John Langlands: An Aberlemno Slave Owner
Little information survives about the Angus connection with the slave trade but it was once a strong economic force. It is well documented in the customs records that many Montrose ships engaged in the cross Atlantic trade that involved shipping slaves from Africa to the West Indies, and returning with holds laden with tobacco grown on slave estates. These voyages generated great wealth amongst the Montrose merchants. As more documents come to light from a variety of sources, it is becoming clear that the wealth earned on the sweat of slaves played an important part in the lives of ordinary Angus people.
Younger sons
During the 18th century there was a great deal of pressure on Scotland’s younger sons to leave the country to make a living. This process was tied up with the upsurge in agricultural improvements, whereby bigger landlords were consolidating their smaller estates and holdings into larger, more viable holdings. This squeezed smaller lairds into financial hardships as they struggled to make their lands more profitable. Their sons had to fend for themselves: many entered the mercantile or professional trades, others moved to London, Europe or to the colonies.
Scottish dream
The Scottish dream of the 18th century was to earn money in the colonies and return to Scotland with sufficient wealth to purchase land and position. Jamaica was a favourite destination between 1740 and 1800. The economy was expanding and there were 1 million acres of uncleared and uncultivated land available. Scotland provided the colonies with doctors, tradesmen, planters, bookkeepers, estate managers etc. Some purchased a colonial estate as an investment; others preferred the advantages of running an estate without the problems of owning it. The supreme example of this would be Simon Taylor, from the Montrose Taylor’s of Borrowfield, who made a fortune running other people’s affairs. In the middle of the 18th century the attraction of the West Indies was strong as the French sugar islands including Guadeloupe were captured from the French during the Seven Years War (1756-1763).
Dream goes bust
Many sojourners found it very hard to accumulate sufficient wealth to return to Scotland, where land prices had been rising dramatically and were spiralling out of reach. A few were successful such as Hercules Ross who bought the estate of Rossie near Montrose and married an heiress. In 1814 a Jamaican estate valued at £2,400 would only yield an income of £120 per annum, whereas a middling Scottish estate would yield between £500 – £2,000 per annum. Instead, the high lifestyle in Jamaica itself became the goal as less money had to go further.
John Langlands and Roseberry, Jamaica
In 1749 John Langlands travelled to Jamaica in search of opportunities, at the beginning of the boom in the Jamaican economy. He was the son of John Langlands who rented the farm of Haughs of Finavon, and later Bogardo near Aberlemno. On his arrival on the island he wrote a letter to his father in which he was confident that
“this place is not half so bad as represented at home. For any man that is willing to live moderately may be very happy here. Also make plenty of money But it is not so easy to save it when gained, as everything is so extravagantly dear”.
Langlands was employed as a bookkeeper on the Treadways Maggoty estate, owned by William Dawkins esquire, a “young gentleman of Large Character”. He had engaged to work for another gentleman but when he arrived on the island he was told that business was slack and that they had no use for him. They agreed to procure him another post. He got his post with Mr Dawkins and lived on the estate with the overseer, Mr McLean, and both “Lived as well as our master when he is abroad as well as when as home”.
Roseberry and the Hermitage
Little else is known about John Langlands subsequent career. He may well be the same John, or his son, who left the coffee plantation Roseberry to his cousin, also John Langlands of Bogardo in Angus. On 3 March 1810 John Langlands of Roseberry made a trust disposition and settlement in regards to his Jamaican property. The estate of Roseberry comprised a coffee plantation, slaves (the most valuable asset), horned and horse stock, buildings and barbecues. This was left to John Langlands in Bogardo, near Aberlemno. He also owned another estate called the Hermitage, in St Elizabeth parish, and a half share in Malvern estate bequeathed to another cousin, David, who also lived on the island.
Susanna Bradford, “a certain free woman of colour”
Both legacies had conditions attached and these referred to Susanna Bradford, “a certain free woman of colour”. Susanna had “long acted” as Roseberry’s housekeeper. John Langlands had to supply her with provisions from Roseberry to support her own establishment at the Hermitage. David Langlands was required to allow her the free use of the Hermitage, its furniture, outbuildings etc for the duration of her life. She was also to be allowed to pasture 40 herd of cattle or horse on its lands. Susanna was dead by 1819.
“A Certain mulatto boy”
John Langlands of Roseberry also required his heirs to take care of “a certain mulatto boy” named Charles Langlands, almost certainly his natural son by Susanna Bradford. He ordered the manumission of Charles on his (John’s) death and the gift of 150 acres of good mountain land, fit for coffee cultivation. He was also to be gifted 2 men and 2 women from amongst Roseberry’s slaves to become his property. His transition to planter was to be aided by an income of £20 per annum for 5 years. Roseberry’s slaves were to clear the ground for him and plant the first crop.
Debt
John Langlands left his estate encumbered by debt and incompetent, or corrupt, executors. His heir, John Langlands of Bogardo, had to take measures to ensure that debts incurred in Jamaica would not be settled from his property in Scotland. He made separate deeds and appointed separate Trustees and Executors for both estates. His Jamaican estate Trustees included John Salmon, John Scott farmer at Kandy, David Scott of Newton, Alexander Langlands, merchant in Irvine, and James Speid, writer in Brechin. Their task was to pay the debts and legacies of John of Roseberry, raise £4,000 from the coffee crops to pay John of Roseberry’s legacies to his children David and Anne and to pass the estate to Bogardo’s son Alexander. Alexander was to inherit Roseberry instead of Bogardo and consequently he was excluded from any share of the Scottish estate, on the grounds that he was "otherwise amply provided for".
Sale of Roseberry
In 1827 Bogardo decided that long distance management of a troubled coffee plantation was too much of a burden. He authorised the sale and liquidation of the plantation and is assets. The problem of unpaid debts had not improved. William Mitchell Kerr was authorised to dispose of slaves and stock as he thought necessary for the speedy liquidation of assets. Bogardo had had to borrow money from James Speid, Provost of Brechin, and he signed a Bond of Relaxation. He was probably relieved to be rid of a difficult inheritance.
Further details on the Langlands family can be obtained from the Langlands Papers, part of the Symon Collection at MS 692, in the Angus Archives
© Angus Council 1998 - 2011