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Arcedeckne of Glevering papers, 1744-1848

 Series
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Vanneck-Arc

Scope and Contents

This section relates to the Arcedeckne family, a self-contained sub-section of the wider Vanneck family papers, and relates to the family’s estates in Suffolk and plantations in Jamaica. Comprises family and business correspondence, 1757-1839, relating mostly to Andrew Arcedeckne (1691-1763), Chaloner Arcedeckne (1743-1809) and Andrew Arcedeckne (1780-1849), matters of estate management, the 1832 General Election, and other financial matters. The Glevering estate papers comprise property transactions, accounts and receipts. There is also some material relating to property in London, the Isle of Wight and Devon. The material relating to the family’s Jamaican estates includes reference to enslaved people and enslaved labour. As absentee proprietors, there is a series of letters from the family’s ‘West Indian agent’, a plantation manager acting on their behalf, successively identified as Simon Taylor (to 1813) and later J. Shand, Thomas McCornock and William Winton. For further background on Simon Taylor, see Christer Petley, ‘White Fury: a Jamaican slaveholder and the age of revolution’ (Oxford, 2018). This publication references correspondence between Simon Taylor, described as a ‘slaveholding British colonist’ and ‘one of the richest sugar planters in Jamaica’, and Chaloner Arcedeckne. Other material in this section relates to legal disputes over land in Jamaica. The section of miscellaneous papers (MS Vanneck-ARC/3G) includes several examples of contemporary colonial attitudes towards enslavement and enslaved labour.

Dates

  • Creation: 1744-1848

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

From the Fonds:

Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).

Biographical / Historical

Charles Andrew Vanneck (1818-1897), 3rd Baron Huntingfield of Heveningham Hall, married Louisa Arcedeckne (c. 1818-1898), daughter of Andrew and Harriet Arcedeckne of Glevering Hall in 1839. The Arcedeckne family were absentee plantation owners in Jamaica. Chaloner Arcedeckne (1743-1809) inherited the estates of Golden Grove and Bachelor's Pen in the parish of St Thomas-in-the-East, Jamaica, from his father. The two estates were chiefly sugar plantations, with well over 100 enslaved people. For details, see UCL's Legacies of British Slavery database: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/2146640845. According to the entry on this database, Chaloner's will stipulated that his trustees use the rents and profits from Golden Grove to purchase more enslaved labour. Andrew Arcedeckne (1780-1849), MP and absentee enslaver was awarded compensation in 1835 relating to these two estates (for details, see https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/24517). Glevering Hall at Hacheston, Suffolk, was built 1786-94 for Chaloner Arcedeckne.

Extent

5 archive box(es)

Language of Materials

English