James Potter Lockhart

Merchant and slave-owner of Dominica.

1. James P. Lockhard of Dominica was listed as a subscriber to Charles Shephard's An Historical Account of the Island of Saint Vincent, published in 1832.

2. Rosa, daughter of J. P. Lockhart, Esquire, President of Council of the island of Dominica, married Frederick Keddell Esquire of London, solicitor, at St Andrew's, Plymouth, 13/07/1837.

3. Will of James Potter Lockhart of No. 9 Tavistock Square [made in 1827] proved 26/04/1838. In the will he left his estates in trust to secure an annuity of £300 p.a. to his wife Jane Maxwell Lockhart, £100 p.a. to Lavinia Parke daughter of Rachel Parke and £75 p.a. to his mother Mrs Bridget Lockhart of Dominica.

4. James Potter Lockhart and Jane Maxwell Lockhart were the great grandparents of the novelist Jean Rhys (1890-1979), author of Wide Sargasso Sea. Sue Thomas has recently published an article exploring the linkages,'Ghostly Presences: James Potter Lockhart and Jane Maxwell Lockhart in Jean Rhys’s Writing.'

1. Charles Shephard, An Historical Account of the Island of Saint Vincent (1832) pp. vii-xii.

2. Exeter and Plymouth Gazette 22/07/1837.

3. PROB 11/1894/45.

4. Texas Studies in Literature and Language 57.4 (Winter 2015).

We are grateful to Peter Selley for his assistance with compiling this entry.