| Description | Content Advice: This file includes items relating to enslavement, as well as offensive terms or terms that have changed meaning over time. In some cases these terms are included in our catalogue descriptions in order to provide information about the content and nature of the source.
Letters are addressed to Gale unless otherwise stated, and often endorsed with his draft replies.
1 Copy letter from John Fisher to Long and Drake [firm of West India merchants], dated 15 May 1765, concerning debts, mortgages and bonds.
2 Letter to Mr [Johnathan?] Gale, from Long & Drake, dated 12 June 1765, concerning the sale of property in Spanish Town, Jamaica and financial complexities surrounding the property.
3 Letter from J Spooner with response from William Gale, dated 04 October and 08 October 1774. The letters concern the unconfirmed whereabouts of a release deed on a property in Spanish Town, Jamaica.
4 Letter from James Campbell to William Gale, dated 10 September 1774, concerning mortgage payments due and the allocation of legal representation, and the illness of a Mr Edward East Esq. This letter includes a reference to a Jewish money lender [surname possibly Percival?].
5 Letter from Mr and Mrs Garthwaite and Catherine Trelawney to William Gale, dated 01 September 1774, concerning the allocation of legal representation.
6 Letter from Edward Garthwaite with response from William Gale, dated 07 and 30 November 1774 concerning the halting of Garthwaites legal disputes with a Mr Dickinson due to his wife's [Elizabeth Garthwaite] sudden and terminal illness.
7 Letter from Edward Garthwaite with response from William Gale, dated 12 September 1775 and 12 January 1776, concerning the allocation of power of attorney and the dispute between Garthwaite and Dickinson.
8 Copy of a letter from Edward Garthwaite to William Gale, dated 08 February 1775, concerning the death of Elizabeth Garthwaite, and the resolution of the legal dispute between Edward Garthwaite and Mr Dickinson via the sale of acreage, sugar cane, cattle and enslaved people to pay off debts.
9 Letter from E. East to William Gale, dated 10 July 1775, concerning the details of the land owned by Edward Garthwaite and the matter of its worth and volume.
10 Letter from Joseph Sanders to William Gale, dated 26 December 1776, concerning the estate of the late Mr Dickens; its worth, condition and future maintenance; as well as the effect of the American War of Independence on many estates in the British West Indies.
11 Letter from John Rickle to William Gale, dated 10 March 1777, concerning the impact of recent weather in Jamaica on the ability to grow sugar and other crops, as well as the sale of titles.
12 Note from William Knight to William Gale, dated 01 July 1780, concerning a familial dispute between Knight and Gale.
13 Letter from William Knight with response from William Gale, dated 25 and 26 June 1780 [on reverse side dated 20 and 28 June], concerning a familial dispute between Knight and Gale.
14 Letter from William Knight with response from William Gale, dated 28 June 1780, concerning a familial dispute between Knight and Gale.
15 Letter from William and Catherine Knight to William Gale, dated 04 July 1780. The main subject of the letter is still concerned with the disputes between W Knight and W Gale, concerning a familial dispute between Knight and Gale.
16 Copy of correspondence between E G Redwar (niece of William Gale) and William Gale, dated 26 December 1780, concerning family matters and news.
17a Letter from Sarah Catherine Crockett in Liverpool to William Gale, dated 11 January 1782, concerning a request for financial assistance and her dissatisfaction with her [arranged?] marriage.
17b Letter from William Gale to Sarah Catherine Crockett, dated 30 January 1782, responding to Crockett's request for financial aid by offering to pay for her passage back to Jamaica from Liverpool.
18 Letter from Sarah Catherine Crockett to William Gale, dated 12 February 1782, declining Gale's offer to pay for her passage to Jamaica.
19 Copy of a letter from George Mackenzie to William Gale, dated 25 July 1782, regarding his continued patronage.
20 Copy of a letter from Robert Cooper Lee to William Gale, dated 03 December 1779, concerning the execution of a deed of exchange involving multiple parties, relating to the sale of a property named Weston Favell in Chancery, Jamaica.
21 Copy of correspondence between William Gale and William Atherton, dated 23 December 1782 and 27 January 27 1783, concerning business accounts and wages as well as other estate administration and financial matters.
22 Letter from William Atherton to William Gale, dated 04 February 1783, concerning Atherton's evaluation and distribution of payment to Mr Waugh, and the sale of the Weston Favel estate belonging to a Mrs Harding. Includes references to enslaved people.
23 Copy of a letter from William Atherton to William Gale, dated 20 March 20 1783, concerning financial and business matters, but also mentions the decrease in the price of sugar in Liverpool and Bristol in England.
24 Copy of correspondence by Mr Miles Esq., originally between William Atherton and a Mr Morris, dated 01 July and 05 July 1783, concerning plans to undertake a group tour of Wales and the Lake District. The correspondence also refers to the arrival of news from Jamaica.
25 Copy of a letter by Long and Drake, originally from William Atherton to William Gale dated 07 July 1783, concerning plans to undertake a group tour of Wales and the Lake District.
26 Unsigned copy of a letter to William Gale, dated 18 November 1783, concerning the installation of infrastructure in the estates in Jamaica relating to the control and utilisation of the estates' water with the construction of a dam, watermill and a well.
27 Letter from Alexander Falconer to William Gale, sent from the ship Parnassus, dated 14 August 1784, concerning damages incurred by floods and a hurricane across the entire island, with specific focus on the damage caused to the plantations and estates, as well as the destruction of many ships. Includes references to enslaved people.
28 Letter from a Mr Brooke of Herald's College to William Gale, dated 14 April 1784, concerning genealogical documents.
29 Letter from Fanny Cooke to William Gale, dated (receipt) 10 November 1784, concerning a request for copies of legal documents relating to her late father's will and requesting assistance in obtaining the Cooke Hall sugar works previously belonging to her father.
30 Letter from Mr Douglaswith a response from William Gale, dated 22 April 22 1784, concerning a legal dispute with Mr Luarell.
31 Copy of a letter made by Long and Drake, originally from James Henry to William Gale, dated 22 April 1783, concerning Henry's family, recent voyage, and Gale's assistance in his children's futures.
32 Letter from Sarah Catherine Crockett to William Gale, dated 1782, concerning thanks for previous financial aid.
33 Copy of a letter by Long and Drake, originally from Sarah Catherine Crockett to Wiliam Gale, dated 01 May 1785, concerning her debt, being held in jail, and request for financial aid.
34 Undated document (including the name Mr Allan on the reverse side) concerning the sale of Port Royal.
35 Financial accounts of William Gale with a Miss Hodgins, dated September 1760, concerning payments made by Gale to a number of individuals, seemingly for the acquisition of testamentary documents of the Hodgkins and Woods family.
36 Document entitled 'the award of the arbitrators', written by William Gale and dated 1762, detailing the awards he plans to pay to Mr Fisher and Mr Hankey.
37 Copy of a list of deeds dating between 1766 and 1782. The transactions featured in the deeds mainly relate to the sale of land, property, and enslaved people.
38 Draft interrogatories for examination of William Gale under a commission, dated 05 April 1774, relating to a legal dispute between Elizabeth [Gibbons], Countess Dowager of Home, and Francis Delap over the ownership of land in Saint Jago de la Vega, Spanish Town, Jamaica.
39 List of books, papers, bonds, and deeds, left by William Gale at the York estate, dated 1776.
40 Document concerning William Gale's financial accounts with Thomas Thorpe between 1782 and 1784, listed as settled on 11 May 1784. The accounts mainly concern the employment of cleaners and maintenance workers in different areas.
41a An extract of a letter to William West, regarding Lewis Redwar, dated 20 April 1784. The reverse side features a brief extract from earlier correspondence between William Gale and William Knight.
41b Note detailing the value of sixty enslaved African people [c 1787]. The reverse side features an extract from a letter.
A more detailed description of the letters is available on request.
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