About
Type: Extant
Parish: St.Peter
Founding date: 1656
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Current Status
Parham Hill, Parham Lodge and Parham New Works all derive the name ‘Parham’ from Parham town and harbour nearby. When Antigua was first settled Parham was considered as being the capital of Antigua and consisted of one street which ran along the waterfront. The harbor was used for shipping but nevertheless as the capitol, was soon replaced by St. John’s. The Anglican Parish Church of St. Peter’s is located in Parham, first built in 1754 and rebuilt in 1840 by the English architect Thomas Weekes. Its unique architectural octagonal shape and ceiling which reminds one of the inside of a ship, is an historical landmark.
This estate later converted to steam as is evident by the chimney situated just down-hill from the mill. Jake Underhill advised that there were ruins and a lot of stone just below now covered by bush, which were the works and which are identified in the 1862 photograph. The old estate house along with the grounds was lovingly refurbished by Ben Quinn in spite of hurricane damage inflicted in the 1950’s shortly after purchasing the property and continued to be maintained by the late owner Jake Underhill. It is one of the few remaining estate homes left on the island built in 1722 still in its original state with several outbuildings and I am sure that being built mostly of stone and private ownership has contributed to this. Beneath the gallery is a room with bars on the window, supposed to be a dungeon to inter errant slaves, though I question this and think it was probably used for storage. The front entrance has changed over the years as is evident from the Foote photographs. Today the approach passes by the cattle pen which in fact was considered to be the ‘yard’ while the front was shown to be on the north side. Nearby is the mill and below the mill the chimney which is beginning to deteriorate. Mr. Quinn had antique dealers all over the world notify him when a print or painting of Antigua was for sale or came up for auction and had orders to contact him immediately. Over the years he amassed a wonderful collection of over 50 works that would rival any museum. This collection has since been removed for safekeeping.
Estate related History/Timeline
1667: Col. Henry Willoughby was granted 1000 acres by George Warner
1668: By the Act of April 1668 no plantation is to be given over 699 acres, yet Col. Henry Willoughby obtained a patent from William Lord Willoughby, of all Parham …. and several islands reputed 8 or 10,000 acres, and held by his heirs since, all lying waste …..”
1679: Indenture. Charles II between the Right Hon. Ann, Lady Willoughby, brother of heir Henry Willoughby Esq., deceased, of the one part and Clement Tudway and George Turney of London, merchants, on the other, for 800 pounds sterling paid and £1,200 sterling secured she sells to them her plantation called Parham Hill of 1000 acres, also her moiety of Long Island, and half of Barbuda, half to each of them …..” 1680: Possession was given. Schedule of 45 negro men and women, 36 children, 33 cattle, 2 horses, 20 sheep, 12 hogs, 1 cattle mill, coppers, still, etc……” Vere Oliver Vol.III p.248
The Tudway of Wells Antiguan Estate Papers from 1687-1907, originally in Somerset Record Office in Taunton because the Tudway family had long been established in the cathedral city of Wells, with land, property and business interests there, copies of which were donated to the Museum of Antigua & Barbuda by Dr. Carl Roberts & family in 2011. A total of 30 microfilm reels were converted to disc for easy access and research. They represent a significant addition to the primary material available for reconstructing the social and economic history of the British Caribbean and provide invaluable historical data on the production of the Caribbean’s most significant staple crop (sugar) and on the workforce that laboured to sustain output during the long generations of slavery. Mr. Ben Quinn also possessed a collection of letters written between 1752 and 1170 and 1792 to 1807, copies of which are held by the Museum of Antigua & Barbuda.
The annual accounts for Parham plantation (Reel 1) suggest that it was in operation by 1689 and soon flourished along with other similar properties on Antigua. For most of the 18th century the estate consisted of 800 acres, 530 acres under sugar cane and 40 acres of food crops. Twenty years later the provision lands had grown to 280 acres and 560 acres in cane showing a marked attempt by the Tudways to make their estate more self-sufficient in terms of food resources.
The first proprietor of Parham plantation was Clement Tudway, a London merchant who in his will 8 February, 1688, instructed his brother to manage the estate and receive 12% of the profits until his eldest son came of age.
Parham was split around 1750 into an old and a new works, each with its own windmill and boiling house. An indenture of 1829 indicates that the property was then divided into three plantations called Parham Old Work (Parham Hill), Parham New Work and Parham Lodge.
The number of slaves increased from 140 in 1719, to 533 in 1776 and 574 in the 1820’s fairly evenly divided between the three parts of the property. In 1829 it covered 1,026 acres and, under the proprietorship of C.C. Tudway, was enlarged to 1,819 acres by 1921. By that time the plantation had few recorded slave runaways, suggesting that the control of slaves was relatively benign. Ward notes that in the 1820’s some 52 per cent of the slaves at Parham were “ineffective” (including 15 percent who were invalids, 28 percent who were children aged under twelve, and 9 percent who were pregnant or nursing mothers). Only 31 percent of the workforce in that decade were regular field workers.
Besides the slaves who worked the plantations, white indentured servants were brought out and were indentured for 4-7 years, usually the price of their passage. The estates were also in need of managers, overseers, clerks and blacksmiths and often found it difficult to draw from the island’s population. Once their indenture was up, they found various ways to make a living, including purchasing small plots of land which they gradually increased into larger estates.
Several old plans of Vernon’s, owned by Samuel Partain advertising the sale of Vernon’s in 1865, which have come to light recently, show a slave village between Vernon’s and Parham Hill. It is of considerable size which leads me to believe that most of the slaves for all of the Tudway estates lived in that area. See Vernon’s (#75).
Between 1700 and 1830 Parham plantation made profits in most years. The biggest losses came in 1779-80 when shipping lanes for dispatching sugar to Britain were interrupted by enemy privateers during the American revolutionary war and when a tenth of the estate’s slaves died through a dysentery epidemic caused by a scarcity of food and drinking water (Reels 3 and 16).
Reel 3 gives information on the cause s of mortality (see also Ward’s British West Indian Slavery Table #11 pp.134-135 for Parham). Reels 6-9 list wages paid to individual black laborer’s. Reels 1 and 2 list the number of newly-imported slaves arriving at Parham and the prices they fetched. Reels 16-30 largely consist of correspondence stretching the whole time span of the collection. Once can locate a list of stores for 1826 (reel 25) and London price currents for Antiguan sugar for 1863 (Reel 24). Dr. Kenneth Morgan, August 1999.
Additional information on all of the Tudway estates can be found in a recently published in a very comprehensive work “The Tudway Letters” by Mary Gleadall and additionally in Joy Lawrence’s “The Footprints of Parham”
1732: Indenture. Being non-resident owners, the estates were often leased out by indentureship and in the Somerset Heritage Centre there is an interesting sketch by Benjamin Webb c.1742 shows allocations of 10-113 acres leased out to 13 different individuals. One such indenture is as follows, “between Rachel Tudway of London and Clement Tudway, their only son and heir, of the one part and James Douglas of London, Merchant, of the other part witnesseth that in consideration of 5s. Richard & Clement Tudway grant to James Douglas all that plantation in the division of Old North Sound, in the Parish of St. Peter, Parham, Antigua, called Parham Hill ….. for one whole year.”
1748: Clement Tudway will: “… all my plantation called “Parham Hill” and a plot of ground with warehouse in Parham Town, Antigua, and negroes etc. to my cousin Chas. Tudway and his heirs for life in trust, then to my cousin Richard Clement Tudway, etc….”
1734-1815: Clement Tudway. In the Museum of Art in Raleigh, NC. there are two paintings in their permanent collection, one of Clement Tudway (1734-1815) and the other of Mrs. Clement Tudway (1727-1788), both attributed to Thomas Gainesborough, painted in 1773.
There is a pen and grey ink watercolour painting of Parham Hill House and sugar plantation 1779 by Thomas Hearne, owned by the British Museum. It is a rather idyllic scene with the hills in the background very misleading as to the actual countryside.
1819: Map* of the Parham Plantations in Antigua, the property of John Paine Tudway Esq., surveyed by T. Baker in 1819. The Old Work 645 acres 3 Roods 17 Poles, The New Work 451 Acres 0 Roods 13 Poles. *In the possession of the Hon. T.D. Foote, Mr. Tudway’s Attorney at Parham Hill. Vere Oliver Vol.III p.189
1826: George W. Ottley and Jane his wife of Parham Hill had nine children all of which were baptized in St. Peter’s Church in Parham. The Tudway family were absentee landowners and had a succession of overseers who lived on the property.
1829: Indenture. “….. and which plantation (Parham Hill) is now divided into three plantations called Parham Old Works, Parham New Works, and Parham Lodge and also a parcel of land reputed to belong to the plantation in or near Parham Town whereon is a building used for a storehouse bounded N. with the sea or the seashore, E. with the house and lands of Capt. John Goble, S. with Broad Street, and W. With Cross Street leading to the sea, and all other negroes and other slaves mentioned in the several lists w, 2 and 3; 1. Parham Old Work (all names given), 197 men, women & children; 2. Parham New Work, 95 men and boys, 103 women and girls; 3 Parham Lodge, 106 men and boys, 88 women and girls …..”
1832: Parish Register of St. Philip.
Buried *
1831 July 13: Groton Tudway – Parham Lodge 75
August 22: Brunsnell Tudway – Parham Lodge 51
December 13: Thomas Tudway – Parham Hill 65
March 24: Hammond Tudway – Parham Lodge 61
July 14: London Tudway – Parham Lodge 28
*These entries probably relate to coloured person.
Vere Oliver Vol.III P153
1851: Antigua Almanac shows Parham Hill, old Parham Hill, New Work and Parham Lodge of 1036 acres belonging to Robert C. Tudway.
Parham Hill contained 645 acres. Combined with Parham Lodge and Parham New Works contained 1096 acres.
1921: 1819 acres.
The Ghost of Parham Hill.
The Ghost of Parham Hill is a well-known story of which stage plays have been made.
In 1656, a Patrick Rumsey came to the West Indies with his wife Sarah and daughter, to seek his fortune. They prospered and persuaded his uncle, Tom Flynn, a rich farmer in Ireland, to join him. Flynn sailed out on the “Cormorant” and placed some eight thousand pounds in gold & silver in a box and persuaded the Captain who was bound for St. Kitts, to drop him off shore in Antigua. Rumsey met him in his boat off the Narrows and noted that one particular box made of oak and bound with iron, was particularly heavy and needed several men to lift it. Upon reaching the Narrows there was a cart to meet them and upon reaching the house were welcomed by Mrs. Rumsey and her daughter. Mrs. Rumsey was a particularly beautiful woman but of devious character. She listened attentively to the stories of Mr. Flynn’s wealth and bided her time for an opportunity to present itself, which it finally did when did when Mr. Flynn became ill. Using the seeds of Fatiopha growing in her garden, she mixed it with his food until he grew worse daily and finally died. He was buried under a large tree near the house. Nearby was a small deserted cottage called Coral Lodge and it was in the cellar that Mrs. Rumsey buried the treasure secretly removing it while her husband was out. Four months later the dwelling house at Parham Lodge unaccountably caught fire and Mrs. Rumsey was burnt to death in the very room that Flynn was poisoned. From the date of Mrs. Rumsey’s death to the present time, her ghost has appeared. Sometimes in broad daylight it is seen floating on the haunted road between Parham Lodge and Crabb’s, but in the moonlight it may often be seen in the form of a beautiful woman entering “Coral Lodge” by lighted lamp in its left hand on which the figures 1896 are usually displayed. The phantom is as lovely in the face as was the original two centuries ago, only the dark hair dressed in the fashion of its time giving a clue from the past. It has been said that she shall wander to and fro for five hundred years, or the spell is broken by the houses at both ends of the haunted road being simultaneously dedicated to love and happiness.
There are further copies of correspondence from a Colonel B to Dr. John Freeland in 1863 and 1889 that give remarkable credence to this story, besides many others who have seen the ghost of Sarah Rumsey. There has been no record of what has happened to the `buried treasure,’ however.
1735: The following letters which are contained from the Tudway Papers (Museum of Antigua & Barbuda) deal with all aspects of the running of the Parham Hill plantation. Such references include many about the maintenance and treatment of the slave labour force, as is shown in the following selection of extracts from the letters over a twelve-year period in the middle of the 18th century. The first, dated 20 September, 1753, comes from a letter sent to Charles Tudway by his manager at the time, Joshua Crump.
“….I think we are at present pritty well stocked with Slaves, tho’ there are many of the Negroes that are now called able workers are upon the decline, and will in a few years be of Little Service; Was parham Plantation mine, I would every year add twenty Negroes to the present Stock, by which means you will be allwaise well Slaved, and the work of the Estate carried on with ease to your people and credit to the Manager, for when an estate is under handed, the poor Slaves are obliged to be severely wrought, the consequence of which is allwaise a number of
deserters, allso many constantly complaining, which will be a Reflection on the owner as well as the manager of Such Estate; for these reasons I make no doubt but you will be willing to have few Negroes purchased yearly.”
Crump’s letter caused Tudway’s attorney, William Farley (the owner of an adjacent plantation), a few weeks later to put pen to paper in a fury and with little time for punctuation:
“I observe what you say Mr. Crump wrote relating the purchase of seasoned Negroes. I did for you as I did and still do for myself, and it is what the most prudent Planters in this Island, and Mr. Crump don’t offer here to set up his judgment in Plantation affairs against mine, tho he presumes to do it in England, nor did he ever signify to me his approving new rather than seasoned Negroes, if he had, I think I could have satisfied him and notwithstanding what he wrote I am positive that seasoned Negroes were properest for your Plantation at that time as it wanted immediate labour and those could be put to hard work directly, whereas new Negroes must be near or quite two years before they can stand hard labour and shift properly for themselves, and in that time the others would never pay what they cost, where there was more good land than could be manured by the strength you had, and you may see by your Accounts how expensive it is to hire Negroes. As to people selling their worst and retaining their best Slaves, this is always considered, tho it was not the case of those I bought, they belonged to one Warner Tempest, who failed and was obliged to sell every Slave he had. However, there is no such thing as having all good weather, they are bought, new or seasoned, some will prove bad.”
Keeping the slaves properly fed, and supplied with decent drinking water, were constant problems, as is borne and by a letter from Farley sent on 30 May, 1756.
Mr. Tudway had three attorneys in Antigua, Robert Bannister merchant, William Farley and Stephen Blizard owners of neighbouring estates. A letter from William Farley to Charles Tudway dated 24th July, 1756, on a bit of a rant with little time for punctuation.
“…. I must tell you I can’t think your present Manager (Rowland Ash, who took over when Joshua Crump died earlier in the year) a proper one & tho’ I wish I could be silent on this head as he is an old acquaintance and Married to a Relation of my Wife’s, yet I cannot for he is not a Man of Mr. Crup’s pliable disposition but self sufficient & thinks his own Schemes best and if he was otherwise it is not convenient for me to give so much of my tie to any one person as I heretofore did for people observing that I take care of things I am entrusted with & that Plantations do well under my directions have loaded me with business so that I now have the direction of fourteen Estates belonging to others beside three of my own have forty seven Children under my Guardianship and a large shear of the Public business altogether a burthen almost too heavy to bear and what you Gentlemen in England can hardly be made sensibele of, I seldom have one day in a fortnight to my self by which I suffer at least five hundred pounds a year by neglecting my own Affairs and adding to my expences & if instead of doing business for nothing I was selfish enough to mind little else by my own business Rent estates & attend them I cou’d in all probability make a large Sum yearly for my Family….
“What is the most material to inform you at present is that the Beans by (Captain) Keay were all very much injured hardly any of them fit for the Negro’s, one third of these not worth a farthing… I take leave to advise you ner again to send so many Beans in one Vessell for fear of the like accident or their being taken (by enemy action) not so many just at one time for all your’s came in the space of three weekes or a Month and they don’t keep very well in this hot Country they grow hard and dry and won’t boil well… but Negros can’t be fed allwais on beans they must have some Corn and other things for a change…..”
A letter of 10 October 1759, from Tudway’s nephew Robert Holloway, had even worse news:
“The whole Island has been greatly in want of water for their Negroes and cattle drinking, by which many people have suffered, as the bad water has occasioned fluxes everywhere. All your Negroes at different times within these two months past have been badly troubled with it, but I thank God we have not lost one by that disorder…
The dry weather has obliged us to feed the Negroes higher than usual, by which means, the Beans will not hold out and Mr. Farley, who was here on Wednesday, advised Mr. Ash (the manager) to buy Corn and give them for change of diet ….
We have buried since my last Cherry and Maudlin, Negro women, the former of a consumption, who has been in that state for a long time past, and not able to work, and the latter from convulsion fits, they are no loss, as the latter was subject to run away and staying two months at a time. There are fourteen or more women ready to lye in, and others with child, so that I hope your increase of Negroes this year will be great.”
Problems also arose from trying to provide the workforce with suitable clothing, medical attention and tools, as a letter from the manager, Rowland Ash, made clear on 20 September 1762.
“….your Attorneys have appointed Doctor Gilbert to the care of your estates, who has furnished me with the enclosed list of medicines, and as we are in great want of them, must beg to have them sent by the earliest opportunity; and in the list of necessary I sent you I only inserted men’s hoes, but I find since by a resurvey we shall want both women’s and children’s hoes, and I must observe that those that have hitherto been sent out have proved very bad, and gave way in the eye before they were half worn, and very often before they had been used a day. It would be necessary therefore to speak to your ironmonger about them.
I have received….. two bales of Cottons and one of Linens for the next year’s supply; but I must observe that the cottons seem much narrower than formerly, and will hardly cover the body of a grown Negroe, so that we must be forced to give them something more in length to supply the deficit, and if (you) can get them a little wider, it would be better.”
That providing the slaves with adequate clothing was a constant problem for the manager, is borne out in a letter sent on 24 July 1765 by Ash’s replacement Main Sweet Walrond:
“Since I last wrote to you I sent a piece of your Woolens to be compared with Sir William Codrington’s by Mr. Gordon, your Clerk, who tells me they are equal in quality, but that Sir William’s are blue. Sir William has 776 Negroes upon this Island, to whom 1800 yards of Woolens are distributed. You last year sent out 1234 yards, 3 pieces of which (about 96 yards) were left, besides which, I don’t know what proportion of small Negroes Sir William has, nor does Mr. Redhead give the same quantity of clothing that people in general do, which I have already observed in a letter to Mr. Robert Tudway, to whom I have wrote the quantity I give to each Negroe, and I beg you will be kind enough to let me know whether you think I give too much.”
The following advice was contained in a letter sent to the owner of Parham Hill estate, Charles Tudway, by his manager Main Sweet Walrond, on 24th July 1765.
I send you …. for your own use an Hhd. (Hogshead) of last year’s Rum, which I hope you will find pretty good for its age, and I beg to advise you how to improve it. Put nothing on it, but shift it three or four times in the course of twelve months into a new Hhd., the inside of which have been well burned before both heads are put in with clean shavings or straw, and don’t suffer any water to be put in after it is burned. This method will be attended with some waste, but it is the most certain and quick way of improving the Rum, without giving it that fulsome taste which fruits generally do.”
1834: Tudway of Wells manuscripts held by Somerset Heritage Centre (South West Heritage Trust) containing lists of stores, livestock, sales etc ..dated 1834-35 Ref. #DD/TD/56/1 thru 10.
1815-1834: When John Paine Tudway took over the running of the plantations from Clement Tudway (d.1815) one of his implementations was to build a secure two story storage and drying shed for the by-products of sugarcane. The trash from the fields which was used to feed the animals and bagasse, left over from the processed cane, which was used to fuel the boiling of the cane juice.
1941: Antigua Sugar Factory Ltd Cane Returns for 1941 Crop. Tudway Estates. Estimated 8794 tons, 540 acres estate, 3 acres peasant land on the estate, tons of cane delivered 8459 at 14.04 tons per acre.
Joy Lawrence published a book “The Footprints of Parham” and has written quite extensively on the Parham Tudway estates having researched the Tudway Papers on reels at the Museum of Antigua & Barbuda. The following are excerpts from her book.
“The years after emancipation produced a host of natural disasters in close succession. The intensity magnified on 8 Feb. 1843 when a disastrous earthquake shattered Antigua leveling many freemen homes and villages as well as destroying many estates, setting everyone back in countless ways. It appears the Tudways fared better than most. They were able to produce sugar on some estates. Manager W. Foote reported to R.C. Tudway on 17 Feb., 1843 that, although the tragedy affected them, he was pleased that the Lodge had since been grinding, Old Work cane and its mill would be operational in ten days. On 21 Mar., 1843, the estate shipped sugar to London as usual.” (p.43)
She recounts the names of the Managers and Overseers as follows: reel 29 (P. 46)
*Thomas Dickson Foote (1823-1908), January 1839, Attorney/Manager, salary £300
Robert Goodwin, June 1870, Manager, salary £100
Francis Clark, July 1872, Overseer, salary £48
John Freeland Foot, December 1872, Manager, salary £140
Arthur Edwards, August 1874, Overseer, salary £48
Joseph G. Gore, November 1874, Overseer, salary £40
Edmund Bladen, September 1875, Chief Overseer, salary £60
George M. Rudd, August 1875, Second Overseer, salary £40.
Her poem tells the tale of many of the estate owners in the early 1900’s. (P.49)
‘Sugar workers work hard pan Parham Hill,
For pittance dem feed de sugar mill
Den dem say no, dis work nar pay
Arwe haffo find Union today!
Tudway expenses continue to soar
Profit grow wing and fly out de door
Union win-tings tun roun’
Tudway pack up an lef Parham Town.”
*Thomas Dickson Foote (1823-1908) was not only the attorney for the Tudway estates, he resided at the Parham Hill estate house with his family for many years. He came from a succession of Foote’s, going back to Thomas Dickson Foote (1796-1858) who was an attorney for the Tudway estates in his time. In the small cemetery behind Vernon’s with crumbling walls overtaken by brush, which belongs to the Anglican Church, will be found the grave of his wife Catherine (nee Freeland, a cousin) the headstone which reads, “In memory of CATHERINE/the beloved wife of /THOMAS DICKSON FOOTE married 1849 died 1903/aged 78 years also of /THOMAS DICKSON FOOTE/died 1908 aged 85 yrs// and “In Loving Memory of/JOHN FREELAND FOOTE/Fell asleep Nov.13 1923 Aged 72//.” The family continued to reside in Antigua until the 1940’s, and old Grammar School (Semper Virens) boys will remember their headmaster, Mr. Foote. It is his son, Thomas ‘Tom’ Dickson Foote who resides in Australia, whom we have to thank for several of the photographs of Parham Hill.
1943: In 1943 the Antigua Syndicate Estates,Ltd. leased from August 1943 for 21 years with right to renew another 21 years. 16,000 shares were issued to Commodore Tudway D.S.O.) Parham Hill was appraised at $15,000 as per the Syndicate Estates.
1944: The purchase price for the Tudway estates by Syndicate was £43,741.
1945: A Certificate of Title for the Tudway estates dated 16th April, 1945. Transfer of Sale of 9,735 acres of land to Government by Syndicate.
1949: Parham Hill was purchased by Mr. Ben Quinn, USA, for L750.
1951: A number of house lots were sold by the Syndicate to people who had been living on the land for some time, some of whom had been renting. Prices ranged from £45 to £545 for lots between 4 acres and 3,756 ft.
Early 1950’s the Manager at Parham Hill was Percy Yearwood.
1952: The Tudways’ Manager was Mr. William H. Odlum, the Overseer Alfred Mathews.
1953: Mr. W.H. Odlum who was manager for the Tudway estates since 1937, died in 1953.
1961: Mr. E.A. Hewlett was the acting manager of Tudways Estates.
1955: The Syndicate minutes show that there were three Groups, A, B & C over which there was a Superintendent, Manager and an Overseer or two. The Superintendent for Group B was E.G. Derrick (d.1955) and comprised of Tudways, Diamond (#37), Gilbert’s (#80), Comfort Hall (#103) and Betty’s Hope (#77a) with a total of 857 acres.
1951 Regarding the Tudway estates, the Syndicate Estates Ltd. minutes record that a number of house lots were sold to people who had been living on the land for some time, some of whom had rented, ranging in price from L45 to $545 for lots between 4 acres and 3,756 sq.ft.
In 1949 after Ben Quinn, an American, purchased Parham Hill for £750 instead of a house lot at Mill Reef which he had come to Antigua to look at, he started to refurbish the property only to have the two hurricanes of 1950 cause havoc. This however, did not deter him, and it is thanks to Mr. Quinn that one of Antigua’s remarkable estate homes, built in 1772, still stands today. My father, Jimmy Watson, who was manager of the sugar factory at the time, helped install a swimming pool behind the mill built from some old metal tanks no longer in use. I spent many an afternoon in the late 1950’s swimming while my Dad and Ben Quinn shot at clay pigeons from the side of the pool, taking turns to alternately ‘pull’ and shoot. Many might remember his old station wagon that he had shipped down from the States which he drove to town in – it had wooden panels on the side and a horn mounted on the outside that made a peculiar racquet when he blew it. A few years later when I got married (1961) at the Cathedral with the reception at the manager’s house, sugar factory, I went up to Parham Hill in the morning to pick armfuls of white coralita both for my bouquet and to decorate the table. I do not know of any white coralita growing in Antigua today yet the countryside abounds with the beautiful wild pink variety. Memories Agnes Meeker
1958: In 1958 in Gang 1, there were 13 cane cutters and the records show that for the period ending 22nd March 1958 Charles Roberts worked 6 days, cut 86.9 lines (14.48 lines per day) and made $3.67 per day for a total of $22.01. The rest of the names on the list were Stephen Tittle, Sull Weston, Joshua Thomas, Glenroy Hunt, Bernard Sebastian, Moses Jospeh, William Looby, Lawrence Joseph, David Martin, Leonard Crawford, Walter King and Oscar Isaac. They worked 3- 6 days a week. Title and Sebastian who both worked 6 days cut 132.4 and 132.3 lines and made a total of $30.17 and $30.65 for the week which was the highest recorded. The average for 6 days was 86.9 lines, the least for 3 days was 18.8 lines. This was hard work in the hot sun, and it would be interesting to find out the age of the cane cutters to establish the variance in the number of lines cut.
1961: In 1961, Mr. E.A. Hewlett was acting manager of Tudways Estates for the Syndicate.
1969: The Lands of Antigua & Barbuda Sugar Factory Limited and The Antigua & Barbuda Syndicate Estates Limited (Vesting) Act. 30th December, 1969.
All that piece or parcel of land forming part of Tudway approximately 1246.0682 and 86 acres of swamp as contained in Certificate of Title No.411944 dated 17th February, 1944 and registered in Register Book Q Folio 84.
Enslaved People’s History
Based on contemporary research, we have a fair amount of information to share about the enslaved peoples from this plantation at this time. We know that there were differing numbers of enslaved people at each section of this estate, and some information from Vere Oliver’s histories of Antigua is included below: “…Parham Old Work (all names given), 197 men, women & children; 2. Parham New Work, 95 men and boys, 103 women and girls; 3 Parham Lodge, 106 men and boys, 88 women and girls …” “1832 – Parish Register of St. Philip. Buried * 1831 July 13: Groton Tudway – Parham Lodge 75 August 22: Brunsnell Tudway – Parham Lodge 51 December 13: Thomas Tudway – Parham Hill 65 March 24: Hammond Tudway – Parham Lodge 61 July 14: London Tudway – Parham Lodge 28 These entries probably relate to coloured person.” Vere Oliver Vol.III P153 We also know that the estate had lots of trouble keeping enslaved peoples properly fed and supplied with potable drinking water. These constant problems arose in letters as early as the 1750s. Finally, we know that the estate was awarded £2,689 6 s 11 d by the British government for the freedoms of 181 enslaved people after slavery was abolished in the Caribbean. We will continue our quest for more information about these vital individuals.
Ownership Chronology
Ownership from 1656 Col. Henry Willoughby
- 1679: Clement Tudway (1649-1689)
- 1688: Charles Tudway (1660-1693) lived in Antigua 1687-1692
- 1692: Clement Tudway (1674-1749)
- 1740: Charles Tudway (1713-1770) inherited from his cousin Clement Tudway
- 1760: Clement Tudway (1734-1815) 1777/78 Luffman map known as “Evanton’s”
- 1715: John Paine Tudway. (1775-1835) 587 slaves
- 1843: Robert Charles Tudway (1808 – 1855)
- 1878: Capt. Charles Clement Tudway (1846-1926) He married the daughter of Lord Horatio Nelson in 1870, Lady Edith Nelson (1850-1877) – 1872 Horsford Almanac- Steam Works
- 1926: Lionel Tudway (1893-1962)
- 1933: Commander L.C. P. Tudway. 1933 Camacho map
- 1943: Leased for 21 years to Antigua Syndicate Estates, Ltd.
- 1944: Sold to Antigua Syndicate Estates Ltd. for shares yielding a small dividend
- 1958: Antigua Syndicate Estates, Ltd.
- 1968: Antigua Government – Crown Land
- 1949: Benedict Nicholson Quinn. Estate house and 9,092 surrounding acreage.
- 1970s: Jacob ‘Jake’ Underhill (1926-2016) nephew of Ben Quinn