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When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full thesis title", University of Southampton, name of the University School or Department, PhD Thesis, pagination http://eprints.soton.ac.uk UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON FACULTY OF HUMANITIES History The Royal Navy in the Caribbean, 1756-1815 by Siân Williams Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy September 2014 Abstract Intersecting the fields of naval, imperial and Caribbean history, this thesis examines the Royal Navy’s interactions with the inhabitants of the British Caribbean islands between 1756 and 1815. Traditional histories of the Royal Navy in the Caribbean have focused on operational matters, producing narratives that neglect examination of the navy as a socio-cultural force in the region. This thesis aims to address this imbalance by focusing on the navy as a unique social group with multiple roles, which was a constant presence in the Caribbean during a particularly turbulent period at the height of the sugar industry. In conjunction with Catherine Hall’s hypothesis that metropole and colony were ‘mutually constitutive’, the navy is placed at the centre of this study, as it was a powerful institution at the forefront of British imperialism that had a vested interest and connection to both the metropole and the Caribbean. It offers a new perspective that broadens our understanding of the navy and Caribbean society, as part of the wider Atlantic community. Through the often overlooked personal narratives found in correspondence, journals, sketchbooks, and published memoirs of naval observers, this thesis explores how naval seamen represented and reflected upon their experiences and encounters with inhabitants of the Caribbean, highlighting their widespread integration and impact on the region, which previous studies have undervalued. With overlapping themes that engage with debates on empire, nation and identity, it argues that the navy was more than just a protective force as naval seamen were instrumental in the changing social and cultural landscape of the Caribbean, impacting both elite and non-elite communities. In exploring the navy’s social prominence in the region, this thesis offers a textured view of both colonial society and the naval community. i Contents Abstract..................................................................................................................................... i Contents ................................................................................................................................ iii List of figures ....................................................................................................................... v DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP ...............................................................................ix Acknowledgements ..........................................................................................................xi Abbreviations ................................................................................................................... xiii Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 1 The Caribbean .............................................................................................. 2 The Royal Navy and British identity, 1756-1815 ............................................ 7 Historiography, sources and thesis structure .............................................. 13 1. The Royal Navy, 1756-1815: Empire, Atlantic and the Caribbean 23 1.1 Overview of the Caribbean region: settlement, sugar, slavery and society ....................................................................................................... 24 1.2 Conflict in the Caribbean region ....................................................... 30 1.3 The Royal Navy in the Caribbean ....................................................... 37 1.4 Conclusions ...................................................................................... 47 2. Elite interactions ................................................................................................... 49 2.1 Island networks ................................................................................ 55 2.2 Universal hospitality ......................................................................... 58 2.3 Socialising ........................................................................................ 63 2.4 Lasting ties ....................................................................................... 74 2.5 Conclusions ...................................................................................... 86 3. Protection and dependency ............................................................................ 91 3.1 Relationships of influence ................................................................. 93 3.2 Island tensions ................................................................................. 98 3.3 Cooperation with impressment ....................................................... 108 3.4 Information and knowledge circulation ........................................... 116 3.5 Conclusions .................................................................................... 122 4. Caribbean responses to the Royal Navy .............................................. 125 4.1 Monuments .................................................................................... 126 4.2 Thanks ........................................................................................... 143 iii 4.3 Gifts ............................................................................................... 153 4.4 Conclusions .................................................................................... 161 5. Free people of colour and the service economy ............................. 165 5.1 Market and coastal commerce ........................................................ 167 5.2 Hospitality industry ........................................................................ 178 5.3 Health services ............................................................................... 197 5.4 Conclusions .................................................................................... 203 6. Representing the Caribbean: The naval gaze ................................... 207 6.1 Formal sketching ............................................................................ 207 6.2 Informal sketching .......................................................................... 215 6.3 Conclusions .................................................................................... 236 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 239 Appendix 1 Islands of the Caribbean ........................................................ 249 Appendix 2 Compiled list of naval commanders-in-chief ........................... 251 Bibliography .................................................................................................................... 259 iv List of figures Figure 1. 'The watering place at Barbadoes', Captain Edward Pelham Brenton, c. 1801 (NMM, PAF8419). ........................................................... 42 Figure 2. 'West India Washer Women', Agostino Brunias, c.1770 (National Library of Jamaica, Institute of Jamaica, Kingston, Bilby-6, as shown on www.slaveryimages.org). ......................................... 55 Figure 3. 'A Grand Jamaica Ball!, or, The Creolean hop a la muftee; as exhibeted in Spanish Town', A.J. 67th Regt. attributed to Abraham James, published by William Holland, 1802 (Courtesy of The Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University, lwlpr10214). ......................... 66 Figure 4. 'A Grand Jamaica Ball! or the Creolean hop a la muftee; as exhibeted in Spanish Town', A.J. 67th Regt. attributed to Abraham James, published by William Holland, 1802 (Library of Congress, Washington, LC-DIG-ppmsca-07200). ...................................... 67 Figure 5. 'Segar Smoking Society in Jamaica!', A.J. 67th Regt. attributed to Abraham James, published by William Holland, 1802 (Courtesy of The Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University, lwlpr10319). ..... 68 Figure 6. 'Lindos, ent[ra]nc[e] to Admirals pen from Greenwich, Jamaica', William Berryman, between 1808 and 1815 (Library of Congress, LC-USZ62-136763). ................................................................. 71 Figure 7. 'A ward room mess', Captain Edward Pelham Brenton, c. 1801 (NMM, PAF8407). ............................................................................... 73 Figure 8. 'The Torrid Zone Or, Blessings of Jamaica', A.J. 67th Regt., attributed to Abraham James, published by William Holland, c. 1803 (Courtesy of The Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University, lwlpr10433). ..........................................................................