John Racker Webb

1759 - 1830

Slave-owner and antecedent of claimant or beneficiary

Biography

Owner of Shirehampton estate, Manchester, Jamaica, for which compensation was claimed by his son Thomas Webb (q.v.) and sons-in-law George Bowley Medley (q.v.) and Robert Padmore or Podmore Clark (q.v.).

  1. John Racker Webb, baptised Keynsham, Somerset, 18/02/1759, son of Thomas and Mary Webb. Thomas Webb and Mary Racker had married at Bath Abbey in 1750.

  2. Attorney for Joseph Foster Barham's Mesopotamia estate from at least 1809 to 1813 (and likely for Barham's other estates too). Webb communicated with Barham about ways of sustaining the numbers of enslaved people by increasing the fertility rate and encouraging women to have more children.

  3. Executor of Patrick Lalor (q.v.), owner of Arnon's Vale in Manchester. According to Webb's will, "... and whereas the Estate of Patrick Lalor Deceased is also at present considerably Indebted to me Now in case any part of the monies now due to me from the said Patrick Lalors Estate shall remain unpaid at the time of my Decease I hereby release exonerate and discharge the said Estate and all persons when It doth shall or may concern of and from all such monies as shall so remain due to me..."

  4. Guardian of Ruth and Ann Angell, children of Mary Wint by Mr John Angell. According to Webb's will, "...and whereas Ann Angell and Ruth Angell Daughters of the aforesaid Mary Wint are at present considerably Indebted to me for sundry advances made by me as their Guardian and attorney for them and their account Now in case the monies now due to me from them or either of them as aforesaid shall remain unpaid at the time of my decease I hereby release exonerate and discharge them and each of them of and from the same or whatever monies shall be so remaining due..."

  5. The Inventory/Appraisal of John Maddox [sic] Angell, Jamaica, refers to legal costs in Angell’s defence of a claim by John Webb and indicates Angell was associated with the property of Look Out. In 1811 one Thomas Maddocks Angell was prosecuted for “instigating negroes to burn down a coffee store in the possession of John R. Webb”; in the same year and in 1812 he was listed among those in St.Elizabeth who had failed to comply with giving-in obligations. In 1824 a Chancery suit titled Webb v Angell and others resulted in an award that was executed in 1826 against the assets of Benjamin Angell, deceased. It is not evident if these several circumstances were connected.

  6. Died 1830, age 70, in Keynsham, Jamaica. Five reputed children with Mary Wint, (q.v.): Hester born 24/09/1804 (who married George Bowley Medley (q.v.)); Mary born 28/11/1799 (who married Robert Padmore Clark (q.v.)); Thomas Webb (q.v.) born 04/06/1798; John Racker (born 17/02/1802, probably died young); and Elizabeth (born 30/08/1803, probably died young). He had another daughter, Ann Webb, born 28/09/1788, with Jane Webb (a "free Negro"), baptised in St Elizabeth 13/12/1803.

  7. "John Rackam [sic] Webb was the brother and residuary devisee and sole executor of William Webb of Saint Elizabeth, whose will is dated 24th September 1801, and was proved 21st December 1802. William Webb in his will mentions his sisters Elizabeth Hitchman, Mary Rackam Charleton, and Hester Morrish, all of the kingdom of Great Britain."


Sources

T71/860 Manchester No. 228.

  1. Ancestry.com, Somerset, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1531-1812 [database online];

  2. Richard Sheridan, Doctors and Slaves: A Medical and Demographic History of Slavery in the British West Indies, 1680–1834 (1985) pp. 233-234.

  3. Will of John Racker Webb, http://www.jamaicanfamilysearch.com/Members/w/willJohnRackerWebb.htm.

  4. Ibid.

  5. Inventories and Appraisals 3 from Jamaican Archives, being extracts published at http://www.jamaicanfamilysearch.com/Members/m/minvent3.htm (no date is given for John Maddox Angell’s inventory but the reference IB/11/3/134 Folio 172 suggests it is from the 1820s). Royal Gazette of Jamaica, 13/11/1811, 17/08/1811, 15/08/1812, 21/10/1826.

  6. http://www.jamaicanfamilysearch.com/Members/rwebb.htm [accessed 03/10/2011]. Familysearch.org, Jamaica Church of England Parish Register Transcripts, 1664-1880 [database online].

  7. Vere Langford Oliver, Caribbeana being miscellaneous papers relating to the history, genealogy, topography, and antiquities of the British West Indies (6 vols., London, Mitchell, Hughes and Clarke, 1910-1919) vol. 2 p. 192.

We are grateful to Andrea Azan, Peter Selley and David Barker for their assistance with compiling this entry.


Further Information

Children
[Illeg., by Jane Webb] Ann (1788-); [illeg., by Mary Wint] Thomas (1798-), Mary (1799-), Hester (1804-), John Racker (1802-), Elizabeth (1803-)
Will

Transcription from http://www.jamaicanfamilysearch.com/Members/w/willJohnRackerWebb.htm.

In the name of God Amen. I John Racker Webb of the parish of Manchester in the County of Middlesex in the said Island Esquire being of sound Mind Memory and understanding do make my last will and Testament in Manner following that is to say First and principally and with all due Reverence I resign my soul to the mercies of Being infinitely good and my Body I desire may be Interred in a plain decent but not expensive manner and as to my worldly affairs I settle and dispose of the same as following. I give and bequeath unto my Heirs at Law who ever may appear to be such the sum of Five pounds of Lawful money of Great Britain in lieu and bar of all or any Claims or claim as such Heir at Law to my Estate or any part thereof I give devise and bequeath unto Mary Wint of the said parish of Manchester and County and Island aforesaid all that piece or parcel of Land being part of Rosley [Rosely] Hill Pen in the parish of Saint Elizabeth in the said Island of Jamaica situated to the northward of Kings Road leading from Oxford Estate to Elim wharf containing by Estimation Ninety one Acres and bounded Eastward by Wallingford Plantation Southwardly by the Kings Road aforesaid and westwardly by the Union Estate to Hold to her the said Mary Wint her heirs and assigns to and for her and their own use absolutely and for ever and whereas William Morrish of Keynsham in the County of Somerset in England Farmer now is and stands Invested to me in the sum of three Hundred pounds for monies lent and advanced by me to him now I do as a token of regard for the said William Morrish release and forgive him of and from the payment of the said Debt or any part thereof that shall be remaining unpaid at the time of My Decease I give devise and bequeath unto my niece Hester Morrish youngest Daughter of the aforesaid William Morrish one annuity or clear yearly rem [remittance] charge or sum of Twenty pounds of Lawful Money of Great Britain to be issuing and payable out of my residuary Real and personal Estate hereinafter Devised and to be paid to her or her assigns by four equal quarterly payment clear of all deductions whatever the first payment thereof to be made within Three calender Months next after my Decease and to continue for and during the natural life of my said Niece or and whereas My Nephew John Morrish son of the aforesaid William Morrish is at present Indebted to me in the sum of five hundred pounds sterling and which is secured to me by a mortgage from the said William Morrish of Certain premises at Keynsham aforesaid Now in case the same or any part thereof shall remain unpaid at the time of my decease I hereby release exonerate and discharge the said John Morrish of and from the said Debt or such part thereof as shall so remain unpaid and do direct that the mortgage Deed and the Deeds and papers belonging to the same premises now in my possession be delivered up and whereas Ann Angell and Ruth Angell Daughters of the aforesaid Mary Wint are at present considerably Indebted to me for sundry advances made by me as their Guardian and attorney for them and their account Now in case the monies now due to me from them or either of them as aforesaid shall remain unpaid at the time of my decease I hereby release exonerate and discharge them and each of them of and from the same or whatever monies shall be so remaining due and whereas the Estate of Patrick Lalor [Laler?] Deceased is also at present considerably Indebted to me Now in case any part of the monies now due to me from the said Patrick Lalors? Estate shall remain unpaid at the time of my Decease I hereby release exonerate and discharge the said Estate and all persons when It doth shall or may concern of and from all such monies as shall so remain due to me and whereas I have executed and conveyed In trust for the benefit of my Children named Thomas Webb Mary Clark and Hester Medley all that my property in the parish of Manchester in this Island called and Known by the name of Keynsham with the slaves and all other the appurtenances attached thereto for the benefit of my aforesaid children share and share alike and which deed is on record in the Secretarys office in this Island Now I do hereby revoke and make null and void all right title Interest and claim of my said son Thomas Webb of in and under my said deed or Instrument of writing and in lieu thereof do give devise and bequeath to my said son Thomas Webb one annuity or clear Yearly rem [remittance] charge or sum of one hundred and fifty pounds of Lawful Money of Great Britain to be issuing and payable out of my residuary real and personal Estate hereinafter Devised and to be paid to him or his assigns by four equal quarterly payments clear of all Deductions whatsoever the first payment thereof to be made within three calender months next after my Decease and to continue for and during the natural Life of my said son All the rest and residue of my Estate and effects real as well as personal and of whatever nature and Kind the same may be and wheresoever situated or being I give Devise and bequeath unto my Executrix hereinafter named and to her Heirs Executors and administrators according to the nature or quality of the same Estates In Trust subject liable and chargeable nevertheless with the payment of the Legacies hereinbefore given and Bequeathed and to the payment of my Debts and funeral expences and the charges of proving this my will to and for the benefit of my two Daughters Mary Clark wife of Robert Padmore Clark of the city of Bristol in Great Britain Esquire and Hester Medley wife of George Bowley Medley at present of this Island Esquire to hold for them and for their several and respective heirs assigns and administrators forever as Tenants in common and not as Joint Tenants and it is my will and desire that until my properties in this Island can be disposed of advantageously for the benefit of my said Daughters Mary Clark and Hester Medley and their heirs and assigns that they may be cultivated in the best possible manner and the nett proceeds of them be annually paid to my said Daughters Mary Clark and Hester Medley and to their several and respective heirs assigns and administrators and it is my will and meaning and I hereby direct that the proceeds of the property herein bequeathed to my said Daughters Mary Clark and Hester Medley shall be paid into their respective proper hands or unto such person or persons as they may respectively appoint to receive the same for their own sole use and benefit and that the same or any part thereof shall not be liable in any respect to the Debts? Engagements Managements or Control of their present or any future Husbands but to be entirely at their own free will and disposal to all interest? and purposes whatsoever I require Samuel Lunell of the city of Bristol and Edmund Francis Green of the city of London Esquires to be Trustees to and for my said Daughters Mary Clark and Hester Medley and lastly I do hereby nominate constitute and appoint my beloved friend Mary Wint of the parish of Manchester in the county of Middlesex in this Island sole Executrix of this my will hereby revoking all former and other wills at any time heretofore by me made and declaring this only written on Five sheets of paper to be my last will and Testament In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this fifteenth day of August in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty nine John R. Webb


Associated Claims (1)

£2,068 0s 6d
Other association

Associated Estates (12)

The dates listed below have different categories as denoted by the letters in the brackets following each date. Here is a key to explain those letter codes:

  • SD - Association Start Date
  • SY - Association Start Year
  • EA - Earliest Known Association
  • ED - Association End Date
  • EY - Association End Year
  • LA - Latest Known Association
1807 [EA] - 1808 [LA] → Attorney
1817 [EA] - 1823 [LA] → Executor
1817 [EA] - → Attorney
1817 [EA] - 1830 [EY] → Owner
1832 [EA] - → Previous owner
1817 [EA] - 1823 [LA] → Owner
1817 [EA] - 1829 [LA] → Executor
1817 [EA] - 1823 [LA] → Owner
1817 [EA] - 1830 [LA] → Owner
1832 [EA] - 1834 [LA] → Previous owner
1817 [EA] - → Executor
1817 [EA] - → Attorney

Relationships (8)

Executor → Testator
Father → Natural Son
Father-in-law → Son-in-law
Father-in-law → Son-in-law
Father → Natural Daughter
Guardian → Ward
Guardian → Ward
Extra-marital relationships