Mary Player Smith (née Wallen)

Awarded the compensation for the enslaved people on Prospect Hill in St Andrew Jamaica and for a single enslaved person in a separate award also in St Andrew.   

1. Mary Player Wallen was the daughter of Matthew Wallen of Wallenford and of Cold Spring, assembly member for Port Royal: her half-brother was Colonel Edward Pinnock Wallen [d. 1822 in England], and she was the widow of James Smith. Her nephew, James Smith Wallen, an Anglo-Canadian doctor, reportedly returned to Jamaica in 1838-9 to settle his affairs 'after the death of his aunt'.

2. Will of Mary Player Smith widow of Kingston Surrey [Jamaica] [made in 1839 and attested in 1840] was proved in London 06/01/1841. She left £600 in the hands of Messrs Mitchells to her niece Caroline Fanny Wallen, then in Great Britain, together with personal possessions, which were elaborately detailed. There is no mention of her nephew in the will, or of real estate in Jamaica, but in her half-brother Edward Pinnock Wallen's will, proved in 1822, he excluded his son James Smith Wallen on the basis that Mary Player Smith and James Smith had promised to provide for him.

T71/865 St Andrew nos. 146 & 563. Mary Player Smith owner-in-fee. Contested by Joseph Gordon, WR & S Mitchell; and Elizabeth Wallens. 130 enslaved people registered by Joseph Gordon atty of Mary Player Smith 1832 T71/137 p 230. 1833 JA shown as 'estate of Dr James Smith.'

1. Heritage Gardens of Cold Spring http://www.heritagegardensjamaica.com/history.htm [accessed 16/05/2012]; http://www.linleyfh.com/main.htm [accessed 17/08/2017], entries for James Smith Wallen, Matthew Wallen etc.

2. PROB 11/1940/53; will of Edward Pinnock Wallen of Reading Berkshire proved 26/09/1822 PROB 11/1662/25.