Elizabeth Berwick

Elizabeth Berwick (1816-1883), wife of William Brown, daughter of Newall Berwick (q.v., a Scottish-born Jamaica-based merchant) and Susanna Williams Eccles, inherited a share of nine enslaved persons from her mother's family.

1. Born in Jamaica in 1816, her father Newall Berwick (q.v.) was a local merchant and her mother Susanna Williams Eccles was from a scion of a family of planters. Her father Newall completed a return for ownership of eight enslaved persons in St Thomas-in-the-Vale in 1826 on behalf of Elizabeth, her sister Mary Berwick and her brother Douglas Berwick (both q.v.), "By inheritance from Edward M. Eccles agreeable to the Will of Mary Eccles Deceased". These enslaved persons were registered by Douglas Berwick after the death of his father in 1832. It is not clear how ownership had changed from St Thomas-in-the-Vale to St Thomas-in-the-East and Kingston by 1834. In addition, Elizabeth owned one enslaved person, registered by her father on her behalf in 1817: David McCulloch, age 19, "Gift of Alexander Milne by him registered 1817."

2. Not found in Britain for the 1841 census, Elizabeth Berwick married William Brown in Pontefract 23/03/1847. In 1851 she was living at 63 High John Street, Glasgow , age 28, born Jamaica, with her husband age 33, a Tea Dealer & General Grocer, their two eldest children, her sister Mary Berwick, a boarder and a servant. By 1861 she was at 12 Abbotsford, Tradeston, Glasgow, age 35, with her husband (by then a Teacher of English), six children and her sister. In 1871 she was at 3 Potterhill, Abbey Burgh, Renfrewshire, with her husband, a Cloth Bleachfield Worker and their six children. In 1881 she was at 32 [?] Paisley Abbey, Renfrewshire, with her husband, a Cloth Finisher, and one of her children. The years of birth of her children are inferred from the censuses. Elizabeth Berwick died in Paisley 06/03/1883.

3. E. Trueman Berwick (q.v.) claimed, with Mary Berwick, John Richard Aylard and Gray Rutherford (administrator of Newall Berwick) for Kingston Nos. 2516 and 2517; this is possibly Elizabeth Berwick but with a middle name she did not always use.

T71/867 St Thomas-in-the-East No. 340.

1. Ancestry.com, Slave Registers of former British Colonial Dependencies, 1812-1834 [database online].

2. 1851 census online; 1861 census online; 1871 census online; 1881 census online; General Register Office for Scotland 1883 573 289.

3. See separate entry for E. Trueman Berwick.

We are grateful to Iain Brash for his help in compiling this entry.