Zachary Bayly (planter)

Zachary Bayly (1721-1769) was an English-born Jamaican planter and politician.

Early life

In the 1730s, Zachary Bayly was a young boy when his family relocated with him to the Colony of Jamaica. In 1759, his brother Nathaniel Bayly moved to England, and the two brothers conducted a trans-Atlantic family business, using their slaves on their Jamaican estates to create large profits, and using their political contacts to protect their investments.[1]

Slave owner

Bayly was the owner of Bayly's Vale, Brimmer Hall, Nonsuch, Trinity, Tryall and Unity plantations as well 3,000 acres in cattle pens.[2][3]

In addition to being a sugar planter, Bayly was also a successful sugar merchant. He also served as a planting attorney for several absentee owners, managing several thousand more slaves for other estates. He was one of the 10 wealthiest Jamaicans in the eighteenth century.[4]

Tacky's Revolt

In 1760, when Tacky's War broke out, slaves rose up in revolt on Bayly's estates at Trinity.[5]

Death and estate

Bayly owned over 2,000 slaves at the time of his death in 1769. His estate was valued at over £114,000 when he died.[2][6][7]

Family

He was the brother of Nathaniel Bayly, both being uncles of the politician Bryan Edwards.

References

  1. ^ Vincent Brown, Tacky's Revolt: The Story of an Atlantic Slave War(Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2020), p. 54.
  2. ^ a b "The Letters of Simon Taylor of Jamaica to Chaloner Arcedekne, 1765-1775" edited by Betty Wood et al in Betty Wood & Martin Lynn (Eds.) (2002). Travel, Trade and Power in the Atlantic 1765-1884. Camden Fifth Series Vol. 19. Miscellany XXXV. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 1–164 (p. 16). ISBN 978-0-521-82312-8.
  3. ^ Zachary Bayly. Legacies of British Slave-ownership, UCL. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  4. ^ Vincent Brown, Tacky's Revolt: The Story of an Atlantic Slave War(Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2020), p. 53.
  5. ^ Vincent Brown, Tacky's Revolt: The Story of an Atlantic Slave War(Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2020), p. 54.
  6. ^ Zachary Bayly. Legacies of British Slave-ownership, UCL. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  7. ^ Vincent Brown, Tacky's Revolt: The Story of an Atlantic Slave War(Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2020), p. 53.
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