William Dewar

Awarded the compensation for Richmond Hill as trustee of the will of Elizabeth Barrett Dewar, née Plummer, possibly his sister-in-law. In Britain at the time of compensation but apparently in Jamaica in the late 1830s and onwards.

1. Will of Elizabeth Barrett Plummer, otherwise Dewar, spouse of Edinburgh Mid Lothian proved 12/03/1839. The will was written in 1823 and describes William Dewar as a merchant in Glasgow. Elizabeth Barrett Plummer, daughter of Greene Barrett Plummer and William Plummer, and cousin of Richard Barrett (q.v.), born c. 1792, married Robert Dewar, merchant of Montego Bay, and died 20/02/1823 [sic] at Glasgow.  Richard Barrett died at Messrs Dewars in Kingston 12/05/1839.

2. William Dewar is shown among the Assistant Judges and Magistrates for St James in 1839; Thomas Callender was at the house of William Dewar Esq., in Montego Bay in March 1847.

3. A William Dewar born Paisley Renfrewshire 15/03/1801 died at Montego Bay St James parish 10/07/1858.  Robert Dewar is referred to as late 'of Muirbank' in the marriage (1843) and death (1866) announcements at Montego Bay for Robert Dewar's daughter Georgina, wife of James Dennisto[u]n.

T71/873 St James No. 26, in which he is described as 'only surviving accepting trustee in Great Britain'.

1. PROB 11/1908; R.A. Barrett, The Barretts of Jamaica: the family of Elizabeth Barrett Browning (Winfield, Kansas, Armstrong Browning Library of Baylor University; The Browning Society; Wedgestone Press, 2000) pp. 109 & 176. It is not clear why the probate of Elizabeth Barrett Plummer's will was so long delayed.

2. Jamaica Almanac (1839); Memoir of the Late Rev. Thomas P. Callender (1850), Thomas Callender Jamaica Memoir 2 F, www.jamaicanfamilysearch.com [accessed 23/01/2012].

3. David Dobson, Scots in the West Indies 1707-1857 (2, Baltimore, Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc, 1998/2006) Vol. I p. 37.