John Hamilton of Success and George's Valley

Shown in 1761-1762 as previous owner of Success in St James and George's Valley in Trelawney, in both cases with William Hamilton as executor, and both of which passed by 1767 to George Robinson Hamilton, then a minor.

1. John Hamilton was listed in the Jamaican Quit Rent books for 1754 as the owner of 325 acres of land in St James.

2. F. J. DuQuesnay wrote a speculative article about Success in the 1960s in which he said: 'According to Joseph Shore in his book "In Old St. James", Success was originally settled by George Robinson circa 1672, and Shore goes on to say that a small landholder named Hamilton who owned a parcel of land adjoining Success, apparently married Robinson's daughter and eventually became the owner of the estate. This he further illustrates by saying that the brandmark for the estate was S over G R H meaning, Success - George Robinson Hamilton.' He pointed out that G.R. Hamilton deceased appeared in the 1812 Jamaica Almanac for Success, and expressed scepticism that the same initials could persist over almost 200 years. Give that George Robinson Hamilton was a minor in 1771, and therefore could not have been born much if at all before 1750, it does appear a stretch but not impossible that he was in fact the grandson (and namesake) of George Robinson fl 1672.

3. John Hamilton of St James, Esquire. Estate probated in Jamaica in 1762. Slave-ownership at probate: 115 of whom 62 were listed as male and 53 as female. 0 were listed as boys, girls or children. Total value of estate at probate: £31010 Jamaican currency of which £5047 currency was the value of enslaved people. Estate valuation included £0 currency cash, £23425.69 currency debts and £24.66 currency plate.

1. 'A List of landholders in the Island of Jamaica together with the number of acres each person possessed taken from the quit rent books in the year 1754', TNA CO 142/31 transcribed at http://www.jamaicanfamilysearch.com/Samples2/1754lead.htm.

2. http://www.jamaicanfamilysearch.com/Samples2/fred07.htm [accessed 02/03/2017].

3. Trevor Burnard, Database of Jamaican inventories, 1674-1784.