Contract to Sell the Road Plantation in Antigua
Publication: Antigua? 1772.
Notes: A 1-1/2-page manuscript document arranging the sale of the Road Estate (also known as the Road or Cades Bay Plantation) in Antigua for £6,200. This original document is signed by the seller, Valentine Morris, and the buyer, Dr. John Brooks. The Roads Plantation is not described in this document, but the historical record suggests it had about 350 acres and more than 200 enslaved workers. According to Vere Langford Oliver, in his History of the Island of Antigua (vol. 2, p. 277), Morris (1727–1789) "inherited from his father a large fortune, which he dissipated in extravagant living."
At age 16, while he was in England attending school, Morris inherited two plantations on Antigua, where he was born, and a large estate in Monmouthshire, Wales. By 1772, he was having financial difficulties and with the help of influential friends, was appointed governor of St. Vincent Island. While back in the Caribbean to assume that post, he executed this document to sell off one of his estates. According to the accounting laid in with this document, the entire proceeds went to pay debts owed to various parties.
In 1779, Morris surrendered St. Vincent to French forces, who invaded as part of the American Revolutionary War. Morris returned to London, sold off his remaining properties, and still ended up debtors prison; his wife attempted suicide and went to the madhouse. A local historical group in Wales published a pamphlet in 1964 called "The Unfortunate Valentine Morris."
Foolscap; a single sheet, folded to make four 7-15/16 by 12-5/8 inch pages. ProPatria with a maid of Dort watermark. Page 3 is blank; page 4 is blank except for docketing. Published in Vere Langford Oliver's Caribbeana, vol. III, p. 48.
PROVENANCE: Jay Kislak
Edition + Condition: Very good. Folded in quarters, with a narrow accounting slip laid in (roughly 9 by 4 inches, oblong). Apparently in the hand of Valentine Morris and signed by him and John Brooks.
Item No: #364051
Price: $750