Nov 2 2012
Hamlet Mayers Lynch
According to his will, Hamlet Mayers Lynch was born about 1769, and he died in 1852 in Barbados, West Indies. There have been no records found for his birth, baptism or christening, but the assumption is that he was also born there.
English: “Free Negroes in the Crisis; Charles B. Ray.” (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
In time he had children with Minifred (also recorded as Menifred). Starting in 1804, their children were Peter, James and John Richard (and possibly twins Betsy and Charlotte, the records are unclear about them). We have found no marriage record for these two individuals, although much later in life Hamlet is recorded as having married Sarah (Mayers?) in 1832.
Land and other property records of the day “described” Hamlet Mayers Lynch as a “Free Mulatto” (FM), and he was apparently quite wealthy, owning both property and slaves.
Both Hamlet Mayers Lynch and his son John Richard Lynch (who may have been a teacher) are named in historical records as having protested against slavery, signed public petitions and attended public meetings on the subject.
Hamlet Mayers Lynch is recorded as having purchased slaves from military persons in Guadeloupe and Canada. Some of those slaves had names the same as his known family members, but there is no documentary evidence that they were the same.
* It ought to be noted that in those days even free Negroes could be captured back into slavery, and if a prominent free Negro owned slaves he could at least demand their return – where if the captured Negroes were not legally someone’s property they could not be reclaimed. There is a theory that some free Negroes who did well actually preferred their family members to legally be their slaves for this purpose of protection.
In connection with this family I am also interested in Hasel/Hasell/Hazle/Hazel Lynch as the possible father of Hamlet Mayers Lynch. This is because about seven years after his birth (in 1776) a Hazel Lynch and Jane (a free negro woman) were recorded as the parents of Hamlet Fairchild Lynch. Hazel Lynch was quite prolific with the free negro women in Barbados.
I am also interested in knowing whether the (English) Codrington family had any connections with the Irish Merchant Lynch family in Jamaica, Barbados and elsewhere in the Caribbean.
