Zachary Bayly

Major slave-owner in Jamaica, brother of Nathaniel Bayly and uncle of Bryan Edwards, his co-heirs (both of whom q.v.).

1. Member of Assembly for Kingston, 1750. '55; St. George, 1761; St. Mary, 1755, '68; St. Andrew, 1756. Member of Council 1762. Custos St. Mary, 1764. Uncle of Bryan Edwards Historian. Died, St. Andrews P.C.1769.

2. Zach. Bayley owned 463 acres and 41 enslaved people in St Andrew in 1753. Zachary Bayley was listed in the Jamaican Quit Rent books for 1754 as the owner of 300 acres of land in St Andrew, 1000 acres in St Thomas-in-the-East and 18 acres in St Elizabeth, total 1318 acres. Bayley and Elworthy were listed in the Jamaican Quit Rent books for 1754 as the owners of 600 acres of land in St James, 2149 acres in Clarendon and 144 acres in St Dorothy, total 2893 acres. Bayley, Elworthy and Bayley were listed in the Jamaican Quit Rent books for 1754 as the owners of 1095 acres of land in St George and 250 acres of land in St Mary, total 1345 acres.

3. 'A letter "from a Gentleman" is printed in the Boston Weekly Newsletter of 19 Jun 1760. It describes in detail the uprising on Easter Monday night at Bayly's Trinity estate, led by Tacky and Jamaica. It relates that they seized arms and gunpowder from the fort at Port Maria, then returned to Trinity. They shot at Bayly when he went forward to 'expostulate' with them and killed the overseer and other 'white men'. The rebels 'marched' to Whitehall, Haywood Hall and the Windmill. Bayly had quickly gathered a force of nearly 300, 'Whites and Blacks', and attacked the rebels, killing eight, 'the rest retreating into the wood'.

4. Zachary Bayly of St Andrew, Esquire. Estate probated in Jamaica in 1770. Slave-ownership at probate: 2012 of whom 1024 were listed as male and 988 as female. 520 were listed as boys, girls or children. Total value of estate at probate: £167,441.51 Jamaican currency of which £94,649 currency was the value of enslaved people. Estate valuation included £246.78 currency cash, £60,000 currency debts and £943.85 currency plate.

5. Will of Zachary Bayly proved 04/06/1771. He left his sister Mary of Westbury, Wiltshire an annuity of £400 p.a. or £4000 principal, at her option, and £100 p.a. to four other sisters, with £2000 to each of his nephews and £1000 each to his nieces. He confirmed his previous settlement of £600 p.a. upon his 'sister', in fact sister-in-law Elizabeth, wife of his brother Nathaniel, secured on Trinity, Tryal and Baylys Vale and to be paid after Nathaniel's death. He divided his estates between his brother Nathaniel and his nephew Bryan Edwards. He gave his property as inter alia Trinity, Tryall, Bayly's Vale and Brimmer Hall, with 1000 enslaved people in total, all in St Mary.

1. W. A. Fuertado, Official and Other Personages of Jamaica from 1655 to 1790 Compiled from Various Sources (1896), transcribed at http://www.jamaicanfamilysearch.com/Members/bfeurtado01.htm.

2. CO137/28 pp. 169-175 transcribed at http://www.jamaicanfamilysearch.com/Members/1753Andrew.htm; '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.

3. Email from David Smart 05/01/2019.

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

5. PROB 11/968/87.

We are grateful to David Smart for his assistance with compiling this entry.