JAMAICA

Important Ledger Book, principally for the Exeter Plantation, Clarendon Parish. 192 pages, in a careful and quite readable hand. Folio, contemporary vellum; some discoloration, small crack (1 1/2 inches) at foot of front joint. Jamaica, Veree Parish, August 1775-May 1786 A unique document covering a crucial period in the history of the Americas. Ragatz in his exhaustive work, "Guide to the Study of British Caribbean History 1763-1834" (page 35), mentions several similar documents. However, none are as early as the present ledger. The first 2 pages constitute a copy of the original assignment of the duties of assessment of the Ractcliff Plantation in Clarendon Parish "To William Howitt and John McLeod of the Parish of Clarendon Planters. These are in his Majesty's name to Will and Require you to inventory and appraise all singular goods and Chatelles Rights and Credits of Tristam Ractcliff late of the Parish of Clarendon..." The document is signed (in copy) by "His excellency Edward Trelawny, Esq. Capt. General and Governor in and over the Territories thereon depending in America Ordinary and sole judge for the probate of Wills... Saint Jago de la Vega," and dated 1745. Entries are back-dated to 1745 and then brought forward to 1786, and include all sale and rental of goods, including a large quantity of slaves, beginning in 1775. There are numerous other transactions involving the sale or rental of slaves by the person keeping the ledger. From the nature of the transactions, the person seems to have been somewhat of a merchant-banker and entrepreneur. Loans and bonds were issued and traded, sugar was bought, ships named, and other transactions noted. Bearing in mind the small size of the Jamaican plantation community, this ledger gives us a rare insight into the individuals and the commerce of Jamaica during a crucial period in the Americas.