Robert Markland the younger

In 1811, Robert Markland the younger 'late a resident of the island of Jamaica' and Thomas Markland, sons of Robert Markland, formed a new partnership at Manchester under Markland Brothers, in succession to the one that had existed between their father Robert Markland and Thomas Markland at Manchester. Robert Markland, presumably the younger, had been the counterpart in the conveyance of estates by Robert Kerr (q.v.) in 1805.

1. The Markland family provide an example of the inter- connectedness of manufacturing and the slave economy in Manchester. Robert Markland I (c.1747–1828) was a check and fustian manufacturer and heir to an estate at Pemberton, near Wigan. His brother Edward was part of the partnership Markland, Cookson and Fawcett, the owners of the largest cotton mill in Leeds. He [Robert] married Elizabeth Hibbert (1753–1838) in 1776. The couple resided at Mabfield just outside of Manchester. Two of their sons became involved in the West India trade. Robert Markland II (c.1782–1825) formed a slave-trading partnership with Simon Taylor, the richest man in Jamaica, and the Hibberts. Markland was responsible for the Hibberts’ plantations after they left the island until his own departure from Jamaica in 1808. Robert’s younger brother James Heywood Markland (1788–1864) (q.v.) became an important proslavery lobbyist. Having trained as a solicitor in Manchester, he moved to London and joined the legal partnership Markland and Wright. The firm acted as solicitors for the Society of West India Planters and Merchants.

London Gazette 16440 01/01/1811 p. 21; The National archives, PWLB - Records of the Loan Commissioners and the Public Works Loan Board PWLB 11 - West India Relief Commissioners: Mortgage Indentures PWLB 11/79 - Jamaica: WELCOME, HADDINGTON, LEYDEN, ROXBURGH, BURRELL'S PENN, MOUNT PARNASSUS, WELCOME BARGUADIER PENN, STAPLETON MOUNT and LEMON HALL estates.

1. http://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs//media-new/pdfs/lbsmanchester2.pdf [accessed 27/02/2017]; Obituary of Robert Markland junior from The Gentleman’s Magazine Vol. 95 (Jan-June 1825) Part 1, p.185.