11th Jun 1770 - 1841
Attorney in Jamaica and awardee in right of his wife of Long Hill estate, later known as Prospect, in St Elizabeth.
John William Spencer Griffith was born 11/06/1770; baptised 6/07/1770, London. His parents were the late John William Griffiths (sic.) and Ann his wife.
The date and place of marriage to Catherine Campbell Shakespear has not been established, but LBS has already identified her as his wife. She was the daughter of David Shakespear (q.v.) and was herself an enslaver who successfully claimed compensation for the loss of enslaved people (q.v. claim 43042). He had no known links to the Caribbean or slavery before his marriage, but his relationship with the Shakespear family would have provided strong connections to underpin his career as an attorney once he and his wife were settled in Jamaica by the early/mid-1790s.
With Catherine Campbell he had (at least) nine children, all baptised in St Elizabeth, Jamaica, except Frances Sarah, baptised in Devon. They include:
John Griffith was an enslaver, but made his living primarily as an attorney, managing rather than owning properties, in most cases probably for absentee owners. In 1817 he was managing some nine properties in Manchester and St Elizabeth. Higman found that in 1832 Griffith was managing nine properties, comprising (unusually) no sugar estates, four livestock pens and five plantations (coffee, pimento etc. rather than sugar). The properties were worked by just over 1200 enslaved people. He was one of the 52 attorneys in Jamaica who met Higman’s criteria as ‘large’ attorneys. He died in 1841.
We are grateful to Paul Hitchings, Mary Hewitt and David Barker for their help with compiling this entry.
Email from Paul Hitchings 04/03/2019 sourced to Daily Gleaner 27/04/1931 p. 31; Ancestry.com, London, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 [database online]. Findmypast.co.uk, Index To Death Duty Registers 1796-1903 [database online]. Westminster, London, England, C of E Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1558-1812, 6 July 1770; Jamaica, C of E Parish Record Transcripts, St Elizabeth, 1795-1813; Devon, England, C of E Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812, Bideford 1812; London, England, C of E Births and Baptisms, 1813-1923, Westminster, St Marylebone, 1819; Census 1851, Leamington Priors; Census 1861 and 1871, Edinburgh; Edinburgh, Scotland, Cemetery Registers, 1777-1935, died 19 Dec 1874, Edinburgh Southern Cemetery; UK, British Naval Biographical Dictionary, 1849, Smyth Griffith; Censuses 1841-1861; Norfolk, England, Transcripts of C of E Registers, 1600-1935, Great Yarmouth Burials, Sept 1870; Cambridge University Alumni, 1261-1900, St John’s 1822; Census 1851, Barnstaple; 1861, Devon, Bishops Tawton; UK Burial and Cremation Index, 1574-2014, Burial 24 March 1885, Tunbridge Wells, Kent; East Sussex, England, C of E Deaths and Burials, 1813-1995, Hove, St Andrew, Sussex, 17 May 1879; B.W. Higman, Plantation Jamaica.
Name in compensation records
J. Griffith
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Spouse
Catherine Campbell Shakespear
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Children
Catherine Ann (1795-), Smyth (1800-1902), Anna Maria, and others
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£1,099 4s 9d
Awardee (Executor or executrix)
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£233 11s 7d
Awardee
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£685 8s 11d
Awardee
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£625 13s 0d
Awardee (Executor or executrix)
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£1,952 4s 8d
Awardee (Trustee)
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The dates listed below have different categories as denoted by the letters in the brackets following each date. Here is a key to explain those letter codes:
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1820 [EA] - → Attorney
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1823 [EA] - 1826 [LA] → Receiver
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1826 [EA] - → Executor
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1817 [EA] - 1834 [LA] → Executor
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1829 [EA] - 1834 [LA] → Executor
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1829 [EA] - → Attorney
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1817 [EA] - 1823 [LA] → Attorney
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1829 [EA] - 1832 [LA] → Attorney
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1826 [EA] - → Executor
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1817 [EA] - → Attorney
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1826 [EA] - → Executor
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1817 [EA] - 1826 [LA] → Attorney
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1839 [EA] - → Not known
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1823 [EA] - → Attorney
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1826 [EA] - 1832 [LA] → Attorney
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1817 [EA] - → Attorney
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1829 [EA] - 1832 [LA] → Attorney
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1823 [EA] - 1829 [LA] → Executor
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1832 [EA] - → Guardian
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1809 [EA] - → Not known
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1823 [EA] - → Trustee and Executor
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1817 [EA] - 1834 [LA] → Joint owner
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1817 [EA] - 1823 [LA] → Attorney
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1829 [EA] - 1832 [LA] → Attorney
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1829 [EA] - 1832 [LA] → Attorney
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1823 [EA] - 1826 [LA] → Receiver
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1832 [EA] - → Attorney
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1823 [EA] - 1826 [LA] → Guardian
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1817 [EA] - 1823 [LA] → Attorney
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1823 [EA] - 1832 [LA] → Guardian
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1829 [EA] - 1832 [LA] → Attorney
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1832 [EA] - 1834 [LA] → Trustee
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1829 [EA] - 1832 [LA] → Attorney
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1817 [EA] - 1832 [LA] → Attorney
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Husband → Wife
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Brother-in-laws
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Brother-in-laws
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Father → Daughter
Notes →
...
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Grandfather → Grandson
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Grandfather → Grand-daughter
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Son-in-law → Father-in-law
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Other relatives
Notes →
The son of Dr John White married the daughter of John [William Spencer]...
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St Helier, Jersey, Channel Islands
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