{"id":1231,"date":"2023-02-13T18:33:33","date_gmt":"2023-02-13T18:33:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inneskeighren.com\/williammacintosh\/?p=1231"},"modified":"2023-04-28T11:36:39","modified_gmt":"2023-04-28T10:36:39","slug":"macintosh-co","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inneskeighren.com\/williammacintosh\/?p=1231","title":{"rendered":"Macintosh & Co."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At the end of January I had the pleasure of meeting the Bath-based author Paul Jackson, who, in collaboration with Michael Rowe, is currently working on a fascinating-sounding two-volume biography of Macintosh’s onetime business partner, William Pulteney<\/a>. Meeting Paul offered a welcome opportunity to revisit some of my earlier work on the partnership between Macintosh and Pulteney and an excuse to put some of it together here. Although some elements of the short-live partnership remain mysterious, its broad outlines are preserved in Macintosh’s correspondence and in some contemporary manuscript and printed sources. In what follows, I offer a brief thumbnail sketch of the partnership’s history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The circumstances under which Macintosh and Pulteney first became acquainted are not recorded, but it is likely that they were introduced via Pulteney’s brother, Colonel Alexander Johnstone<\/a>\u2014a friend of Macintosh and a fellow Grenada planter\u2014when all three were in London in 1769 or 1770. Pulteney went on to become guarantor for Macintosh’s Dutch loan<\/a>, a financial agreement that marked the beginning of their business partnership\u2014one based upon the purchase of lands in Tobago and Dominica. It was, for various reasons, a partnership that did not survive long, lasting barely four years. Its messy financial consequences rumbled on for many years, however, and left the former partners enduringly suspicious and mistrustful of one another.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Detail from A new map of the island of Tobago<\/em> (c<\/em>. 1771) showing Great River Division (or Parish of St Mary). Macintosh and Pulteney\u2019s lands circled in yellow. Gedney Clarke\u2019s \u201cBushy Park\u201d estate circled in red, and his \u201cRichmond\u201d estate in blue. The Great Dog River is now Queens River; Great River is now Roxborough River.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The partnership’s initial purchases were focused on Tobago. Macintosh had bought lot 24 (85 acres) in his own name in May 1769 (see below). As yet, I have been unable to identify the precise dates on which lots 17, 18, and 19 were added to the partnership, but they are likely to have been in 1769 or 1770. Lots 17 and 18 (400 and 100 acres respectively) had originally been purchased by William Alexander<\/a> and lot 19 (200 acres) by Andrew Allon in March 1767. This, at least, is the account given by John Fowler in his 1774 book A Summary Account of the Present Flourishing State of the Respectable Colony of Tobago<\/a><\/em>. Other, albeit slightly later, sources<\/a> indicate that lots 17, 18, and 19 were, in fact, purchased by Alexander John Alexander<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The National Archives CO 101\/13, f 63v, \u201cAccot. Sales of Plantation Allotments in the Island of Tobago, 10 May 1769,” showing Macintosh’s purchase of lot 24.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Lot 4, Bushy Park, and lots 5 and 6, Richmond, were owned at this time by Gedney Clarke<\/a>. Macintosh had met Clarke in Barbados in September 1770 and was assured\u2014as he later told Pulteney\u2014of Clarke’s \u201cassistance & good Neighbourhood as may greatly falicitate [i.e., facilitate] the improvement of our Tobago concerns in his Neighbourhood.\u201d A year later, in September 1771, Macintosh wrote to Clarke to ask if he would consider ceding \u201c110 or 165 Acres\u201d of his Bushy Park estate in order to allow Macintosh to establish a water mill on \u201cthe upper part of Bushy Park between two lofty Hills.\u201d The price Clarke proposed\u2014\u201cThirty Pound Sterling P Acre,\u201d \u201chalf down, & half within the year\u201d\u2014was one that Macintosh did not accept.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the summer of 1771, an advert was placed in the Public Advertiser<\/em> for the sale of certain unspecified lots of undeveloped land in Tobago. Although no specifics were provided in the advert, there is reason to suspect that this was an early attempt by the partnership to test the waters to see whether or not they might be able to turn a quick profit on their recent acquisition. The reason to suspect this advert relates to partnership business is that Pulteney used John Irving to coordinate the dissolution of the partnership in 1773\/74.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The Public Advertiser<\/em>, 13 June 1771, p. [4]. Could these be partnership lands?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In November 1771, Macintosh wrote to inform Pulteney that he had provisionally negotiated a sale of 300 acres of the partnership lands, at \u00a320 per acre, to the London lawyer Francis Eyre<\/a> (represented in the West Indies by a Mr. [John?] Colby). As Macintosh then noted, \u201cThe Sale of that parcel would enable us to settle another Estate without drawing purses.\u201d This deal seems to have gone nowhere. Around the same time, however, an advertisement appeared in the London Evening-Post<\/em> for the sale of 800 acres of land in the Great River division of Tobago. This was, perhaps, evidence of the partnership seeking to establish the market value of their holdings. The advert also sought a loan of \u00a312,000\u2014a private request on Macintosh’s behalf that was intended to allow him to extend his own private landholdings.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The London Evening-Post<\/em>, 4\u20137 April 1772, no. 6,904, p. [3].<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In April 1772 a survey of Tobago detailed the composition of the partnership’s landholding: an estate now called “Poultney Hill” (see TNA, CO 101\/16, ff. 126r\u2013130v). In addition two white overseers\u2014John Leadbeatter (or Leadbetter), Macintosh\u2019s sometime manager in Grenada, and Peter White (whom I have not been able to identify)\u2014there were 53 enslaved workers on the estate: one who could “be trusted with Arms” and 52 who could not. Of the estate’s combined 785 acres, only 60 areas had been cleared by that date, and of those only 6 planted with sugarcane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By September 1772, Macintosh was proposing that he and Pulteney sell at least half, if not more, of their Tobago lands due to the damage being caused on the island by leaf blast<\/a> (a disease affecting sugarcane): \u201cin the present Circumstances it will be best to Sell at Tobago even so low as 15 Guineas p Acre,\u201d he wrote. In preparation, on 8 September 1772, Macintosh obtained certificates from George Gibb, Register, to confirm that lots 17, 18, 19, and 24 were free of any \u201cConveyance, Mortgage or other Incumbrance whatever,\u201d other than the existing deed of lease and release, which had transferred one moiety to Pulteney. Selling would generate \u00a319,000 to invest in their new Dominica concern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Detail from Plan of the island of Dominica<\/em> (1776), showing the parish of St David. Macintosh and Pulteney\u2019s lands circled in yellow. Joseph Senhouse\u2019s estate circled in red. French River is now Richmond River.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

From May 1771, the partnership had expanded its landholdings by purchasing additional lots in Dominica, at a location much more amenable than in Tobago, since it offered direct access to the coast. How much of this activity Pulteney had agreed to in advance is unclear, but by May Macintosh had written to alert him that he had bought 450 acres at \u00a36 per acre and \u201cnow render it to be included in our Copartnership, if not disposed of within the said time.\u201d This was probably lot 51.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lot 51 had previously belonged to a syndicate coordinated by Lauchlin Macleane<\/a> and Macintosh was one of three attorneys appointed by Macleane’s associates to manage the disposal of the lands. He may have been able to negotiate a favourable deal as a consequence. When in Dominica, Macintosh had toured the land \u201cunder the guidance of an Indian & free Negro,\u201d and found that \u201cthe Quality situation & other natural Advantages of our Land made me soon forget the pains of the most fatiguing Journey I ever underwent.\u201d Macintosh estimated the land at \u201cnot be less than 500 Acres.\u201d The total purchase price was put at \u00a32,784. Macintosh proposed to Pulteney that they secure a loan for \u00a36,000 in order to purchase slaves (at 50 slaves per year for three years) to properly transform the new estate. It was at this point that Macintosh also decided to buy the partnership a sloop, Fanny<\/em>, for \u00a3300. By Boxing Day 1771, Macintosh\u2014bolstered by a feeling of success\u2014was able to boast to one correspondent that \u201cMr<\/sup>. Pulteney of Bath house & myself…[are] now settling two considerable Plantations in Dominica & Tobago.\u201d In January 1772, Macintosh reckoned these joint concerns were worth \u00a325,300 (see below).<\/p>\n\n\n

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Macintosh to Pulteney, 14 January 1772, estimating their joint holdings. Biblioth\u00e8que Ceccano, Ms. 1297, f. 61.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

By February 1772, Macintosh was beginning \u201cmy Dominica Settlement\u201d\u2014which he was then calling \u201cmy Conanary or Richmond Estate\u201d\u2014with \u201c23 able Slaves,\u201d overseen by Mr. James Buck Roberts. Around the same time, Macintosh learned that Joseph Senhouse<\/a> had purchased the neighbouring estate (lot 50). Buck Roberts later killed another man \u201cin a drunken quarrel,\u201d and was quickly replaced in his role. Later in 1772, as noted above, Macintosh authorised Pulteney to \u201cmortgage my Moiety to secure any Sum [ideally \u201c10 or 12.000 \u00a3 Stg.\u201d] we may borrow on our joint Accounts.\u201d This would, however, have come to nothing following the 1772 financial crisis<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In May 1772, Macintosh wrote to Pulteney to tell him that he had impulsively purchased yet more land to expand the Richmond estate: \u201cI could not resist the temptation of preserving the two Rivers to ourselves and securing up almost to their Sources, & therefore I got 200 Acres put up in two several Lots, and the Inhabitants were so Complaisant to me as to let the one fall into my hands at \u00a33..1.. & the other at \u00a33..5..Stg<\/sup> P Acre.\u201d This was likely lots 52 and 53. In June 1772, Macintosh computed the Richmond estate at \u201c30 \u00a3 Stg p Acre.\u201d In relation to the Tobago estate, however, Macintosh had changed his mind by this point. Although Pulteney was now \u201cdesirous of Selling it,\u201d Macintosh was prevaricating, signalling \u201cboth Concurrence & Reluctance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In July 1772, Macintosh wrote to Pulteney to transmit \u201cthe several Grants\u201d relating to their Tobago and Dominica purchases, namely a \u201cGrant from the Crown of 450 Acres being our first purchase in Dominica & two Grants for 700 Acres being our first purchase at Tobago.\u201d These documents showed that the 450 acres in Dominica\u2014lot 51\u2014had been purchased at \u00a312 per acre for cleared land (12 acres) and \u00a36 per acre for uncleared land (138 acres): \u00a3972 in total.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the middle of 1772, it is evident that tensions between Macintosh and Pulteney over costs and strategy were beginning to sour their relationship. Distance made it difficult to communicate and the decisions that Macintosh was forced to take alone, on the basis of his own local knowledge and on his own initiative, were not ones that could be shared with Pulteney in advance. Although Macintosh was able to estimate the partnership’s holdings on 1 November 1772 at \u201c1600 Acres of Land with 90 Good Slaves & several valuable improvements\u201d\u2014\u201cworth at a moderate Computation \u00a335,000 Stg.\u201d\u2014the social bonds of mutual trust on which the partnership depended were beginning to fail. By the end of 1773, following an unsuccessful attempt by the pair to repair their relationship in Britain, the partnership was at an end and was formally dissolved in January 1774.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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At the end of January I had the pleasure of meeting the Bath-based author Paul Jackson, who, in collaboration with Michael Rowe, is currently working on a fascinating-sounding two-volume biography of Macintosh’s onetime business partner, William Pulteney. Meeting Paul offered a welcome opportunity to revisit some of my earlier work on the partnership between Macintosh […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inneskeighren.com\/williammacintosh\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inneskeighren.com\/williammacintosh\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inneskeighren.com\/williammacintosh\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inneskeighren.com\/williammacintosh\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inneskeighren.com\/williammacintosh\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1231"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/inneskeighren.com\/williammacintosh\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1252,"href":"https:\/\/inneskeighren.com\/williammacintosh\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1231\/revisions\/1252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inneskeighren.com\/williammacintosh\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inneskeighren.com\/williammacintosh\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inneskeighren.com\/williammacintosh\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}