MS 681 18 04
Reference code
MS 681 18 04
Title
Papers of the wider Barrett and related families: Papers and portraits of and relating to Richard Barrett
Level
Sub-series
Administrative / Biographical history
Richard Barrett (1789–1839) was the second son of Samuel Barrett (1765–1794) and Elizabeth Barrett Williams (1754–1834). Trained as a lawyer, he married his cousin Elizabeth (Betsey) Morris without his mother’s consent; they had one daughter, Elizabeth (d.1825).
Richard served as a British Army officer in 1811 and later as an Ensign in the Jamaica Militia. He was elected to the Jamaica House of Assembly in 1808 and 1816. In 1816 he travelled to New York and Canada with a cargo of rum and kept a journal of his visit which was later published.
He built Greenwood House and also lived at Barrett Hall, managing family estates in St James, Trelawny, and St Ann, including Harding Hall. He became a judge of the Supreme Court of Jamaica, Custos of St James Parish (1825), editor of The Jamaica Journal, and was three times Speaker of the House of Assembly.
After his brother Samuel’s death in 1824, Richard became the leading figure of the Barrett family in Jamaica. Legal disputes with his cousins Edward and Samuel Moulton-Barrett over their grandfather’s will and his uncle George’s will ensued during the 1820s and 1830s.
Though a slave owner, Richard supported the abolition of slavery, worked to ease conditions on his estates, and permitted missionary activity. In 1833, he was sent to England as a colonial representative to protest the Emancipation Act.
Richard died in May 1839 in Jamaica under suspicious circumstances.
Richard served as a British Army officer in 1811 and later as an Ensign in the Jamaica Militia. He was elected to the Jamaica House of Assembly in 1808 and 1816. In 1816 he travelled to New York and Canada with a cargo of rum and kept a journal of his visit which was later published.
He built Greenwood House and also lived at Barrett Hall, managing family estates in St James, Trelawny, and St Ann, including Harding Hall. He became a judge of the Supreme Court of Jamaica, Custos of St James Parish (1825), editor of The Jamaica Journal, and was three times Speaker of the House of Assembly.
After his brother Samuel’s death in 1824, Richard became the leading figure of the Barrett family in Jamaica. Legal disputes with his cousins Edward and Samuel Moulton-Barrett over their grandfather’s will and his uncle George’s will ensued during the 1820s and 1830s.
Though a slave owner, Richard supported the abolition of slavery, worked to ease conditions on his estates, and permitted missionary activity. In 1833, he was sent to England as a colonial representative to protest the Emancipation Act.
Richard died in May 1839 in Jamaica under suspicious circumstances.
Date
1811-1920
Extent & medium
5 files and 7 items
Content description
This sub-series comprises letters, a diary, financial, personal papers and photographs of or relating to Richard Barrett
Arrangement
This sub-series has been arranged into 2 sub-sub-series:
01 Papers
02 Portraits
01 Papers
02 Portraits
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