William Foster of Bedford

William Foster was listed in the Jamaican Quit Rent books for 1754 as the owner of 300 acres of land in Westmoreland and 2185 acres of land in St Elizabeth, total 2485 acres.

Will of William Foster [late of Jamaica now] of Bedford proved 16/11/1768. In the will he left his property, both real and personal, in trust to Beeston Long and George Drake including his estate commonly called Dawkins otherwise Bogue and Eden estates, and the estate in St Elizabeth commonly known by the name of Casements or 'by some other name' that he had bought from Caleb, Vickris and Ezekiel Dickinson. The Jamaica property and people were to secure an annuity of £400 p.a. to his wife Dorothy, and then were to go in a separate trust (the trustees were his brother Joseph Foster Barham of Bedford, William Gale of Jamaica - 'my wife's cousin' -and Joseph Chaplin Hankey of London - 'my wife's brother-in-law') for the benefit of his sons John Foster and Frederick William Foster, subject to legacies charged on the estates of £1000 to two of his daughters and £1300 to two others. His eldest son Thomas was to come into the Elim estate under the will of Thomas Foster, described as his [William Foster's] father [sic]: [this appears to be misleading: William's father was John Foster, and William Foster later added that his son Thomas was well provided for under the will of his [William's] brother, Thomas]. William Foster left his Bedford property in trust to his wife for life and then for their children at her discretion. His other property, including land near Philadelphia he had bought of John Fisher and a mortgage of a Jamaica estate he held of John Vassall, he willed in trust to be sold for his children share and share alike. In a codicil he took the Bedford property out of trust and left it directly to his wife Dorothy. In a second codicil he allocated land on his Bogue and Eden estates for a chapel to be built for the 'Unitas Fratrum'.

William Foster of Britain, Esquire. Estate probated in Jamaica in 1770. Slave-ownership at probate: 367 of whom 191 were listed as male and 176 as female. 0 were listed as boys, girls or children. Total value of estate at probate: £26559.32 Jamaican currency of which £18308.5 currency was the value of enslaved people. Estate valuation included £0 currency cash, £2000 currency debts and £0 currency plate.

'A List of landholders in the Island of Jamaica together with the number of acres each person possessed taken from the quit rent books in the year 1754', TNA CO 142/31 transcribed at http://www.jamaicanfamilysearch.com/Samples2/1754lead.htm.

PROB 11/943/282.

Trevor Burnard, Database of Jamaican inventories, 1674-1784.