in the 1880s
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Retreat Pen
beginnings I have not been able to fix the date of the delineation of Retreat Pen, but it seems to have been sometime in the first two decades of the 19th century, between the map James Robertson made around 1804, and the plan made in the mid-1820s. Robertson clearly shows Simon Taylor's Prospect Pen (later renamed Vale Royal) but no property between it and the road to Hope, to the east of it. |
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A plan of Vale Royal around 1813 indicates that the land to the east of the property belonged to William Mattocks, whose name also appears as a co-occupier of a piece of land to the north-east of Vale Royal on the plan on the right.
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This is the earliest map, from the 1820s, that I have found which shows Retreat Pen, next to Prospect Pen where the residence is labelled as Vale Royal.
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so - who was the William Mattocks who owned what became known as Retreat Pen?
It has proved difficult to find out who William Mattocks was!
There was a Captain William Mattocks from Bristol, England, who was captain of a ship called the Kingston Packet, around the time of the American War of Independence. He moved between England, North America and the Caribbean, and seems to have been involved in the conflict between the British and the American Colonies. It seems likely that he came to Jamaica, and it is entirely possible that he was the father of the William Mattocks born in 1778 or 1780 (was this one or two children?), but this is at present entirely supposition; the true story may be totally different . . . .
There was a Captain William Mattocks from Bristol, England, who was captain of a ship called the Kingston Packet, around the time of the American War of Independence. He moved between England, North America and the Caribbean, and seems to have been involved in the conflict between the British and the American Colonies. It seems likely that he came to Jamaica, and it is entirely possible that he was the father of the William Mattocks born in 1778 or 1780 (was this one or two children?), but this is at present entirely supposition; the true story may be totally different . . . .
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This William Mattocks (or one of them) was likely the William Mattocks in the St Andrew Militia between 1796 and 1805: |
William Mattocks
Birth: About 1778 Of St Andrew, Jamaica, Caribbean Marriage: Spouse: Amy Marriage: About 1803 Of St Andrew, Jamaica, Caribbean |
William Mattocks
Birth: About 1780 Of St Andrew, Jamaica, Caribbean Marriage: Spouse: Maria Marriage: About 1805 Of St Andrew, Jamaica, Caribbean |
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1796 ALMANAC
MILITIA OF JAMAICA FOOT and COMMISSIONERS ST. ANDREW’S REGIMENT Ensigns: George Simpson, E. Plunket, R. Burk, William Mattocks . . . |
1802 ALMANAC
COUNTY OF SURRY ONE REGIMENT OF HORSE, AND SIX REGIMENTS OF FOOT ST. ANDREWS REGIMENT Colonel, W. Robertson Lieut. Colonels, C. W. Hall, D. Fraser Majors, H. Nolan, D. Campbell CAPTAINS J. Jackson, W. Pierce, Isaac Fox, E. Plunkett, W. Mattocks |
1805 JAMAICA ALMANAC
MILITIA OF JAMAICA SURREY ST. ANDREW'S REGIMENT Colonel, W. Robertson Lieut. Colonels, C. W. Hall, D. Fraser Majors, H. Nolan, D. Campbell Captains: W. Pierce, W. Mattocks, Isaac Fox E. Plunkett, R. Jackson, D. R. Campbell |
The Almanacs of the period record the property owned by William Mattocks, who in common with all property owners of the period, White, Free Coloured or Free Black, also owned slaves to work on his properties. Because of his age when he died in 1835 this William was clearly not the one born in 1778/80, though he might have served in the Militia.
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SAINT ANDREW
EASTERN DISTRICT
1811 Mattocks, William, St. Patricks & al. 90 [slaves]/ 1 [stock] 1812 Mattocks, William, St. Patricks vale 100 [slaves]/ 3 [stock] 1816 Mattocks, William, St. Patrick's Vale and Pen 102 [slaves]/ 4 [stock] 1818 Mattocks, William, St. Patrick’s Vale, 124 [slaves]/4 [stock] 1820 Mattocks, William, St. Patrick’s Vale 126 [slaves]/ 4 [stock] 1821 Mattocks, William, St. Patrick's Vale 136 [slaves]/ 3 [stock] 1822 Mattocks, William, St. Patrick’s Vale and Pen 130 {slaves]/ 5 [stock] 1823 Mattocks, William, St. Patrick's Vale 127 [slaves]/ 4 [stock] 1824 Mattocks, William, St. Patrick's Vale and Pen 125 [slaves/ 5 [stock] 1825 Mattocks, William, St. Patrick's Vale and Pen 125 [slaves]/ 5 [stock] |
LOWLAND DISTRICT
1826 Mattocks, William, Retreat Pen 24 [slaves] 1827 Mattocks, William, Retreat Pen, 23 [slaves] 1828 Mattocks, William, Retreat Pen, 23 [slaves] 1829 Mattocks, William, Retreat Pen, 23 [slaves]/4 [stock] 1831 Mattocks, William, Retreat Pen, 24 [slaves] 1832 Mattocks, William, Retreat Pen, 24 [slaves] 1833 Mattocks, William, Retreat Pen 23 [slaves] 1838 Mattocks, William, deceased, Retreat 112 [apprentices] 1840 Mattocks, William, estate of, Retreat pen, 440 acres A William Mattocks died in St. Andrew in 1835, at the age of 74, according to the record of his memorial in the parish church. This indicates that he was born in 1861, so clearly this is not the William Mattocks born in 1778/80, and it seems unlikely he was Captain Mattocks of the Kingston Packet. However, whoever he was, he was presumably the William Mattocks who owned, and possibly lived on, Retreat Pen from 1826 until his death in 1835.
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St Andrew Parish Church:
WILLM. MATTOCKS, ESQ., AET. 74, OB. 20th FEB., 1835.
WILLM. MATTOCKS, ESQ., AET. 74, OB. 20th FEB., 1835.
