Colonel Charles Price

Charles Price was the youngest son of Lieutenant Francis Price and Elizabeth Coxon.

He purchased Worthy Park from the widow of his eldest brother Francis on 10 November 1701 for £775 Jamaica currency, along with 22 enslaved people and all the buildings, cattle, hogs and planted crops. When his brother Thomas died in 1705 Charles became the sole owner of Worthy Park in its entirety.

Like his father before him Charles was rich in land but did not have ready capital and his population of enslaved Africans was small when he first started out. In 1719 he purchased 1,000 acres in Old Woman's Savanna from John Laugher his neighbour for £150. In 1725 Charles acquired three of the Rose family estates in St. Thomas in the Vale - Savanna Plantation or Old Works, Burton's, and New Works (thereafter known as Rose Hall). The Rose male line ended with Hon. Thomas Rose, the surviving son of Hon. Francis Rose and Elizabeth, the sister of Charles Price. Thomas Rose, who had married Elizabeth Fuller had no children and his will of 7 November 1724 nominated Charles and Thomas Price as the heirs of his holdings. This arrangement was threatened by Thomas Rose's mother who claimed that by her husband's will the estates should revert to her for life and then to John Rose of London. Charles Price bought out John Rose prior to his sister Elizabeth's death for the sum of £14,000 Jamaica currency. Included in this transaction were the three contiguous estates in St. Thomas in the Vale, an undeveloped area in St. Mary's known as Bagnell's Thicket (where the Decoy was built), a large parcel of land at Halfway Tree and two houses in Spanish Town.

He focused his efforts on building up Worthy Park rather than the estate at Guanaboa. He used the assets at Rose Hall to develop Worthy Park so that the two properties were almost equal in terms of sugar production and the enslaved population. In 1731 Worthy Park and its great house were valued at £15,395. Charles's will gives an indication of Worthy Park House during his time. The house was wooden and relatively modest, especially given that he and his wife Sarah had thirteen children. Beds were listed in every room although some luxury items including silver valued at £350, a clock and ten family pictures were also included in the description.

Charles Price lived at Worthy Park however before his death he was building an elaborate house in Spanish Town. Like his father and brothers he served in the St. John's militia, as a Justice of the Peace and in the Jamaica Assembly (although he was expelled in 1725 for persistent non-attendance). He married Sarah, the daughter of Philip Edmunds of Jamaica. Eight of his thirteen children died before him. A memorial inscription was carved on the request of his son Sir Charles Price and can be found at the Guanaboa parish church.

Charles Price of St John, Esquire. Estate probated in Jamaica in 1731. Slave-ownership at probate: 499 of whom 278 were listed as male and 221 as female. 103 were listed as boys, girls or children. Total value of estate at probate: £22,273.92 Jamaican currency of which £15,890 currency was the value of enslaved people. Estate valuation included £124.56 currency cash, £925 currency debts and £350 currency plate.

Michael Craton and James Walvin, A Jamaican Plantation: The History of Worthy Park 1670-1970 (London: W. H. Allen, 1970), pp.46-70.

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