???? - 1764
Younger son of James Stirling of Keir (d. 1749). Left Perthshire for Jamaica in 1742. Bought Frontier estate in St Mary in 1748, partly with money borrowed from his brother Archibald Stirling. Jointly bought Hampden in St James (later Trelawny) with his brother James in 1757; bought his brother's share in Hampden in 1761 for a £300 annuity. "He died in 1764, a financial failure; He owed £92,000. Of course, he was owed £68,000, mostly from his merchant career. His brother James returned [to Jamaica] to take control of the joint property and settle the family's affairs."
Had a daughter, Charlotte Stirling, with free quadroon Sarah Morris of Kingston.
Filed Crop Accounts for Spring Garden estate (Westmoreland, Jamaica) in 1764. At this stage Spring Garden belonged to Mrs Elizabeth Rutherford (q.v.) or her heirs.
Robert Stirling of Kingston, Esquire. Estate probated in Jamaica in 1764. Slave-ownership at probate: 750 of whom 419 were listed as male and 331 as female. 0 were listed as boys, girls or children. Total value of estate at probate: £76,343.14 Jamaican currency of which £43,933.25 currency was the value of enslaved people. Estate valuation included £10.15 currency cash, £17,832.31 currency debts and £98.06 currency plate. Burnard put his personal estate at £54,531 'including 750 slaves located on several sugar estates in St James.'
Alan L. Karras, Sojourners in the Sun: Scottish Migrants in Jamaica and the Chesapeake, 1740-1800 (Ithaca and London, 1992) pp. 71-80.
Anne M. Power, 'Blocking legacies to negroes and mulattoes', A Parcel of Ribbons, http://aparcelofribbons.co.uk/tag/robert-stirling/ [accessed 12/10/2015].
1B/11/4/4 Crop Account 1763-1766 Jamaica Archive p. 127.
Trevor Burnard, Database of Jamaican inventories, 1674-1784; Burnard, Merchants, planters and slaves pp. 205-6.
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Occupation
Planter
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The dates listed below have different categories as denoted by the letters in the brackets following each date. Here is a key to explain those letter codes:
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1748 [SY] - 1764 [EY] → Owner
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1757 [SY] - 1761 [EY] → Joint owner
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1761 [SY] - 1764 [EY] → Owner
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1764 [EA] - 1764 [LA] → Not known
Stirling filed Crop Accounts for Spring Garden in 1764. He is listed as Planter. |
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Brothers
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Brothers
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Uncle → Niece
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Uncle → Niece
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Uncle → Nephew
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Uncle → Nephew
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Uncle → Nephew
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1805 - ????
Enslaved man brought to England as a domestic servant; his former owner was indicted for the mistreatment of Thompson in 1824.
Document comprises 4 parts, written recto and verso across 5 folios: 1. An inventory and valuation of enslaved persons at Windsor Estate, St Elizabeth parish, Jamaica, 1814. 2. An inventory and valuation of enslaved persons at Williamsfield settlement, St Elisabeth parish, Jamaica, 1814. 3. An inventory of animals at Windsor Estate, St Elizabeth parish, Jamaica, 1814. 4. A cover note outlining the contents of the document.
© Copyright Legacies of British Slavery - UCL Department of History 2024
CITING THIS RECORD:
'Robert Stirling the elder', Legacies of British Slavery database, http://wwwdepts-live.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/2146643109 [accessed 22nd November 2024].
