Marcos, that is very interesting: I wonder if the language usage varies from island to island. There certainly seem to have been great differences between the societies of Barbados & St. Vincent, perhaps because of St. Vincent being settled so late, and without the huge population of Barbados. What role might the very strong Scots influence have played in St. Vincent? Perhaps wealth was a more important factor than race. Does anyone have other examples from other islands? Ernest M. Wiltshire -----Original Message----- From: MReilly169@aol.com [mailto:MReilly169@aol.com] Subject: Re: "Planter" I don't know about Barbados, but I can tell you that my ggrandfather on St. Vincent, who was from a "coloured" family although light enough to "pass," (as it would be put in the US) is described in a number of legal documents as a "Planter,"

In Jamaica and Cayman I have found Planter to mean the owner of a farm or planation -- does not appear to be a link between size of land and use of planter Pre 1834/5 I've found it used for those classified as 'White' and 'Free Coloured' but have not come across any 'Free Black' After 1834/5 I still found only those classification listed as Planters -- but that is may be as no free black persons 'owned' farms or estates. In Honduras however the term referred to anyone who owned the farm - colour not relevant. Farm Worker was used for workers vs owners. In Ja and Cayman I've found the term Labourer to be all encompassing as anyone (other than a trades person eg blacksmith, fisherman, sawyer etc) who worked for someone else outside the house Towards the end of the 1800's the term seems to have died out Rhona "Ernest M. Wiltshire" wrote: > Marcos, that is very interesting: I wonder if the language usage varies > from island to island. There certainly seem to have been great > differences between the societies of Barbados & St. Vincent, perhaps > because of St. Vincent being settled so late, and without the huge > population of Barbados. What role might the very strong Scots influence > have played in St. Vincent? Perhaps wealth was a more important factor > than race. Does anyone have other examples from other islands? > > Ernest M. Wiltshire > -----Original Message----- > From: MReilly169@aol.com [mailto:MReilly169@aol.com] > Subject: Re: "Planter" > I don't know about Barbados, but I can tell you that my ggrandfather on > St. Vincent, who was from a "coloured" family although light enough to > "pass," (as it would be put in the US) is described in a number of legal > documents as a "Planter," > > ==== CARIBBEAN Mailing List ==== > For information on individual islands, research aids, island bulletin boards or history please visit the CaribbeanGenWeb project at > http://www.rootsweb.com/~caribgw/

My experience with the term "Planter" comes from family Parish Baptismal records (St. Patrick's Grenada). My wife's grandfather listed occupation as 'tailor' until he acquired land and began producing cocoa. His occupation for the later children is 'planter'. His brother acquired land even later; although listing himself as 'carpenter' on all of the baptismal records, his death certificate states 'planter'. The Estate list of 1890 Grenada that Daphne discussed on this list recently are a different matter. I would say that being an Estate owner (even of a 5 acre estate) was farther up the social ladder than a Planter. Tim On Sat, 12 Apr 2003 17:20:29 +0000 (UTC), panton@telus.net (panton) wrote: >In Jamaica and Cayman I have found Planter to mean the owner of a farm or planation -- does not appear to be a link between size of >land and use of planter > >Pre 1834/5 I've found it used for those classified as 'White' and 'Free Coloured' but have not come across any 'Free Black' > >After 1834/5 I still found only those classification listed as Planters -- but that is may be as no free black persons 'owned' farms or >estates. > >In Honduras however the term referred to anyone who owned the farm - colour not relevant. Farm Worker was used for workers vs owners. > >In Ja and Cayman I've found the term Labourer to be all encompassing as anyone (other than a trades person eg blacksmith, fisherman, >sawyer etc) who worked for someone else outside the house > >Towards the end of the 1800's the term seems to have died out >Rhona > >"Ernest M. Wiltshire" wrote: > >> Marcos, that is very interesting: I wonder if the language usage varies >> from island to island. There certainly seem to have been great >> differences between the societies of Barbados & St. Vincent, perhaps >> because of St. Vincent being settled so late, and without the huge >> population of Barbados. What role might the very strong Scots influence >> have played in St. Vincent? Perhaps wealth was a more important factor >> than race. Does anyone have other examples from other islands? >> >> Ernest M. Wiltshire >> -----Original Message----- >> From: MReilly169@aol.com [mailto:MReilly169@aol.com] >> Subject: Re: "Planter" >> I don't know about Barbados, but I can tell you that my ggrandfather on >> St. Vincent, who was from a "coloured" family although light enough to >> "pass," (as it would be put in the US) is described in a number of legal >> documents as a "Planter," >> >> ==== CARIBBEAN Mailing List ==== >> For information on individual islands, research aids, island bulletin boards or history please visit the CaribbeanGenWeb project at >> http://www.rootsweb.com/~caribgw/