Warning: this blog post includes words from historical documents that are offensive.
In 1834 the owning of one person by another was abolished in Britain and its overseas territories. The owners of enslaved people were paid compensation by the British government to a total of £20 million (worth something like £300 billion today). The debt incurred was finally paid off in 2015.
In an effort to “Dig Deeper, Look Closer and Think Bigger” (Black History Month headline, 2020), staff at Northumberland Archives have researched some of the slave owners that claimed compensation. They have used the University College London database, created from documents at the National Archives, as a starting point to understanding the links between individuals in Northumberland, the plantations they owned and the enslaved people who worked on them.
Margaret was the daughter of Thomas Brodie, a tenant farmer from Ayton, Berwickshire. On 27th January 1817 she married Mark Landell, at Coldingham, Berwickshire, the son of William Landell a tenant farmer in Whitecross, Scotland. Mark and Margaret had only one child, Hannah Landell. Born 22nd August 1819, baptised 10th October the same year. Both events were recorded in Coldingham, Berwickshire, Scotland.
At the time of their marriage, Mark was already resident in Jamaica and the owner of the Coldingham Estate (sometimes referred to as Coldingham Hill) in the parish of St Thomas-in-the-Vale, County of Middlesex, Jamaica. The parish of St Thomas-in-the-Vale was one of the parishes created when the British colonised the island. It was in the centre of the island and was abolished in 1866 when it merged with the neighbouring parish of St Catherine.
Mark Landell’s path to arriving in Jamaica and becoming slave-owner had not yet been uncovered. A man of the same name was listed as an ensign in St Mary’s Foot Regiment in the Jamaican Militia in 1808, so it is possible that he came to the island as a solider. The Jamaican Almanacs list Mark Landell as a slave owner from the 1812 edition until his death. All entries, except the first one, which doesn’t include the name of the estate, relate to Coldingham Estate (see table at end of text). Mark died in 1819, it appears that he died intestate; Margaret Landell, of Coldingham, Berwickshire was listed as the administratrix in the Index to Death Duties.
At the time of Mark’s death “By the law of the colony of Jamaica, the said Mark Landell’s said estate and negroes fell at his death to be enjoyed in liferent to the extent of one-third by his said widow, and his said only child succeeded to the whole thereof, subject to the said annuity of one-third” (The Scottish Jurist).
In March 1834, Hannah died, a minor aged 14. Before her death she exercised a mortis causa (essentially a deathbed gift) in favour of her mother. This granted Margaret all her personal and real estate including “the negroes on my estate in Coldingham”.
Margaret went on to claim all the compensation money for the loss of slaves under the 1833 Emancipation Act. Women accounted for more than 40% of the claims of slave owners, mainly due to inheritance and as investments to produce an income. This was often the only source of income that women had to support themselves and their family after the loss of their husband. Compensation claims were often accompanied by letters requesting favourable settlements from widow’s fearing impoverishment without it. We do not know if Margaret had other sources of finance.
The compensation payment to Margaret subsequently became subject to a number of court cases when William Landell (nephew of Margaret, and, cousin and heir-at-law of Hannah) claimed that he was entitled to two-thirds of the settlement, his aunt being entitled to one-third liferent from the estate. Although it does not appear that he made a claim in his own name to the commissioners, nor challenged the claim made by his aunt at the time. William had Margaret imprisoned as a debtor in 1836, the nature of the imprisonment was later deemed unjust by the courts and Margaret sought compensation from William. The Caledonian Mercury newspaper, published on 19th March 1840, provides the details:
In front of a Scottish jury on 13th March 1840 the pursuer Margaret Landell or Brodie sought damages for wrongful imprisonment from the defenders William Landell, tenant of Swinton Greenriggs, Berwickshire and James Bell, Sheriff-Clerk of Berwickshire who had issued the warrant. William claimed that upon the death of Hannah, that he “as nearest heir and next of kin, succeeded to the estates and property of the pursuer’s deceased husband, subject to her right of terce (liferent) and legal claims as a widow”.
From 1834 Margaret lived in Berwick-upon-Tweed, occasionally meeting with family and friends across the border in Ayton. On 7th July 1836 whilst visiting Ayton, she went to Bathgate’s Inn to meet someone. Whilst there, she was taken into custody by James Thomson, Sheriff officer, who stated that he had a ‘Border warrant’ (a writ of arrest issued on one side of the Scottish border for execution on the other side) to imprison her at the request of William Landell. She was taken to and imprisoned at Greenlaw jail. It was claimed that she was in debt to William for “the balance of a sum of compensation for the emancipation of slaves on the Jamaican estate”. Margaret was detained at Greenlaw until the 12th July.
After her release, William initiated proceedings through the Court of Session believing that the Border warrant and imprisonment in Greenlaw was sufficient to proceed through the Scottish courts for the debt. The legitimacy of the Border warrant was raised and it was deemed “grossly illegal and irregular”. As a result, Margaret sought compensation from William and James Bell for “the injuries sustained in her character, mind, and bodily health, by these illegal, irregular, and oppressive proceedings”. The defenders offered no evidence. In his summing up, the judge referred to an earlier Court case on 28th January 1838 which had already concluded that the use of the Border warrant was in fact illegal and irregular.
In the original 1838 case (detailed in The Scottish Jurist), William claimed that the use of Border warrants was long established and still used, “not limited to the case of debtors skulking in Scotland, with the fraudulent purpose of avoiding the diligence of their English creditors” and vice versa. The Judge noted that James Bell, Sheriff-Clerk, had acted outside the authority of his office; he did not have the authority to sign the warrant, only to issue a signed warrant. The Judge went on to say that the presentation of the warrant was not sufficient to jail a debtor, the case needs to be put before a court first to look at proof and allow a defence. This did not happen, and as such the use of the Border warrant was ‘illegal and irregular’.
The Judge, in the 1840 court case, said that the decision of the jury was whether the intention of James Bell and William Landell was to cause Margaret “loss, injury, and damage”, and whether Margaret experienced “loss, injury, and damage” as a result of the execution of the warrant and ensuing imprisonment.
The Lord Justice-Clerk was highly critical of the use of the Border warrant, he felt that the use of this ancient practice of Berwickshire was not justified. The newspaper reported that His Lordship “animadverted strongly on the conduct of William Landell, towards a widow lady, whom, from his near connection from her, he should have protected rather than oppressed”. The jury retired for consideration for 30 minutes, before awarding Margaret damages of £500 from William and £300 from James Bell.
William Landell subsequently sued his solicitor, William Purves, for negligence regarding the decision to use a Border warrant in the original case. Although this action was initially successful in 1842, it was reversed by the House of Lords when challenged in 1845.
What happened to Margaret and the compensation money is unclear. There is a Margaret Landell, aged 65, living in Palace Street, Berwick-upon-Tweed in the 1841 census. Born about 1776, she would have been 43 years old when Hannah Landell was born, which may be unlikely. There is a Margaret Brodie, age 50, living in Old Street, Ayton, Berwickshire in the 1841 census. Born about 1791 makes her a more likely candidate from an age point of view. Perhaps the distress caused by her imprisonment and subsequent court cases be sufficient to want her to move and change her name. There is an entry in the Jamaica Gleaner newspaper published 23rd July 1873, reporting the death “At Coldingham, St Thomas ye Vale, on the 16th inst, Miss Margaret Landells in the 73rd year of her age”. Could Margaret have returned to Jamaica, or is it a different person with a very similar name?
What do we know about the enslaved people that were the subject to the compensation claim? The majority of information comes from the Former British Colonial Dependencies Slave Register, dated 1817 (images of registers available on www.ancestry.com). This records “A Return of Slaves in the parish of Saint Thomas in the Vale in the possession of Robert Smellie as Attorney to Mark Landell on the 28th day of June in the year of Our Lord 1817”.
In 1817, 61 people were listed as slaves – 34 male, 27 female; this correlates with the information in the Jamaican Almanacs. The young age of some of the enslaved people listed would have meant they had not been born when the Almanacs was published. Of the males, 21 are African aged between 26 and 50 years old. Based on trading being banned in 1807, the age range of Africans being taken to Jamaica would have been between 16 (or younger) and 40 when they were taken. The remaining 13 males are Creole (born on the island) aged from 3 days to 13 years old. Of the females, the 20 women who were born in Africa were aged between 30 and 45 years old. Based on the same assumption regarding the ban on trading, the women could have been taken to Jamaica aged between 20 (or younger) and 35. Seven “Creole” girls were aged between 1 and 8 years old.
The register lists ‘original name Christian names’ suggesting that many slaves were given surnames and sometimes alternative forenames by their ‘owners’. Some individuals had no surname recorded including Simon, McGaw, Bella, Nanny. Many have the surname of Landell to match the owner of the plantation, including Davis alias William Landell, Bob alias Henry Landell. Surnames other than Landell include Clarke, Nugent, Thomas, Morris, Thompson and Campbell suggesting previously ownership for African adults or possible paternity for Creole children. There is a noticeable lack of names of African origin.
All the 20 children aged 13 or younger were born in Jamaica, 18 have the names of their mother recorded. Two boys, Tom aged 10 and Adam aged 13, have no mother or surname recorded. The mothers noted are :-
- Lucy, alias Jennet Landell, age 33, mother to William, alias William Thompson, age 12; Douglass, alias Bob Landell, age 10; Philip, age 6.
- Nancy, alias Charlotte Landell, age 40, mother to (?)Smart, alias Richard Johnson, age 11; Margaret, alias Margaret Clarke, age 1.
- Peggy, alias Eleanor Landell, age 32, mother to Charles, alias Alexander McLeod, age 10; Peter, age 6 months.
- Bella, age 35, mother to James, age 8.
- Margaret, alias Margaret Landell, age 35, mother to John, alias Sandy Landell, age 7; Jennitt, alias Emely Landell, age 4; Esther, alias Esther Williames, age 2.
- Countiss, alias Mary Ann Landell, age 32, mother to Patience, alias Patience Landell, age 2.
- Fanney, alias Diana Landell, age 30, mother to Pompey, age 6.
- Ann, alias Ann Landell, age 32, mother to Neilson, alias Neilson Landell, age 5.
- Phoebe, alias Layantie Thomas, age 32, mother to Eleanor, alias Mary Hamilton, age 8; Sarah, alias Elen Landell, age 4; Godfry, alias Godfry Nugent, age 3 days.
- Jeanie, alias Jane Landell, age 32, mother to Salina, age 1.
At the moment, we don’t have any evidence to tell us whether families were allowed to live together at Coldingham plantation. Generally, children were expected to start work as soon as they were physically able. Children aged 4-6 years were forced to pick up grass in the fields.
From later registers we learn that sadly Margaret Clarke, daughter of Charlotte Landell passed away at about the age of 10 (1826 Register). Mary Anne Landells, possibly the mother of Patience Landell, passed away aged about 41 (1826 Register). Patience herself passed away at about the age of 17 (1832 Register) it was recorded that she was the daughter of Maria Landell.
The later registers do not provide a full list of the enslaved people, it captures details of name, colour, age, African or Creole, remarks, ‘increase, and cause thereof’ and ‘decrease, and cause thereof’. The last two columns are to capture the reason why the number of registered slaves has altered since the last return. In 1826 and 1832 this captures births and deaths.
On 28th June 1826 John Gilroy, attorney of Margaret Landells (note the change to surname), registered two births and five deaths since the last register, resulting in 57 slaves; 31 males, 26 females. There is a handwritten note specifying that this return is ‘attached to Coldingham’. On this page we learn that Neilson Campbell has died, in 1817 he was listed as John, alias Neilson Campbell aged 38 making him about 47 years old when he passed away. In the ‘decrease’ column, ‘By Death’ is noted with no further remarks. The death of Nanny is listed, she would have been aged about 44 years old based on the information in the 1817 Register. The other deaths noted are Mary Anne Landells, mother of Patience and Archy, son of Jane Landells. No age is recorded for Archy, he was possibly the younger brother of Salina recorded as a 1 year old child in 1817. The two births are Ballantine, son of Diana age 8 months (as no surname is provided it is unclear if this is Diana Landell noted above) and Eliza, daughter of Eleanor Landell, age 5 months; possibly a third child for Eleanor.
In the 1832 register John Gilroy, attorney for the Coldingham Plantation, records the death of Patience Landell and Anthony Johnston, aged 41, of African descent, Anthony was not on the 1817 Register. It also records the birth of John Campbell, age 6 months, son of Feanetley(?) Landell.
What happened to the enslaved people after Margaret received the compensation relating to the Coldingham Estate is unknown. With the limited information provided in the 1817 Register it is difficult to trace individuals through official records. Ages are likely to be approximate, names could have possibly changed. The nature of registrations of the time centred on the slave owners and their property, not the enslaved as people. Enslaved people received no compensation after the 1833 Act and were reliant on their former owners for employment.
Bibliography
Legacies of British Slave-ownership; www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs
www.ancestry.com library edition
Wikipedia
Caledonian Mercury, 19.03.1840; accessed via www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
www.meriam-webster.com/dictionary
Reports of Cases Decided in The Supreme Courts of Scotland, and in the House of Lords on Appeal from Scotland, &c. &c. […] The Scottish Jurist, Vol. X, (pp. 231-234); accessed via books.google.co.uk
Reports of Cases Heard and Decided in the House of Lords, Vol. 12 (pp. 91-108); accessed via books.google.co.uk
Transcripts of Jamaican Almanacs accessed via jamaicanfamilysearch.com
Transcript of Jamaican Gleaner Newspaper accessed via jamaicanfamilysearch.com
Transcript of lists of the Militia of Jamaica accessed via jamaicanfamilysearch.com
Television programme Britain’s Forgotten Slave Owners. Part 1. Profit and Loss accessed via www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer