Opening with an account of Henrietta Liston's farewell to the United States, describing her Caribbean tour, and concluding with her return to England, this travel narrative is heartfelt, expansive, biased, and dense with names — names of people, places and plants.
The journal presents a gentlewoman's view of close-knit British Caribbean, and occasionally French Caribbean, society at the very beginning of the 19th century.
[Read more] Read the journal See tour on mapThis journal presents Henrietta's sense of Anglo-French rivalry and of 'the enemy' in the Napoleonic Wars. While the Listons were touring the islands the British captured the part French, part Dutch island St Martin, the Danish island St Thomas, and took the island of St Bartholomew from Sweden.
It is also the journal which most demonstrates Henrietta's interest in botany and horticulture. Commenting on the verdure of the islands, the warm climate, and on a treasured 'jessamine hedge' remembered from childhood, Henrietta describes the West Indies as 'paradise' to 'an ardent lover of plants'.
Travelling to the Caribbean was a homecoming for Henrietta — after a long absence she returned to her 'native island', Antigua, where some of her family still lived. Having been conceived with 'the idea of pleasure', the trip was a holiday for the Listons after their work in the States
Sailing on the HMS Andromache from Virginia and observing the ceremony performed by sailors on crossing the line of the Tropic of Cancer, the Listons docked at St John’s Harbour, Antigua on Christmas Day 1800, 'truly keeping very unexpectedly the engagement Mr Liston had made with my dear Brother'.
It took the Listons only two weeks to reach Antigua — an easy journey after a taxing departure from America.
Henrietta was very ill toward the end of 1800.Treated by physicians Dr Benjamin Rush and Dr Philip Physick in a house called 'Solitude', rented for the Listons' final months in Philadelphia, Henrietta recovered. It is likely that Rush and Physick bled Henrietta as they were both dedicated advocates of this treatment.
After her illness it was felt best to spare her the 'painful fatigue of taking leave' from friends in Philadelphia and of 'the President and Ministers of the Government' in Washington, DC.
However, she was able to bid a fond farewell to New York friends and to Edward Thornton and Lord Henry, her travelling companions for four years.
Over the course of their three month stay on the tropical islands of the Caribbean the Listons met a great many people. Henrietta remarks often on the cordiality of island society, saying of Montserrat for example, 'the reputation of extraordinary hospitality given to this little Island appears to be just'. As well as 'a succession of dinners', the Listons attended dancing parities, a French ball on Martinique, and twice saw 'the Play of Macbeth', 'performed by the Gentlemen' of Antigua.
Henrietta states that her 'heart was tuned to pleasure' during her time in the West Indies and this influences all that she sees. She wrote: 'It being Crop time a general cheerfulness seemed to prevail in both White & blacks — the very Animals look fatter & happier'. For the slaves on the plantations, the harvest of sugar cane was gruelling and painful.
While she met naval officers, plantation owners and those governing the West Indies, Henrietta also records meeting such fascinating figures as the botanist Dr Alexander Anderson on St Vincent, and Madeleine Amphoux-Chassevent, maker of 'noyeau', a liqueur, on Martinique. Madeleine's popular liqueur was known as 'Liqueur de Mme Chassevent, veuve Amphoux', and when Henrietta met her in Fort Royal in 1801, she was in her 90s.
The Listons made a special journey to St Vincent to see the Botanic Garden established in 1765 by General Robert Melville, then managed by the 'Good looking Scotchman', Dr Alexander Anderson. Henrietta describes the Botanic Garden and records that Dr Anderson was 'very liberal in giving his plants' and offered to send her specimens when she returned to Scotland.
Indeed, when back in Scotland, Henrietta built a hothouse at her home Millburn Tower where she cultivated exotic plants.
Pennsylvania; Delaware; Virginia; Antigua; Montserrat; Guadeloupe; Dominica; Martinique; St Vincent and the Grenadines; St Kitts and Nevis; Tortola, British Virgin Islands; St Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.
See tour on mapNames in brackets are how Henrietta Liston refers to that person or spells their name in her journal.
Diplomat, politician, lawyer, revolutionary. Born in Massachusetts, educated at Harvard, John Adams was a signatory of the Declaration of Independence. In 1764 he married Abigail Smith. They had five children. He was the first Minister-Plenipotentiary from the United States to Britain: he served in this role from 1785-1788. A Federalist, he became the first Vice-President in 1789 and second President of the United States in 1797, serving one term.
Mme Amphoux was born Madeleine Achard in Marseille. Around 1722, she married Monsieur Amphoux and they went to Martinique, where he soon died. Despite marrying and being widowed a second time, Madeleine retained the name 'Amphoux', which it was said she preferred. Between 1741 and 1759 she worked as a servant and managed a café-billiard hall in Fort-Royal. In 1759, Madeleine became associated with Mme Laroque, the originator of 'noyeau' liqueur, who shared secret processes and recipes. When Mme Laroque left Fort-Royal for St Pierre, Madeleine, the more successful businesswoman, succeeded in establishing the monopoly to distil 'liqueur de la veuve Amphoux', which became popular in Martinique and Paris. She amassed a considerable fortune and, in 1768, married Monsieur Chassevent, surveyor general of Martinique and director of her distillery. She then sold the liqueur recipe to Monsieur de Grandmaison who produced the liqueur as 'Grandmaison, successeur de madame veuve Amphoux'. Meanwhile, Madeleine left for Marseille and settled in Paris. However, she did not adjust to the French climate and returned to Martinique resuming manufacture of her liqueur, contrary to her deal with Monsieur de Grandmaison. Madeleine Amphoux took the case to court, but was condemned as a counterfeiter. Undeterred, she sold her liqueurs as 'Liqueur de Mme Chassevent, veuve Amphoux', which enjoyed popularity until her death, aged 105.
Botanist. Born in Aberdeen, Alexander worked briefly at the Chelsea Physic Garden in London, after which he went to New York and served as a surgeon in the British Army during the War of Independence. Later he worked in the general hospital on St Lucia under superintendent Dr George Young who was the first Director of the Botanic Garden on St Vincent. In 1783 Anderson became curator of the St Vincent Botanic Garden. Anderson married Elizabeth Alexander and had a daughter who married John Pemberton Ross, Solicitor-General and Speaker of the House of Assembly of St Vincent. Shortly before he died in 1811, Alexander resigned as superintendent of the Botanic garden due to ill health.
Dates unknown, Elizabeth was born in Antigua, to Harry Alexander and Lydia Martin Alexander. In about 1789 she married botanist Alexander Anderson, and had a daughter, also called Elizabeth, who married John Pemberton Ross, Solicitor-General and Speaker of the House of Assembly of St Vincent.
Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, Antigua, served on the Council Board of Antigua, from 1803, and for eight years as Speaker of the House of Assembly. James's parents were James Athill of Antigua, a physician and his wife Anne Redhead. James Athill the younger was born at St Peter's, Antigua on 23 August 1759. He never married, but left legacies to three named 'natural' sons, John, Sam and George. He owned an estate, Byams, on Antigua, which was sold on his death and the proceeds divided among his brother John’s children. He died on 30 November 1822 aged 64 and was buried in the parish of St John's Churchyard, Antigua.
Mary, born in Antigua on 'Lynch's' estate, St Philip's, was the daughter and only heiress of the planter Nicholas Lynch. She inherited his estate in 1769. She married Samuel Athill on 13 January 1780 at St Paul's parish and became joint owner of the property with her husband. The couple had four sons and two daughters. Mary died in 1808, and was interred on their estate.
Samuel Athill, brother of James Athill, was a physician and one time President of the Council of Antigua. His parents were James Athill of Antigua, a physician, born at Guestwick, Norfolk and his wife, Anne Redhead, who was born at Antigua. Samuel was born at St Peter's, Antigua. He graduated from Trinity College Cambridge and married Mary Lynch in 1780 at St Paul's parish, Antigua. Mary was the daughter and only heiress of the planter Nicholas Lynch, inheriting his estate in 1769. Samuel became joint owner of the property on his marriage to Mary. Samuel died in 1832 outliving all but one of his children, Mary, who ultimately inherited 'Lynch's'.
Ann was the daughter of Richard Bassett, a Delaware politician. In 1795 she married James Asheton Bayard (1767-1815), a lawyer, member of the Federalist Party, and a senator from Delaware. In 1796 she had a son, Richard, who was a lawyer, senator and diplomat.
Sarah married John Mifflin then, in 1776, became the second wife of John Beale Bordley (1727-1804), a republican, Maryland planter, judge, and member of the Governor's Council. Moving from Maryland, Sarah and John lived in Philadelphia from 1791. Their daughter Elizabeth Boardley was the close friend and lifelong correspondent of Eleanor Parke Custis, granddaughter of Martha and George Washington.
Diplomat Phineas Bond was the son of Dr Phineas Bond and Williamina Moore of Philadelphia. He had five siblings. Consul-General at Philadelphia between 1786 and 1812, Phineas worked closely with Robert Liston. Correspondence between Bond and Robert Liston survives in the Sir Robert Liston Papers at the National Library of Scotland.
The daughter of Judge William Moore, Williamina was the mother of diplomat Phineas Bond and widow of Dr Phineas Bond who she married in 1748. She had six children. The 'Miss Bond' Henrietta mentions in her journals is possibly Williamina’s daughter Elizabeth (1771-1820).
The descent of Rowland Burton is obscure. He was, however, a noted member of Antiguan society. A barrister of Lincoln’s Inn, London, called to the bar 26 November 1772, he was elected a member of the House of Assembly of Antigua for New North Sound. He served as speaker of the House of Assembly in Antigua in 1777 and 1781, became Registrar of Deeds in 1779, and was appointed Chief Justice of the island in 1786, and was by 1792 also Chief Baron of Exchequer. Rowland married Sarah Horne, a widow, at St John's Parish on 1 August 1776. He died 28 April 1814. On his death he was succeeded as Chief Justice of Antigua by James Athill.
Born 21 December 1740 at St John's, Antigua, Edward was the eldest son of Francis Byam, MA, Rector of St John's and Jane Warner of Barbados. Edward married Rebecca Blizard, daughter of Stephen Blizard, Judge of Court of Common Pleas in Antigua, at St George's, on 7 July 1763. The couple had one child, Jane. Through her mother, Jane was made tenant-for-life of her grandfather Stephen Blizard's estate. Edward served on the Council of Antigua, and by 1791, was its President. He also served as Treasurer and Judge of the Admiralty Court. He died on 8 February 1817, at St John's, Antigua.
Naval officer and politician. Born in Cornwall, and entering the navy very young, Christopher served in the Princessa off Martinique, the Chesapeake and St Kitts in 1781 and 1782. In 1783 Christopher joined the Trepassey commanded by Captain Francis Cole, his brother. Rising through the ranks, he was promoted to commander in January 1800, and took command of the Surinam later that year. The Surinam was that ship that took the Listons to Dominique in January 1801. Christopher's distinguished naval career continued and he was nominated cClonel of Marines in 1830. He married Lady Mary Lucy Talbot in 1815 and through her family's connections entered Parliament. In 1817 he was elected MP for Glamorgan.
Naval officer. Born in Surrey, John was the son of Reverend Henry Duckworth and Sarah Johnson. He married Anne Wallis in 1779 and they had two children. Anne died in 1797. John married Susannah Catherine Buller in 1808. In 1801 he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Leeward Islands. He and General Trigge took the Danish and Swedish islands for the British in that year. They were awarded the Order of the Bath for their service. John became Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Newfoundland in 1810, and was created a Baronet in 1813.
Merchant, Loyalist, diplomat. Born in Scotland, John emigrated to North Carolina, setting up a successful trading company there with his brothers. The company folded in the Revolution and John became Lieutenant-Colonel of the Royal North Carolina regiment. After a short period in England, he returned to the U.S. and in 1790 became British Consul in Norfolk, Virginia. After the outbreak of the war of 1812, John returned to England, where he died.
Baptised at St John's parish, Antigua, Daniel was the son of Daniel Hill and Ann Hanson, both of whom were born on Antigua. He married Ann Byam Wyke at St George's parish on 12 March 1789. The couple had nine children. Daniel served as member of the Council Board of Antigua, as Speaker of the House of Assembly, and as Judge of the Court of Exchequer. He died on 16 June 1811 and was buried at St John's. The parish record of his burial described him as a 'merchant'.
The Horne family owned a large estate at St John’s, Antigua, known as 'Horne's'. This residency dated from 1678, when Edward Horne, a carpenter, bought 32 acres from a planter called Edmond Johnson, and in subsequent years he added significant acreage to his overall estate. By 1702, Edward Horne had become known as Captain Horne. Ownership appears to have passed to Captain Horne's son by his second marriage, William Horne of Anitgua, 'a gentleman'. William Horne's son Edward and then grandson, Valentine Morris Horne, respectively became custodians of the estate. Valentine Morris Horne was married to Sara Wise (who subsequently married Rowland Burton), but he sold the estate to a Dr Ashton Warner before leaving for Grenada. Once the estate was no longer in the hands of the Horne family its name was changed to 'Belvidere', apparently by Dr Warner, as it was so named in his will. On his death in 1789 ownership passed to his wife Rachel Warner, who owned the property until her death in 1805.
George Horsford was a career soldier, rising to the rank of Lieutenant-General in 1825. He served in the West Indies, in the Mediterranean, and during the War of 1812 was appointed Lieutenant-Governer or Bermuda. He was born in Antigua, to John Horsford, a member of the Council of Antigua, and Christian Jenkins, daughter John Jenkins, a gentleman of Antigua. He married Mary Ann Brocksopp and they had four daughters and a son. George was promoted to the rank of major in the 58 regiment of foot in June 1796, moving to the 59 (Second Nottinghamshire) regiment of foot in 1799, which was by 1801 stationed in Antigua. In later life Lieutenant-General Horsford lived in Paris, where he died on 28 April 1840, aged 73.
Politician and military officer. Born in Edinburgh, Andrew was a friend of Robert Liston. In 1793 he married Lady Georgiana Hope, a daughter of Lord Hopetoun, this marriage greatly improved Andrew's standing and, in 1797, he became Governor of Dominica until 1805 when, accused of corruption, he resigned. He also served as Colonel of the 8th West India regiment and Brigadier of the Leeward Islands. Andrew's controversial military and political career was blighted by debt, scandal and fraud. After the death of his wife, Georgiana, he married Amelia Constance Gertrude Etienette.
Order of Saint Louis, Commander of the Martinique militia, and of the artillery of Fort Royal, Martinique. He married Marie-Jeanne Parent, and had 18 children. He was a member of a noble Touraine family. He bought the recipe of 'liqueur de la veuve Amphoux' from the distiller Madeleine Amphoux-Chassevent in Martinique. Henrietta Liston writes that 'Grandmaison' was guillotined in the French Revolution.
A career soldier, William Keppel advanced through the ranks of the Army, becoming Governor of Martinique between 1796 and 1802. He later served as a Privy Councillor, Governor of Portsmouth, and Governor of Guernsey as well as being Colonel of the Queen’s Royal Regiment of Foot. He died in Paris on 10 December 1834 and was interred at Père Lachaise Cemetery.
Politician, planter. Born on St Kitts, Ralph was the only surviving son of Ralph Payne, Chief Justice of the island, and Alice Carlisle of Antigua. Educated in England, he returned to St Kitts and was elected a Member of the House of Assembly. In the 1760s he made the Grand Tour of Europe and in 1767 married Françoise Lambertina Kölbel (died 1830), daughter of Henry, Baron Kölbel of Saxony. Françoise was a close friend of Queen Charlotte. From 1771-1775 Ralph was Governor of the Leeward Islands, and again from 1799-1807. He was a popular Governor and was known for lavish entertaining.
Naval Officer. Robert was the son of General Sir Robert Laurie of Maxwelton, 5th Baronet and his wife, Elizabeth Maria Ruthven. He took command of the HMS Andromache in 1799. He succeeded his father as 6th Baronet in 1804. Robert gained the rank of Admiral in 1821 and was knighted in 1831. His wife was Mary Hope Laurie. He was buried in Perthshire, Scotland.
Diplomat. Born in Kirkliston, Scotland, Robert Liston became an influential diplomat and was the second person to serve as British Minister to the United States, 1796-1801. Robert's service coincided with a highly significant period in British-American relations. In 1796 he married Henrietta Marchant Liston.
Catherine was born in Barbados. Her father, John Prettejohn, a wealthy planter and slave owner in Barbados, was originally from Exmouth, Devon, and her mother, Charlotte Warsam, was Barbadian by birth. In 1790 Catherine married Frederick Maitland (1763-1848), a British Army officer at Barbados. Maitland was involved in the capture of Martinique from the French in 1794, as well as commanding a brigade in the capture of Danish, Swedish, and Dutch West India islands during 1800–1801. As her husband's career progressed, Catherine moved between the West Indies, Europe and Scotland, but in her later years settled in southern England. Catherine and Frederick had nine children. Frederick was a full General in the British Army when he died on 27 January 1848 at Tunbridge Wells, Kent, aged 84. Catherine died on 7 April 1853 at Portsmouth, also at the age of 84.
Mary's first husband, Joseph Brown, was a merchant from Antigua. They had two sons, Francis Frye Brown (1775-1842) and Samuel Martin Brown, baptised 1776. Mary married her second husband, Dr Nathaniel Marchant, on the 18 September 1785 at St John's, Antigua. In 1797 Mary who visited the United States, was described by Eleanor Parke Custis, Martha Washington's granddaughter, as 'a sweet beautiful engaging woman, her husband very pleasing and entertaining' (Letter to Elizabeth Boardley, 23 November 1797).
Baptised on 3 March 1754 at St John's, Antigua, Nathaniel was one Henrietta Marchant Liston's four brothers. After the death of his parents, Nathaniel went to Glasgow with his siblings in the early 1760s, enrolling in the University of Glasgow in 1766. He became a doctor and returned to Antigua, where he married Mary Brown, a widow, on 18 September 1785. He was a member of the Council and justice of the peace in Antigua. On 13 November 1791 Nathaniel purchased Dimsdales & Staughton's plantations, previously the property of Tom Warner, for £22,000. Nathaniel and his wife visited Robert and Henrietta Liston in the United States in 1797, and at The Hague in 1803. In Henrietta's correspondence there are references to her brother's bad health and particularly to problems with his eyes which caused serious pain and vision impairment. 'The Gentleman's Magazine' reported that, after a very severe illness, Dr Marchant died at Sidmouth, Devon. Nathaniel was an assistant justice of the Court of Common Pleas in Antigua and one of his Majesty's council. His tombstone reads: 'Near this place lie the remains of Nathaniel Marchant Esq. A native of the Island of Antigua where his abilities as a Physician a Magistrate and a Legislator and the many amiable qualities of his mind will be lost in admiration while memory shall last. He died the 23rd of February 1804 in the 49th year of his age and his disconsolate widow after receiving uninterrupted proof of his affection for 18 years caused this stone to be erected to his memory.'
A lawyer, delegate to the Continental Congress 1787-1788, and politician from Sussex County, Delaware, Mitchell served as an officer in the Continental Army during the War of Independence. Between 1805 and 1808 he was governor of Delaware.
Although he served as the President and Chief Justice of the island of St. Vincent, Drewry Ottley was born 17 July 1754 at St John's, Antigua, and baptised there on 13 January 1755. He was the eldest son of Richard Ottley of St Christopher's [St Kitts] and Elizabeth Warner of Antigua. He was educated at Eton College, and admitted as a 'fellow-commoner' to St John's College Cambridge in April 1773, and to Lincoln’s Inn in August the same year. Ottley married twice, first to Elizabeth Gerrald Jackson from St Vincent, in 1780. They had seven children, three dying in infancy. After Elizabeth died, Drewry married Elizabeth Gray of Antigua at St Vincent in 1802 and had two children. He died at St Vincent on 17 September 1805.
Naval officer, Vice-Admiral of the Red. William Parker entered the Navy in 1756 and was at the American station during the Seven Years' War. Promoted Lieutenant in 1766 and Captain in 1777, he became Commodore and Commander-in-Chief in the Leeward Islands, 1787-1790 and Commander-in-Chief at Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1800. William died suddenly in 1802 and was buried in the Parker family vault at St Alfege, Greenwich. His wife, Jane Collingwood, was also buried there when she died in 1815. They had seven children.
Politician and writer. Born in London, John was the eldest son of landowner Thomas Penn and Lady Juliana Fermor Penn, and the grandson of William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania. He was educated at the University of Cambridge and travelled in Europe before moving for a time to America. He lived in Philadelphia from 1782 to 1789 and designed the 'Solitude' house on the west of the Schuylkill River. The Listons rented Solitude in 1800. After he returned to England, John became Sheriff of Bucks in 1798 and a Member of Parliament in 1802.
Pennsylvania physician, politician, professor, and opponent of slavery. Having received the AB degree from the College of New Jersey when he was just 14, Benjamin Rush became an apprentice to prominent surgeons, and in 1766 went to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh. He became a celebrated physician and was famous for his work during Philadelphia's yellow fever epidemics. A friend of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Thomas Paine, Benjamin was also a Founding Father who played a considerable, though at times strained, role in the American Revolution. He signed the Declaration of Independence as a member of the Pennsylvania delegation and was instrumental in persuading another signatory, Scotsman John Witherspoon, to emigrate to America. Benjamin exemplifies the personal, political and intellectual connections between Scotland and America throughout the 18th century. He sustained friendships with people in Scotland, including the Listons. He married Julia Stockton in 1776.
Born near Princeton, New Jersey, Julia Stockton was the eldest daughter of Annis Boudinot Stockton and the judge Richard Stockton, eminent New Jersey patriot and signer of the Declaration of Independence. In 1776, aged 17, Julia married Dr Benjamin Rush, a friend of the family, who was then 30. They had three daughters and six sons.
Physician and medical educator from Philadelphia. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 1785, Philip studied medicine in London and at the University of Edinburgh where he received his medical degree in 1792. Returning to Philadelphia, Philip set up a practice with the help of his friend Dr Rush, and in 1794 was elected surgeon to Pennsylvania hospital. Philip was a professor of surgery and anatomy at the University of Pennsylvania and is considered the 'Father of American Surgery'.
Henry Stuart was the fifth son of the politician and diplomat the 1st Marquess of Bute, John Stuart, who Robert Liston was secretary for in Italy. Henry's mother was the wealthy heiress Charlotte Jane Hickman Windsor (1746-1800) who died suddenly on 28 January 1800. From the summer of 1796 to December 1800, Henry was secretary to Robert Liston, British Minister to the United States in Philadelphia. In 1802 he married the wealthy Irish heiress Lady Gertrude Amelia Villiers. They had three sons and a daughter. Henry died aged 32 and was buried in the Bute Mausoleum in St Margaret's Church, Roath, Wales.
Diplomat and politician. John Stuart, born at Mount Stuart on the Isle of Bute in Scotland, was the father of Lord Henry Stuart. He had four other surviving children with his wife, Charlotte Jane Hickman Windsor (1746–1800). John supported war with the American colonies. He served as Lord-Lieutenant of Glamorgan from 1772-1793 and from 1794 until his death, and he raised a company for the war in America. In 1783 he was appointed as Ambassador to Spain, but did not take up his post until 1795. Renouncing diplomacy in 1798, John became a fellow of the Royal Society in 1799 and a trustee of the British Museum in 1800. After his wife Charlotte's sudden death in 1800, John married Frances Coutts (1773-1832), daughter of the banker Thomas Coutts, and they had two children.
Robert Thomson, President of the Council of St Christopher's [St Kitts], acting Governor of the Leeward Islands. Thomson was an attorney representing several plantation owners on St Kitts, including William Shipley, Dean of St Asaph's Cathedral in Wales. As a senior administrator in the Leeward Islands, Robert led the General Council of the Leeward Islands, convened to address the possibility of abolition of the slave trade and emancipation of slaves. This council introduced an Amelioration Act in 1798, designed to limit the harshness of slaves' conditions without making them free. Robert Thomson died in London, at the home of his son, Charles Thomson, on Portland Place on 2 March 1816 at the age of 77.
Edward Thornton, like Robert Liston, was a self-made diplomat who entered the service through connections he made while he was tutor to the sons of a well-connected political family. Having served as secretary for George Hammond, Minister to the United States in 1791, he became secretary to Robert Liston in 1796 when he took over from Hammond. When Robert returned to Britain in 1800, Edward was Chargé d'Affaires until 1804. In 1812 he married Wilhelmina Koph and had seven children. After working on diplomatic missions in Sweden, he was appointed Minister to Portugal in 1817 and took up the position at the Portuguese Court in Brazil. In 1823 he went to Portugal as Envoy-Extraordinary and Minister-Plenipotentiary. He was made Count of Cassilhas by the King of Portugal and retired in a pension in 1824.
A career soldier, General Trigge's distinguished career started as an Ensign in the 12th Regiment of Foot. He saw active service in the Seven Years' War, at the siege of Gibraltar, and was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of the Gibraltar Garrison in 1796. Thomas commanded the British forces in the West Indies, which captured Surinam in 1799 and several French, Danish and Swedish islands in the Lesser Antilles, attacking from their base in Antigua during March 1801. He was awarded the Order of the Bath for his military service on 6 June 1801. He continued as Lieutenant-Governor of Gibraltar until 1804. He died in London in aged 71, and is commemorated in Westminster Abbey.
William Woodley, was the youngest son of William Woodley MP (1728-1793), Governor of the Leeward Islands 1776-1771 and from 1792-1793, and Lieutenant Governor of Antigua, 1768-1788 and 1792-1793. William's mother was Frances Payne, (1737/8-1813) who had colonial connections to St Kitts. William became President of St Kitts in 1807 and Lieutenant-Governor of Berbice in 1808.
[Library reference for this journal: MS.5704]