Richard Gordon

Slave-owner in Jamaica, of Manchester Square London when he made his will in 1792.

1. Richard Gordon contributed £14 to the University of Pennsylvania following Dr John Morgan's fundraising tour of the West Indies in 1772-1773.

2. Will of Richard Gordon of [Clarendon Jamaica but now residing at Manchester Square] St Marylebone [made in 1792] proved 27/06/1795. In the will, he left all this pieces or parcels of land forming Crawle River and Sta Maria Estate that he had bought of Samuel Rodon and George Martin to his wife Elizabeth absolutely, while he left her the use of his pen at Mammee Gully for life and the use of the 'negroes' settled and residing on all three pens and estates for life also, and £2000, all in lieu of dower. If Elizabeth sought dower, then the enslaved people and Mammee Gully were to sink into his estate. He left monetary legacies totalling £2900 to his sisters, nephews and nieces, £100 each to the females and £500 or £1000 each to the males. The will identifies William Gordon, Arthur Mackenzie Gordon and Larchin Richard Gordon among his nephews: men of the same name are known to have been the sons of Larchin Gordon I (q.v.). In a letter attached, he wrote to his nephew and executor William Gordon to ask him to be mindful of his [Richard Gordon's] widow, and to pay £1200 each to two young women, Jane Richards and Ann Richards, living in Bristol in the care of Mr George Scott, 'I have reason to believe they are my daughters.' He also directed William Gordon to pay £50 currency p.a. to a woman in Jamaica named Dorothy Clarke who had been enslaved but whom Richard Gordon had emancipated, and to buy for her two 'negroe women' less than 20 years old. In an attached memorandum, he listed sundry obligations, in fact assets including amounts owed to him and consols, totalling almost £6000.

1. William Smith, Joseph Hopkinson, and Plunket Fleeson Glentworth, Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania Minute Books, Volume 2, 1768-1779 p. 74, entry for 13/12/1773. Note amounts are in Jamaican currency.

2. PROB 11/1262/293.