Unity Valley Pen

Some time around 1785, David Barclay and his brother John Barclay took possession of Unity Valley Pen in St Ann, Jamaica, in lieu of the debts of the estate of the late William Harvie. At the time, it was described as a 2000 acre cattle pen. On the death of John in 1787, David Barclay took full possession of the estate.

A committed Quaker and pacifist, David Barclay was determined to emancipate the 32 enslaved people held upon the estate, despite the reservations of Alexander Macleod, his Jamaican attorney. Initially, he manumitted two enslaved people - Hamlet and Prudence - and employed them on the pen at wages of 17l. p/a. A year later Macleod wrote to Barclay lamenting the failure of the experiment, claiming that both were 'so relaxed in their labour', that he 'thought their example would be very disadvantageous' to the owners of the estate. He therefore discharged them, and agreed to allow to each, 5l. currency per annum for life'. Hamlet set up in business as a horse breaker and Prudence, as a laundress.

In 1795 he dispatched his agent William Holden to Jamaica with instructions to enact the manumission and then remove all freed persons to Philadelphia, where they would be delivered into the care of the Society for Improving the Condition of Free Blacks, run by Quaker acquaintances.

In 1814 The Monthly Magazine wrote a lengthy report comprised of large extracts from Barclay's original account (published in 1801). It indicated that David Barclay had made clear that had he not been so advanced in age 'he would have inclined to have made a trial of employing on the Pen white labourers from Britain'. Ultimately, this did not happen with Barclay electing to sell the estate and stock for £5,500. Macleod estimated that had he sold the estate along with the enslaved he would have gained an extra £800, although The Monthly Magazine placed this figure at £2,500. The cost of moving the group to Philadelphia and establishing them in positions was around £500. The magazine excused these costs as being far outweighed by 'the satisfaction which resulted to the minds of David Barclay and his family', something Barclay also made very clear in his account.

It's not clear at present who bought the estate from Barclay. It may have become Unity Hall (JA2391, also known as Unity Valley) or Unity Pen (JA2391).

Jamaica Archives IB/11/4/11 Crop Accounts 1779-1785.

David Barclay, An account of the emancipation of the slaves of Unity Valley Pen Jamaica (London, 1801). Available through Googlebooks: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=FuRbAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA6&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

Monthly Magazine, Vol.38 (1814), pp. 133-37. Available through Googlebooks: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Ek8oAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA134&lpg=PA134&dq=JOHN+BARCLAY+JAMAICA&source=bl&ots=6AaCZPvB2d&sig=FIgyoNDLirTB318mh_brHst-vxA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CD0Q6AEwCWoVChMI_dTb5Pb6xgIVybMUCh3W9QH1#v=onepage&q=JOHN%20BARCLAY%20JAMAICA&f=false