George Cunningham

Son of Hon. John Cunningham, Member of Assembly for St James.

1. "The parish of St James Montego Bay. 'The Hon John Cunningham Esq., Member of Assembly  Born at Kirknewton, Scotland 1738. He married Elizabeth, relict of Robert Westland, and died in 1812. Erected by his sons James, Samuel and George'. He acquired Maxfield estate of which he had been the attorney for the Hodges family. 'John, eldest son of John and Elizabeth Cunningham ob. 1804' 'Mrs Elizabeth Cunningham ob. 1806' (Archer, 318, 319)".

2. George Cunningham, son of John and Elizabeth Cunningham, born 03/11/1788 and baptised 31/12/1788 in St James, Jamaica.

3. The family of George Cunningham was living at Lansdown Crescent, Walcot, Bath, in 1841: Ann (40), John (20), Emily (14), Augustus (12), Margaret (7), Edward (5) as well as George Robertson (2) and Elizabeth Robertson (4 months), a governess, two male servants and seven female servants (George himself was not present). The death notice of his eldest daughter Elizabeth, wife of Rev. John Cunningham Robertson in February 1841 gave George Robertson as of Lansdown Crescent. The death notice of his son John at Falmouth, Jamaica, aged 26 in 1843 gave George Cunningham as 'of Greenside and Maxfield estates in the parish of Trelawny, and late of Lansdown Crescent, in this city.’

4. Will of George Cunningham [late of the island of Jamaica but at present residing at Rodney Place] Clifton, Bristol Gloucestershire [made in 1843] proved 27/03/1844. Under the will he confirmed the annuity of £500 p.a. to his wife Ann secured on Maxfield and the enslaved people on it under his marriage settlement, and left her the Maxfield and Greenside estates in trust for their children except for 'my [sic] daughter' Mary, wife of Capt James Edward Gordon Morris of the East India Co., who had already been provided for. The address at Rodney Place may indicate he was staying with his brother James Cunningham who was at 6 Rodney Place in 1836 and Rodney Place in 1841.

5. Memorial inscription at the Church of St Peter the Apostle, Falmouth: SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF GEORGE CUNNINGHAM ESQ. OF GREENSIDE AND MAXFIELD ESTATE IN THIS PARISH THE YOUNGEST SON OF THE LATE HON. JOHN CUNNINGHAM OF THIS ISLAND HE DEPARTED THIS LIFE, 9TH OCTOBER 1843, IN THE 55TH YEAR OF HIS AGE, UNIVERSALLY RESPECTED AND BELOVED."

The awards for St Catherine 565 and St James 555 and 562 are related to each other by virtue of the co-claimants (James, Samuel and George Cunningham); and Trelawny 633 and 635, including Maxfield, tie George Cunningham to the Hon. John Cunningham.

1. Vere Langford Oliver, Caribbeana being miscellaneous papers relating to the history, genealogy, topography, and antiquities of the British West Indies (6 vols., London, Mitchell, Hughes and Clarke, 1910-1919), Vol. 2, p. 18.

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

3. 1841 census online; Bristol Times and Mirror 13/02/1841; Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette 20/07/1843.

4. PROB 11/1994/291; Matthews Directory (1836); 1841 census online.

5. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/128018526/george-cunningham [accessed 26/06/2020].

We are grateful to Ruth Hecht and Oliver Fowler for their assistance with compiling this entry.