Florentius Vassall

Youngest son of John Vassall (1625-1688) and his wife Anna Lewis.

1. Florentus Vassall was listed in the Jamaican Quit Rent books for 1754 as the owner of 2700 acres of land in St James, 3714 acres in Westmoreland and 1943 acres in St Elizabeth, total 8357 acres.

2. Will of Florentius Vassall of [Wimpole Street] St Marylebone [made 1777] proved 14/09/1778. In the will he left all his property including his estates Friendship, Greenwich and Sweet River in Westmoreland and the enslaved people on them in trust: Sweet River was for the benefit of his son Richard Vassall for life, and Greenwich and Friendship were for him for life subject to annuities of £80 p.a. to two female relatives.

3. Florentius Vassall of Westmoreland, Esquire. Estate probated in Jamaica in 1712. Slave-ownership at probate: 64 of whom 34 were listed as male and 30 as female. 18 were listed as boys, girls or children. Total value of estate at probate: £1668.53 Jamaican currency of which £1244 currency was the value of enslaved people. Estate valuation included £0 currency cash, £0 currency debts and £0 currency plate.

S. D. Smith, Slavery, family and gentry capitalism in the British Atlantic. The world of the Lascelles, 1648-1834 (2006) pp. 24-25.

1. '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.

2. PROB 11/1046/9.

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