Thomas Sutton (Jamaica)

Thomas Sutton (c.1638 - 15 November 1710) was the speaker of the House of Assembly of Jamaica in 1691-92 and 1698.

Early life and family

Sutton was born around 1638, the younger son of a Barbadian planter and arrived in the 1660s or 70s.[1]

He married Judith.[2]

Career

He came to own one of the largest and finest plantations in Jamaica, Sutton's Plantation in Clarendon Parish but in 1690[3] his 400 slaves rebelled and 200 were killed during or after the revolt.[4] The slaves who escaped from his plantation established a branch of the Jamaican Maroons at Cudjoe's Town (Trelawny Town). These Leeward Maroons, as they came to be called, were led by Cudjoe, whose guerrilla resistance eventually forced the governor, Edward Trelawny, to sue for peace and offer them a treaty in 1739.

A colonel in the Militia, he defeated an attack by the French led by Admiral Jean-Baptiste du Casse in 1694 at Carlisle Bay.[5]

He was the speaker of the House of Assembly of Jamaica in 1691-92 and 1698.[6]

Death

Sutton died 15 November 1710 at the age of 72. His will is dated 1711 and is held by the British National Archives.[7] He is buried at Vere Parish Church.

See also

References
  1. Watts, David (March 22, 1990). "The West Indies: Patterns of Development, Culture and Environmental Change Since 1492". Cambridge University Press – via Google Books.
  2. Livingston, Noel B. (June 3, 2009). "Sketch Pedigrees of Some of the Early Settlers in Jamaica". Genealogical Publishing Com – via Google Books.
  3. "History of Clarendon" (PDF) – via National Library of Jamaica.
  4. Dunn, Richard S. (December 1, 2012). "Sugar and Slaves: The Rise of the Planter Class in the English West Indies, 1624-1713". UNC Press Books – via Google Books.
  5. Olley, Philip Peter. (Ed.) (1937) Guide to Jamaica. Kingston: Tourist Trade Development Board. p. 106.
  6. Cundall, Frank. (1915) Historic Jamaica. London: Institute of Jamaica. pp. xvi-xviii.
  7. "Catalogue description: Will of Thomas Sutton of Clarendon Island of Jamaica, West Indies". March 2, 1711 – via National Archive of the UK.

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