Project overview
The sugar planter Simon Taylor claimed ownership over 2,248 enslaved people in Jamaica. At the point of his death in 1813, he was one of the wealthiest slaveholders ever to have lived in the British empire.
This project conducted by Christer Petley examined Taylor’s rich and expressive letters to understand the aspirations and frustrations of a wealthy and powerful British slaveholder during the Age of Revolution. The letters provide a fascinating insight into the merciless machinery and unpredictable hazards of the Jamaican plantation world; into the ambitions of planters who used the great wealth they extracted from Jamaica to join the ranks of the British elite; and into the impact of wars, revolutions, and fierce political struggles that led, eventually, to the reform of the exploitative slave system that Taylor had helped build.
This project conducted by Christer Petley examined Taylor’s rich and expressive letters to understand the aspirations and frustrations of a wealthy and powerful British slaveholder during the Age of Revolution. The letters provide a fascinating insight into the merciless machinery and unpredictable hazards of the Jamaican plantation world; into the ambitions of planters who used the great wealth they extracted from Jamaica to join the ranks of the British elite; and into the impact of wars, revolutions, and fierce political struggles that led, eventually, to the reform of the exploitative slave system that Taylor had helped build.
Staff
Lead researchers
Research outputs
Christer Petley,
2018, Slavery & Abolition, 39(1), 53-79
Type: article
Stephan Lenik & Christer Petley,
2017
Type: bookChapter
Christer Petley,
2016
Type: bookChapter
Christer Petley,
2014, Slavery & Abolition, 35(3), 437-457
Type: article
Christer Petley & Stephan Lenik,
2014, Slavery & Abolition, 35(3), 389-398
Type: article
Christer Petley,
2014
Type: bookChapter
Christer Petley,
2012, Atlantic Studies, 9(1), 85-106
Type: article