William Gray of Jamaica and Skibo, Scotland

???? - 1788


Biography

Slave-owner in Jamaica. Bought Richmond estate in Jamaica in 1775; the estate went into receivership in 1782. The presence of Richmond estate in the Accounts Produce suggests Gray was absent from Jamaica from 1775 to at least 1782, although by his own account he was in Jamaica while publishing letters about a dispute with Serocold and Jackson 1779-1780. In 1782 he was reportedly in Skibo in Sutherland, Scotland, but the 1782 almanac names him as in post in a judicial role in the parish of St George, Jamaica. Died in Jamaica in March 1788.

  1. First known to be in Jamaica in 1760 when he was an attorney at law in Kingston, son of Patrick Gray, tacksman of Easter Lairg.

  2. There are conflicting accounts about the relationship of William Gray of Jamaica to Skibo Castle. Stephanie Barczewski shows William Gray of Jamaica purchasing Skibo in 1777; other secondary sources such as John Evans, supported by the Historic Environment Scotland portal, show William Gray, Provost Marshal of Jamaica, rebuilding the house and dying at Skibo in 1760 [sic]. William Gray first paid the window tax for Skibo in 1778. There is broad agreement that the estate was sold by the Grays c. 1786.

  3. William Gray and John Mead jointly contributed £35 to the University of Pennsylvania following Dr John Morgan's fundraising tour of the West Indies in 1772-1773.

  4. William Gray Esq., Member of Assembly for the parish of Port Royal, was buried in "vault of Old Churchyard", St Andrew, Jamaica, 31/03/1788. Death "At Jamaica, William Gray, Esq; formerly Provost Marshall General of that island, and a representative in the assembly for the parish of Port Royal."

  5. William Gray of Richmond estate was probably the man of the same name who appeared in the will of Humphrey Morice (q.v.) as the seller to Morice of an annuity of £500 p.a. secured on an unnamed property in Jamaica.

  6. Married Dorothy Cammack 26/07/1761 in Kingston. Note that other sources give his wife as Janet Sutherland, daughter of Major George Sutherland of Mid Garty (Sutherland County), but this appears to be an error. "For the payment of L6542. In 1773 (some say 1775, it seeming likely that there was a delay pending Ann Sinclair's settlement) the estate of Langwell passed into the Gray family of Skibo, then represented by two brothers named William and Walter Gray. William was at this time Provost Marshall of Jamaica and married to Janet Sutherland, daughter of Major George Sutherland of Mid Garty (Sutherland county), this George being a brother of Robert Sutherland late of Langwell. It is probable that William Gray was one of the creditors of Robert Sutherland's - if not the principal. Apart from his appointment of provost Marshall of Jamaica, he indulged in various enterprises, one notably lucrative, being his joint ownership of a successful privateer."

  7. William and Dorothy Gray had eight children baptised in Kingston, Jamaica: Ann Graham (1762), John Patrick (1763), Jane (1765), William (1766), Christian (1768), Charlotte (1771), Dorothy (1773) and Samuel (1774). Another daughter, Milborough was born 07/12/1776 and baptised 26/01/1777 in Marylebone, London.

  8. Papers in the Archives at Claydon House record a loan of £6500 in 1778 from Ralph Verney to William Gray secured by a mortgage over the Rhine plantation and the enslaved people attached to it.


Sources

Vere Langford Oliver, Caribbeana being miscellaneous papers relating to the history, genealogy, topography, and antiquities of the British West Indies (6 vols., London, Mitchell, Hughes and Clarke, 1910-1919) vol. 3 pp. 156-159; David Dobson, Scots in the West Indies, 1707-1857 (Baltimore, Maryland, 2006) vol. 2 p. 45; Scots Magazine vol. 50 p. 310 (June 1788). http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/CARIBBEAN/2000-10/0971370496 [accessed 01/07/2016]; Royal Gazette of Jamaica 10/06/1780. The 1782 Almanac, Jamaica Family Search online http://www.jamaicanfamilysearch.com/Members/a/a1782_02.htm [accessed 5/9/23].

  1. David Dobson, Scots in the West Indies, 1707-1857 (1998).

  2. Stephanie Barczewski, Country Houses and the British Empire, 1700-1930 p. 269; John Evans, The Gentleman Usher: The Life and Times of George Dempster 1712-1818 p. 180; http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/GDL00343 [accessed 29/06/2018]; window tax records reference E 326/1/120/117 at https://scotlandsplaces.gov.uk/.

  3. William Smith, Joseph Hopkinson, and Plunket Fleeson Glentworth, Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania Minute Books, Volume 2, 1768-1779 p. 73, entry for 13/12/1773. Note amounts are in Jamaican currency.

  4. "Jamaica, Church of England Parish Register Transcripts, 1664-1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939F-8X5V-W?cc=1827268&wc=M6GL-TPD%3A161383101%2C161383102 : 20 May 2014), St Andrew > Baptisms, marriages, burials 1664-1807, Vol. 1 > image 186 of 194; Registrar General's Department, Spanish Town; Scots Magazine 01/06/1788.

  5. Will of Humphry Morice PROB 11/1139/132.

  6. Michael Ashcroft, 'Robert Charles Dallas - author of anonymous book on Jamaica', Jamaica Journal issue 44 p. 96 (June 1980); email from Christina Baldwin 09/06/2020 sourced to an unpublished document by Alan Roydhouse, 'The Heritors of Langwell 1775-1788' ch 4 p. 2. Note that Walter Gray's daughter Wilhelmina married Hugh Walker (q.v.) of Carron Hall.

  7. Familysearch.org, Jamaica Church of England Parish Register Transcripts, 1664-1880 [database online]; Ancestry.com, London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 [database online].

  8. Email from Jim Brennan 15/07/2021 showing entries from the Archives at Claydon House supplied by the Archivist: 4/6/14/108-133, 148-149 Legal papers, Verney later Fermanagh v. Gray and others, 1792-99 re Rhine Plantation, 5/2/68 Abstract of Mortgage 5/6 Nov. 1778 1) William Gray 2) Ralph earl Verney 3) William Innes - plantation, sugar work etc. in the parish of St. Thomas in the east of Jamaica called the Rhine Plantation, cont. 1068a., boundaries, with all houses and outhouses etc., and the negroes and utensils there £6,500

We are grateful to Michael Rhodes, Jim Brennan and Christina Baldwin for their assistance with compiling this entry.


Further Information

Absentee?
Transatlantic?
Spouse
Dorothy Camack
Children
John Patrick, William, and others
Will

PROB 11/1408/247 - precis.

William Gray of St Andrew, Jamaica, Esquire.

To my dearly beloved sons John Patrick Gray and William Gray £2,000 Jamaican currency each.

All rest, residue and remainder to every child of mine who may be living at the time of my decease to be equally divided between them as tenants in common.

My friends John McLean of Kingston Esquire, Robert Kerr of Hanover Esquire and my sons John Patrick Gray and William Gray and my nephews Hugh Morrison, Hector Ross and Robert Gray to be executors. My wife Dorothy Gray to be executrix of my will and guardian of my beloved daughters.

Signed 29/03/1798.

Granted limited probate in London in 1804 only to assist London Exchequer court litigation against his executors.


Associated Estates (3)

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:

  • SD - Association Start Date
  • SY - Association Start Year
  • EA - Earliest Known Association
  • ED - Association End Date
  • EY - Association End Year
  • LA - Latest Known Association
1773 [EA] - 1773 [LA] → Trustee

William Gray was shown as 'late trustee' in 1773 but was separately shown as selling the estate, possibly as assignee or himself as a recent purchaser, in 1774. NB the association by LBS of William Gray of Richmond estate with the William Gray of Blackheath and The Rhine estates remains tentative but is supported by the presence of Jacob Israel Bernal in transactions on both sets of estates and by evidence of financiai distress and receivership across all three c. 1782.

1782 [EA] - 1785 [LA] → Joint owner

NB the association by LBS of William Gray of Richmond estate with the William Gray of Blackheath and The Rhine estates remains tentative but is supported by the presence of Jacob Israel Bernal in transactions on both sets of estates and by evidence of financiai distress and receivership across all three c. 1782.

1775 [SY] - 1784 [EY] → Owner

Legacies Summary

Cultural (1)

Benefactor
University of Pennsylvania...... 
notes →
William Smith, Joseph Hopkinson, and Plunket Fleeson Glentworth, Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania Minute Books, Volume 2, 1768-1779 p. 73, entry for 13/12/1773. Note amounts are in...

Physical (1)

Country house
Skibo Castle 
description →
There are conflicting accounts about the relationship of William Gray of Jamaica to Skibo Castle. Stephanie Barczewski shows William Gray of Jamaica purchasing Skibo in 1777; other secondary sources...

Relationships (7)

Father → Daughter
Notes →
...
Grandfather → Grand-daughter
Notes →
...
Other relatives
Notes →
Possibly Mackay's brother married Gray's...
Grantor → Annuitant
Other relatives
Notes →
Peterswald's wife was the niece of...
Other relatives
Notes →
Reynolds married Gray's...
Other relatives
Notes →
Gray's brother Captain Walter Gray was the father of Walker's wife...

Addresses (1)

Skibo, Clashmore, Sutherland, Highlands and Islands, Scotland