George Guise

Early purchaser of land on Tobago. In 1773 George Guise was shown as the Present Proprietor of North-east division (St John parish) Lots no. 2 (which became Trois Rivieres) and no. 3 (which became Spey Side), both originally purchased 19/04/1768 by William Nash, and of Queens Bay division (St Paul parish) Lot no. 32, originally purchased by John Guise 05/06/1770, which apparently also became [part of] Trois Rivieres.

1. George Guise was a partner with John Byres the surveyor of the Ceded and Neutral Islands. On Dominica, George Guise for John Byres [sic] was the original purchaser of 255 acres (Lot No. 54) in St Andrew parish, for which the present proprietor c. 1773 was given as Vance. On St Vincent the two men sold a small lot of land in 1771 to Hon. William Byam.

2. In Berrow's Worcester Journal 24/01/1771 an advertisement headed 'Island of Tobago' ran for 'a Millwright...a thorough workman...if he is compleatly skilled in his Business may, with Ease, in five or six years, render himself Master of an Independency.' The advertisement offered free passage [to Tobago] and immediate employment with a Gentleman now resident there. 'NB The climate is remarkably healthy and agreeable' and (notwithstanding that) a free passage home was offered after 12 months 'if any Circumstance should cause the Person who goes to desire it.' 'For further particulars enquire of Mr George Guise of Astwood, near Droitwich, or on A Tuesday, at the Golden Lion, at Bromsgrove.' Two months later, in the same journal 07/03/1771 the several creditors of George Guise late of Astwood were asked to submit their demands to an Attorney in Droitwich. The man who died in 1771 is unlikely to have been the man shown as owner c. 1773, but there was presumably a family connection.

'Tables showing the Lots in each Parish, numbered as originally granted - the original Grantee - the name of the Lot, or lots, if one has been acquired, and the present Possessor where there is one' and 'A Table, showing the Estates in cultivation in 1832, and their Owners, in 1832, copied from the list appended to Byres' map of that date, with those in cultivation in 1862', Henry Iles Woodcock, A History of Tobago (Ayr: Smith and Grant, 1867; new impression London: Frank Cass and Company Limited, 1971); John Fowler, A summary account of the present flourishing state of the respectable colony of Tobago in the British West Indies illustrated with a map of the island and a plan of its settlement, agreeably to the sales by his Majesty’s Commissioners (London: A Grant, 1774) pp. 46-47.

1. John Byres, References to the Plan of the Island of Dominica, as surveyed from the year 1767 to 1773 (London, 1777); Deeds of lease and release dated 04/03/1771 and 06/03/1771 show John Byres and George Guise selling a small plot of land on St George to Hon. William Byam of St Vincent, Deed Book 1770-1776, British Library, EAP688/1/1/25, https://eap.bl.uk/archive-file/EAP688-1-1-25 pp. 58-60.

2. Berrow's Worcester Journal 24/01/1771 and 07/03/1771 Issue 4014 p. 3, the former accessed through 'Some Selected Reports from Berrow's Worcester Journal' online and the latter accessed through http://wwww.lastchancetoread.com/docs/1771-03-07-berrow-s-worcester-journal.aspx 22/11/2013.