John Tharp
John Tharp (* 1736 on the Batchelor's Hall plantation, Hanover Parish on the island of Jamaica ; † 1804 on the Good Hope plantation in Jamaica) was a British planter and slave owner in Jamaica, a British colony in the West Indies .
Life
Tharp was born in Jamaica to a wealthy family of planters who came from Chippenham near Newmarket in England . After completing school in England, he returned to Jamaica, where after his marriage to Elizabeth Partridge, a wealthy heiress, and the sale of the family property in the west of the island at the age of 23, he took over the large Good Hope plantation and other land holdings in the vicinity Falmouth on the north coast of the island. The new acquisitions in the karst landscape of the Cockpit Country made it possible to operate sugar mills using hydropower .
Sugar production and trade with England
Tharp produced sugar cane on his plantations using the labor of his slaves , which was then processed into sugar and molasses . These products were then shipped to England in barrels. From 1770 to 1789 Thorps was trading partner in England with John Miles in Bristol , on whose ships his products were brought to England. Miles acted as Thorp's sales agent in Bristol, buying supplies and equipment for making sugar and molasses for Thorp on a commission basis. Miles business papers also report on one of his newest ships, the Gascoigne , which was equipped with up to 22 cannons and sailed from Bristol to the Gold Coast , from there to sail with 600 slaves to the West Indies.
slaves
According to his own notes, Tharp was revered by his slaves for their good treatment, as he housed them well and provided them with adequate food and clothing. The more talented among the children of the slaves were trained in writing and arithmetic at a school. In 1798 he had a hospital built for his slaves on Good Hope . In 1785 he built another plantation, Covey. The local sugar factory became one of the largest and most productive in all of West India. To get the job done at this location, he acquired over 300 slaves that were previously owned by the late Edward Gardiner. The inventories of Thorp's Bossue and Prospect Pen plantations still preserved today show that seasoned slaves were each valued at £ 150, while children were valued at just £ 5.
End of life
When Tharp died in 1804, his fortune, including 2,800 slaves, was estimated at around £ 500,000. Having disinherited his children, his grandson became heir, but when he turned 24 he was unable to succeed because he was mentally ill. In the 1830s, a nephew, Joseph Thorp, was responsible for the plantings and was able to successfully continue it for another 30 years, despite the liberation of slaves in 1838, until they were sold. The Good Hope sugar factory continued to operate until 1902.
The manor house built by Tharp on Good Hope and other buildings in Falmouth in the style of Georgian architecture are still part of the architectural heritage of the colonial days in Jamaica.
Web links
See also
- Falmouth (Jamaica) for its Georgian architecture
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Tharp, John |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British plantation owner |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1736 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Batchelor's Hall, Hanover Parish , Jamaica , West Indies |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1804 |
| Place of death | Good Hope Plantation, Jamaica |