Draft:Ralph Cleghorn
Ralph Brush Cleghorn (1804 – 17 March 1842) was a merchant and political activist from the island of Saint Kitts (or Saint Christopher) in the British West Indies. He was a member of the island's free coloured community, being the son of a white man and an enslaved woman.
Early life
[edit]Cleghorn was born in 1804 on Saint Kitts, the oldest of three sons of Margaret Steele and Robert Cleghorn. He was baptised into the Church of England on 19 November 1804.[1] His mother was a slave at the time of his birth and as such he was born into slavery, however he and his mother had been manumitted by 1814 in unclear circumstances. His father was a white attorney and slaveholder who in 1817 was elected to represent Saint Thomas Middle Island Parish in the island's legislature.
At the age of five, Cleghorn was sent to England to be educated, a common practice for . He remained in England in 1823 and
Business activities and slave ownership
[edit]Following his father's death in 1825, Cleghorn established himself as a merchant, using cattle and other assets that he had inherited from his father as well as the business connections he had built up during his time in England.[2] He offered a wide range of imported goods and by his own account attained an income of £1,200 (equivalent to $130,000 in 2023) per annum.[3] By 1827 he was the wealthiest free coloured person in Saint George Basseterre Parish,[4] with his taxable property including land valued at £84 (equivalent to $9,000 in 2023) as well as eight slaves.[3] He ultimately owned thirteen slaves, but following his conversion to abolitionism arranged for their manumission between 1829 and 1830.[5]
Public life
[edit]In 1833, Leeward Islands governor Evan Murray-Macgregor appointed Cleghorn and John Berkeley, another free coloured man, as aides-de-camp. [6]
on the recommendation of Saint Kitts' attorney-general Charles Thompson,.
Civil rights activism
[edit]Anti-slavery activism
[edit]President of Nevis
[edit]In October 1841, Cleghorn was appointed president of Nevis, the island colony adjacent to Saint Kitts.[7]
Cleghorn
Personal life
[edit]In 1824, Cleghorn married Maria Berkeley, a free coloured woman who had also spent time in England.[8] The couple had no recorded children, but he was close to his wife's family.[9]
Cleghorn died in Nevis on 17 March 1842.[10]
Legacy
[edit]The National Archives of St. Kitts & Nevis holds six journals produced by Cleghorn from 1835 and 1836, detailing his experiences as a stipendiary magistrate. The journals were digitised in 2016 with funding from the University of the West Indies.[11]
References
[edit]- ^ Cox 2007, p. 56.
- ^ Cox 1984, p. 68.
- ^ a b Cox 2002, p. 42.
- ^ Cox 2002, p. 43.
- ^ Cox 2002, p. 46.
- ^ Cox 1984, p. 109.
- ^ Cox 2007, p. 51.
- ^ Cox 2007, p. 42.
- ^ Cox 2007, p. 54.
- ^ Cox 2007, p. 53.
- ^ "Conservation of the Cleghorn Journals". National Archives of St. Kitts & Nevis. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
Sources
[edit]- Cox, Edward L. (2007). "Ralph Brush Cleghorn of St. Kitts (1804–1842)". Slavery & Abolition. 28: 41–60. doi:10.1080/01440390701269764.
- Frucht, Richard (1975). "Emancipation and Revolt in the West Indies: St. Kitts, 1834". Science & Society. 39 (2): 199–214.
- Heuman, Gad (2023). "The Apprenticeship System in the Caribbean: The World of the Apprentices" (PDF). New West Indian Guide. 97: 229–254.