Barrett family of Jamaica

The Barrett family of Jamaica was a prominent English family associated with Jamaica from the mid-seventeenth century onward. Its Jamaican history began with Hercie Barrett and relatives, who arrived on the island in 1655 after participating in the English expedition that captured Jamaica from Spain. A land patent recorded in 1663 in Spanish Town granted Hercie Barrett property in recognition of his service to the English Crown. Over subsequent generations, members of the family accumulated substantial landholdings, wealth, and influence, particularly in the parishes of Trelawny and St James. The family’s prominence was based principally on plantation ownership, agriculture, mining interests, and participation in colonial public life. At its height, the Barrett family is described as controlling more than 84,000 acres and approximately 2,000 enslaved people. These figures place the family among the major colonial planter dynasties of Jamaica, while also connecting its history directly to the island’s systems of slavery, plantation production, and imperial administration. Several great houses are associated with the family. Cinnamon Hill Great House in St James was begun by Samuel Barrett and completed by his son Edward after Samuel’s death. Greenwood Great House, built by Richard Barrett, remains standing and is among the best-known surviving properties connected with the family. Barrett Hall was another family residence but no longer survives. The houses functioned not only as residences but also as centers of plantation management and symbols of the family’s social position. Members of the Barrett family also held political roles in colonial Jamaica. Richard Barrett served as Speaker of the Assembly and represented Jamaican interests in debates concerning emancipation. The historical record presents him as opposed to the abolition of slavery in some accounts, while also recording that he published a poem in the 1850s, The Negro Appeal to her White Sisters, which called for cooperation between white and Afro-Jamaican women to help end slavery. This tension illustrates the complexity and contradiction of elite Jamaican responses to emancipation. The family has cultural and genealogical significance beyond Jamaica. Edward Moulton Barrett was the father of the English poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning, linking the Jamaican Barrett lineage to a major figure in Victorian literature. Later individuals associated with the broader Barrett family name include musicians Aston Barrett and Carlton Barrett and writer Lindsay Barrett, although the available reference material does not establish the precise genealogical relationship of each person to the historical planter family. The Barrett family is therefore best understood not as a commercial brand but as a historically documented Jamaican family and colonial lineage. Its legacy includes surviving architectural landmarks, political and literary connections, and a substantial role in the development of Jamaica’s plantation society. That legacy is inseparable from the exploitation of enslaved people and from the contested transition toward emancipation in the nineteenth century.

The Barrett family’s Jamaican history is traced to Hercie Barrett and other family members who arrived from England in 1655. They were connected with the English military expedition led by Admiral William Penn and General Robert Venables. After the expedition failed to take Hispaniola, the English force captured Jamaica, then less heavily defended than the Spanish-held target. The conquest placed the island under English rule and created opportunities for soldiers, officials, and settlers to acquire land and influence. In 1663, a land patent in the Barrett name was recorded in Spanish Town. The grant was made to Hercie Barrett by King Charles II and recognized his service to the Crown. Over the following generations, the family expanded its holdings and became one of the leading English-Jamaican planter families. Its estates and interests were concentrated especially in Trelawny and St James. The family is described as having controlled more than 84,000 acres and approximately 2,000 enslaved people, making it a major participant in Jamaica’s plantation economy. The family’s wealth supported the construction and maintenance of several great houses. Cinnamon Hill Great House in St James was initiated by Samuel Barrett and completed by his son Edward. Greenwood Great House was built by Richard Barrett, who also served as Speaker of the Jamaican Assembly. Barrett Hall was another associated property but has since disappeared. Greenwood survived the period of slave rebellions, reportedly in part because of the way Richard Barrett treated the people he enslaved, although this account does not alter the family’s broader participation in a slave-based colonial economy. Richard Barrett was involved in the political arguments surrounding emancipation. He was selected to represent the Jamaican legislature before Parliament on the issue, and historical accounts describe him as opposed to abolition. At the same time, a poem published by him in the 1850s, The Negro Appeal to her White Sisters, advocated cooperation between white and Afro-Jamaican women in opposition to slavery. The surviving descriptions of his public position therefore show a complicated combination of elite political resistance and limited reformist rhetoric. The family’s historical importance also extends into British literary history. Edward Moulton Barrett was the father of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, one of the best-known English poets of the nineteenth century. This connection has helped preserve interest in the Jamaican Barrett lineage beyond plantation history. The family name is also associated with Jamaican cultural figures including Aston Barrett, Carlton Barrett, and Lindsay Barrett, though the supplied historical material does not provide enough genealogical detail to define their exact relationship to the earlier planter family. The Barrett family’s surviving legacy is visible in historical sites such as Greenwood Great House and in scholarship about the Barretts of Jamaica. Cinnamon Hill later became associated with singer Johnny Cash, who owned the property and lived there until his death, but that later ownership does not make Cash a member of the Barrett family. Overall, the family represents the rise of an English colonial dynasty in Jamaica, its wealth through land and enslaved labor, its participation in public affairs, and the enduring cultural consequences of that history.

• 1850

  Publication of an emancipation-related poem

  [1]Barrett family of Jamaicaen.wikipedia.org

  In the 1850s, Richard Barrett published The Negro Appeal to her White Sisters, a poem calling for white and Afro-Jamaican women to cooperate against slavery.

• 1663

  First recorded Barrett land patent

  [1]Barrett family of Jamaicaen.wikipedia.org

  A land patent in the Barrett name was recorded in Spanish Town and granted by King Charles II to Hercie Barrett for service to the English Crown.

• 1655

  Arrival of Hercie Barrett and relatives in Jamaica

  [1]Barrett family of Jamaicaen.wikipedia.org

  Hercie Barrett and family members migrated from England to Jamaica in the context of the English seizure of the island from Spain.

• Expansion into plantation wealth and influence

  [1]Barrett family of Jamaicaen.wikipedia.org

  Across later generations, the family acquired extensive landholdings and became a leading planter family in Trelawny and St James, with interests described as including agriculture and mining.

• Construction of Cinnamon Hill Great House

  [1]Barrett family of Jamaicaen.wikipedia.org

  Samuel Barrett began construction of Cinnamon Hill Great House, and his son Edward completed the property after Samuel’s death.

• Construction of Greenwood Great House

  [1]Barrett family of Jamaicaen.wikipedia.org

  Richard Barrett built Greenwood Great House, one of the family’s best-known surviving residences.

A historically prominent Jamaican planter and landowning family associated with plantation agriculture, mining, colonial politics, great-house architecture, and cultural genealogy.

1. 1Barrett family of Jamaicaen.wikipedia.org