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William Hall, the other surviving son of Allegonda Boom / Hall married Dorothy Gray Jackson, and (as she's a direct ancestor of mine) it's been interesting for me to peek into her family history.
I may as well start with a family tradition (one that my father never told me). Consider the following four quotes:
1. From Pat Wyatt's book, P 34.
"It was a flight of fancy of our father's to refer to Sir Walter Raleigh as 'Uncle Wal'".
2. From the top of two Vidal-Hall family trees:
"Robert Jackson of Mahogany Vale was born in 1735 in Yorkshire, England (his mother was a Forbes) a Naval Officer serving under Lord Rodney - married in Jamaica Ann Raleigh daughter of John Raleigh planter in the Parish of St Thomas, he died at Mahogany Vale in 1817 and is buried there - He was a descendant of the Jacksons of Kelleswood Yorkshire - Tradition says that a Jackson married a sister of Sir Walter Raleigh"
3. From two letters c1925 from Jessie Astwood of Bermuda to Isabel Paterson.
"Our Gt. Gt. Grandfather Robert Jackson Also the son of ____ Jackson of Kelleswo?? (Originally Kellinswode[?]) Yorkshire England & a Miss Forbes - A descendent of Duncan Forbes of Culloden - Robert & a younger brother were left at an early age. Orphans in the guardianship of a Mr Magoribanks[?] he having dissipated the boys for- tune and property placed them in the Navy - The younger died & Robert while serving under Nelson M[arrie]d at Jamaica - Miss Ann Teresia Hobart Raleigh, daughter & heiress of John Raleigh Coffee Planter of the Parish of Port Royal (Jamaica): Robert married and resigned from the Navy & settled in Mahogany Vale [?] was his wife Ann's dowry & acquired much property."
"Tradition has it that Roberts 1st marriage was not the first between a Jackson of that family & a Raleigh - as a Jackson of Kellinsorde[?] had married a sister of Sir Walter Raleigh of Elizabethan times".
4. From a letter written c1837 (sent by email via Claire Hendricks & Jeremy White)
"The people here have neither honour, nor honesty. A Mr Jackson descendent of the great Sir Walter Raleigh (and who lives in a magnificent Pen on the Port Royal Mts.) I have ran after and watched him, days and hours when he comes to town, but can get no money from him".
Perhaps I should add here that a "Pen" is a Jamaican name for a farm with animals. Mahogany Vale is in the Port Royal Mountains.
Is there any truth in the story of a Jackson marrying a sister of Sir Walter Raleigh? I went looking for the sisters of Sir Walter Raleigh, a quick and nasty search (based on the web, IGI and ancestral file) revealed one sister (Margaret) for Sir Walter and three step sisters (which I won't exclude). Amazingly enough, each of the three step sisters had a different set of parents, as Sir Walter's father married three times and his mother twice.
These four are:
Joane Raleigh b. Abt 1520 of Walter Raleigh & Joan Drake
m. Abt 1541 John Bright
Katherine Gilbert b. 1541 of Otho Gilbert & Catherine Champernon
Mary Raleigh b. 1542 of Walter Raleigh & Miss Darnell
m. 1563 Hughe Snedall
Margaret Raleigh b. 1550 of Walter Raleigh & Catherine Champernon
m. 1580 Andrew Archer
Because Katherine Gilbert was such a common name, I found six possible husbands but none was a Jackson.
So none of these women married a Jackson. Oh well.
So far I've failed to find Kelleswood - Kellinswode - Kellinsorde or similar.
Let's get back to the better known territory associated with the parents of Dorothy Gray Jackson. The two main sources here are the Parish Registers and the letters from Jessie Astwood to Isabel Paterson. Sometimes these sources agree and sometimes they don't. The Family Register mentions Robert Jackson
I was able to construct the following two trees from the Parish registers:
1. John Rawleigh
m. Ann <>
2. Jane Fidelia Rawleigh
m. 9 Feb 1768 Nicol Donaldson
2. Margaret Mercy Rawleigh b. 9 Sep 1753
m. 15 Mar 1775 James Hall
2. Ann Teresia Hobart Rawleigh b. 6 Feb 1756 bap. 5 May 1756
m. 30 Mar 1775 Robert Jackson b. c1736 d. 1 Oct 1817
3. Elizabeth Rawleigh Jackson b. 13 Mar 1776 bap. 15 Mar 1776
3. John Rawleigh Jackson b. 31 Oct 1780 bap. 18 Apr 1783
m. Eliza Walker Strupar[?]
4. Ann Rawleigh Jackson b. 25 Nov 1805 bap. 7 Dec 1805
4. John Rawleigh Jackson bur. 27 Feb 1807
4. Robert Jackson bur. 17 Jul 1809
4. John Rawleigh Jackson b. 9 Mar 1811 bap. 27 Apr 1811
4. Robert Jackson b. 25 May 1817 bap. 7 Sep 1817
3. Dorothy Gray Jackson b. 22 Jan 1782 bap. 18 Apr 1783
m. 10 Aug 1797 William Hall
3. Robert Smellie Jackson bap. 21 Jul 1784 bur. 26 Jul 1784
2. William Walter Gadd Rawleigh b. 16 Feb 1759 bap. 22 Jun 1759 bur. 4 Jun 1762
2. Matthias Allen Rawleigh b. 28 Oct 1760 bap. 9 May 1761 bur. 31 Jul 1762
2. Elizabeth Crichton Rawleigh bur. 15 Jun 1762
2. Elizabeth Crichton Rawleigh b. 13 Jun 1768 bap. 14 Jun 1768
Dorothy Gray Jackson & William Hall had many children, but more of them later. The Parish Register has Dorothy Gray Jackson born 25 Jan 1782, the date above comes from her age at death in the Family Register. Ann Teresia Hobart Rawleigh was married with that name but christened Teresia Ann Hobart Rayleigh and appears as Ann Rawleigh at the birth of her children.
The fate of James Hall is not entirely clear. A James Hall (planter) was buried in Kingston on 1 Jul 1786; but I would prefer him to be around to be god-father in 1802.
Is the name RALEIGH or RAWLEIGH? Well, it's spelled RAWLEIGH in the Family Register which was copied and extended by William Bryan Hall. William Bryan was married to Dorothy Rawleigh Hall at the time so would be expected to know how to spell his wife's name. Further, the name is consistently spelled RAWLEIGH in both the St Andrew and Kingston Parish Registers. That would appear to close the matter; but Jessie Astwood had this to say (18 Jul 1924).
"... Robert Jackson & his wife Mary (Raleigh) of Mahogany Vale - Eddie tells me in Stewarts copy the name Raleigh is spelt Rawleigh - this is of course as it is pronounced - but in the old deeds & registers it is Raleigh"
Sir Walter Raleigh himself spelled his name many different ways, primarily "Raley". I have spotted an occasional "Rowling", "Railey", "Rawley" and "Rowley" in the Parish Registers, without taking too much notice. A William Rowley married Elizabeth Frances in 1817. An Edward Rawley had child Charlotte Eliza to Emily McDermot his wife on 20 Sep 1823 in Kingston. A James Railey / Rowley was married to a Mary Ann in the period 1851 - 1854 in Kingston. A George Rowley and children William and Augustus were buried in Kingston in 1856 - 1858.
Robert Jackson (of Port Royal)
m. 6 Mar 1805 Susan Campbell (of St Elizabeth) in St Andrew
Campbell Robert Jackson b. 26 Sep 1807 (bap. St Andrew)
Charles Forbes Jackson bap. 23 Apr 1810 St Andrew
Henry Stanley Jackson b. 8 Jul 1812 (bap. St Andrew)
Susan is also referred to as Susanna. I must apologise for not having baptism dates for Campbell Robert, Henry Stanley & Margaret Mercy. The information is there, I was just too lazy to copy it down. Campbell Robert Jackson is referred to by Robert Louis Stevenson (see below) as Robert Colin Campbell Jackson.
If the Robert Jackson of both of the above trees is the same then, as Robert died age 81 on 1 Oct 1817, he must have been 75 or 76 when Henry Stanley was born.
Jessie Astwood gives:
1. Robert Jackson
m. 30 Mar 1775 Ann T. H. Raleigh
2. John Raleigh Jackson b. 17 Mar 1776
m. Sara Stronfon[?]
3. John Raleigh Jackson
m. <miss> Scotland
4. <many children>
2. Dorothy Gray Jackson ("Dolly")
m. Aug 1797 William Hall
3. Ann Allegonda Hall
3. John Herman Hall
3. Dorothy Raleigh Hall
3. <others who died>
2. Margaret Jackson ("Peggy")
m <> Fitzwilliam
m. Mar 1805 Susannah Campbell of Auchindred[?]
2. Campbell Robert Jackson
2. Charles Forbes Jackson
2. Henry Stanly Jackson
2. Henrietta Camilla Jackson
“the elder & younger sons died & Charles Forbes [Jackson] inherited Mahogany Vale”. “Gen: Charles Forbes Jackson” had a daughter called "Mrs Prideaux” who died age 84 in about Feb 1925. "Gen" stands for General. More about them later.
Jessie Astwood also says (18 Jul 1924) "John Raleigh [Jackson] is supposed to have fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775 when he was a very young man & he must have been a good bit older than his sister Dorothy as in 1797 when she married Wm Hall she was only 15!". J R Jackson couldn't have fought in that battle because he was born in 1780 (or 1776). Could it have been his grandfather, John Rawleigh, who would have been 42 or older?
Jessie Astwood says of the Jackson - Campbell marriage (18 Jul 1924)
"... Robert Jackson's second marriage to Susan Campbell, daughter of Colin Campbell of Auch[..] We know the descendants of that marriage well & have often stayed at Mahogany Vale".
The place Auchindred[?] is Auchenbreck in Scotland.
Robert Jackson had many slaves (presumably because a big Pen required a lot of slaves to work it). I lost count of the number baptised in St Andrew but didn't notice any before the Jackson - Campbell marriage. In 1805 I noted:
William Jackson (30 yo), John Mark Jackson (25 yo), George Raleigh Nugent (1 yo), Colin Campbell (45 yo), William Campbell (45 yo), James Campbell (25 yo), Philip Thompson (36 yo), John Rawleigh (20 yo), John Everall (45 yo), Robert Jackson (25 yo), Nancy Jackson (12 yo), Rebecca Jackson (10 yo).
(The first three of the above were baptised on 6 Mar 1805, the exact date of the Jackson - Campbell marriage)
In 1806 I noted 10 slave baptisms in St Andrew including John Rawleigh (12 yo), and Patience Jackson (4 yo).
In 1810 I noted 38 slave baptisms in St Andrew including 13 with surname Jackson, 8 with surname Campbell, 3 with surname Hall and 2 with surname Brooks.
I spotted one slave of Mrs Jackson (Susan Campbell) on 27 Jun 1805: Robert Jackson (12 yo).
The astute reader may notice that some of the above names are important family names. For instance, John Rawleigh is the father of John's wife Ann, and Colin Campbell is the father of John's wife Susan. I wonder how many of the other names given to the slaves are important.
Since the first edition of this book I have been in touch with Nicholas Payne, a descendent of Charles Forbes Jackson. He introduced this gentleman to me as follows:
“He ended up as General fought in the Indian Mutiny, then as a mercenary fought with Garibaldi in the unification of Italy. Bought Mahogany Vale on his return to England in about 1860 ( it had been bought by the Government on the abolition of slavery as compensation). He never married, but appeared in the army camp in India with a daughter in 1842 – mother unknown. Her name was Jessie and married William Prideaux about 1865 and settled in Mahogany Vale. With William she had 5 children Mabel, Ada, Henrietta, Charles and Gostwick. General featured in Jamaica rebellion died in 1879. William was thrown out for consorting with the maid Nellie. Jesse and children went to England and Germany after General’s death, estate was finally sold after Jesse’s death in 1925. Only Ada married John Payne in 1904. Three children Ann 1906, Anthony 1908, Joscelyne 1910. This is off the top of my head.
For detailed information on the General and his family click here.
Nicholas also drew my attention to a book by Robert Louis Stevenson in 1887 about Fleeming Jenkin who was involved in laying the transatlantic cable. Click this link for the full text of the book. http://digital.library.upenn.edu/webbin/gutbook/lookup?num=698 Fleeming Jenkin was the son of Henrietta Camilla Jackson and Charles Jenkin. The following are quotes from the book.
“In 1828 or 1829, Charles Jenkin was in the same watch with another midshipman, Robert Colin Campbell Jackson, who introduced him to his family in Jamaica. The father, the Honourable Robert Jackson, Custos Rotulorum of Kingston, came of a Yorkshire family, said to be originally Scotch; and on the mother's side, counted kinship with some of the Forbeses. The mother was Susan Campbell, one of the Campbells of Auchenbreck. Her father Colin, a merchant in Greenock, is said to have been the heir to both the estate and the baronetcy; he claimed neither, which casts a doubt upon the fact”
“Of
Mr. Jackson, beyond the fact that he was Fleeming's grandfather, I know
naught. His wife, as I have said, was a
woman of fierce passions; she would tie her house slaves to the bed and lash
them with her own hand; and her conduct to her wild and down-going sons, was a
mixture of almost insane self-sacrifice and wholly insane violence of
temper. She had three sons and one
daughter. Two of the sons went utterly
to ruin, and reduced their mother to poverty.
The third went to India”