Ralph Gilroy

In the name of God Amen I Ralph Gilroy of Gainslaw House within the Liberties of the Borough of Berwick upon Tweed Esquire being in health of Body and of sound mind memory and understanding praised be God for the same do make this my last Will and Testament in manner and form following that is to say I give devise and bequeath unto my dear Daughters Mary Linn and Sarah Gilroy at present residing with me at Gainslaw House aforesaid all my Messuages Tenements or dwelling Houses Plantation piece or parcel of Land and premises situate lying and being in the Parish of Port Royal in the Island of Jamaica commonly called or known by the name of the Berwick estate together with all Houses Outhouses Edifices Fabrics and Buildings Mill and all Plantation Utensils and Implements in upon or belonging to the said premises and also all my negroes or Slaves which shall at the time of my decease be resident upon or belonging to the said Plantation Lands or Hereditaments and all and every the Progeny Issue and Increase of the Females of the same …

The testator had formerly been resident in Jamaica, and bequeaths his Berwick Estate, a coffee plantation in Port Royal parish, Jamaica, to his legitimate daughters; three other illegitimate daughters are named then living in the United Kingdom. Among his assets Gilroy lists 'all my Negroes or Slaves' resident upon the plantation 'and all and every the Progeny Issue and Increase of the Females of the same', proceeding then to itemise his cattle. The Slavery Abolition Act (1833) re-designated all these slaves aged six and over as apprentices, from which apprenticeships they obtained their release in 1838. However, any issue of his female slaves born after 2 August 1828 would have qualified for immediate emancipation on 1 August 1834 when the Act came into force. A John Gilroy, probably Ralph's brother, is listed in the 1840 Jamaica Almanac as the proprietor of a 467 acre estate of the same name. The will, of which this is a copy, was first proved at London in 1826 and then again at Durham in 1828.

Ref: DPRI/1/1828/G9/1. http://familyrecords.dur.ac.uk/nei/NEI_exhib_trade.htm