Alexander Dalrymple

Partner in Alex Dalrymple & Co. (q.v.) of Roseau in Dominica, at the time of compensation. Executor with his partner Frederick Hervey (sometimes given as Henry) Garraway and Wm Humphries of Dr Robert Garraway of Dominica. 

1. There are a number of possible later references to Alexander Dalrymple in London, e.g. Thomas William Piggott late of Higham Sussex, coachman to Alexander Dalrymple Esq.; petition for bankruptcy versus Alexander Dalrymple of No. 11 Lime Street London, Merchant, Dealer and Chapman, annulled 08/05/1857; bankruptcy of John James Monro, trading with Alexander Dalrymple as Merchants, Commission and Shipping Agents under firm Monro Dalrymple and Company at 21 Mincing Lane; West India merchant firm with John Cobb Clowes; bankruptcy of Alexander Dalrymple formerly of No. 34 Great St Helens and afterwards of No. 21 Mincing Lane. Several of these obviously allude to financial distress for the Alexander Dalrymple of 21 Mincing Lane in the 1850s.

2. However, the will of Alexander Dalrymple merchant of Lime Street City of London proved 20/04/1849 (which is certainly the will of the same man as the awardee of Dominica) shows no signs of financial distress, providing annuities of £80 p.a. and £60 p.a respectively to his mother the widow of Dr William Dalrymple now residing at Chapel Street Aberdeen and his sister Mrs Jess Thomas widow of Alexander Thomas master mariner now residing with 'my said mother'; £20 p.a to his sister-in-law Sarah Dalrymple; £20 p.a. to Martha [Maria?] Smith, 'single woman' of Dominica, as well £800 p.a. to his wife Ellen and £80 p.a. to his daughter Maria. He bequeathed the Morne Gray estate and houses in Roseau in Dominica to his wife Ellen, and then instructed his trustees to sell all his other real estate on the island. He identified his partner in their firm of West India merchants as George William Penney.

3. The foundation stone for a hospital, 'erected at the sole expense of Alexander Dalrymple Esq for the reception of the poor sick and infirm person' was laid in Dominica in 1839. The buildling was expanded over the next 20 years and became exclusively a hospital in 1859 when a house on Morne Bruce took over the function of a poor house.

4. Alexander Dalrymple, son of William Dalrymple, married Ellen Merritt 31/10/1840 in Milton-Next-Gravesend, Kent. Marischal Keith, son of Alexander Dalrymple and his wife Ellen, baptised in Southgate, London, 31/12/1841. Barbara Alice Dalrymple, daughter of Alexander Dalrymple Esquire and his wife Ellen, of Bromfield House, baptised at Weld Chapel, Southgate, Enfield, 31/01/1844. Edward, same parents, of Bromfield House, baptised at Weld Chapel, Southgate, 23/10/1845. Alexander Dalrymple, age 58, of Southgate, buried 03/04/1849 at Kensal Green Cemetery. Marishcal Keith Dalrymple, age 8, of India Place, Gravesend, buried 13/10/1849 at Kensal Green Cemetery.

5. In 1851, Ellen Dalrymple, widow, born Dominica, was living at 7 Queens Road, Marylebone, Annuitant, with her son [sic - stepson] Alex, age 21, born Dominica, Merchant West Indies, daughter [sic] Ellen age 20, born Dominica, daughter [sic] Mary, 15, born Dominica, and son Edward, 5, born Southgate. In the same census, her daughter Barbara Alice Dalrymple, age 7, was a pupil at a school in Hove. In 1861, Ellen and her family were living at 3 Lower Joppa, Duddingston, Midlothian. She was at 1 Hamilton Villas, Portobello, Midlothian, in 1871 and 20 Maryland Road, Kensington in 1881. Death of Ellen Dalrymple, age 72, registered Q4 1884 in Kensington.

6. 1881 census Alexander Dalrymple born aged 50 born Dominica (i.e. 1831) General Merchant living at 91 Elm Park Brixton: presumably the son of Alexander Dalrymple the Roseau merchant, and conceivably the merchant in financial difficulty in the 1850s.

7. They are very likely the family headed by Alexander Dalrymple, age 50, merchant, born Scotland, living at 4 Finsbury Circus, London, with Ellen, age 25, William, 6, Mary, 5 (she would be the 15 year old in the 1851 census), Thomas, 4 and James, 2, none born in Middlesex. All the children would have been from an earlier marriage or illegitimate. Living in the same house was Alexander's business partner Frederick Garraway (q.v.), wife wife and son.

8. The mention in his will of his father Dr William Dalrymple, mother a widow in Chapel Street, Aberdeen, and sister the widowed Jess Thomas identify him as the Alexander, son of William Dalrymple in Midmill, born 01/11/1790 and baptised 19/11/1790 in Cruden, Aberdeenshire. His mother was Barbara nee Johnson living at 7 Chapel Street, Aberdeen, in 1851 with, among others, her daughter Janet Thomson.

T71/881 Dominica claim nos. 95 (La Vie Douce), 190 (Emsall (?)), 231 (Cumberland), 233 (Mount Prosper), 248 (Belfast), 261, 458, 469 (Morne Gray), 473 (Morne Vrai), 512 (Besche), 535 (Rosey), 982, 992 and 1002. 

1. London Gazette, Issue 20075, 25/02/1842 p. 557; London Gazette, Issue 21443, 27/05/1853, p. 1506; London Gazette, Issue 22000, 12/05/1857, p. 1705; London Gazette, Issue 23106, 27/4/1866, p. 2674; London Gazette, Issue 22550, 24/09/1861, p. 3842]; London Gazette, Issue 23149, 10/08/1866, p. 4517.

2. PROB 112091/113.

3. Lennox Honychurch, A Dominica Story: A History of the Island (1995) p. 202. See also 'Dominica, Its Treasures, Its History' blog, https://bernardlauw.wordpress.com/2014/02/01/leprosy-in-dominica-part-vii/ [accessed 09/07/2020].

4. Findmypast.co.uk,
   England & Wales Marriages 1837-2005 [database online]; Ancestry.com, London, England, Births and Baptisms, 1813-1906 [database online]; Ancestry.com, London, England, Deaths and Burials, 1813-1980 [database online].

5. 1851-1881 censuses online.

6. 1881 census online.

7. 1841 census online.

8. PROB 112091/113; GROS OPR Births 185 20 189 Cruden; 1841 census online.

We are grateful to Sheila Kay for her assistance with compiling this entry.