Jamaican Family Search Genealogy Research Library

'A Villainous Tribe of Fiddlers and Fixers'
Campbell of Jamaica, a Kilduskland legacy, 1748-1790

By Peter Dickson

Relations in Scotland of early Argyll adventurers at Jamaica usually found themselves the beneficiaries of a will. In particular, close female kin were often left sums that brought more status and security than they might have expected. Between 1740 and 1760, a total of thirty six women were legatees in the wills six men, connected by birth or marriage, who were either settled or trading in Jamaica [See Table 1 below]. A typical bequest of £100 Sterling¹ may not seem much today but its purchasing power in 1750 would equate now to about £12,200,² some lift to local economies when multiplied by a number of recipients. As a measure of economic status to a family, that £100 would have a 'prestige value' of £220,000 in current terms,³ a strong consideration for marriage settlements. However, it should not be taken for granted that Jamaica was a place where ready money came easily, that executors were generally diligent and that bequests were usually paid according to a testator's wishes.
 
A testament dative for James Campbell of Kames, in Cowal, was confirmed in 1761.⁴  It describes him as 'late merchant in Glasgow and sometime of Jamaica'. Winding up his affairs in Scotland, it confers an annuity upon his widow, Margaret Lamont, and her rights of abode at Derybruich, his 'mansion house, garden, park and other conveniences', all as agreed in a contract of marriage by which her father's estate, the lands of Strone, were also settled on her husband. The marriage, in November 1755, had produced no children by the time Campbell died three years later. Apart from declaring moveable assets amounting to £894, there appears to be nothing more to finalise for someone confirmed intestate. Yet, there is a 'last will and testament' registered for the same James Campbell in the Sheriff Court of Argyll.⁵  Revoking an earlier will of 1753,⁶ it is dated two months before he married but was never confirmed in Scotland.

It was, though, probated in London - but not until 1776.⁷  Some £1,800 was to be distributed among four sisters, nine nieces, four grand nieces and a natural son, Ronald Campbell, who was also the residuary legatee [See Table 2 below]. Apart from Campbell having assets that were not accounted for in 1761, it is quite clear that he meant to exclude the sums in the will from any settlement upon his wife. Why was the will not confirmed earlier in Argyll? For the pragmatic reason that the monies referred to were credits outstanding in Jamaica, unlucky timing and a difficult economic period at the island having delayed their recovery before Campbell died. Why was the will then proved after eighteen years, but in England? The first part of this question is answered by the same lack of available funds. As to the second, the wills of Scots holding property in the colonies were ordinarily probated locally or in London, within the jurisdiction of English Law, but the full answer in this case is not routine.

James Campbell's legacy was the largest single sum intended for the widest distribution in Scotland by a first generation Campbell merchant at Jamaica [See Table 2 below] but circumstances exposed it to meddling and dispute. Archived documents, including letters between family members in Scotland, England and Jamaica unravel the full story, from the source of Campbell's overseas wealth to an end game of wits between two sets of relations. One is 'Jamaican' and the other in Argyll, each group aiming to get hands on it for opposing reasons. From the tone and contents of Campbell's surviving letters and the detail in his will, he seems to have been an affable man, willing to share good fortune, but perhaps generous to a fault. He supports his elder brother, Duncan Campbell of Kilduskland,⁸ by sending money home from abroad and even offers £2,000 to buy back family lands that have been sold so as to 'relive the paternal inheritance'.⁹  He is trusting, too, of those cousins at the island who are debtors. By 1747, Colin Campbell of New Hope, in Westmoreland parish, owes him £1,000 and at least half that again is due from Colin Campbell of Black River,¹⁰  who has been in London since 1743 and whose sugar plantation at Salem, in Hanover parish, he has been managing.

On a visit home in 1748, Campbell lands at Portsmouth in November and travels to London. Hoping to collect £500, he calls at Colin Black River's house in Soho only to learn of his cousin's departure for Jamaica just days before. This 'monstrous dreaderton'¹¹ is the first of a string of circumstances that will disappoint as he leaves with no more than an assurance from Margaret Foster, Black River's wife, that his bills will be 'protected'. An unusual word to use, but he is well aware of the dismal outlook for planters as a result of falling sugar markets¹² - prices will drop, by 1749, to a low seen just once in the previous twenty years. After returning to business at Jamaica, Campbell finds himself the main beneficiary in the will of an uncle, Dr. Colin McLachlan 'of Hanover parish'.¹³  He retires to Scotland with 'a considerable fortune', it was later claimed,¹⁴ 'a short time before' writing his last will at Carsaig in 1755.¹⁵  It is not quite the homecoming he had hoped for as news about the continuing 'unhappy state of affairs of [the] island'¹⁶ follows him to Derybruich. It will mean further delay in recovering his money for when planters were driven to borrow in depressed times, remittances to merchant creditors were given priority over personal debts in order to keep their estates and sugar production afloat.

Which is the very subject of two letters to James in 1757, one from Colin New Hope in August and the other from cousin John Campbell of Salt Spring who had arrived in London in September. Their combined news is not encouraging. With crops failing and a joint debt of £34,000 still outstanding on an advance of £64,000, the Black River and New Hope estates 'will not be a little pushed by the creditors'.¹⁷  The debt due from Colin Black River, who had died in 1752, is unlikely to be recovered without awkward legal action by James' agents abroad.¹⁸  Black River's wife and brother-in-law, his executors in England but from a Jamaican family, have ignored it. His eldest son is already an absentee after inheriting numerous plantations in 1756 and Colin New Hope implies that he will hardly keep any spending 'within reasonable bounds'¹⁹ let alone concern himself with debts. Although New Hope writes that he may be able to pay a large part of his own debt in the following year, this optimism is misplaced; he is buried in June 1760 with nothing settled and the bequests in his will subject to the raising of new mortgages.²⁰

In May 1765, Duncan Campbell of Kilduskland appoints John Campbell Salt Spring factor for the collection of his brother's Jamaica money.²¹ Is this suddenly urgent to him after seven years? Unlikely, for the document was not sent for at least another five months, shortly before he died. Was he persuaded by others to do it? Possibly, for the commission was signed at Dunans, a farmhouse of the Dunardry fief where the ageing Kilduskland lived, and it was drafted and witnessed by Edinburgh writer Lachlan MacTavish, a son of Dugald MacTavish of Dunardry. The only other witness was one of Dunardry's nephews. Dugald MacTavish and Patrick Campbell of Knap, one of Kilduskland's nephews, are his nominated executors²² and have a particular interest in James Campbell's money. As Campbell had been confirmed intestate, an additional document is enclosed with the commission, a certificate signed and sealed by the Provost and Baillies of Inverary, 'codifying and declaring' Kilduskland heir at law to all his brother's heritable estate - his lands - and executor at law to all his moveable property 'wherever' - the Jamaica money. Was this late attachment, dated September 1765,²³ an afterthought by Knap and Dunardry wanting to impress upon John Campbell the weight of legal authority for their executry after realising that Kilduskland had not long to live?

After in-gathering Kilduskland's effects in Scotland,²⁴ Dunardry and Knap write to 'cousin Salt Spring' on 1st October 1768 requesting the Jamaican funds. As Salt Spring's authority as attorney had expired with Kilduskland, they are relying on his goodwill and whatever consideration he might give to the Provost's declaration. Uppermost in their minds is the overseas money being brought in with Kilduskland's assets as a means to various ends. In the same month, they appoint a meeting at Inverary with another of Kilduskland's nephews, Duncan Campbell, former ship master in the Jamaica trade and now a merchant in London. Uppermost in his mind is fairness for James Campbell's legatees, who have expected an inheritance for ten years but now face uncertainty. Among them are his two sisters and their daughters.

The meeting meant to agree a conclusion to the Kilduskland brothers' affairs only polarises positions after a poor start. The absence of Knap 'disappoints' a wary Campbell who becomes the more uneasy as Dunardry discloses his intentions. Campbell has with him only 'an inventory of papers found in [his] uncle's desk'²⁵ and copy of a will (dated 5 November, 1765). In a subsequent, letter to his Jamaican cousin and brother-in-law, John Campbell Salt Spring, he lists his concerns:²⁶

      On a bond to Kilduskland, Dunardry is 'considerably in arrears' of interest payments but aims to 'extinguish most if not all of the debt' by claims for 'board for Kill and horses' at Dunans. These bills, and others, are not among the inventory of Kilduskland's papers and the accounts are dated after his death - 'a strong presumption and a convenience' in Campbell's opinion as Kilduskland has already cancelled other Dunardry debts in lieu of board and lodging.²⁷

      Anticipating the assets from abroad, Dunardry has already allowed a dower claim by his cousin Margaret Lamont, James' widow.  £600, one third of the Jamaican legacy, will sink into the residue of Kilduskland's estate after her death. It is a use that James had not intended and a claim she had already given up under the terms of her marriage contract.

      Dunardry's son and daughter are among Kilduskland's beneficiaries but Campbell surmises that his estate on its own will be unable to meet his bequests. With almost half of the Jamaica money being set aside for 'the support of the two widows dower' there will not be enough for James' original legatees. (The other widow is assumed to be Patrick Lamont's second wife, James Campbell's sister Jean, who had also been provided for under James' marriage contract.)

      While Dunardry promises that he will be 'fair' to Duncan Campbell's sisters and nieces, Campbell is 'very doubtful of the event if the money was in his clutches...in short, Knap & he has got already too much in their hands'. He notes that Dunardry and Knap mean to be confirmed as 'residuary legatees', any remainder being assured 'with James's monies added'.

      Dunardry promises to send particulars of all the accounts referred to in the inventory of papers 'by Express' to Glasgow where Campbell is due to consider them in detail together with Knap. Both Knap and the documents fail to appear, twice, and Dunardry ignores correspondence from an impatient Campbell.

Although Campbell does not say so, the use of James' money will effectively clear any burdens of provision on the Strone lands²⁸ while the biggest loser will be the illegitimate Ronald Campbell who had been left £500 by his father. Whilst waiting in Glasgow, Campbell consults lawyers, thinking to 'bring Dunardry to account' on some of his actions 'if only to chagrin him'. But legal process being an eventuality, with no assurance of a particular outcome, he has more immediate and direct action in mind. By early December he is at home in London, having had 'not the scrape of a pen from Dunardry', and appeals to his Jamaican brother-in-law for support. Campbell's opinion of Dunardry is unequivocal: 'to be candid with you', he writes, 'his behaviour on this occasion has made me detest him'.

Salt Spring is urged to 'use his utmost endeavours' to ensure that the Jamaica money will be 'out of Dunardry's power'. Campbell is adamant that it be held back or consigned to himself, saying, 'by this token hand alone can any of the legatees have an expectation of receiving James's legacies'. He also takes it upon himself to pay from his own pocket the legacy to his sister Anne Somerville, now a widow in Glasgow, and he considers doing the same for his sister Mary's widower, Richard Betham, who has already pledged the monies left to his wife and daughter, £200 in all, on the purchase of a farm.

In July 1769, John Campbell Salt Spring replies to Dunardry's request of the previous October. He is brief about 'business'.²⁹  Much of the money is now available, Colin New Hope's young heir, John, having recently settled his late father's debt by 'a bond for £1,556.10s Currency...interest at 6 percent from the date'.³⁰ If this appears to be good news, it is not. Salt Spring casually disarms Dunardry by saying that the bond is in his own name only so that he 'may have a right to demand the money without troubling [Dunardry] to send a power of attorney'. An aside about interest being remitted to Scotland is offered as a token sop. Dunardry then reads that the Black River debt 'must remain as it is' until the joint heirs can issue a bond for the sum (the younger son, Colin, is only just within his majority) but he is not told that Salt Spring and his brother-in-law will control that money, too. Since 1767, they have been acting for John Campbell Black River, buying his debts in order to wind up his island concerns.³¹  John Campbell New Hope, a Jamaican barrister, probably advised about the manner of his own bond and the less than full answer to the other debt.

The executors face obstacles at home, too. In 1769, Kilduskland's grand niece Elizabeth MacDonald of Largie and her husband, Charles Lockhart, an advocate, petition the Court of Session on a debt due from her late uncle.³²  Elizabeth MacDonald is also a legatee of her uncle James and, in the following year, a 'Memorial and Queries by Legatees of the deceased James Campbell brother of Duncan Campbell of Kilduskland'³³ speaks for all the women who are not prepared to surrender an inheritance which, in several cases, is already spoken for. Questions are raised about the executors' rights in their intended use of James' monies and about his will - why it may not be confirmed or why his bequests should not be recognised as a liability on Kilduskland's estate. In 1771, Dunardry and Knap respond with their own petition to the court which is then answered by MacDonald.³⁴  Questions also surface about the validity of James Campbell's last will, there being no witnesses to his signature and no executors named. It is clear that any attempt at any settlements will be protested at law by one party or another. Duncan Campbell considers intervening³⁵ but has second thoughts. Alternative action is again possible.

The Provost's declaration that Kilduskland was executor at law to his brother's moveable estate 'wherever' was never enforceable outwith Scotland, any property in the West Indies being subject to English Law. 'The Jamaicans'³⁶ can dispose of it regardless of any decisions in Edinburgh, but they watch the turn of events. The Court of Session rules against the executors, awarding 'a considerable sum' by decreet to Charles MacDonald on behalf of his wife.³⁷  By late 1775, Dunardry and Knap are both dead and Salt Spring is in London.³⁸  In September 1776, he returns from a visit to Scotland³⁹ with a verified copy of Campbell's last will and other papers. He is joined by a Scottish neighbour from Jamaica, James Kerr, planter and principal partner in the Lucea house of 'Kerr & Co.', Campbell's former commercial agents in Jamaica. Being independent of family, Kerr perhaps adds weight as a witness when he and Salt Spring present the documents at the Prerogative Court of Canterbury in London, making notarised depositions about Campbell's will and their familiarity with the man. Greenock merchant Ronald Campbell, the residuary legatee and an obvious choice as executor, is said to be 'on a voyage to the continent of North America'.⁴⁰  At the end of November, following the formality of a citation for him to respond, 'administration [is] granted to Duncan Campbell as the lawful attorney of Anne Somerville, the niece of the deceased...no executor being named'.⁴¹

Anne Somerville's appointment of her brother as her attorney was the final move that allowed an unchallenged probate in England. With no one else coming forward, the court had little hesitation in accepting such authority for a man well known in London as a prospering ship owner, merchant in American and West Indian trade and a recently appointed government contractor.⁴²  For the Jamaicans who realised this outcome things had turned full circle in a particular way. In James Campbell's first recorded will of 1753, which was written in Jamaica, John Campbell Salt Spring and Duncan Campbell were appointed executors.⁴³  The one other executor named was Colin Campbell New Hope whose eldest son had taken their side in the nature of the bond for his late father's debt.

Duncan Campbell's leading intervention was certainly driven by interest on behalf of his sisters and nieces but was there, too, a sense of obligation towards his mother's brother, a man who had fostered his progress in both a personal and a commercial way? As a relative newcomer to Jamaica trade, who had just suffered a considerable setback in 1748, Campbell wrote to Kilduskland that 'James has been like a father to me since the first I saw him';⁴⁴ his uncle had then taken a share in a ship that Campbell subsequently commanded on the Jamaica run from London.⁴⁵  In the same letter Campbell had also presented his 'compliments to Dunardry & his spouse'. How things changed. Apart from an opportunity for personal gain, reasons for the course taken by Dunardry and Knap are as hard to detail as their own financial circumstances, which undoubtedly underlay the whole business.

There is only a testament for Patrick Campbell of Knap, confirmed in June 1777.⁴⁶  It records that two principal creditors were 'ordained and confirmed as executors dative' having sole right to assets of £19.17.8, all contained in one bill. Knap had acknowledged his liability to them in December 1770 - knowing that the Jamaica monies would be withheld - when he gave notice by letter⁴⁷ to defaulting in his part of a tripartite bond for £300 to a Glasgow banker. Duncan Campbell complained much about Dunardry, the principal protagonist in his view, but little about Knap, the man who 'disappointed' him. Did he construe Knap's failure to meet him on three occasions as a sign of embarrassment or regret? In the Argyll Commissary Books there is an interesting marginal note about payment of the fee for Knap's testament entry: 'the dues to be paid by Mr. Duncan Campbell'. This note in a stranger's hand may be Campbell's final reflection on a cousin who had lost all to debt, the family lands having being sold after his death.

It is assumed that the families of Campbell's sisters had their legacies and there is no evidence to suggest that the other bequests were withheld, although their distribution was not necessarily timely. One is noted in family correspondence dated 1789-90,⁴⁸ £100 due to Archibald Campbell of Jura who has right to it by his father's marriage contract with Florence McLachlan, his step mother and one of James Campbell's nieces. But as Duncan Campbell had acted in England to exclude the Jamaica money from any link to Kilduskland, he is careful to place himself one step away from a subject that remains contentious in Scotland. Responsibility for the payment is seconded to a fellow Jamaica merchant now in London, Neill Malcolm of Poltalloch, 'who has nothing to do with Kilduskland'.⁴⁹  Campbell is quoted as saying that if Florence has 'any claim that way [she] must look for it in Scotland.'⁵⁰

Which begs the question of Kilduskland's estate. A will or testament would answer it but neither is recorded as confirmed, although Campbell's comment at this late date reveals it still unresolved.⁵¹  It is enough to note here that the Court of Session, in December 1776,⁵² had decreed in favour of a petition by Donald Campbell against the heirs to Dunardry and Knap, Lachlan MacTavish and Neill Campbell, who offered no defence. The cause was their fathers' failure to execute a £1,500 deed of provision by Kilduskland in favour of his nephew. As no proper account of Kilduskland's estate had been made, £500 was then added in lieu of any residue that Ronald was entitled to.⁵³

Dugald MacTavish and Patrick Campbell miscalculated by presuming to have James Campbell's money in hand. An opening gambit of sending a provost's writ to Jamaica disclosed their intention from the outset as well as a naiveté in expecting relations abroad to comply without question on a matter of Scots Law. They underestimated the close resolve of the Jamaicans, who had shared risk and reward with James Campbell, who thus regarded him as one of their own and who supported unconditionally the right of his will under English Law. They underestimated, too, reactions among a wider group of individuals, the families of the female relations whose legacies were threatened. Their one achievement was to saddle their heirs with litigation and debt. So far, MacDonald of Largie and Ronald Campbell are the only known creditors arising here, but penalties and accumulating interest over the years added substantially to the £2,400 total adjudged to them. Patrick Campbell's parlous finances have been noted already and similar consequences arose for Lachlan MacTavish. By 1785, his part of these two debts alone would have amounted to four times the annual income from his lands. With other creditors pressing, the Dunardry estate was rouped (auctioned) at the Exchange coffeehouse, Edinburgh, in December.⁵⁴

Would Dunardry and Knap have acted differently had they enjoyed some family fortune of their own from Jamaica? Maybe, but MacTavish's hopes of this had died along with his eldest son, John, in 1758. Appointed overseer at Nutt's River plantation in the parish of St. Thomas-in-the-East in 1756,⁵⁵ John MacTavish had not established himself financially after only a few years at the island. Patrick Campbell's youngest brother, Dugald,⁵⁶ was there at the same time. In 1753 he was at Salem,⁵⁷ the plantation that James Campbell had quit in 1748, but if contemporary family gossip is allowed, his brother at home probably gained nothing through him. John MacTavish, sending news from Kingston about 'Argyle shire friends' in Jamaica, remarked to his father, in July 1756, 'I have not heard anything of Dugie Knap since my last, all I have to say about him is that he'll be such another man as John [Campbell] Ormsary who's neither a credit to himself or friends'.⁵⁸  It is no small irony that the Jamaicans probably came to the same conclusion about John MacTavish's father and Patrick Campbell.

        Could the Jamaicans themselves be accused of self interest? No. Had personal gain been their objective, proving James Campbell's Jamaican will of 1753 would have given them a £400 share of his estate [Table 2]. In 1770, this had been mooted by as an alternative by the female relations in Scotland who were concerned about the validity Campbell's last will.⁵⁹

Author's note

Duncan Campbell, 1726-1803
 
His first hand account of the meeting at Inverary in October 1768 is the only one available. It is naturally one sided so its singular use here might justify an accusation of bias. However, a common thread runs throughout the seven volumes of Campbell's letter books - a belief that probity and principle should prevail in all commercial and family dealings, the latter especially so. Perhaps it was an attitude instilled by his father, Rev. Neill Campbell, Principal of University College Glasgow. The wealth that Campbell accumulated did not preclude empathy for family with lesser fortunes but he could be critical. His brother-in-law, his nephew Neill Somerville - a master mariner in his employ - his eldest son and other connections in Jamaica were admonished when he believed they were acting in self-interest without regard for others. He certainly understood the power of money but he also believed that an influential position, however useful, was not to be abused.

James Campbell of Kames in Jamaica

Western Hanover, circa 1760.

Salem plantation (shown with a watermill) was situated in the midst of other known Campbell properties: Orange Bay and Orange Hill, Fish River, Cave Valley, Campbelton and Salt Spring. James Kerr, who helped to prove James Campbell's will in London, in 1776, was then in joint possession of Prospect (south east of Green Island Harbour) together with Dugald Malcolm, the owner of Pell River and Neill Malcolm's uncle.  Neill Malcolm was the proprietor of Pell River when Duncan Campbell appointed him as his agent in 1790.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1     All sums of money are reckoned here in Sterling unless otherwise stated
2     2013, Calculation by measuring Worth.com
3     Ibid.
4      NAS, CC12.3.6.  A 'testament dative' accounted for the assets and liabilities of a person who died intestate in Scotland. This was said to have been 'confirmed' (probated) when registered by executors at a district's Commissary Court. A 'testament testamentar', specifying a distribution of property, was the Scottish equivalent of an English will
5      NAS, GD64.1.279.2
6      NAS GD64.1.279.1
7      NA PROB11.1025, will of James Campbell, dated 25 August 1755, proved November 1776
8      Duncan Campbell of Kilduskland had led a group of settlers from Argyll to North Carolina in 1739 ['Scottish Emigration to Colonial America 1607-1785' by David Dobson, University of Georgia Press, 1994]. Other sources note that he appointed Dugald MacTavish of Dunardry to manage his affairs during his absence
9      MacTavish of Dunardry papers, James Campbell to Duncan Campbell of Kilduskland, 14 June 1747
10     NAS, RD4.223.2  John Campbell of Salt Spring to Dugald MacTavish of Dunardry & Patrick Campbell of Knap, 8 July 1769
11     MacTavish of Dunardry papers, James Campbell to Duncan Campbell, his brother, 30 November 1748
12     MacTavish of Dunardry papers, Colin Campbell to James Campbell of Kames, 22 August 1757
13     NA,  PROB11.811, will of Colin McLachlan, 'practitioner of physic and surgery', probated September 1754
14     NAS, CS237.C.5.2.A., 1780
15     NAS, GD64.1.279.8
16     Colin Campbell to James Campbell of Kames, 22 August 1757
17     MacTavish of Dunardry papers, John Campbell Salt Spring to James Campbell of Kames, 13 September, 1757
18     Ibid.
19     Colin Campbell to James Campbell of Kames, 22 August 1757
20     Jamaica, Registrar General's Department, LOS32.177, will of Colin Campbell, probated February 1761
21     NAS, GD64.279.4, factory & commission dated 22 May 1765
22     NAS, CS237.C.5.2.A, John McDonald of Largie refused the executry
23     NAS, GD64.279.4, 9 September 1765
24     NAS, GD64.1.279.6, warrant of 10 April 1766 for Dugald MacTavish and Patrick Campbell to inspect the repositories containing Kilduskland's papers
25     Duncan Campbell Letter Books, Campbell to John Campbell Salt Spring in Jamaica, 9 December 1768
26     Ibid.
27     NAS, CS237.C.5.2.A, 1780: a partial account of Kilduskland's estate, submitted by Lachlan MacTavish, omitted his father's bond but included these late accounts
28     Reference is made in GD64.1.279.8, 1770 (footnote 36)
29     NAS, RD4.223.2,  John Campbell of Salt Spring, at Lucea, to Dugald MacTavish of Dunardry & Patrick Campbell of Knap, 8 July 1769
30     Currency, Jamaican, approximately £1,000 Sterling
31     Letter Books of Duncan Campbell, Campbell to John Salt Spring, 15 September 1767
32     NAS, CS230.MC.3.3.1, 1769, Largie v Campbell & MacTavish. (Lockhart later assumed his wife's family name)
33     NAS, GD64.1.279.8, 1770, Campbell of Jura papers. Author unknown but most certainly a lawyer
34     British Library: 'Petition of Dugald MacTavish and Patrick Campbell of Knap, executors of Duncan Campbell of Kilduskland', Edinburgh 1771. 'Answers for Elizabeth McDonald and Charles McDonald to the petition by Dugald MacTavish and Patrick Campbell', Edinburgh 1771
35     Letter Books of Duncan Campbell, minute of a letter to his brother-in-law, 15 November 1770. Campbell had considered purchasing all of Kilduskland's debts in order to take sole charge of his affairs
36     John Campbell Salt Spring and John Campbell New Hope were Jamaica born and conditioned to English legal customs. Duncan Campbell was raised in Scotland but had been familiar with the same norms all his working life
37     MacTavish of Dunardry papers, Charles McDonald to Lachlan MacTavish, 2 May 1777
38     Letter Books of Duncan Campbell, Campbell to John Dickson in Jamaica, 20 October 1775
39     Letter Books of Duncan Campbell, Campbell to Richard Betham, Isle of Man, 19 July 1776
40     Ronald Campbell's whereabouts provided by Lachlan MacTavish
41     NA PROB11.1025, will of James Campbell.
42     London Metropolitan Archives, MJ/SP/1776/07/037, July 1776,  with the trade in convicts to continental America stopped by American embargo, Duncan Campbell and his brother Neill were appointed contractors for the maintenance and employment of prisoners sentenced to transportation
43     NAS, GD64.1.279.1
44     MacTavish of Dunardry papers, Duncan Campbell, in London, to Duncan Campbell of Kilduskland, dated 9 ***** 1748 (late summer)
45     MacTavish of Dunardry papers, Colin Campbell to James Campbell of Kames, 22 August 1757; Campbell writes about the ship which is now up for sale
46     NAS, CC3.3.11 Argyll, Testament Dative for Patrick Campbell of Knap
47     The letter was addressed to the other two parties in the bond, Dugald Campbell of Kilmartin and Alexander Campbell of ****
48     NAS, GD64.1.366, letters (December 1789 & January 1790) David Simson to Archibald Campbell of Jura relaying his correspondence about recovering the legacy from Duncan Campbell in London
49     Ibid.
50     Ibid
51     As late as 1828, a list of dividends due to the creditors of the late Sir James Campbell of Auchinbreck records £45.5.7 owed to Kilduskland as unclaimed [London Gazette, June 1831]
52     NAS, CS237.C.5.2.A. 1780
53     Ibid. A partial account was eventually submitted in 1780 but, as Duncan Campbell had feared, Dunardry's late bills were included while his bond to Kilduskland was not.
54     'The Edinburgh Evening Courant', 5 November, 1785, advertisement of sale on 7 December 1785. Rental income of the Dunardry estates was stated as £392   
55     MacTavish of Dunardry papers, John Thomson (John MacTavish adopted the name Thomson while in Jamaica) to Dugald MacTavish of Dunardry, 16 July 1756, before moving to Nutt's River. This appointment was short lived; John Thompson was buried in Westmoreland in August 1758 [Jamaican Parish Registers] which suggests that he had been given employment by Colin Campbell of New Hope who had been making enquiries about his whereabouts
56     Sir Duncan Campbell of Barcaldine, 'The Clan Campbell Abstracts...',  Otto Schulze & Co., Edinburgh, 1913; 'bond of Provision by Duncan Campbell of Knap...to Dugald Campbell, his youngest lawful son', dated 16 March 1749
57     NAS, GD64.1.279.1, 1753 will of James Campbell, revoked (Table 2)
58     MacTavish of Dunardry papers, John Thomson (MacTavish) to Dugald MacTavish of Dunardry, 16 July 1756
59     NAS, GD64.1.279.8, 1770

Table 1
Female legatees of six Jamaican testators, 1742-1760

Table 2
Legatees of James Campbell of Kames, will of 1755, probated PCC, November 1776

                                                        £ Sterling

Table 2 - continued
Legatees of James Campbell 'of Jamaica', will of 1753, revoked- £ Pounds

Executors: Colin Campbell New Hope & John Campbell Salt Spring, [Jamaica]; Captain Duncan Campbell [London]
Both wills registered 5 February, 1765, by John McNeill, writer at Inverary, a nephew of James Campbell

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
60     Brother-in-law to Dugald Campbell of Salt Spring
61     In January 1746, three months before the battle of Culloden, Colin McLachlan, 'a surgeon from Jamaica' was briefly imprisoned in Edinburgh as a suspected Jacobite for 'commanding a body of armed Highlanders, during the time the rebel army was in this country, in quest of John Wedderburn...who it is alleged debauched his sister'. [Frances McDonnell, 'Highland Jacobites, 1745']

------------------------------------------------

Sources

Principal sources for the letters quoted:

State Library, NSW, Sydney, Australia holds the Letter Books of Duncan Campbell. The seven volumes are catalogued as ML A3225-A3230 (business letters) & ML A3231 (private letters) although the distinction is somewhat artificial.

Argyll & Bute Archives, Dunoon hold the MacTavish of Dunardry letters. They were previously in the possession of E F Bradford who published, privately, in 1990, 'MacTavish of Dunardry', a book in which many letters were extracted.

National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh holds records of civil proceedings heard at the Court of Session; case files include private papers exhibited in evidence.

SEARCH THIS SITE

GO TO:

Home

Plan of this website

Help - Frequently Asked Questions

Jamaica Almanacs Slave-owners, Civil & Military officers, Magistrates etc.

Items in the Samples Directory

Items in the Members Directory

Transcriptions from Registers and Wills (Church of England, Dissenters, Civil Registration)

Jamaican Roman Catholic Church Registers - transcriptions

Jamaican Methodist Baptisms - transcriptions

Jewish births marriages deaths - transcriptions

Slaves and slavery in Jamaica

Photographs, maps, prints, etc.