Gersham Ely I

Owner of a sugar estate in St Ann. Deceased by 1740. See also Gerham Ely II who died c. 1756.

1. Gersham Ely bought Richmond estate in St Ann, Jamaica, from William Banks, c. 1737. Mortgaged the estate shortly after purchasing it to Abraham Gonsales and Jacob Gonsales of Kingston, merchants, for £10,000. Gersham Ely also sold the estate to Philip Pinnock in 1747 - but this is assumed to be the heir of the same name because the sugar crops of Gersham Ely deceased of St Ann were registered in the Accounts Produce 1740-1742. These two people have been separated into Gerham Ely I (died c. 1740) and Gersham Ely II (died c. 1756). This is a tentative assumption.

2. The estate of Gersham Ely was listed in the Jamaican Quit Rent books for 1754 as the owner of 3728 acres of land in St Ann.

3. Gershom Ely of St Ann, Esquire. Estate probated in Jamaica in 1756. Slave-ownership at probate: 379 of whom 185 were listed as male and 194 as female. 0 were listed as boys, girls or children. Total value of estate at probate: £15081.66 Jamaican currency of which £14629 currency was the value of enslaved people. Estate valuation included £0 currency cash, £452.61 currency debts and £0 currency plate.

1. Vere Langford Oliver, Caribbeana being miscellaneous papers relating to the history, genealogy, topography, and antiquities of the British West Indies (6 vols., London, Mitchell, Hughes and Clarke, 1910-1919) vol. 3 p. 155. See Accounts Produce entries for Richmond Estate.

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