William Rhodes James of St Elizabeth

William Rhodes James of St Elizabeth. Not to be confused with the absentee slave-owner William Rhodes James IV (q.v.). William Rhodes James of St Elizabeth was the son of John James, a free man of colour whose will was proved in 1818; the two men had been among the subjects of an Act of the Jamaica Assembly of 24/12/1785 instigated by William Rhodes James' grandfather (and John James' father) Jonathan James to grant the family the rights of whites 'with certain Restrictions.'

1. William Rhodes James was also the attorney of Alexander Edgar, of Stockbridge near Edinburgh, Scotland, and owner of Newell Pen.

2. William Rhodes James of Newell Pen, husband of Eleanor James, died 8th October 1842 age 57. He was buried at Newell 09/10/1842 but the burial record gives his age as 64 years.

3. Will of William Rhodes James senior of St Elizabeth, Cornwall, Jamaica proved 13/01/1844. In the will (made in 1838) he left his estate to his five children, share and share alike: in a codicil he modified this by a bequest of £200 currency to his grand-daughter.

An Act to entitle Jonathan James of the Parish of Saint Elizabeth a free Quadroon Man, and John James, Montague James, Elen James, etc. to the same Rights and Privileges with English Subjects born of White Parents, with certain Restrictions. 24/12/1785 No. 621, http://www.jamaicanfamilysearch.com/Members/JamesJonathan.htm [accessed 23/11/2016].

1. B.W. Higman, Plantation Jamaica 1750-1850: capital and control in a colonial economy (Mona, Jamaica, University of West Indies Press, 2005) pp. 46 and 306 n. 19.

2. Philip Wright, Monumental Inscriptions of Jamaica (London, Society of Genealogists, 1966) pp. 186, 287; Familysearch.org, Jamaica Church of England Parish Register Transcripts, 1664-1880 [database online].

3. PROB 11/1991/308.