Hi Kevin, Thanks for taking the time to transcribe this text. I'm a Vincy genealogist (been at it for almost 3 years now) and am very interested in the plantations and their owners. By the way, does anyone know of Saba slave records? When was slavery abolished there? My great great grandmother, Present Derrick, was said to have come to St Vincent via Saba and was known affectionately as "Ma" Pysan. Does anyone know the origins of this name or if it was a familiar one on either Saba, Bequia, or St Vincent. Could it have been a place name? She came to the West Indies from Africa when she was 7 years old, circa 1820-1840 *************************************** ORIGINAL MESSAGE Dear List, Last autumn I discovered the diary of my great, great, great grandfather, the Rev. William Fidler, in the archives of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London. The diary, which covers the period 1825-1827, describes his voyage from Bristol to St Vincent accompanied by his wife Anna and other Methodist missionaries, and contains detailed descriptions of events and places during his first two years in the West Indies. He mentions several estates on St Vincent (Palmiste Park, Peruvian Vale, Cane Grove Estate, Spring Estate, Mount Wynne), and the owners or managers (Robert Gordon, Col. Edward Jackson, J. D. Questel). I have recently transcribed the text, and published it on the web. Anyone interested in this period of St Vincent's history might find the diary interesting. It can be viewed at the following address: http://www.kevinlaurence.net/genealogy/fidlerdiary/index.html Kevin Laurence London. _________________________________________________________________ Add photos to your messages with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail

An idea about the meaning of the name "Ma Pysan". If it was used in St Vincent, could it be said to be in French creole patois? Would it be pronounced sounding almost like "paysan", which is the French word for peasant, rustic, country-man or country-woman. That may refer to her peasant origin. Jan Bousse ----- Original Message ----- From: "Nneka X" <cheryl_nneka@hotmail.com> To: <CARIBBEAN-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, April 30, 2003 8:54 AM Subject: Fidler Diary, slaves on Saba & the name Pysan > Hi Kevin, > snip > > By the way, does anyone know of Saba slave records? When was slavery > abolished there? My great great grandmother, Present Derrick, was said to > have come to St Vincent via Saba and was known affectionately as "Ma" Pysan. > Does anyone know the origins of this name or if it was a familiar one on > either Saba, Bequia, or St Vincent. Could it have been a place name? She > came to the West Indies from Africa when she was 7 years old, circa > 1820-1840 >