|
| |
Douglas Estate, St. Kitts
|
|
|
|
Douglas estate lies north of Basseterre. It was once
called Pensez-y-bien.
Douglas
The estate
was part of the French Basseterre Quarter but at this point nothing is
known about its French owners. By 1714 it was in possession of
Colonel
Walter Douglas. He was one of seven sons of William Douglas of Baads and
his wife Joan. Three of his brothers practiced medicine, with James in
particular becoming famous as an obstetrician whose research on female
anatomy resulted in several parts of the female pelvis being named after
him.
Either an adventurous spirit or the uncertainty of an
inheritance led young Walter into the military. He joined William of
Orange when he invaded England in 1688 and from then enjoyed the royal
favour of the king and his successor.
In 1711 following the
murder of Governor Parke in Antigua, Colonel Walter Douglas was
appointed Governor of the Leeward Islands. In 1714, when Queen Ann was
considering the restoration of the French lands in St. Kitts to the
French Crown, Douglas and others sent her a petition asking that if the
properties were to be restored that the French compensate them for the
improvements they had made to the estates or that they be allowed time
to make good their investments.
Two years later Douglas was
tried for bribery. He had exacted £10,000 from Antiguans involved in the
killing of Parke before publishing the Queens pardon to them. He was
sentenced to five years imprisonment, a fine of £500 and removed from
the post of Governor.
In 1714 Douglas mortgaged his Pensez-y-bien
plantation to Alexander Baxter who, in turn, was indebted to John Ward,
an unscrupulous merchant whose conduct earned him a place in the
writings of Alexander Pope. There was still a mortgage on the place in
1723. Although Douglas was still alive, he seems to have given up his
interest in the property and it was his son John who negotiated with the
Commission for the Sale of the French Lands. With the help of Governor
Hart who lent him £1000 so that he could regain ownership of part of it.
In 1726, front of the Commission, John Douglas after describing the
boundaries of the estate stated that he
of the said plantation
there are about one hundred & thirty acres of plant-canes & about forty
of Rattoons a peece of potatos & about eight acres of Negro provisions,
& about fifty acres to be planted; that there are settl’d likewise by
his leave on between Twenty & thirty acres thereof John England, John
Somerfield, James Mitchell, John Waters & Peter Mitchell, being all poor
men. The Buildings on the said plantation are a lofted stone Dwelling
house in length about thirty nine feet & twenty four & a half in
breadth, with a porch fourteen feet in length & twelve in breadth & a
shed twenty four feet & an half long & ten broad a stable in length
twenty six feet & in breadth fourteen feet, a Coach house of the same
length & twelve foot wide, a Kitchin & other offices forty four feet in
length & eighteen & a half in breadth, & another outhouse forty four
foot long & sixteen broad. All which are boarded & shingl’d. Allso two
Boiling houses, one of seven Coppers, in length fifty three feet & in
breadth twenty five, the roof whereof is one half tyl’d & the other half
thatcht with two Mills & one Still, the other Boiling house of four
Coppers, which with a shed joining to it is twenty four foot long &
thirty six broad, boarded & shingl’d with one Mill & a Still. For the
purchase of which said Two hundred acres the proposer offers to give Ten
pounds Sterling per acre, to pay one third down of the purchase money, &
to give security for the rest payable at such time as requir’d.”
Another two hundred acres were surrendered to General John Hart.
John Douglas married Susannah Lambert, daughter and one of the
heiresses of Michael Lambert and through this marriage and other family
dealings Douglas acquired part of the property in the Parish of St
Thomas that had belonged to her father. They had a son, who was born
about 1732. The great house at Pensez-y-Bien, better known as the White
House was built in 1738.
John St Leger Douglas was a member of
the Parliament from 1769 to 1783. In 1775 he made what seems to have
been his only speech in the House of Commons. At a time when most West
Indian planters were concerned about the future of the West Indian
plantations given their dependence on North America, Douglas supported
sanctions against the American colonies because “it was better to suffer
temporary inconveniences than sacrifice the British empire in America to
the local interests of any of its constituent parts.” Outside of
politics, Douglas bred the undefeated thoroughbred racehorse Goldfinder.
He was an absentee owner and his estates in St. Kitts were managed by
others. He died in 1783 leaving considerable debts.
His son
William enjoyed the estates in St. Kitts as tenant for life but they
were actually mortgaged to Sir Thomas Neave, Sir Matthew Tierney, his
wife Dame Harriet Mary nee Jones, and Edward Tierney and his wife Anna
Maria Jones. The White House as the plantation house was called, was
already in existence in 1828 and known by that name. 207 enslaved
workers worked on the estate in 1834. Following Emancipation, the
compensation for the enslaved at Douglas amounted to £3259. 0s 7d.
Wade
The property was acquired by Solomon
Wade in 1859 and renamed Douglas Estate. Solomon Wade took his family to
England three years later but continued to take an interest in the
properties he owned in St. Kitts. He visited often and hired capable
managers and attorneys to run them. In his will, Solomon left Douglas
plantation to his youngest son Edwin. Edwin worked as a legal clerk for
two years and then returned to St. Kitts. Solomon had hopes that he
would eventually learn to manage at least one of his estates. Edwin made
the White House his home while he lived on St. Kitts.
The estate
became Wade family property in 1909 on Edwin’s passing. Paget Wade and
his wife Amy who managed the family concern had great hopes that their
son, Charles would eventually do the same. He was artistically inclined
and tended not to pay much attention to it until he was forced to do so
when his mother died in 1943. In the post war year he was practically
resident here. The White House became his home and that of his wife,
Mary Gore-Graham who he married in 1946. Charles died in 1958 and his
wife continued to live in the house. When government took over the sugar
lands in 1975, Douglas estate was among the lands in the acquisition but
special arrangements were made for the great house to remain in the
family.
Notes:
When slavery was abolished in 1834,
compensation was awarded to previous owners of enslaved people, based on
the asset lists of their holdings. Sir Matthew John Tierney (1776-1845),
along with his wife, brother and sister-in-law made a claim as creditors
for the compensation for 2 estates in St Kitts, Pensez-y-bien and
College. The compensation for the Pensez-y-bien estate which listed 174
enslaved people was £3259. The compensation for the College estate which
listed 183 enslaved people was £3200.
|
Source
Sources for this article include:
Any contributions will be
gratefully accepted
|
|
