A Slave Owner in Carnock

by Dr Jean Barclay

In 1779 a Carnock widow, Janet Kirk or Boswell, compiled this receipt for the sale of three slaves in Jamaica whom she inherited from her son.  A few details about Janet and what little is known about the slaves can be found at the end:

`I Janet Kirk an Indweller in the village and parish of Carnock, parish thereof in the County of ffife North Britain, widow of Andrew Boswell weaver in Carnock aforsaid, and sole Heir and Executrix of the also deceased ffrancis Boswell procreate betwixt the said umqu<sup>ll</sup> (late) And<sup>w</sup> my husband and me, Grant me by these presents instantly to have Received from Malcolm Laing Esq<sup>r</sup> of the Island of Jamaica, my attorney there (by the hands of Gilbert Meason Esq<sup>r</sup> of Edin<sup>r</sup> Bankers) the sum of One hundred and fifty pounds St<sup>g</sup> as the price of three negroes sold by the said Malcolm Laing Esq<sup>r</sup> to James Nasmyth Esq<sup>r</sup> named Sandy, Robinhood, and Cudjoe, which were the property of the said ffrancis Boswell my Son, deceased, Therefore will ye me to have Exonered (exonerate) and Discharged as I hereby Exoner, acquit and Discharge the said Malcolm Laing Esq (his heirs Exe<sup>t</sup>rs (executors), and administrators of the forsaid sum of One hundred and ffifty pounds sterling as the price of said three negroes, and I hereby Bind and Oblige myself, my Heirs, Exe<sup>t</sup>rs and Successors, to warrant this Discharge as a sufficient Exoneration of the premisses (sic) at all hands and against all deadly as law will, Consenting to the registration hereof, in the books of Council and Session in Scotland therein to remain for preservation and Constitute my promis? for that effect`

In witness whereof J^O. signed at Wester Luscar the 5^th day of October 1779 year

From the `Folio of Oddities`, Volume 3, p. 114. This is the 3^rd of four unpublished scrapbooks compiled by David Birrell in the mid-Victorian era.

Acknowledgments to Dunfermline Carnegie Library and Galleries; Copyright declaration: On Fife Archives (Dunfermline Local Studies} on behalf of Fife Council).

Notes and comments:

1. It can be difficult to uncover family details at this time but Janet Kirk or Boswell was probably born in 1708 or 1709 and died in Carnock in 1789 aged 80. Her husband Andrew Boswell (or Boswal or Boswel), a weaver in Wester Luscar, Carnock, died in October 1753, aged 50. Janet and Andrew were married in Dunfermline on December 31 1731 and registered the births of the following children: Francis, October 4 1732; Robert, 1735; Elisabeth, June 1744 and John October 1748. The date on which Francis went to Jamaica and when he died are at present unknown.
2. Regrettably, it appears today, Scottish men and women were heavily involved in the slave trade in Jamaica. Many plantation owners had Scottish roots, gave their estates names like Speyside, Stirling Castle and Castle Weemys and named their slaves Spey, Bute, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee, etc. Many of the lawyers involved in tracing runaway slaves were also apparently Scottish.
3. In selling her slaves, Janet Kirk was dealing with wealthy men. Gilbert Meason (originally Laing) was an Orkney man who had become a rich Edinburgh merchant and banker with a large mansion and estate near Forfar. He may have been acquainted with Janet`s attorney Malcolm Laing, who was also from Orkney. Laing owned the Blue Mountain Estate on Jamaica and died aged 63 in 1781, leaving more that £88,000 and 93 slaves, men, women and children.  James Nasmyth, who purchased Janet`s slaves, was surgeon-general to the Jamaican Militia.
4. Details of many Jamaican slaves of this era have disappeared without trace but some information can be found in newspaper advertisements for runaways. The name Sandy has not been traced but on August 16 1782 the Cornwall Chronicle sought the whereabouts of `two new negroes of the Congo County named Somebody and Robinhood`. The name Cudjoe stems from West Africa and was common among Jamaican slaves, some of whom may have been named for the heroic Captain Cudjoe, leader of the First Maroon War against the slave owners in the 1730s. Two of the Cudjoes being sought were disfigured in some way – `having nose cut` (1777), `both ears cropt and wants one of his fingers and part of another` (1782) – but whether these are the Cudjoe of Janet Kirk`s receipt cannot be determined.

On-line details from University of Florida Runaway Slaves in Jamaica in the Eighteenth Century, ed. D. B. Chambers, University of Southern Mississippi, 2013.