William Marshall Morris

Barbados slave-owner whose identity has yet to be fully confirmed.

1. The William Marshall Morris, son of Alexander Bruce Morris (q.v.) and Arabella Morris (q.v.) planter of the Island of Barbadoes and Berbice who was born the 11th day of March and baptised in London the 28th [25th?] day of May 1804, appears too young to be the William Marshall Morris who registered enslaved people in his own name in 1823, which also raises the question of whether he was the recipient of the slave compensation awards in Barbados in the 1830s. 'Mrs Arabelle Morris', a counter-claimant on British Guiana No. 197 for Plantation Hope and Experiment, the mother of the William Marshall Morris born in 1804, had sold the British Guiana estate 26/05/1834 to Hugh McCalmont on the express understanding that the compensation money was to be paid to her as vendor.

2. This is virtually certainly William Marshall Morris who was buried in St Andrew, Barbados, 17 July 1837 and whose age was given as 75 (i.e. born 1762) and who was given on the burial record as living at "Belle Plain". Cf. the estate "Belle Place".

T71/899 Barbados claim nos. 4575A&B (Belle Place), 4576 and 4603 (Boscobelle); T71/900 Barbados claim no. 5346.

1. T71/1253 British Guiana no. 197 counter claim by Hils & Co of Amsterdam; Ancestry.com, London, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials 1538-1812 [database online]; Ancestry.com, London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921 [database online].

2. Barbados Church Records, 1637-1887, FamilySearch, accessed 10 August 2015.