William Rae

Large-scale slave-owner in Jamaica, awarded over £19,000 in compensation in the 1830s. There is no sign in the form of counterclaims that his apparent wealth was offset by significant debt at the time of his death, but - if it did largely pass to his legatees - it is not yet clear how they utilised it.

1. Will of William Rae of Kingston Jamaica proved in London 12/08/1837. He left his property in Jamaica in trust, specifying that the produce should be consigned to John Hall & Co. of Liverpool, and to pay monetary legacies, including £500 to his reputed daughter Mrs Sharp and £30 and £10 to Amelia and Robert, apprentices then attending him. His residuary legatees were his nephews David Rae Newal of the EI Co. Naval Service and Adam Newal of Bordeaux and his nieces Jean the wife of John Marron [? = Morin] of Carrield and Catherine the wife of Rev. Charles M[aitland] Babington. In a codicil he left £150 to his brother John on condition John gave up any claim on Rae's property in Scotland.

2. The Finding Aid for the Rae Family Estate Collection at Princeton University Library carries a summary of the claimants under William Rae's will.

3. David Rae Newall died of Hillside Ventnor Isle of Wight 08/12/1874 leaving effects under £4000. Adam Newall died in 1862 at Dumfries formerly 'merchant of Bordeaux', and Catherine Newall or Babington of Moat Brae Dumfries died in 1862 at Ventnor. The will of John Morin of Dunsscore Dumfriesshire was proved 03/01/1855: in the original will made in 1846 and subject to elaborate codicils not yet analysed by LBS, it is clear that the family had retained property in Jamaica formerly belonging to William Rae.

4. Ann Rae "a free quadroon" had three children with George Samuel Sharpe. She is very likely the "Mrs Sharpe" described as a reputed daughter in the will of William Rae. The children were William Rae Sharpe (born 1815), James Taylor Sharpe (1816) and Milborough Brown Sharpe (baptised in 1831).

5. In the SCOTCH BURIAL GROUND, KINGSTON, Entry #38 reads: William Rae, Esquire, of Sherwood Forest and other estates, in this island, a native of Dumfries, in Scotland, & for 55 years resident in Kingston, where he died on the 7th of May, 1837, aged 75 years. Erected by Adam, David Rae, Jane & Catherine Neuart, of Dumfries, the children of his sister.

6. In St. Michael's Old Parish Churchyard of Dumfries, there is an inscription which mentions Margaret Rae, perhaps the sister of William Rae (based on William Rae’s origins in Dumfries, Margaret’s original surname, and the matching names of her children). The first name on the inscription is that of ‘a very worthy gentleman, by profession a writer, who died about fifty years since [1876, i.e. 1820s]; and it is also devoid of dates.’ It reads: ‘In memory of David Newall, Esq. , who, with his mother, Ann Ewart, and his wife, Margaret Rae, with ten of their children, David, Anna, Anna Campbell, Adam, Catherine (Mrs. Babington), James, William, Margaret, Marion, and John, lie buried here.’ Adam Newall, named above, was long a successful wine-merchant at Bourdeaux, and spent his closing years in Dumfries, where he was much respected.

We are grateful to Steven Carter for assistance in compiling this entry.

1. PROB 11/1883/224.

2. http://findingaids.princeton.edu/collections/C1222.pdf [accessed 28/01/2017].

3. National Probate Calendar 1875; Scotch Confirmations 1863; PROB 11/2205/24.

4. Familysearch.org, Jamaica Church of England Parish Register Transcripts, 1664-1880 [database online].

5. Captain J. H. Lawrence-Archer, Monumental Inscriptions of the British West Indies, 1875, p. 230.

6. William M'Dowall, Memorials of St. Michael's: The Old Parish Churchyard of Dumfries, Adam and Charles Black, 1876. pp. 40-41.