What is left to record a life? A Scottish attorney and the people enslaved at Westerhall Estate, Grenada, in 1834

In 1974 Mary MacEwan, a Scottish stage designer known professionally as Molly MacEwan, whose work included designs for the Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, donated a small group of clothing that had belonged to an extinct branch of her paternal family to Glasgow Life Museums. Amongst these was a morning gown worn by Lewis Hoyes (1784–1842).

Gentlemen, like Lewis Hoyes, are often relatively easy to research. There are usually historical records relating to their birth, marriage and death. If living after 1841, they may appear in census records. Influential men, such as Hoyes, who was an attorney and Speaker of the House of Assembly, Grenada, are referenced in contemporary newspapers. Wealthy men, such as him, often appear in valuation rolls and leave wills. In some cases, there is even surviving material culture, such as Hoyes’ elegant printed-cotton morning gown or banyan – an informal indoor garment, the precursor of a dressing gown – now in Glasgow Life Museums’ collection. All these sources enable researchers to create biographical records, such as that for Hoyes which is now on Glasgow Life Museums’ Collections Navigator.

However, the enslaved men, women and children that men such as Hoyes believed themselves to own are much harder to find out about as individuals due to the lack of records overall, the sparse details in those that were kept, and the attribution of European names. Knowledge of family history can help to strengthen our sense of identity and memory. Due to histories of enslavement, many people of African and Caribbean heritage today are often unable to trace their family history and face barriers to engaging with their past. This impacts the way we perceive and memorialise enslavement and our knowledge of the stories and lives of those who were enslaved.

If an enslaved person ran away, like Pompey, Coefee and Harry did in June 1819, their names and an often unflattering and in many cases racist description may appear in notices that were reported in local newspapers. From the report published in the St George’s Chronicle and Gazette on 3 July 1819 – of Hoyes’ notice posted in St George’s, Grenada, on 25 June – we learn that Pompey, Coefee and Harry were born in Africa and previously enslaved on New Providence, the Bahamas, before arriving in Grenada in late 1817. In the Grenada Free Press and Weekly Gazette of 15 December 1830, we can read that George was found hanging in Messrs Ker and Hoyes’ yard and the verdict on his death was ‘Lunacy’, which raises the question about how much George had endured.

For the majority of those enslaved during the 1600s and 1700s there are few surviving records. But for the last generations enslaved within the British Empire, there are the Former British Colonial Dependencies, Slave Registers, 1813–1834, held by the National Archives, which provided an ‘annual return of the increase and decrease’ in the numbers of enslaved workers on each property. From these we can read the names and ages of those listed as ‘belonging to or in the lawful Possession of Lewis Hoyes’. For instance, on the Beaulieu Estate, parish of St George, Grenada, where Hoyes was the attorney of John Julius Angestern, there were seven children born in 1820: Vincent, Sally, Charles, John Jack, Philip, Charlotte and Cimoue to Angelique 1st, Mary Urceile, Angelique 2nd, Harriet, Marriet, Sylvy and Mary respectively. In the same year seven enslaved people died: Agnes, aged six; Constance 1st, Stepheny and Mary Rose of old age – they were 86, 67 and 71; Pickeou, who was 30 when she died during childbirth – as her name does not appear as the mother of children born on the estate it is likely her child was still born or died shortly after birth; Mary Noel, who was only three months; and Charles, who may be the same Charles who was listed under the births, who died aged eight months from ‘cataval fever’ (National Archive T71/271 p.346).

Each year from 1817 to 1834 Hoyes’ name appears again and again against his own properties and against those for which he acted as attorney. One of the registers (National Archive T71/332 pp. 45–50), transcribed below, records the long ‘List of Slaves, attached to and worked upon the Westerhall Estate in the Parish of Saint David and in the lawful Possession of Lewis Hoyes Attorney of the said Estate to 31st July 1834’ and serves as a memorial to some of those whose labours supported the gentlemanly lifestyle of Lewis Hoyes.

Males

Ajax, Alexis, Andrew, Andrew 2nd, Augustine, Anthony, Antoine, Bazeil, Bartholomew, Baptiste, Boy, Cupid, Caliste, Charles, Cyrus, Cork, David, Dundas, Donnel, Edinburgh, Emanuel, Edmond, Fransique, Felix, Finol, Germain, Gloud, Gedrone, Gilbert, George, Hamlet, Harry, Henry 1st, Henry 2nd, Hypolite, John Pine, Jossy, Jupiter, John, John 2nd, John Baptiste, John Baptiste 2nd, John Paul, Joacinth, Jack, John Jack, Jim, Leek, Lalliou, Louison, L'Amiable, Loui, Laurent, Mathew, Maurice, Neptune, Nelson 1st, Nelson 2nd, Nicholas, Philbert, Polite 1st, Ruben, Robert 1st, Robert 2nd, Regis, Richard, Sandy, Samuel, St John, Simon, Thomas, Tom, Vincent, Victor, William, William, William, Willie, Zavine, Louisas child, Frederick.

Females

Ann Leuise, Angelique, Benebagh, Betty Ang., Betsey, Bridget, Constance, Christine, Celestine, Charlotte, Cecile, Clotine, Catherine, Caroline, Daphine, Elizabeth 1st, Elizabeth 2nd, Elsey, Francoise, Florentine, Fayette, Fanchonette, Fanchon, Felecity, Germaine, Guiton, Genevieve, Harriet, Helen 1st, Helen 2nd, Julien, Jannie, Jane Rose, Julie, Jean, Jannette, Jane Rose, Janeton, Jessy, Lousine, Louise, Luce, Louisa 1st, Louisa 2nd, Mary Leuise, Melinda, Mary Jane, Mary, Matilda, Madlonett, Mary Barb, Marth, Mary Rose, Madline, Mary Noel, Margaret, Nancy, Nannow, Nanny, Nicole, Oronote 1st, Oronote 2nd, Olive, Perrine 1st, Perrine 2nd, Polly, Rose, Rosa, Rein, Rochell, Rosie, Ruphine, Sophy, Scholastique, Sabine, Sylvia, St Clair 1st, St Clair 2nd, Susan, Sally, Sarah, Princess, Poinette, Theotiste, Theresa, Ursull, Venus, Victoire, Zabeth, Rein 2nd, Susans child, Janetons child, Egleys child.

Rebecca Quinton,
Research Manager (Art)