The HALLs of Jamaica – Allegonda’s Legacy

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Introduction, The Family Register

I once read that "Truth is found not in accounts but in account books".

Look at the first entries in the family register. For more pages click on the “APPENDIX 1 The Family Register” entry in the navigation bar on the left. [If you don’t see a navigation bar on the left then click here]

It's amazing. Such detail, and from so long ago. Births are often timed to the nearest hour or half hour, way back in 1738. In 1750, there is an entry for a daughter who was buried in Curaçao the day after she was born. Church Records in Curaçao don't go back that far. In 1756, a marriage separation is recorded. If you have read on, you'll have noticed that ages at death are often recorded to the nearest day. Godparents are ministers names are recorded. Sometimes the time of death is recorded to the nearest hour.

I find the time of death detail amazing because I don't even know the day of death of my own father, he died when no-one was around.

Less obvious but equally amazing are the consistency and accuracy. Every age at death agrees to the day with the day of birth. Further, I found only three spelling errors in the whole document, one of which was writing "month" instead of "months". The other two were writing "Allegond" instead of "Allegonda". Another piece of evidence of consistency is that only one entry (Mary Hall, d. 20 May 1775) refers to a person whose birth is not chronicled. The only other missing detail is the change of name (presumably by marriage) of Sarah Hall to Sarah Davis (d. 20 Apr 1831).

This is far in excess of the level of detail that can be found in any Church Parish Register. Also, the Family Register chronicles births, deaths and marriages whereas Parish Registers chronicle baptisms, burials and marriages. I've read enough of the Jamaican Parish Registers to know that the Family Register was kept completely independently of the Parish Registers, no entries were copied from one to the other.

Is this boring you? Alright, let's turn to speculation. Who wrote the Family Register? From the introduction we know that the handwriting is that of William Bryan Hall b. 4 Dec 1802, who copied from the original held by John Herman Hall b. 29 May 1803, on 1 May 1845. However, it's clear that the early entries were not written by John Herman Hall. I'm now absolutely sure that the first entries were written by Allegonda Boom / Hall b. 5 Jan 1738 from notes given to her by her mother Dorothy Harrison / Boom.

Let's get more speculative. Why did Allegonda Boom / Hall start the Family Register? What was her ulterior motive? Perhaps she didn't have an ulterior motive. Perhaps she did it to pass the time. Perhaps she was a close friend of someone who also recorded family births, deaths and marriages. Perhaps starting afresh in a new country was sufficient impetus.

On the other hand, I've found from the Parish Registers some extra facts that are missing from the family register. Her mother had been married before. Her husband had children by a previous marriage. Her brother was involved in a mixed race liaison. Her mother, well, disappears without trace from the Family Register in 1756. Perhaps the Family Register was Allegonda's way of gaining stature and legitimising her position by excluding unsavoury relationships.

However, it's a fantastic (I hesitate to use the word unique) document. It contains nothing that is irrelevant. Every entry chronicles an event that happened to a descendant of Christian Boom and Dorothy Harrison. It has been the impetus for constructing at least four family trees. Further, for genealogy research it is invaluable; I would never have started this report without it.

Several hand-written copies of the family register exist. The original “in the possession of John Herman Hall” has not been found. The copy made by William Bryan Hall and added to after he left Jamaica does exist and is included in Appendix 1. It is held by Glenys Foster 'Glen' Ratcliffe/Paterson. At least 2 copies of William Bryan Hall’s copy exist, both may have been made by Isabel Stewart/Paterson or her husband Aubrey. These two contain extra material at the end, one was passed on to Angèle Vidal-Hall.