MS 681 18 01 01

MS 681 18 01 01

Papers of Elizabeth Barrett Williams (née Waite): Letters from George Goodin Barrett to Elizabeth Barrett Williams

File

George Goodin Barrett (1761-1795) was the son of Edward and Judith Barrett of Cinnamon Hill and brother-in-law to Elizabeth Barrett Williams. He was educated at Oriel College, Oxford, graduating in 1784. In Jamaica, he served as Justice of the Peace for St James Parish, Member of the House of Assembly (1787, 1790, 1795), Assistant Judge of the Supreme Court, and Comptroller of Public Accounts. He was also Captain, later Colonel, of the Trelawny Militia, and acted as attorney for the Beckford estates in 1793. George inherited the Spring estate and Dunn’s Hole wharf from his maternal grandfather William Goodin. He also owned Thatchfield (St Ann), Retreat Pen, and Anchovy Bottom (St James). In partnership with Leonard Parkinson of Kinnersley Castle, he was involved in the trade of enslaved people.

He formed a relationship with Elissa (or Eliza) Peters, an enslaved woman of Oxford Pen, with whom he had six children: Thomas, William, Ann, Maria, Samuel, and Richard. Their guardian in England was John Graham-Clarke of Newcastle, and the children were educated there. Before his death at Cambridge Pen in October 1795, George manumitted Elissa and their children. Elissa later travelled to England around 1799, joining her sons Tom and William who had already been sent there for schooling.

1790-1795

1 file containing 5 letters

Five letters from George Goodin Barrett (1761-1795) to his sister-in-law Elizabeth Barrett Williams

The Brownings' Correspondence: SD 7,12,16,17,18