Walter Pringle of St Kitts

Walter Pringle was an early purchaser of land on Dominica. David Dobson has several entries for Walter Pringle, son of Thomas Pringle (1667-1735), which are not all entirely consistent, but which show him as a merchant of St Kitts who died in 1768, apparently at Dominica, and whose testament was registered 13/08/1776. Walter Pringle was also the original purchaser in Tobago of Great River division (St Mary parish) Lots nos. 5 & 6 (given by Fowler as '12/05/1776', which must be an error for 12/05/1766). By 1773 the Lots, which became the Richmond estate, were in the hands of Gedney Clarke (q.v.). Richmond Great House on the Richmond estate is attributed to Walter Pringle in e.g. Thomas Norman deWolf, Gather at the Table. The tightness of the chronology might suggest that the Walter Pringle who died in 1768 was not the man who built up Richmond estate on Tobago.

1. Anne Young, the daughter of Walter Pringle of St Christopher, married John Dalrymple (son of Sir James Dalrymple bart) 28/06/1774 at Hermiston Midlothian. Their children included Sir James Dalrymple bart (1777-1800) and Sir John Pringle Dalrymple bart (1778-1829). The son of Walter Pringle was later Vice Admiral Thomas Pringle (q.v.).

2. Walter Pringle was shown as the original purchaser of St Paul Lot No. 62 (191 acres) and Nos. 72-74 (394 acres) on Dominica (these second lots formed the Cane Field estates sold in 1773 by Thomas Pringle to George Rose and Samuel and Henrietta Duer).

3. Douglas Hamilton shows Walter Pringle as President of the Council on Dominica and active there with his brother Thomas.

4. Walter Simpson, the executor of Walter Pringle, had very substantial judgements against the executors of William Neale of St Vincent (£25,947 9s 2d), the co-heiresses of Thomas Neale and devisees of William Neale (£1714 5s 10d) and the co-heiresses and devisees of William Neale (£6099 19s 8d), which he sold to John Collins and James Choppin of St Vincent for a bond in the penal sum of £6000 in favour of Thomas Pringle, Walter Pringle's son. By a deed of 12/05/1787, Thomas Pringle then of Edinburgh reversed the transaction, agreeing to destroy the bond in exchange for the (re)assignment of the judgments to him.

David Dobson, Scottish settlers in North America, 1625-1825 Vol. I p. 215; Vol. II p. 168; Vol. III pp. 143 and 144; Vol. IV p. 118.

1. www.familysearch.com, 'Anne Young Pringle of St Christophers'.

2. John Byres, References to a plan of the island of Dominica as surveyed from the year 1765 and 1773 (London, 1777) p. 26.

3. D. Hamilton Scotland, the Caribbean and the Atlantic World, pp. 64, 146, 148.

4. Deed Book 1787, British Library, EAP688/1/1/2, https://eap.bl.uk/archive-file/EAP688-1-1-2 pp. 245-8.