John Gale

Major slave-owner in Jamaica. Owner of Withywood in Vere and York in St James. Died in February 1749/50.

1. Memorial inscription in Vere parish church: NEAR THIS PLACE ARE DEPOSITED THE REMAINS OF JOHN GALE, ESQUIRE, WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE ON THE 24th JUNE, 1743 AGED 24 YEARS. SARAH GALE, WHO DIED ON 9th AUGUST, 1748, AGED 14 YEARS. THE HONBLE. JOHN GALE, ESQUIRE, WHO DIED ON 27th FEBRUARY, 1749/50, AGED 52 YEARS. AND ELIZABETH, THE WIFE OF WILLIAM GALE, AND DAUGHTER OF JOHN MORANT, ESQUIRE, WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE THE 14th OF JUNE, 1759 AGED 31 YEARS.

2. John Gale, deceased was listed in the Jamaican Quit Rent books for 1754 as the owner of 783 acres of land in St James, 2854 acres in Westmoreland, 900 acres in St Elizabeth and 1464 acres in Vere, total 6001 acres.

3. John Gale of Vere, Esquire. Estate probated in Jamaica in 1751. Slave-ownership at probate: 548 of whom 241 were listed as male and 307 as female. 123 were listed as boys, girls or children. Total value of estate at probate: £48672.08 Jamaican currency of which £20219.75 currency was the value of enslaved people. Estate valuation included £0 currency cash, £15059.03 currency debts and £488.85 currency plate.

1. James Henry Lawrence-Archer, Monumental Inscriptions of the British West Indies (1875) p. 45.

2. '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.

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

We are grateful to Paul Hitchings for his assistance with compiling this entry.