Thomas Beach

From Wiltshire, born in 1715. Attorney General of Jamaica from 1751. Married Helen Hynes of Halse Hall, Clarendon, 10/12/1754. Eight children, of whom three survived infancy: Thomas (1755-), Jannett (1759-), John Hynes (1765-). The children inherited Halse Hall on the death of their grandmother Jannet in 1775.

Thomas Beach contributed £50 to the University of Pennsylvania following Dr John Morgan's fundraising tour of the West Indies in 1772-1773.

Thomas Beach of Clarendon, Esquire. Estate probated in Jamaica in 1776. Slave-ownership at probate: 564 of whom 306 were listed as male and 258 as female. 192 were listed as boys, girls or children. Total value of estate at probate: £53937.1 Jamaican currency of which £41046.75 currency was the value of enslaved people. Estate valuation included £0 currency cash, £5152.11 currency debts and £300 currency plate.

The will of Thomas Beach, Chief Justice of Jamaica, was proved in Jamaica, 10/11/1774.

Lawrence J. Chubb, 'Sir Henry Thomas De la Beche' in Stephen K. Donovan (ed.), Jamaican Rock Stars, 1823-1971: The Geologists who Explored Jamaica (Boulder, CO, 2008) pp. 9-13.

C. S. Graubard, 'Documenting the University of Pennsylvania's Connection to Slavery (2018) via archives.upenn.edu [accessed 16/01/2019].

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

LOS 42.

We are grateful to Paul Hitchings and Daniel Livesay for their assistance with compiling this entry.