Judith Besly (née Gilling)

Judith Gilling was baptised 04/03/1784 in Hanover, Jamaica. Her parents were Robert Gilling and Rebecca Dias. Her four children were born in 1802, 1803, 1805 and 1807 and given the surname Samuells (inferred from Hanover Census 1823 and Slave Registers); the children’s father unknown. All four children were enslavers and compensation claimants.

Judith Gilling registered enslaved people in Hanover as owner: 14 people in 1817; 15 people in 1820; 17 people in 1823; and 15 people in 1826.

In 1817, she also registered enslaved people as Guardian of Rebecca Mary (4 people); Rachel Jane (4 people); Elizabeth (4 people); and James Davis (2 people). She was living in Lucea, Mustee, 40; with three Samuells children, all “Mustafina.”

Judith Gilling married George Besly between 1826 and 1829. In 1829, George Besly (q.v.) registered enslaved people in right of his wife. All of these people were previously registered by Judith Gilling. George Besly died between 1829 and 1832. In 1832, James Davis Samuells (Judith’s son) registered 16 enslaved people as trustee of Judith Besly. He was one of her trustees when compensation was claimed in 1834.

Judith Besley was recorded as the owner of a 49-acre estate in Hanover 1840.

We are grateful to David Barker for his assistance with compiling this entry.

Jamaica, Select Births and Baptisms, 1752-1920; Hanover Census 1823, 1 and 2; Slave Registers, Hanover 1817- 1832; Legacies of British Slave-ownership database (James Davis Samuells); Jamaica Almanac 1840.