810) and Sarah (b. 1817). The 1823 return of 'increases' and 'decreases' added a new child to this family: Jonny (b. 1822).  The register also included Diana, whose age was estimated as 38 (b. 1779). Diana was described as African (born in Africa). The 1823 return noted Princess's death at the age of 15. The 1832 return noted the birth of Diana's first grandchild, Patrick, in 1830. His mother was Isabella. When George was born in 1831, his mother's name was given as Sarah Mckenzie. Diana's daughter was the only Sarah listed on Chippenham Park Pen in the slave registers for this period, and it had a very small population, so I've assumed that George was also Diana's grandson. * This isn't the earliest record for Prince. He was also included in a list of childr

The 1817 slave register for John Tharp's Chippenham Park Pen lists two little girls whose mother was called Cynthia: 10-year-old Catalina (b. 1807) and nine-year-old Minerva (b. 1808). Cynthia's age was estimated as 43 (b. 1774), and her birthplace was given as Africa. More about Chippenham Park Pen 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 tone Why have I posted this family tree?          Want occasional email updates on John Tharp & his family? Want daily updates with family trees of the people he enslaved?

  The 1817 slave register for John Tharp's Chippenham Park Pen lists two children with a mother called Catalina: ten-year-old Henry (b. 1807) and  seven-year-old Maria (b. 1810).  Catalina's age was estimated as 37 (b. 1807), and her birthplace was recorded as Africa. She would have been 20 when she gave birth to Henry in Jamaica. The 1826 return of 'increases' and 'decreases notes the birth of a boy called William, who was 8 months old by the time the return was compiled. His mother was Maria, who was 16 years old when he was born. More about Chippenham Park Pen 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 tone Why have I posted this family tree?         

Some of these family trees aren't neat, and I'm always including the uncertainties rather than pretending the evidence is clearer than it is. This is one example where it isn't possible to determine relationships with any degree of confidence. The 1817 slave register for John Tharp's Chippenham Park Pen lists five children with a mother called Mary: Agnes (1808-1832), Abram (b. 1811), Titus (b. 1812), Warwick (b. 1815) and Camilla (b. 1817). The 1832 return of 'increases' and 'decreases' adds a sixth child: Charles,  who was born to Mary Scarlett in 1832. The 1817 register lists two women called Mary: Mary C and Mary M, who were both estimated to be 36 years old (b. 1781), and were both born in Africa. C and M may have been abbreviations for the women's last names or ethnicity, but they weren't used in listing the children's mothers, so it isn't possible to know which child belonged to which mother.  The 1817 register doesn't include

Furness   notes that John Tharp acquired the cattle run he named Chippenham Park Pen, after his Cambridgeshire estate, shortly before 1795. It is unusual among his Jamaican possessions in being in the parish of St Ann rather than Trelawny. I haven't been able to determine its precise location, but I'd expect it to have been towards the western edge of St Ann, near to the boundary with Trelawny.  The parishes of Jamaica from www.my-island-jamaica.com Shortly before his death, Tharp was planning to sell Chippenham Park Pen and establish a cattle pen nearer to his Windsor lands in Trelawny ( Furness, p. 21 ), and he included in his will an instruction that the sale should be made. It wasn't. After Tharp's death,  all of his Jamaican estates were overseen by attorneys . These were originally William Green and Simon Taylor, and Furness (pp. 31-2) suggests that: It was a welcome relief for the white employees to go up to this pen in the hills of the next parish for a chang

All of these family trees trace individuals' ancestry only through their mothers and there's a simple answer to the question this raises, which is that fathers' names were not recorded in the 1817 slave register or in any of the later returns of 'increases' and 'decreases' on these estates. This was entirely normal in these documents -- mothers were sometimes named, but fathers never were. This may have reflected a degree of matriarchy in how the enslaved people lived, but it could instead result from the absence of paternal rights. At this time British fathers exercised considerable authority over their children, deciding what professions they should follow and sometimes dictating who they could marry. They were expected to impose restrictions on their children's movements and, where required,  physical punishment . These rights and responsibilities did not belong to enslaved fathers -- they belonged to the slave-owner -- and it may have seemed strange