William Ewbank of St Ann Jamaica

Profile & Legacies Summary

1738 - 1800

Biography

Slave-owner in Jamaica, whose will [made in 1799] was proved 13/07/1802. When he made his will his two younger children William and Susannah were in Great Britain; his daughter Ann was already married to Thomas Ashmeade (q.v., under Thomas Ashmeade I).

William Ewbank almost certainly came from Barnard Castle in County Durham. Fardinando Ewbank, a weaver and dyer, married Anne Morgan on 21/11/1732 at Barnard Castle. Their son William Ewbank was baptised at Barnard Castle on 19/11/1738. Other children of the marriage were Henry Ewbank, bapt. 21/11/1742, and Ann Ewbank, bapt. 12/03/1749. Fardinando also had two older children, Joseph Ewbank and Jane Ewbank, from a previous marriage. In his will, Fardinando Ewbank left £710 in immediate cash to his family. His three sons, Joseph, William, and Henry, inherited Ferdinando’s property in Startforth, whilst Joseph and William split the property in Bridgegate, Barnard Castle.
Owner of 88 enslaved people and 352 stock in St Ann, Jamaica, in 1792, assumed to be settled on Albion.
A William Ewbank was transacting property in Barningham between 1784 and 1790. The party concerned was not William Ewbank of St Ann, Jamaica, but another person of the same name (a cousin) who lived in Barnard Castle.

We are grateful to Catherine Ryan (PhD researcher, Teesside University) for her assistance in compiling this entry.

Sources

PROB 11/1377/199. North Riding Register of Deeds (NRRD) memorial: North Yorkshire County Record Office Ref: NRRD BG/7/7, Dated: 22 Jul 1774, Registered: 20 Aug 1774.

"England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N5HM-9LW : 20 September 2020), William Ewbank, 1738, accessed 24 August 2022. "England Marriages, 1538–1973", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NLZC-MMQ : 13 March 2020), Fardinando Ewbank, 1732, accessed 24 August 2022. Will of Ferdinando Ewbank of Barnard Castle proved 23/1/1758. Prerogative & Exchequer Courts Of York Probate Index, 1688-1858, vol. 102, f. 359, 1757061770120116.tif/17.
'A List of slaves and stock in the parish of St Ann taken the 28th March 1792 pursuant to order of the Honourable House of Assembly... transcribed from papers presented to the British Museum by Charles E. Long ref. Add. 12435' transcribed at http://www.jamaicanfamilysearch.com/Members/mstann1792.htm.
J.K.F. Heggie, 'The North Riding Register of Deeds Project and Database', Register of Deeds, https://www.registerofdeeds.org.uk/search/do_public_search?forenames=william&surname=ewbank&township=&date-range=1784-1790, accessed 24 August 2022.

Further Information

Will

PROB 11/1377/199 - precis.

William Ewbank of the parish of St Ann, Jamaica Esquire.

To my daughter Ann, wife of Thomas Ashmeade of St Ann, merchant, a negro girl slave named Fanny the daughter of Leonora.

My children William and Susannah to be expertly and genteely supported maintained and educated out of my personal estate; if that should be insufficient then out of the rents and profits of my real estate.

To my son William £5,000 out of the monies I have vested in the public or other funds of Great Britain, at age 21, subject to the payment of £1,000 currency to my daughter Susannah at age 21 or at marriage.

The rest and residue of my estate: one third to my executors in trust for my daughter Susannah at age 21 or marriage; one-third to my executors in trust, the profits and rents of which should be applied to my daughter Ann Ashmeade for her sole and separate use and then in trust for her lawful issue; one-third to my son William Ewbank and his lawful issue forever.

My friends William Whitworth and John Freeman of the City of London, merchants, to be executors and guardians in Great Britain, and my friends George Kinghorn and John Richards of Kingston, merchants, and James Newby of St Ann, to be executors and guardians in Jamaica.

Signed 13/09/1799.

Proved in London 13/07/1802 by John Freeman Esquire.

Associated Estates (3)

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