Frances Amelia Wilson (née Gibbes)

Frances Amelia Gibbes, absentee slaveowner, was born in or before 1777. She was baptised 07/09/1777 in St James, Jamaica; her parents were Francis Blowar (sic) Gibbes and Amelia Gibbes, née Irving. She married James Wilson in St James, Jamaica, 10 /03/1796. Her mother’s will of 1809 describes Wilson as of Montego Bay Merchant; we know nothing more of him so far.

Frances Amelia Wilson registered enslaved people as owner in St James: 26 enslaved in 1817; 28 (inferred) in 1820; 9 in 1823 (registered by her attorney); 10 in 1826 (inferred); 8 in 1829 (registered by her attorney).

She died probably in May 1841; she was buried 08/05/1841 in Westminster, Middlesex. Will proved 26/05/1841; it contains references to ‘Amelia James, widow of Hugo James late of Spanish Town’; and to one of Amelia James’s children, Samuel Jackson James.

We are grateful to David Barker for assistance in compiling this entry.

T71/873 St James no. 205. Frances A. Wilson GB owner-in-fee. Frances A., Frances A.E. and F.A. Wilson appear in the Jamaica Almanacs for St James from 1824 onwards. Caribbean, Select Births and Baptisms, 1590-1928; Caribbean, Select Marriages, 1591-1905; Slave Registers, St James, 1817 to 1829; England, Select Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991; England and Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858.