For Anguilla, the eighteenth century began
with after-shocks from the War of the Spanish Succession, 1702-1713.[1] The Holy Roman Emperor Charles II, the last
of the Spanish Habsburgs, died in 1700.
He left Europe and its colonies in the West Indies in turmoil over the
succession to the throne of Spain and its empire. He willed it to the French King Louis XIV’s
grandson, Prince Phillip. The major
European countries, including the British, were unwilling to risk the
possibility of a French monarch inheriting all the possessions of both the
kingdoms of France and Spain. They went
to war with Louis XIV to prevent it. The
subsequent Treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, guaranteed the separation of France and
Spain. This marked the real beginning of
Britain's maritime, commercial and financial supremacy.
Except for the loss to the British of
their part of St Kitts, the French West Indian possessions remained
intact. Governor Walter Hamilton’s heart was set on the Anguillians and the other
poor settlers of the Virgin Islands being allotted land in the previously
French lands of St Kitts.[2] This, he repeatedly explained to the
Committee for Trade and Foreign Plantations, would be preferable to permitting
them to remain scattered among the small islands of the Virgins, where they
traded with the Danes and the French, to the disadvantage of His Majesty’s
revenue.
During the long reign of Louis XV,
1715-1774, the struggle between the British and the French for colonial
supremacy continued. War between the two
countries broke out again in 1740 in the War of the Austrian Succession,
1740-1748. This war did not come to a
decisive end. The Treaty of
Aix-la-Chappelle that ended it settled nothing.
The war was continued later in the Seven Years War, 1756-1763.[3] France was defeated, finally ending the
French Monarchy's challenge in Europe.
The remaining two major conflicts of the century were The American
Revolutionary War, 1779-1783, and the Wars of the French Revolution,
1792-1802. These are outside our period.
An attempt was made in the 1713 Treaty of
Utrecht to regulate Britain's relationship with Spain. Until then, all British ships trading to the
Americas were trespassing and liable to seizure by the Costa Guarda. The 'Asiento' permitted Britain alone the
privilege of sending a ship to trade with Spanish America.[4] The Asiento contract of 1713 was granted for
only 30 years. It gave Britain the right
to take 4,800 slaves a year from Africa to Spanish America. This limited monopoly was the thin edge of
the wedge for Britain's traders. The
quarrel between them and the Spanish authorities continued in the Caribbean. The British merchants and traders cheated on
the Asiento contract. The size of the
one vessel per year to Porto Bello was strictly limited by the Treaty. The British merchants attempted to evade this
limitation. They brought in cargo after
cargo on the same ship from offshore depots.
The angry Spanish coast guard tried to hunt down the smugglers. Anguillian shipping inevitably got caught up
in the conflict.
Accounts of the alleged cruelties of both
the Spanish and English echoed around the Caribbean. Sometime before the last voyage under the
Asiento was made in 1733, the Spaniards sliced off an ear from one Robert
Jenkins, the captain of a British ship in the Caribbean. The ear, preserved in a pickle jar, later
turned up in the British Parliament. In
a storm of national indignation, Britain declared war on Spain in 1739. Called initially the ‘War of Jenkins’ Ear’,
it took on more importance in 1740 when it became part of a major European war,
the ‘War of the Austrian Succession’, in which Britain fought against France.[5] This series of eighteenth-century wars
severely weakened Spain. As their
American empire crumbled, the Asiento was abandoned. The Dutch, too, undermined by these wars,
lost their commercial supremacy to the British.
Time and again, Anguilla was caught up in
the naval and military operations which took place in these waters. These wars in Europe continued to the end of
the eighteenth century and into the nineteenth.
They were the cause of great social and economic dislocation in Anguilla. The Colonial Office papers reveal that in the
year 1706, during the War of the Spanish Succession, Captain George Leonard,
deputy governor of Anguilla, was required to raise a force of fifty armed men
from the local militia and to send them to join the forces of Colonel John
Johnson in Antigua.[6] This was a significant percentage of the male
settlers of Anguilla at the time. However, whether the force was raised, who
the fifty men were, and what their fate was is not known. George Leonard was a Quaker. Quakers were notorious pacifists who refused
despite conviction as felons to fight for their country. It is to be doubted whether the deputy
governor ever carried out his instructions to raise an armed force for service
in Antigua. But we will never know.
Great excitement was caused in the year
1711 during the same war when one Captain Birmingham, a privateer for the
French, landed three spies on Anguilla. Governor
Hamilton wrote to the Committee for Foreign Plantations in early 1711 that he
learned from deputy governor George Leonard that he apprehended the three
spies.[7] They confessed that they were landed by
Captain Birmingham to find out what the strength of the island's defences were
and how many slaves there were that might be captured. The spies also confessed that Birmingham was
established in neighbouring St Martin.
There he waited with two large privateering sloops and 200 men while he
prepared to attack Anguilla. Hamilton
resolved, as soon as the man-of-war assigned to his government arrived, to
embark and go to the relief of the island.
A few weeks later, Hamilton reported on
the outcome of his action to relieve Anguilla.[8] He arrived in Anguilla with the man-of-war,
two sloops, and a detachment of troops from Colonel James' Regiment from
Antigua. He found that Birmingham attempted
to land on Anguilla with six sloops. He failed in his landing and departed Anguilla’s
waters. The Governor does not relate
what role if any the Anguillian militia played in repulsing Birmingham’s
attempt to land his forces. It is likely
the Anguillians were entirely responsible for the capture of the three spies
and the repulse of Captain Birmingham. Hamilton
took the three spies on board his man-of-war and returned to Antigua with them.
Birmingham failed in his attempt to take
Anguilla, but there is some sign that he left a trace of his visit. There is only one place in Anguilla with which
the name Birmingham is associated. No
other person named Birmingham was ever in any way connected with Anguilla, far
less recorded as owning an estate in Anguilla.
Yet, there is a place in Anguilla suggestive of the name Birmingham. ‘Brummagen’ is an English dialect name for a
native or inhabitant of the city of Birmingham in England. A native of Birmingham is referred to as a
‘Brummie’. The Anguillian place name
‘Brimegin’ is an area of coastline to the west of Shoal Bay. The names Brimegin and Brummagen are almost
identical in sound. Only the spelling is
different. They appear to be the same
word. It is not difficult to see that
the word Brummagen has become Brimegin in Anguilla. The place is situated far from the hamlets
and farms of Anguilla. The coast is
rocky, but there are several small bays where a boat might come in and land three
persons without being observed. We do
not know where exactly Captain Birmingham landed his spies or attempted his
invasion of Anguilla, but the area now called after his name was as good a
place as any.
Peace was declared in 1713 when the War of
the Spanish Succession ended in the Treaty of Utrecht. The ensuing years in Anguilla are noted for
the continuing severe drought, and the repeated requests of the poorer planters
to be granted patents to land in Crab Island and St Croix. The long drought began in about the year
1680, causing the 1683 and 1688 attempts to settle Crab Island.[9] It was still ongoing when the Anguillians
attempted to settle Crab Island again in 1717.[10] When the drought ended in about 1725, the
troubles of the Anguillian planters did not come to an end.
The Anguillian seamen had no easy time of
it. In 1737, Governor William Mathew
sent a dispatch to London. He enclosed a
deposition of William Fisher of Antigua relating to a Spanish coast guard
vessel.[11] From it we learn something of the conditions
at sea that the Anguillian mariners faced daily. Fisher claimed that he was a passenger on the
Sloop Fanny of Antigua sailing to St Vincent. They were intercepted off the Rocas on 4
September 1736. The Rocas are small
rocky islands off the coast of Venezuela.
They lie close to the area between the Dutch island of Bonaire and the Venezuelan
island of Margarita. Fisher’s deposition
continues that the six men on board the Fanny were stripped naked and
severely whipped for being so far off their course. They were marooned for five days on Grand
Rocas before the Spanish sloop returned with the crew and passengers from a
Nevis boat, who were also left with them on Grand Rocas. Four days later they were all rescued by a
Dutch vessel. Not long after, however,
this vessel also was taken by the same Spanish sloop. The Dutch captain's right hand was cut off
and cooked in front of him. He was then
forced to eat his own hand. The
prisoners were later dumped on Salt Island.
They were subsequently rescued by another Dutch ship. It took Fisher another two months before he
was able to get back to Antigua in safety.
It was in this atmosphere of danger and
great risk that the Anguillian sea captains and their crews of the period plied
their trade. Indeed, Governor Mathew in
his dispatch related that, after the incident with William Fisher, the same
Spanish vessel took an Anguillian sloop which was on its way to the Rocas to
catch turtle. There is no indication who
the owner of this Anguillian turtling sloop was. Nor do we know if the Governor was able to
obtain its release. What is of interest
is the revelation that the turtling industry in Anguilla at this time involved
such extensive travel. The Rocas lie
many hundreds of miles to the south of Anguilla. It is a long way for an Anguillian boat to go
in search of turtles. Were they, perhaps,
as the Spaniards believed, engaged in unlawful trade, ie, smuggling? We simply do not know. Sea turtles were then an important trading
commodity. They were kept on their backs
on board the decks of ships crossing the Atlantic from the West Indies to
Europe as a source of fresh meat. So,
Anguilla joined Bermuda and Turks and Caicos in pioneering this early form of ship
chandlery business in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
The War of the Austrian Succession broke
out with the Spaniards in 1739. Peace
did not return to the region until the Treaty of Aix-la-Chappelle nine years
later, in 1748. The story of the
attempted annexation of St Martin by the Anguillians belongs to this
period. It was long preserved in local
folklore and repeated in print by diverse writers, including Thomas Southey and
Governor Reginald St Johnson.[12] There are several second- and third-hand
accounts of this engagement. Sadly, none
was written by a contemporary Anguillian.
After 1738, the Colonial Office records
for Anguilla and the Virgin Islands become scarce. Prior to 1738 it was rare at the best of
times for a Governor in Chief in his dispatches back to London to refer to
Anguilla, her achievements or even matters affecting her. After 1738 references to Anguilla in the
National Archives almost cease for nearly one hundred years.
From what we learn from other scattered sources,
Arthur Hodge succeeded John Richardson as deputy governor of Anguilla in
1741. He served in that capacity until
1749. It was he who led the assault on
St Martin. Thomas Southey records that
in the year 1744 the Anguillians invaded and captured the French half of that
neighbouring half-Dutch, half-French island.[13] Hodge had under his command some 300
volunteers assisted by 2 privateers from St Kitts. His invasion was somewhat unofficial. It was described by St Johnson as a
‘marauding expedition’. Be that as it
may, he succeeded in driving the French forces from their half of St Martin and
took possession of it. The number of the
Anguillian militia shows how much greater the population of the island grew
from just one generation previously.
The following year, 1745, the French
retaliated by attacking Anguilla. This,
the first invasion of the island by the French since those of 1666 and 1688, was
frequently described. The French
commander in St Martin, Monsieur de Caylus, sent 650 men under the command of Monsieur
de la Touche in two French frigates.[14] They landed on the north coast of Anguilla on
21 May and commenced their attack. The
exact site of their landing and the subsequent engagement between the
Anguillian and French forces is not mentioned in the official records. From the description in the various accounts
of the battle, it is evident that the landing took place on the beach at Crocus
Bay. But a contemporaneous report quoted
below states they landed at Rendezvous Bay, which is not believable. They attacked up the steep track from Crocus
Bay to the top of Crocus Bay Hill.
Deputy governor Arthur Hodge supposedly had only one company of 22 men
to oppose this immense force. He was
able to raise 300 men the year before for the frolic in St Martin. It is difficult to see why he could not now raise
the same number in defence of their homes.
Southey gives the size of the Anguilla defence force as 150 militiamen.[15]
Be that as it may, Arthur Hodge and his 22
men defended the breastwork at this steep and narrow path up from Crocus Bay to
Crocus Hill. This path rises sharply
from the beach to the top of the cliff some 200 feet above. The traditional story is that Hodge addressed
his men with the words:
Gentlemen, I am an utter
stranger to all manner of military discipline, so have nothing to recommend to
you, but load and fire as fast you can, and stand by one another in the defence
of your country; so God bless you.
His men then shook hands with each other
and solemnly bound themselves to each other, either to drive away the French or
to die in the attempt. They marched
forward to their breastworks. These were
prepared for the purpose of shooting down on any attacker using the path to
ascend to the town.
We have an alleged first-hand but
anonymous, Anguillian account of what happened next. The Boston Post for 5 August 1745
carries an extract of a letter supposedly from an unnamed gentleman in Anguilla
to his friend in St Kitts dated 24 May, only three days after the failed
landing. It also describes the place of
landing as Rendezvous Bay. It reads:
On the 21st instant, early in
the morning, we were surprised by a fleet of French, consisting of two
Men-of-War, one of 36 guns, the other of 32, with 3 privateers, and two Dutch
vessels as tenders. They had undiscovered
put on shore 759 men at a place called Rendezvous Bay. Their success in landing was a great
encouragement to them, and a great discouragement to us: our whole force being
97 men only. These our lieutenant
governor, Arthur Hodge, formed into three divisions, and posted them in a very
narrow path by which the French were to pass secured with breastworks, the
first of which would contain but 22 men, commanded by Captain Richardson. These engaged the enemy, firing by platoons
regularly, and with so true an aim that every shot took pace and the French
fell so fast, that in less than ten minutes they lost courage, and fled with
precipitation, having in this short action at least 160 men killed and wounded,
and drowned in getting into their boats.
We expected a fresh onset the next day, but it seems they had a job of it
for they went away quietly.
We have buried 35 dead, and are
daily in search of such as have hid themselves in the bushes, or died there of
their wounds, which latter we believe, by the stench to be many, but can give
no certain account of them, nor of the drowned.
Among the dead are the second Captain of the Commodore (Monsieur La
Touch), the first lieutenant of the other ship, Capt Rolough, and old
privateer, Benar their pilot who married his wife of this island, the Governor
of St Bartholomew’s son, and several other officers. The Commodore himself was wounded in his arm
and thigh, so much that they were obliged to carry him on board, as they did 25
others. Some of these particulars we
learn by some prisoners set on shore by a flag of truce sent by the Commodore.
They had landed several hand
grenade shells, swivel guns fixed on triangles, beef, cheese, bread and
wine. The four last articles were good
plunder for our Negroes. Every dead man
had in his pockets nettles, or small lines, for pinioning our Negroes. We had not one man hurt, and have got by this
expedition, besides two pair of their colours, a great many fine buccaneer
guns, cartouch boxes, etc, which they left behind, and with which we intend to
arm our most trusty and sensible Negroes to strengthen our island.
Southey gives the French losses as 32
killed, 25 wounded, and 50 made prisoner.
The following year Commodore de la Touche suffered considerable
embarrassment. A contemporary issue of
the Gentleman’s Magazine records his capture.
1746 January: A French man-of-war of 36 guns, Captain La
Touch (who made a descent on Anguilla), taken by an English man-of-war, and
carried into Antigua.
We hear nothing more about M de la Touche
during this campaign. If as is likely he
was none other than Louis-Charles Le Vassor de la Touche of Martinique, he was in
due course exchanged for British naval captives and went on to captain his own
ship, be promoted to naval general, and subsequently governor of
Martinique. The Anguilla militia which
invaded St Martin in 1744 and which made a successful defence of Anguilla the
following year does not feature in any other action during the war.
Just west of Crocus Bay on the north coast
of Anguilla lies the bay known as Katouche Bay.
It is sometimes suggested that Monsieur de la Touche landed at Katouche
Bay, and not at Crocus Bay. Katouche Bay
is supposedly named after him. On some modern
maps the spelling is given as ‘Latouche Bay’ after the French commander. There were until recently cannon half-buried
in the earth at the foot of the hill.
Their presence might appear to lend credence to the story of Monsieur de
la Touche landing there. However, these
cannon do not necessarily derive from this French military action. Nor does the presence of cannon at Katouche
Bay necessarily relate to any incident in that bay. The cliff above Katouche Bay commands the
entrance to the harbour of Crocus Bay, the nearest port to the old capital of
The Valley. It is a natural site for a
battery of cannon to protect the entrance to Crocus Bay. They are more likely to have been placed
there for the protection of Crocus Bay rather than a result from M de la
Touche’s landing.
More important is the documentary evidence
relating to the evolution of the spelling of the word. We can see this in the Anguillian deeds
preserved in the court records of the period.
The area was referred to in the early deeds as ‘Catouche Bay Plantation’. Governor Gumbs who owned it was half-French
and owned property in St Martin.[16] There is no such word in English as
‘catouche’. The nearest equivalent is
the French ‘cadeaux’ meaning ‘gifts’.
This word was likely pronounced in the English style as ‘caduce’. The English-speakers of Anguilla shared the
common practice of pronouncing French words phonetically in English. The most likely explanation for the origin of
the word Katouche is that the Anguillians turned ‘cadeaux’ into ‘caduce’. From ‘caduce’ the word gradually became
‘Catouche’, and then ‘Katouche’. There
is no early deed that records the name of that plantation as ‘Latouche’ or any
other similar variation of ‘de la Touche’.
The Latouche version of the origin of the name of Katouche Bay is an
error. However,
relying on this fanciful story, the Ordnance Survey Map of Anguilla in
circulation at the time of this writing has for some years past carried the
mistaken spelling ‘Latouche’ Bay for the area known in Anguilla as Katouche
Bay.
Having captured St Martin, and been
invaded in their turn, the Anguillians made a determined effort to keep the
neighbouring island as a dependency of Anguilla. In 1747 they sent deputy governor Arthur
Hodge to England. He carried a petition
from them addressed to the king. They
and the Anguillians now settled in St Martin sought confirmation of the grants
of land made to them by deputy governor Hodge.[17] They set out in justification the great
hazards and risks they took in seizing the French part of St Martin after the
declaration of war. They claimed that
the taking of St Martin was as a result of a specific commission given to Hodge
by Governor Mathew. They also related
the great expense that they were put to in volunteering to assist in this
enterprise. They, therefore, requested
that they be allowed to keep the French part of St Martin as their just reward
for the action they took.
The Anguillians were to be
disappointed. The 1748 Treaty of
Aix-la-Chappelle did not make St Martin British. The island remained half-French,
half-Dutch. Many of the British settlers
however remained in St Martin, becoming French citizens. Others returned home disappointed. Communications with nearby Anguilla were kept
up and English eventually became the most commonly spoken language in St Martin
until the 1970’s when a huge influx of French-speaking ‘Mitterrand refugees’ fleeing
the socialist mainland took the island back to speaking French.
According to the Anguillian petition which
Arthur Hodge took with him to London, from the date of the capture of St
Martin, if not before, the Anguillian deputy governor made grants of land in St
Martin to British settlers. Later deeds,
copies of which are found in the Anguilla Registry of Deeds, refer to an
‘English Quarter’ in St Martin with its own Governor.
Arthur Hodge, his mission unaccomplished,
died in London on 28 January 1749.[18] His expenses in travelling to England were
not met by the islanders, and his efforts in their behalf in London were in
vain. The Anguillians gave him a bond
for his expenses before he left. He
never claimed it while he was alive. He
preferred instead to recoup his losses out of the fruits of his office. He did not account for the taxes he collected
in the years before he left for London.
The bond he signed resulted in a lawsuit years later against his estate
by the government of the day for an account of the powder money collected by
him from visiting ships. Fortunately,
the suit was settled to the satisfaction of all the parties.[19]
War was not always detrimental to
Anguillian enterprise. War also provided
opportunities for those who dared to take the risk. Anguillians participated in the physically
dangerous and financially risky enterprise of privateering. Judging from the surviving documents in
Anguilla's Archives, this activity peaked in the later wars of the eighteenth
century, outside our period.
Anguillian privateers in the earlier part
of the century were not able to get their captures lawfully declared prize of
war by a Court of Vice Admiralty in Anguilla as none had ever been established. That was very convenient for deputy governor
Gumbs, one of the chief privateering financiers through the period. So, we see him defending a case brought in
1756 by Captain John Watts (see table 1).
At a Meeting of His Majesty’s Council
this [ . . . ] day of [ . . . ] 1756 being present
His Worship John Hughes Esq, President
Joseph Burnett
Edward Payne
Captain John Watts and William Moore
versus
Honourable Benjamin Gumbs and George Brooks
For disarming the Brigantine Lucretia after seizing and without
bringing the same to a trial.
It is the
opinion of this Council that having no judge of the Admiralty in this island,
that the trial of the said Brig Lucretia could not come on until such judge
be appointed by His Excellency our Captain General, all which said Benjamin
Gumbs hath done all in his power to complete, as also Captain John Watts and
William Moore to pay the costs of this suit.
Signed by command
Joseph Burnett, Clerk to the Council
|
TablTable 1: John Watts and William Moore v Hon Benjamin Gumbs and George
Brooks. (Anguilla Archives) George Brooks. (Anguilla Archives)
From this record, it appears that George
Brooks captained a privateer owned by deputy governor Gumbs. He captured the Brigantine Lucretia captained
by John Watts and owned by William Moore and brought it into port in
Anguilla. Watts and Moore brought an
action for the release of the vessel.
Their claim was that the vessel was not engaged in enemy trade. It was unlawfully held when it should be
immediately brought before a Court of Vice Admiralty. There, its status could be established. Their case was thrown out by the Anguilla
Council sitting as a Court of Common Pleas.
This is no surprise when we consider that this is deputy governor Gumbs'
own court. The reason for the case being
dismissed is given as the absence of any fault on the part of Gumbs as there
was no court of Vice Admiralty in Anguilla, though the deputy governor applied
to the Governor in Chief to appoint one.
Watts and Moore were penalised by being ordered to pay the court
costs. In any event, if their names are
anything to go by, they were probably Kittitians. It was some time after this incident that the
Governor in Chief appointed the deputy governor and his Council to act as a
Court of Vice Admiralty.
The Court of Vice Admiralty was kept busy
hearing appeals by outraged traders whose vessels were seized by Anguillian
privateers. Anguilla's most famous
privateer of our period was the Antiguan Captain Edward Richards. He moved to Anguilla in about the year 1757
during the Seven Years War, 1756-1763, and settled here. He married well, becoming deputy governor Benjamin
Gumbs' son-in-law. His wife was Tabitha
Gumbs and he lived in Anguilla for several years during the 1760s. He purchased land at Crocus Bay, engaged in
trade when not privateering, and from time to time acted as a court-appointed
arbitrator in trading disputes over shipping accounts. When he died in 1765, his young widow was
left to pay his debts. His simple will
of that year left her all his estate, both real and personal.[20] She was obliged to mortgage the family
property in 1767. She paid off the mortgage
in 1782 only after she recouped her fortune by marrying the wealthy St Martin
merchant, Morgan Beaumour Marchant, who also served on deputy governor Gumbs'
Council.[21]
There are several documents of the period
preserved in the Anguilla Archives that deal with Edward Richards’ profession
of privateering. It was up to a would-be
privateer to locate merchants and planters willing to invest in equipping his
boat with guns, ammunition, supplies and men, in the expectation of sharing in
the profits of his capture. When a
privateer such as Richards was commissioned, he received a Letter of Marque
from the government. This authorised
him, if he could put up enough security, to guarantee his correct conduct in
sailing as a private man-of-war, at his own risk, against the King's enemies.
When a privateer captured a ship, he
brought it for trial before the Court of Vice Admiralty. The court would itself receive a part of the
value of the prize for the King's revenue.
This would include the judges' own fees and expenses. That is how the judges of the day got
paid. It might have occurred to
Richards, therefore, that it would be somewhat advantageous to have the
President of the Court of Vice Admiralty as his own father-in-law and
co-investor in his venture. We do not
know whether this arrangement ever resulted in any great profit to Richards.
In a typical privateering bond of 1762, we
see the deputy governor himself, together with two local merchants, George
Brooks and Joseph Burnett, binding themselves in the sum of fifteen hundred
pounds sterling. The condition of the
bond was for the lawful performance by Richards of his commission, or Letter of
Marque. This authorised him to arm and
equip the sloop the Fry and to seize and take ships of the French. Another bond in the Archives was for the
sloop the Lyon, of thirty tons.[22] This was again captained by Richards. In other documents in the Archives, we see
him captain of the sloops War Trial and the Hawke. At various times during his career, he
captured the ship Dirkinsen Sara; the sloop Three Friends; the
snows Justice and Gereghteyheidt; and the privateer Amazon.
There is also a 1758 bond of the Hon
Benjamin Gumbs, Peter Harrigan and Richard Rogers for Jacob Gumbs, captain of
the 30-ton privateer Rebecca. Jacob
Gumbs with John Smith also owned the sloop Diamond. Jacob Gumbs was killed before 1760 when writs
were issued against his estate by his creditors. There is no record in the files as to whether
he made his fortune. It appears he died
in the enterprise.
There are few other specific references during
our period to other Anguillian privateers.
We can be reasonably certain that, with her long tradition of ship
building and seafaring, Anguilla produced her share of privateers in all the
wars of the period.[23]
Next: Chapter 13 –
[1] Also known as Queen Ann’s War.
[2] Dealt with in Chapter 13, Resettlement
Plans.
[3] Also known to US historians as the French
and Indian War.
[4] Sometimes spelled “Assiento” in English.
[5] Just to confuse matters, US historians
refer to this as ‘King George’s War.’
[9] Chapter 9: The Lure of Crab.
[10] Chapter 10: Crab Island Revisited.
[12] Katherine J Burdon, A Handbook of St Kitts-Nevis
(1920); Percy’s Anecdotes, Vol VII, p.80; Thomas Reginald St Johnston, The
Leeward Islands During the French Wars (1932).
[13] Thomas Southey, A Chronological History
of the West Indies (3 vols, 1827) Vol 2, p.300.
[14] The de la Touches were a French noble family
of naval officers. Ours was most probably Louis-Charles Le Vassor de La
Touche (1709-1781), born in Martinique where his family had been established
since the middle of the 17th century, and ennobled in 1706. He was active in
naval campaigns in the Americas in the 1740s. He was promoted to
ship-of-the-line captain in 1751, became a French naval general, and appointed governor
of Martinique and governor general of the Windward Islands in 1761 until
Martinique’s capitulation to Admiral Rodney in 1762.
[15] Southey op cit, Vol 2, p.303.
[16] Chapter 18: Sugar Arrives.
[17] Acts of the Privy Council, Vol 1745-1766,
paragraph 54: The 1747 Anguilla petition to keep St Martin.
[21] Chapter 17: The Council.
[23] See, for example, later privateering
commissions issued by the Court of Vice-Admiralty at Antigua to Richard
Browning of Anguilla, commander of the brig Revenge, against the
shipping of the revolted American colonists and against British ships trading
with them, Oct 7th, 1782 (Bancroft Library, University of California).
