Contents and Arrangement Collection View
Description:

Consists of five lists of enslaved workers on the estates of Peter Campbell, Esq., and his executors in Jamaica, including the Holland Estate and Shaws Penn Estate, both in the parish of Saint Elizabeth; the Petersville Sugar Estate in the parish of Westmoreland; and the parish of Hanover. Four of these lists are titled "Copy of Return of Slaves..." and comprise manuscript lists of enslaved workers on individual plantations that were compiled triennially at year's end by attorneys for absentee plantation owners. Each list pertains to one of Peter Campbell's properties and contains returns for 1817, 1820, and 1823, which have been bound together. Eliza Woolery Campbell (Sir John Orde's daughter-in-law) and Caroline Barclay Campbell are mentioned as the beneficiaries of Peter Campbell's property in the 1823 lists. All four are signed and certified as fine copies by Thomas Amyot, Registrar of Colonial Slaves in Great Britain. Comprising around 68 pages in total, the lists record the names of some 1,100 men, women, and children enslaved on Campell's properties, along with a description of their complexion, age, whether "African" or "Creole", and their mother's first name if known. While most entries only record first names, several include the surname Campbell, including for those listed as Robert Campbell and Violet alias Mary Campbell. Lists also document births and deaths, described as "increases" and "decreases," and sometimes list information about the purchase of enslaved persons or purported causes of death as recorded by plantation owners. Also present is a later twelve-page 1825 list of enslaved workers on the Holland and Shaws Penn Estates that includes names, ages, occupations, and indications of physical condition or health, as well as a chart of births and deaths between January 1, 1824, and January 1, 1825.

Arranged chronologically.

Description:

Consists of records from the office of Sir John Orde in his role as the governor of Dominica from 1783 to 1793, primarily related to land grants, and to a lesser extent, the trade of enslaved workers and colonial business ventures on the island. Accounts include a list of the French leaseholders in Dominica as of 1766; docket registers of plantation and other land grants, including grants for "poor settlers" and town lots; the general and foreign accounts of the governor of Dominica during Orde's term; and a business permit for a public house. Additional materials include letters regarding the transport of enslaved workers and other letters written to Sir John Orde in his capacity as governor of Dominica. Researchers should note that letters from William Manning, which are filed with Orde's personal correspondence and documents, also refer to Orde's time in Dominica.

Not arranged according to any arrangement scheme.

Description:

Consists of personal correspondence and documents of Sir John Orde that pertain to his naval service and life outside of his role as governor of Dominica. Correspondence includes incoming letters from navy colleagues, politicians, and family, including Sir George Cranfield Berkeley, Sir Richard Hussey Bickerton, Captain Joseph Packwood, and others. While letters from William Manning are largely personal in nature, they also touch on Orde's experience in Dominica, including the revolts against colonial rule by the island's enslaved and maroon communities Orde attempted to suppress during his term. Also present is a series of letters from Sir John Orde to his second wife, Jane Frere, Lady Orde, during his time abroad in 1797-1798, primarily in Lisbon. Personal documents consist of household accounts and documents regarding Orde's property in America, including a 1787 certificate of lands and money lost during the American Revolution and a group of correspondence and documents regarding a financial dispute over Coosaw Island in South Carolina, circa 1802-1805.

Grouped by material type.

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of letters, accounts, land registers, and other documents from the office of Sir John Orde (1751-1824) as governor of Dominica from 1783 to 1793, during a period of British colonial rule over the island; lists of enslaved workers from 1817, 1820, 1823, and 1825 on the estates of Peter Campbell, Esq., a plantation owner and relative of Orde's in the parishes of Saint Elizabeth, Westmoreland, and Hanover, Jamaica; as well as some personal correspondence and documents of Sir John Orde, including letters to his wife and incoming letters during his naval service, household accounts, and various land and property documents.

Materials primarily pertain to the institution of slavery and the plantation economy under British colonial rule in Dominica in the late 18th century and in Jamaica in the early 19th century, as related to Orde's role as governor of Dominica and to his family's ties to the Jamaica estates of Peter Campbell, whose daughter and heir Eliza Woolery Campbell married Sir John Orde's son, John Powlett Orde. To a lesser extent, Orde's later naval career is also documented in letters sent to his wife and received from friends and colleagues during his naval service in the mid-1790s through 1815, as are his family's property interests in the United States, particularly in South Carolina, following the American Revolutionary War.

Arrangement

Materials are arranged into three primary groupings:

Collection Creator Biography:

Orde, John, Sir, 1751-1824

Sir John Orde (1751-1824) was a British naval officer and politician who served as the governor of Dominica under British colonial rule between 1783 and 1793. Orde joined the British Navy in 1766, eventually gaining the rank of Admiral of the Red in 1810. He was created 1st Baronet Orde, of Morpeth, Northumberland, in 1790. After the death of his brother, Thomas Orde-Powlett, first Lord Bolton, Orde served as Member of Parliament for Yarmouth from 1807 until 1812.

Following his naval service on behalf of Great Britain during the American Revolutionary War, Orde was appointed governor of Dominica after the island was reverted from French to British colonial rule under the terms of the 1783 Treaty of Paris. In Dominica, Orde was charged by the British government with restoring and maintaining British control over the colony and developing the harbor at Prince Rupert's Bay. During Orde's tumultuous term as governor, local inhabitants of Dominica, including enslaved workers, maroon communities armed by the French during France's 1778 conquest of the island, as well as native, French, and mixed race populations, actively resisted the reestablishment of British colonial rule and the extension of the plantation economy. Orde resigned from his position in Dominica in 1793 at the onset of another war with revolutionary France to return to his naval duties.

In 1781 Orde married Margaret Emma Stevens (1759–1790), the daughter of Richard Stevens of Saint Helena in Beaufort County, South Carolina. Following the death of his first wife, Orde married Jane Frere (circa 1773–1829) in 1793, with whom he had two children. His son and heir, John Powlett Orde, married Peter Campbell's eldest daughter, Eliza Woolery Campbell, in 1826. The Campbell family owned several plantation properties in Jamaica, which Orde's daughter-in-law and her sister, Caroline, inherited.

Acquisition:

Purchase, 2016 (AM 2017-19).

Appraisal

No materials were separated during 2016 processing.

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Kelly Bolding in September 2016. Finding aid written by Kelly Bolding in September 2016.

Conditions Governing Access

Open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.

Credit this material:

Sir John Orde Collection on Slavery in Dominica and Jamaica; Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library

Permanent URL:
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/7d278w77v
Location:
Firestone Library
One Washington Road
Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
(609) 258-3184
Storage Note:
  • Firestone Library (scamss): Boxes B-000787, L-000016, P-000055 to P-000057