WILLIAM SHIELL (1785 - 1853)

 

By Richard C. Shiell and Dorothy Anderson, Melbourne, Australia.

Revised version March 2005. For reader comment please contact the first author on hairman@mira.net

 

 

Introduction

There were a number of males by the name of William Shiell on Montserrat at various times. In fact, for two decades, three individuals of this name shared the same 39 square miles that constituted the tiny island of Montserrat in the Leeward Islands of the Caribbean.

 

William, the subject of this paper, fathered three boys named William. He himself was one of the 7 children of Queely Shiell, the largest land and slave owner on Montserrat [1]  and he rose to become President of Council on Montserrat. At his prime William was a man of great importance on the island and he even served as Administrator for two periods in the 1840s. He is variously listed as William G. Shiell by one authority [2]  and William P. Shiell by another [3] but we have located no evidence that he used or possessed a middle name and in all documents the authors have sighted he signed his name just “William Shiell”. Certainly his brother John registered only one name when he enrolled at Lincoln’s Inn in London in 1808[4]  but their other brother James Phipps made constant use of his illustrious middle name.[5]

 

As we have noted above, William sired three sons who received the name William.  The first recorded son was born in 1823 to Mary McNamara who may have been his mistress for a time. This child was possibly brought up by his mother and the McNamaras, a seafaring family. He grew to adulthood on Montserrat and is noted in charge of several small vessels trading from Montserrat. He gained his masters certificate in Britain in 1853 just prior to his departure for Australia.[6]

 

In June 1826, according to historian Dr Griffin, William, who was by now on the Legislative Council of Montserrat, married Mary Cabey Semper , the daughter of another major landowner Dudley Semper.[7] A son was born in August of that same year, 1826, and named William. Apparently this young man did not survive beyond his early 20’s because William senior was said by Dr Griffin to have named another son William in 1850. It was claimed by the same authority that this infant son died aged 5 months.

 

Dr Griffin also listed other sons to William and his wife Mary. Henry was born in 1827, John Ross 1834, James Phipps 1836, Queely 1837 as well as the second William in 1850. There must have been daughters as well, for in a letter to Lord Stanley in May 1842 William claimed to have eight children so this would leave room for three living daughters at that time.[8] Writing to Lord Grey in April 1850, an impoverished and despondent William Shiell claimed now to have seven children so presumably the smallpox and cholera epidemics of the late 1840s had taken their toll on the lives of one or more of his children by that time.[9] One death was certainly that of the oldest boy, William, for whom his father had been trying to obtain an army commission since 1842. [10] The tragic loss of this young man would have been a reason to reuse the name for his last born son in 1850.

 

William was already in financial difficulty in the late 1830s as a result of the declining revenues from the sugar plantations. This was a direct consequence of the Emancipation of slaves in 1834 and the reluctance of the blacks to perform hard manual labor once freed.[11] At any rate the going rate of pay on Montserrat, 5 pence per day, was small incentive to work hard for a former master, especially when even this meager reward was frequently weeks or months delayed.

 

The British Government, through their regional Governors, tried to get the various former slave colonies to improve the daily rate and reliability of pay and, in return, they were encouraged to collect rental on land leased to the former slaves. This was strongly resisted by most of the Colonial Councils and elected Assemblies on a variety of reasons. Some of these reasons had merit but mostly it was sheer conservatism on the part of the plantation owners who could not see any possibility of getting extra work out of the island‘s laborers.

 

In practice, the more enterprising laborers simply migrated to islands where the pay rate was higher (e.g. 9 pence per day on Trinidad) and where opportunities were far greater for an industrious man while the lazy and less enterprising individuals remained behind

on Montserrat. This emigration was actually encouraged for a time by a bounty paid to ship owners to transfer workers from Montserrat to Trinidad and British Guyana.

 

 A severe earthquake in 1843 caused extensive damage to houses and sugar mills. To pay for the cost of repairs, the sugar producers obtained loans from the British government and were saddled with large interest payments that further reduced the value of their Estates.

 

Administrator Baynes took 12 month’s leave of absence from August 1846 and William, by virtue of his position as President of the Legislative Council, once again became the Interim Administrator of Montserrat.[12] William’s brother, John Shiell was the Chief Justice of Antigua and although it is not known if the brothers were close, they certainly shared the same social strata and had a profound common interest as the likely beneficiaries of their father’s numerous estates on Montserrat. Both were under the authority of the Leeward Islands governor, Mr Higginson, who resided on Antigua.

 

During this brief time in power William appears to have encouraged the estate proprietors on the Montserrat Assembly to refuse to ratify a British Government Bill for a cattle tax, on the grounds that it was illegal. He was further accused by Baynes of some interference with the Treasury to his own advantage.[13]

 

 William himself seems to have taken 6 months leave upon the return of Administrator Baynes in 1847 and was recorded as being in England for at least part of this period.  His brother John died in September 1847 that may have been just before William’s departure or shortly afterwards.

 

It is tempting to think that William may have gone to England in a last ditch attempt to gain favor with his aging and once wealthy father.[14] Unfortunately, Queely had a stroke and some days later, on 27th November 1847, he died.  It is very likely that William was in London at the time.

 

During this period the sugar producers of the West Indies received another blow when , following the repeal of the Corn Laws, the tariff  imposed on sugar from other regions was also lifted. This meant that people in Britain could buy cane or beet-sugar from Europe or elsewhere at competitive prices.[15] 

 

The death of Queely and the realization that he was to inherit only debt-laden properties must have been a bitter blow to William. Furthermore, a Codicil to Queely’s Will in early 1847 stipulated that the surviving sons provide a large annuity of £500 for life to his daughter Eleanor.[16] He had been staring into the face of bankruptcy for some years and there now seemed no way out of his financial problems.

 

Back in Montserrat by the early part of 1848, William continued to attract censure from Administrator Baynes for the inefficient management of his estates and the non-payment of his labourers. His April 1850 Report to Governor Higginson describes him as              “ possibly the evil genius of the colony”.[17] There were other accusations of impropriety against him as well, such as of not paying the taxes due on a property under his care and then buying this properties cheaply at the resulting forfeiture sale. (His defense was that he was buying it back cheaply for the former owner.)

 

On top of all this, smallpox (1849) and then cholera (1851) epidemics caused great distress and a further decline in workforce numbers and morale on Montserrat.[18]

 

William was ruined and in late 1850 he was forced to resign from Council on grounds of insolvency.[19] His father’s old estates were confiscated [20] and sold very cheaply [21] and it is said that William and his wife Mary both died in 1853.[22] There has been no record of their deaths located in Montserrat so it is likely that after his financial ruin, William and Mary and the younger members of their family may have gone elsewhere to live.

 

We were able to find only four further mentions of this branch of the Shiell family in the Montserrat records. Dr Griffin claimed that a young Queely later served on the Assembly but we have not yet been able to confirm this and he may have been wrong. Henry Shiell, who was probably the 1827 son of William, is mentioned as the leasee of the Bransby’s Estate in 1852 [23] and a Henry M. Shiell is noted as dying in 1869 at aged 42.[24] These two Henrys were probably the same person.   Rosetta, the wife of a Henry Shiell, received a pension of 1 pound per month after his death [25] and died in 1886.

 

The Shiell name continued on Montserrat until recent times but the present bearers, who are very dark-skinned, have no idea of their ancestry prior to the early 20th century.[26] It is possible however, that they are descendants of John N. Shiell, a colored provision farmer, who may himself have been the natural son of Queely’s  second son John.[27].

 

Known Historic References to William Shiell

 

1808. Appointed to Council of Montserrat.[28]

 

1808. William is Judge of Court of Chancery and Grand Session (no salary).[29]

 

1808. William is appointed Adjutant General of Militia.[30]  This was the time of the 2nd war  involving Britain and the USA and the area was on a war footing.[31]  

 

1809.  William mentioned as being on the Council. The President is Hon. Joseph Herbert.[32]

 

1810-1820. William is Postmaster at Plymouth, Montserrat.[33]

 

1815, June 17th. William signs a document as “acting Comptroller of Customs.[34]

 

1819. Colonel Shiell supported Attorney General R Musgrave against F.Gore Willock.[35]

 

1823, January 8th.  Mary McNamara gives birth to a son called William.  William Shiell, a planter, is said to be the father.[36]

 

1822-25. William is still on Council. (Mary McNamara, his presumed mistress, is recorded as paying taxes, so she was obviously a small property owner or business woman in her own right).[37]

 

1826, June. William marries Mary Cabey Semper, daughter of Dudley Semper. James Phipps Shiell was a witness according to Montserrat historian Dr Griffin.[38]

 

1826, August.  A son William is born to William and Mary (nee Semper).[39] (Dr Griffin)

 

1827. A second son, Henry, is born  to William and Mary.[40]

 

1834 . William Shiell is elected President of Council.[41]

 

1835, August.  William Shiell is suspended from Council over a legal matter.[42]       

 

1836. William Shiell is back as President of Council.[43]

   

1836. William Shiell and John Cannonier jointly awarded £1693 in an amended award for slave compensation.[44]

 

1839-43. William is still President of Council.

 

March 1840. Administrator Hamilton died and William assumed the office of Administrator  ”by virtue of his office of President of the Council” - no annual salary but he is given fees of £94. He is allowed a house and 10 days leave but took neither of these.[45]

 

1840. Letter from William Shiell to Lord John Rupert soliciting a job - presumably that of Administrator of the Government.[46]

 

1840, August 12th.  William requests leave for one week to go to Nevis on business- this was granted.[47]

 

1841. William is President Administering the Government of the Island until August 1841.[48]  Career administrator Edward Dacre Baynes was eventually appointed, much to the annoyance of William.[49]

 

1841, June. William unsuccessfully solicits an army commission for his oldest legitimate son William.[50]

 

1842. May 7th Letter from William Shiell to Lord Stanley, Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies.  William again solicits an army commission for his oldest legitimate son, William, ” I am the father of 8 children, 3 receiving education in England and 3 upon the point of being sent there for a similar purpose”...” eldest son William, now in his 16th year ”. [51]

 

1842.  November.  Riot in Plymouth, Montserrat.[52]

 

1843, Feb 8th- worst earthquake in Montserrat’s recorded history with great destruction and 6-8 deaths.[53]  

 

1843, April. William again solicits a commission for his son.[54]

 

1845. William still President of Council

 

!846, Aug 8th.  Severe drought on Montserrat. President Baynes on leave, so William is re-appointed Administrator of the Government with a salary £250 for the period.[55]

 

1847 Aug 12th.  William applies for 6 months leave of absence.[56]

 

1847, September. William’s brother John dies in Antigua. He was a Barrister at Law and the Chief Justice of the Island of Antigua.[57]

 

1847,  November 27th . Queely Shiell dies in London.[58]  The final Codicil to his Will of January 1847 leaves his debt-laden properties to his sons John (who had died 2 months earlier) and William.[59]

 

1847, December. William is still President of Council and Baynes is back as Administrator.[60]

 

1847. A report by Administrator Baynes criticizes the earthquake loan from the British Government to the Planters of Montserrat.  “…injurious to the general interests of the island.  Of the whole amount of £20,000, £15,000 was lent to 5 individuals…….. The entire revenue of the country is answerable under the Act for the defaults made by these individuals one, who received £6000, has not paid a single sixpence and another who received £5000 has paid interest for one year only although the time fixed for the payment for the third year is near at hand….” Property values are down to half their listed value and William Shiell, no friend of Baynes, is presumed to be one of these unnamed individuals.[61]

 

1847. William Shiell was listed as the manager of 16 sugar estates and a number of stock estates.[62] These included 7 belonging to his father Queely valued at £44,700 and 5 belonging to the “Heirs of Dudley Semper”, valued at £27,500.[63] These prices were quite unrealistic as the properties all carried heavy debts and were virtually un-saleable.  He personally owned only one small stock estate (Morris’s) valued at £1000.

 

1848, William is censured by Baynes, (along with some other attorneys) for inefficient management of estates and frequent non-payment of wages to plantation laborers (which were 1 shilling local currency per day).[64]

 

1849, December 4th. Letters from Mrs Therese Kennedy, heiress of Sir Michael Cole and widow of Captain Kennedy, “…friend of Mr Edmund Semper and Colonel Shiell….”

regarding the sale of her 350 acres  for only £20 after late payment of £2 tax (W. Shiell  the executor, who usually paid this tax for her, was laid up after a severe fall from his horse at the time).[65]

 

1850, March 13th. Dispatches-“Smallpox prevailing to an appalling extent on Montserrat”.[66]    October 31st. A report by Administrator Baynes  mentioned the  double infliction of unusual drought and a loathsome disease which prostrated in illness more than three fourths of our population. [67]

 

1850, April 9th. Letter from President Baynes to the Governor in Chief Mr Higginson complaining of William Shiell……. “This man is possibly the evil genius of the colony, not only has he by bad management ruined himself but he drags down the Island by him. It would be hazardous under any circumstances to allow him ever again to administer the government……”

 In another letter he says “…Mr. Shiell, who as storekeeper and trader in this town was at the time largely engaged on mercantile and other concerns…” [68] 

 

1850, April 27 William Shiell writes to Rt. Hon. Earl Grey, Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies seeking the job of Provost Marshall.[69]

 

1850, May 17th.   Correspondence of Mr. Richard Goodall, who was appointed Master of Chancery, regarding bankruptcy and other charges against William Shiell.[70]

 

1850, July 1st.  Letter from B. Howes (a Public Servant in England) to Mr. Higginson regarding the propriety of  removing  Mr.W. Shiell from Council. “…. There are imputations too, affecting the conduct and character of  Mr. Shiell, which if established against him, we  suggest the propriety of removing him from the seat which he holds in the Council of Montserrat, and  it is further alleged that he is bankrupt, which under ordinary circumstances ought itself to be disqualification. Lord Grey requests in particular to be furnished with your opinion on this subject”.[71]

 

1850, July 9. W. Shiell applies again for the job of Provost Marshall, also as Clerk of Court and Secretary of the Island.[72]


 

1850, 24th July.  Further letter from Howes regarding William Shiell. “…that Mr. Shiell, a Member of Council, is distinctly accused of having, in his capacity of receiver in Chancery, neglected to pay taxes on properties in his charge until they were put up for sale by the Provost Marshall, and of having then bought the properties himself in his private capacity for almost nominal prices. His only explanation is that he did not intend to buy them for himself, but for the benefit of the parties for whom he was acting in trust as Receiver - but he does not deny that the deeds were such as to convey the property absolutely to himself. Neither is it denied that his accounts received were not ordered as they ought to have been” [73]

In defense, William, in a letter dated 22 July 1850, claimed to have been unable to pay the taxes on time because he was “dangerously ill at the time and confined to my bed.” [74]

 

1850, Aug 12th. W. Shiell informs of the death of Mr. Hamilton, the Provost Marshall (and the son of a former President). He again requests the job as his replacement.[75]

???see above, July 9th

 

1850, Aug. 20th.  A British Colonial Office official’s attaches the following comments to Shiell’s letter of July 9th “But this is the person whose conduct or misconduct rather as Receiver in Chancery in Montserrat has formed the subject of a recent correspondence with Mr Higginson 20 Aug 1850”

 

1850, August 27th. Last date with William Shiell in attendance as Council President.[76]

William Shiell resigns from Council on the grounds of insolvency but there are further allegations against him.[77] Other dates are given for his resignation elsewhere.[78]

 

1850, September 14, October 28 & 30. Letters and complaints against Baynes and Dobridge.[79] 

 

1850, Oct 31st.  President Baynes reports on the 1849/50 smallpox epidemic, “the loathsome disease which prostrated in illness three-fourths of our population” also in the same letter ‘“the Asssembly elections- a watershed with 6 whites and 6 coloreds being elected” [80]   

       

1850, Nov 14th.  Letter from William Shiell to Lord Grey referring to a document listing Shiell properties seized and sold. “..My Estates which have been thus confiscated enabled the proprietor, my late Father, to educate a large Family, of seven children. The income from these properties amounted to more than £5000 per annum, sterling, after deducting the expenses”.[81]He also complains of the inappropriateness of appointing Mr Baynes, “a stranger who is totally unconnected in the Island”, as President.

 

1851, January 28th.  A 28-page letter from Governor Mackintosh  to Earl Grey containing charges against President Baynes, mentions William Shiell’s resignation or retirement  in different places and asks that the vacancy be not filled  “because of the difficulty under its present distressed circumstances in furnishing a sufficient number of adequate candidates” [82].

 

1851, Feb 10th .  President Baynes in a letter  mentions “the street in the Strand between Messrs Sheill’s (sic) and Semper’s stores”.[83]

 

1852. The Montserrat Council and Legislative Assembly are amalgamated into a new Legislative assembly of 12 members  (4 appointed and 8 elected by the freeholders of the island for 3 year terms (2 from each of the 4 Parishes).

 

1852, August. The Montserrat Customs House was closed.[84]

 

1852. Tuitt’s Estate, 200 acres, the property of William Shiell was sold to Thomas Greer for £317 subject to repayment of the £1050 loan form the British Government for repairs subsequent to the 1843 earthquake.[85]

 

1853. William Shiell senior dies - his wife Mary dies the same year.[86]

 

1853, August.  Henry Shiell, son of William’s brother James Phipps Shiell arrives in Australia. After some years as a rural Clerk of Petty Sessions and then Police Magistrate in New South Wales, he settled in Sydney as the city Coroner.[87]

 

1853, December, William Shiell, illegitimate son of ex-President William arrives in Australia as 2nd mate of the brig “Gazelle”.[88]

 

1854. President Baynes is dismissed.

 

1869 February 1st. Henry M. Shiell died on Montserrat, aged 42.[89]

 

1886, Sept 30,  Rosetta Shiell, wife of  William’s  1827 son Henry, died aged 52.[90]

 

1889, January 30th. Henry Shiell, son of James Phipps Shiell dies in Sydney Australia.[91]

 

1896, October 23rd. Mary Ann Shiell, daughter of James Phipps Shiell, dies at “Warialda”, Australia.[92]

 

1899. William Shiell, the illegitimate son of President William and Mary McNamara dies at Homebush, Victoria, Australia aged 76.  He now has over 300 descendents in Australia.[93]

 

 

 

APPENDICES

 

Appendix I.   First Letter from Dr Norman Griffin to Dr Richard Shiell 

 

25th August1974

Richmond Hill, Montserrat, West Indies.

 

Dear Dr Shiell,

I was interested in reading your letter asking for information about your Montserrat family published in the “Montserrat Mirror” of 16th instant. It happens that William G. Shiell, who seems to have been the first on the scene came out from Ireland at much the same time as my great-grandfather, John Griffin who was born in Hutchin, Hertfordshire, England, in 1784 and married in Montserrat in 1815.

 

William G. Shiell, was born in 1784 and married in Montserrat in 1826 to Mary Caby Semper, daughter of Michael Joseph Semper.  This was in June 1826 and in August (2 months after) a son was born and named William.  We have no further record of this son and it could be that he was your great-grandfather who arrived in Australia as Mate on the brig Gazelle in 1853; maybe he ran away to sea from school either in Montserrat or in England.

 

Of the other children of Wm G. Shiell we have few records. Several seem to have died as children; the family lived at The Grove or at Richmond ( these two estates probably even then run as one). Another son Henry was born in 1827; John Ross was born in 1834, James Phipps in 1836, Queely in 1837, and the last, born in 1850, was also given the name of William but died at 5 months.

 

When Queely was born William G Shiell was President of  the Council of Montserrat; in 1848 he owned one estate called Morris’ in the South of Montserrat (small and unimportant in comparison with many others), but was Attorney for about 10 others including a number shown on a list of Montserrat estates as owned by Queely Shiell; he was also Executor, Lessee or Receiver in Chancery of another 14 estates. Presumably as President of the Council he had to divest himself of some of his properties, giving his son the titles. Wm. G. Shiell died in 1853 as did his wife Mary.

 

In 1849, Henry Shiell, Bachelor, married Mary Ann Wilcox, and we have reasons to believe that he emigrated to Australia but have no idea as to whether he was in touch with any of your family. In 1851, Thomas Masters Howes (of Yorkshire England) who had come out from England in 1835 married a Mary Ann Shiell (relationship not defined) and in 1879,  2 years after her husband died, she went out to Australia with her 2 daughters, one of whom married a McMaster whose son Shiell McMaster became a landowner and sheep farmer in New South Wales. It is thought that Mary Ann was some relation of Henry’s and went out to him in Australia.

 

Sorry that this Aerogramme does not leave room for more. There is a long story about another family named Shiel (with one l) starting with one Matthew Dowdye Shiel who came out from Ireland and claimed descent from ancient kings of that country. If you are interested I will write again.

Norman Griffin M.D. (Mc Gill 1922)

 

 

 

Appendix II,   Second Letter from Dr Norman Griffin to Dr Richard Shiell

 

29th October 1974.

Richmond Hill, Montserrat,

 West Indies.

 

Dear Dr Shiell,

Thanks for your letter of 17th September received on 25th. I agree generally with some of your deductions from information available and in particular about the likelihood that your William Shiell may have been the son of the original William before his marriage to Mary Cabey Semper. Sorry I cannot check on the 1823 dates as all records of the births before 1829 have been lost.

 

As regards the economic conditions of Montserrat in the 1840-1860 period, the effects of emancipation of slavery which took place in 1834 was becoming felt and the labour situation was difficult. Many estates were sold for indebtedness or changed hands to newcomers at a fraction of the value a which they were rated a few years earlier.

 

It seems that Queely Shiell  was the only one of the original William who like his father was interested in agriculture; he followed his father as a Member of Council and in charge of the Richmond and Grove Estates.  It is suggested that the other brothers followed  some other calling, either in business or in Government, though we have no records to confirm this assumption. Certainly none of them produced a family in Montserrat.

 

The family history would not be complete  without the story of  the Shiels  (spelt with one “ l “) written up by Charlesworth Ross six years ago in the Caribbean Quarterly, a publication of the Extra Mural Department of the University of the West Indies.  It begins with Matthew Dowdye Shiel who claimed descent from the ancient Kings of Ireland and was living in Montserrat in 1865 and trading between Montserrat and the neighboring islands. He had had 8 daughters before producing a son named Matthew Phipps Shiel born shortly before that date.  This son went to live in England where he became a novelist and got to know many celebrities such as Robert Louis Stephenson and Wilde; he was quite a linguist and once had a job as interpreter to the International Congress of Hygiene and Demography.

 

Charlesworth Ross, himself a West Indian, whom I know very well went to visit him in his later years when he was living in an Alms House near Horsham on a Civil List Pension, and had a very interesting conversation with him. He afterwards wrote up his story describing him as the first West Indian Novelist. He discovered that his Grandmother was one of the Shiel sisters. Of his other sisters we know little, except that the last surviving one was still alive in 1935 and living in St. Kitts with a niece. She was in looks much as you describe other Shiell descendants in Australia. It may well be that Matthew Dowdye Shiel was an illegitimate son of the original William Shiell in Montserrat.

 

 I hope this is of interest to you

Sincerely,  Norman Griffin.

 

 

 

 

Appendix III…. Petition from William Shiell to Lord Stanley, Secretary of State for the Colonies, stating his credentials and seeking assistance in procuring an Army Commission for his oldest son.

 

Montserrat 7 May 1842

To the Right Honorable Lord Stanley

Her Majesty’s Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies

 

The Humble Memorial of William Shiell  President of Her Majesty’s Council for the Island of Montserrat

Humbly Sheweth,

That your Memorialist was appointed a Member of Her Majesty’s Council, in the year 1808 and has continued to act in that capacity ever since, being a period of thirty two years, that he succeeded in the month of March 1840, upon the death of Mr President Hamilton, to the local government of the Colony, which he administered until the Month of August 1841, without deriving any Emolument from the Crown, or the Colony, to the satisfaction of those who were placed in authority over him, and with advantage to the general Interests of all classes of Her Majesty’s Subjects in the Island.

 

That he was superseded  in the government of the Colony by Mr Edward Dacres Baynes, the Provost Marshal of Dominica, by Mandamus  under Her Majesty’s Royal Sign Manual, and that he receives from the Crown five hundred Pounds per annum, as the Officer Administering the government of the said Colony.

 

That your Memorialist always anxious to support the dignity of the Station, to which he had been involuntarily called to fill, entertained at his own private expense, all public functionaries who visited the island in their Official Capacities, during the period that he administered the government of the Colony.

 

That your Memorialist is the Father of Eight children, three of them receiving their Education in England, and three upon the point of being sent there  for as similar purpose, that he is desirous, having served her Majesty’s Royal Predecessors, and Her most Gracious Majesty, with the strictest fidelity, in his said capacity as a Member of Her Majesty’s Council, And as President administering the Government of the Colony, during his term of office, to obtain a Commission, in the Army for his Eldest Son William Shiell, now in his Sixteenth Year, but that he is prevented from purchasing the same, from a variety of concurring causes not necessary to be enumerated here, without doing a manifest Injury to the Interests and claims of his other children.

 

That your Memorialist therefore most humbly solicits your Lordship to take the premises into your consideration, by using your intercession in his behalf and recommending him in the proper quarter, as one not undeserving of the Royal favor, with the view of procuring for his said Son William Shiell a Commission in Her Majesty’s Army, in any Regiment of the line, which may be deemed by those in Authority, most fitting and expedient to appoint him.

 

And your Memorialist as in duty bound, will ever pray.

Wm. Shiel

 

 

Appendix IV.

From William Shiell- Report of the Montserrat Blue Book for the year 1846

Mr Baynes in his Report of the Blue Book for the year 1845 has so fully and amply enlarged upon every subject connected with the general statistics of the colony, that it would only be a repetition and waste of words if I were to attempt to write anything in addition to that able and valuable document, to which I must only pray a reference for the general and very useful information it conveys.

 

The metayer or metae system, adverted to by Mr Baynes in his Report, has made considerable progress since he left the government of the colony; many of the proprietory body, not having capital or funds to cultivate at their own expense their estates, have been compelled to resort to this system, allowing the labourers in some instances one-half of the produce made, in others one-third; and there are at this moment not less than twelve estates in this island in actual operation under this system of cultivation, so that there is every reasonable probability there will be an increase in the staple export of the island to what it has been for several preceding years, in consequence of those estates that were abandoned being brought again under cultivation.

 

The sensible remarks noticed  by Mr Baynes on the subject of emigration need scarcely be adverted to by me, were it not for the circumstances that since he has left the colony Her Majesty’s enlightened Government have done away with the payment of all bounties on the removal of labourers from one colony to another,  and which has conferred the greatest boon on the island.

 

The facilities afforded to emigration to the insalubrious climate of Trinidad and British Guiana since the 1st of August, 1838, from having two vessels continually employed from this port   in conveying away its labourers, would in a short time have denuded this little colony of its adult population, had it not been for the timely interference of Her Majesty’s  benevolent Government  in putting a stop to so nefarious a traffic.

 

Being largely connected with the landed interest of the colony, I have much satisfaction in reporting, that since the prohibition matters have assumed a more healthy state, the labourers more settled in their habits,  and apparently contented with being located on their respective estates.  The population of the island for the year ending 31st December, 1846, is 3336 males, 4029 females, total 7365; of which 3742 are employed in agriculture.  Births 223,  marriages 45; deaths 119’manifesting an evident increase in its population.

 

…………..notes on imports and exports…………………..

 

Notwithstanding the island is and has been for months visited with a severe  drought, to the extent of retarding considerably the ensuing crop, there is every reason for congratulation in the apparent rising prosperity of the colony; and should it be vouchsafed, under Divine permission, to fructify the parched and arid lands with an abundance of refreshing showers, we may still indulge in the pleasing expectation that the ensuing year may prove prosperous, and compensate the proprietor of the soil for all his trouble and expense.

 

Wm. Shiell, President.

 

 

 

Appendix  V.

Dispatch from Governor Higginson to Earl Grey

Government House, Antigua

June 7, 1847

My Lord,

I have the honour to forward the Blue Book of Montserrat for 1846 together with the Report accompanying it, from the President administering the Government.

 

I have so lately addressed your Lordship in regard to the condition of this island that it seems unnecessary for me on the present occasion to trouble your Lordship on the subject,  further than to remark that Mr President Shiell appears to take a more favourable view of its prospects than I was lead to form during my recent visit, and which I earnestly trust may be justified by the result.  The President’s long experience and intimate acquaintance with the past and present state of Montserrat afford him the means of arriving at, probably, a more correct estimate of its capabilities than my limited knowledge enabled me to do. His expectations seem to be founded, in a degree, upon the successful working of the metayer system of cultivation, which is now being more frequently adopted; and we may reasonably anticipate that if by that or any other method the numerous estates now lying abandoned can be reclaimed, and more general advantage can be taken of the undoubted r