Robert Gordon of St Vincent

Resident slave-owner on St Vincent.

1. Will of Robert Gordon of St Vincent [made 26/10/1828] proved 31/12/1829. Among other legacies he left: an annuity of £25 p.a. to Margaret Mowat and her daughter Harriet successively, half to be paid from the Grove estate and half from the Spring estate; to his grand-niece Harriet Gordon Hill a 'clear annuity' of £150 p.a., and a legacy of £500 secured on the Spring estate; to Henrietta Johnstone Hill, daughter of Harriet Gordon Hill, a legacy of £500, again charged on the Spring estate; to John Mowat and Gordon Mowat each the sum of £100 out of the Spring estate; to his 'present housekeeper' Harriet Chapman an annuity of £50 p.a. payable in London and a legacy of £60; 'my cousin Mrs Gordon of Dumfries' £50. He left to John and Gordon Mowat 500 acres of his Lot no. 26 on Prince Edward Island, and the residue of the Lot not already appropriated by him he left to his grand-nephew Gordon Augustus Thomson. He manumitted 'my slave Philip' and left him an annuity of £8 p.a. He left his nephew William Hepburn senior 1s. 'Subject to the above I devise and bequeath the estates called the Spring Estate, Tetrons [?] Gordon Castle, Seveyroux [?] and Mount Pisyat [?] [it is unclear where these last four were or indeed what they represent] to the said Gordon Augustus Thomson. He left the Grove to his grand-nephew William Hepburn the younger and Harriet Gordon Hill, provided that William Hepburn the elder and younger within 8 months gave releases of Robert Gordon's estate from any claims against it by them under the wills of Peter Alexander or Anthony Gordon deceased. After allocating a house and lot in Plymouth town, Montserrat to Goodall, nephew of Richard Simmons, he made his residuary heirs his nephews John, Robert and Gordon Augustus Thomson.

2. Gordon Castle, referred to in the will details above, was on the Spring Estate in St Vincent.

3. Gordon was Colonel of the Northern Regiment of Militia and the President of His Majesty’s council in St. Vincent.

We are grateful to Cheryl Hazell for assistance in compiling this entry.

The William Hepburn who appears as the co-owner of with Robert Gordon of Grove estate as Messrs Gordon & Hepburn was probably William Hepburn merchant whose will was dated 07/01/1814 [a href="http://eap.bl.uk/downloads/eap345_survey.pdf">http://eap.bl.uk/downloads/eap345_survey.pdf [accessed 12/09/2016]: he and Robert Gordon were probably brothers-in-law as well as partners since Robert Gordon's nephew was William Hepburn sen.

1. PROB 11/1764/342. An obituary in the Belfast gives his age at death as 91.

2. 'Diary of William Fidler 1825-1827' (transcribed by Kevin Laurence). The Revd. William Fidler visited Gordon at Gordon Castle, 12 October 1825 where he addressed the 'goodly number' of enslaved and the Gordon family and friends on the subject of 'salvation'. He described Gordon Castle as 'a wooden building one story high, of French construction & much decayed; and looked like a cluster of tenements some large & several small ones stuck together, not under one roof but having several. But it was in a cool and beautiful situation...'

3. Fidler diary.