Alexander Sutherland

1. Alexander Sutherland was one of two brothers of James Sutherland (q.v.) of the Dunrobin Plantation, Manchester, the other being David Sutherland, overseer of the Chudleigh Plantation, Manchester. Alexander’s relationship to James is confirmed by James Sutherland’s will (d. 1831), which names Alexander as executor and trustee to his children until they reached their majority. David is not named in this will, so had probably already died. The brother’s relationship is confirmed by the fact that the two slaves that Alexander owned came as a gift from James Sutherland around 1817-1820, while for some reason David Sutherland completed and signed Alexander's Return of Slaves in June 1823.

2. The Sutherlands were apparently first generation Highland Scots, as both James and David subscribed to the publication of a Gaelic Dictionary in 1822.

3. From c. 1820 to 1833, Alexander served as Attorney to the heirs of John Norris on the Richmond Plantation, Manchester, working alongside George Lindsay as joint Attorney from 1826. He is named as a Planter on the Clandon Plantation, Manchester in a subsequent baptismal record of 26 October 1834. The boy baptised was Robert Sutherland, his mother's name being Cecilia. He could well be the famed Robert Sutherland who became the first black lawyer in Canada (c. 1830-1878). His birth date matches; he is the only Robert Sutherland of this era in the baptismal records, his father was indeed Scottish, and his partner was likely a woman of colour (matching all we know about the lawyer Robert Sutherland's origins). Robert's primary education would have been at the free school for children of colour in Mandeville, an institution whose foundation was sponsored by James and David Sutherland in the sums of £25 and £16 respectively. Assuming he went on to have a secondary education in Kingston, this could have been funded either by the slave compensation payment, or by a bequest from his father, who does not appear in any subsequent records.

1. Jamaica Record Office, File # 814/2016. Entries at LOS Will 112, Folio 38; Returns of Slaves, Manchester, Jamaica, 1820, fol. 280; 1823, fol. 201.

2. “Dictionary of The Gaelic Language. List of Additional Subscriptions ...” The Edinburgh Advertiser (22/11/1822), also published in The Caledonian Mercury (21/11/1822).

3. A. Barclay, A Practical View of the Present State of Slavery in the West Indies... (Smith, Elder and Co., London 1828) p. 118; Robert Sutherland: Jamaica Church of England Transcripts: Manchester Baptisms, Marriages, Burials 1816-1836 Vol. 1, p. 286. Wikipedia entry for Robert Sutherland (c. 1830-1878).

We are grateful to Dr Michael Rhodes for compiling this entry.