Collection of letters and papers from the office of Sir John Orde, Bt., Governor of Dominica, and slave registers relating to the estates of Peter Campbell, plantation owner of Jamaica, comprising:

(i) Four slave registers for the Holland Estate and Shaws Penn, both in the parish of St Elizabeth, Jamaica, the Petersville Sugar Estate in the parish of Westmoreland and for the parish of Hanover, property of Peter Campbell Esq. and after 1821 his executors, signed and certified as fine copies by Thomas Amyot, Registrar of Colonial Slaves in Great Britain, listing some 1,100 slave names, their colour, age, whether African or Creole, their mother's name if known, increase and decrease in numbers and reasons thereof, ("Joe, negro, 65, African", "Fortune, negro, 14, Creole", "Bristol, negro, 30, Creole", "Monday, negro, 4 months, Creole, Rosie", "Felix, negro, 13, Creole", "Mary/Congo, negro, 40, African"), several given the name Campbell ("Robert Campbell, negro, 50, Creole", "Violet alias Mary Campbell, negro, 58, Creole"), in all some 68 pages from a printed ledger with manuscript insertions and loosely sewn in four signatures, folio, 478 x 340mm., 1817, 1820 and 1823; and manuscript list of slaves on the Holland and Shaws Penn Estates with names, age, occupation and condition, the weaker ones seemingly given easier tasks and only the very young "not at work" ("Casar, 35, watchman, weakly", "Hercules, 17, cattle boy, able", "Judy, 13, domestic, healthy", "Chance, 68, runaway in 1815"), 12 pages, folio, 323 x 205mm., 1 January 1825

(ii) Papers from the office of Sir John Orde, Bt., Governor of Dominica, primarily relating to land grants, including a manuscript list of the French leaseholders in Dominica as at 4 March 1766, registers of grants and plantations, c.1770, some 66 pages, folio, some on loose pages, others folded and sewn, ink and dust stained, torn and damaged with losses; the accounts of the Governor of Dominica from 10 April 1784 to 17 October 1792, 30 pages, folio, sewn into paper cover; with a roll on vellum docketed "Sir John Orde, Bart., Governor of Dominica from 10th January 1784 to 17th July 1789 and from 24th November 1790 to 17th Ottober 1792 and Receiver of monies arising by the sale of Lands in the ceded Islands from 24th ffebruary 1783 to 24 May 1794 – Quit", three joined panels, 1900 x 290mm.; with permit allowing a Mr Hudson to "...keep a proper Publick House for the Reception & Refreshment of Travellers on the Great Road...across the middle of this Island...", 18 June 1767; another regarding the supply of negroes; a letter from Mr Arden enquiring whether his cargo of negroes (36 men, 14 women and 27 children) from Florida to Dominica has arrived; and a long letter from William Manning (father of the cardinal), expressing his concern over the dangers Orde faced during the recent "insurrection of slaves in your Island" and mentioning Mr Wilberforce's "important question" coming up in the Commons ("...I remember many of our West India friends were fearful of bringing the matter to the vote...") but assuring him that the great majority would vote against abolition, telling him that "...Mr W...has got a model in wood of a slave ship in which are placed little black men for the purpose of having a clear idea of the package...", 7 pages, 4to, London, 26 March 1791

(iii) Incoming correspondence to Orde during his naval service, including letters and documents relating to a financial dispute in America, c.1802-4, including a "Certificate of lands and money lost by Mrs Orde by the Revolution in America" (1787); Captain Packwood's account of the miraculous escape of the ship Glory from a devastating storm off Cape Trafalgar in January 1805; other correspondents including Clarendon, Berkeley and Manning; copies of household accounts from 1805; and a series of fourteen affectionate letters from Sir John Orde to his wife ("My dearest Girl"), 3 September to 30 December 1798, some 42 items, 8vo and 4to