Hon. George Kinghorn

Merchant in Kingston Jamaica, dying between June 1822 and February 1824 leaving £120,000 in personalty in Britain. He appears to have been a slave-factor, attorney and executor of slave-owners rather than a large-scale slave-owner himself, but he co-owned the Cardiff estate in St Thomas-in-the-East.

1. The will of George Kinghorn merchant of Kingston (made 13/05/1801, with a series of 13 codicils dated up to 29/06/1822) was proved 12/02/1824. In the will, he made numerous monetary bequests to individuals in Jamaica: his residuary legatees were his reputed children Ann Downes (the wife of John Sheen Downes of the City of London, [who was bankrupt with his partners in 1812]), Elizabeth Kinghorn and Dorothy Kinghorn (later Griffiths). He left his house in Kingston to a free woman of colour Sarah Harly or Henly. A second probate was granted 23/07/1824 of 'a more authentic copy' of the will.

2. The Michael Graham-Stewart Slavery Collection at the National Maritime Museum includes a receipt dated 26/05/1804 for the sale of 26 'new Negroe men' by George Kinghorn as recruits for HM's Second West India Regiment at Fort Augusta.

3. Under Kingston nos. 566 and 567, the claims were made by John Pennock of Kingston executor of George Kinghorn and the counterclaim was made by Joseph Timperon and George Kinghorn Downes [George Kinghorn's grandson, whose death was registered Q2 1846 in Tavistock, Devon], executors of George Kinghorn 'will dated 23/07/1824.'

W.D. Rubinstein, Who were the rich? A biographical directory of British wealth-holders Vol. I 1809-1839 (2009) pp. 210-211, reference 1824/2. The entry says: 'There is no evidence that he was a plantation owner'; it also records a secondary source describing him as 'a merchant in the slave trade.' The Edinburgh Register for 1823 p.472 shows him dying at Kingston Jamaica on September 6th 1823 'after a long illness.'

1. PROB 11/1681/249; PROB 11/1688/355; London Gazette 16668 14/11/1812 p. 2307.

2. < a href="http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/477853.html">http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/477853.html [accessed 04/02/2015].

3. T71/861 Kingston no. 567.