Person:Sarah Wyke (1)

Caribbeana: being miscellaneous papers relating to the history, genealogy, topography and antiquities of the British West Indies, Vere Langford Oliver, Hughes and Clarke Publishers:London, V1, 1910

Transcriptions of Parish Registers, St. George, Montserrat

List of Children Baptised

• p89 - 18 Feb 1723 - Sarah dau of William Irish, Esq, and Sarah his wife
• same - 10 Oct 1725 - William son of William Irish, Esq, and Sarah his wife

List of Burials in St. George's Parish

• p90 - 1 Dec 1725 - William Irish, Esq

Will of William Irish, brother of Nathaniel Irish

Montserrat (See William Irish person page for full will) .

• I give unto my dear wife, Sarah Irish, ye yearly sum of one hundred

pounds sterling of Great Britain during her natural life. I also give her any two of my horses she shall make a choice of, and the use and labor of four negroes during her life, viz: George, Kitty, Lucy and Pide. But my will is that these legacies and bequeaths unto my wife be in lieu and full bar of her dower.

I have this last will and testament in 2 sheets of paper put my hand and seal 29 Oct 1729

/William Irish/

Journal of a Lady of Quality; _Being the Narrative of a Journey from Scotland to the West Indies, _North Carolina, and Portugal, in the Years 1774 to 1776: _Electronic Edition. Schaw, Janet, ca. 1731-ca 1801, Andrews, Evangeline Walker _Andrews, Charles McLean, 1863-1943

COLONEL SAMUEL MARTIN, of whom Miss Schaw gives an engaging account, was well called the "Father of Antigua," for he was born on the island in the last decade of the seventeenth century, and except for three trips to England, covering probably less than ten years in all, lived continuously there until the very eve of the Revolution. Thus his long life of more than eighty years was coincident with the most important period in the history of the colony, and touched at many points its industrial, social, and political development.

The Martins came originally from Ireland, some of its members migrating early to Surinam and the West Indies, and settling finally, in the seventeenth century, in Antigua. Many of the later members returned to England, and as officials under government or officers in the army and navy rose to eminence in their professions, a few attaining the honors of knighthood. Others went to the American continent, to Boston, New York, and North Carolina, becoming representative men of their communities, and acquiring, as a rule, ample wealth, wherewith to maintain social positions commensurate with their prominence. The family as a whole got widely scattered during the

Page 260 colonial period, but its members never lost their regard for Antigua, retaining property there, and manifesting interest in its welfare and a desire to be of service to its people whenever the occasion arose. In England the most prominent sons of the family dwelt in or near London, in Surrey, Dorset, Herts, and Berks, where, supported in part from the income of their Antigua plantations, they possessed country seats and lived the lives of country gentlemen. Wherever Martins resided, whether at "Green Castle" in Antigua, "Rockhall" in Long Island, or in England at Ashtead in Surrey, Great Canford in Dorset, or "White Knights" near Reading, they were of more than ordinary influence and importance. Some of them rose to positions of high distinction, particularly in the navy.

Because of the meagre records of the time, the various members of the family are not always easy to identify, and, in consequence, much confusion has resulted among those who have endeavored to deal with the family genealogy. In three generations there were five Josiahs, and in four generations, six Samuels; and in addition there were others bearing the same names, who do not appear to have belonged to this particular Martin line at all. Even with all the available evidence before us, there are still some difficulties that cannot be surmounted.

Colonel Martin's father, also a Samuel, was the son of Samuel Martin of Dublin county, Ireland, fourth in descent from a Josiah Martin of the same place (Debrett, Baronetage, ed. 1840, p. 374). He was probably born in Surinam, but appears in Antigua as early as 1678. He soon became one of the conspicuous men of the island, an ensign and major in the militia, a member of the assembly, of which he was speaker in 1689, a councillor, treasurer and collector of imposts, and, toward the end of his life, member of a committee to compile a body of laws. In 1699 he is spoken of as "of great estate, good sence, and repute." That he lacked the urbanity and instinctive kindliness of nature which Miss Schaw noted in his son, appears from the severity of his attitude toward his slaves, by whom he was murdered on Christmas Day, 1701. "We have lost a very useful man in Major Martin," wrote Governor Codrington. "I am afraid he was guilty of some unusual act of severity or rather some indignity toward the Coromantes, the best and most faithful of our slaves."* Though the

       * Calendar of State Papers, Colonial, 1701, pp. 720-721; 1702, p. 167. The murder was a shocking affair and caused wide alarm throughout the island. Whether the "Major Samuel Martyn" of Antigua mentioned in 1698 as engaged in illicit trade and called "a great villain" by an enemy of doubtful character is our Major Samuel we cannot say. It is likely, though the charges need not be taken at their face value. Charges and counter-charges were common enough in all the colonies at that time. Nevertheless the elder Samuel would appear to have been a man of a vigorous personality and somewhat irascible temper. Ib., 1697-1698, pp. 194, 195-197, 338.

Page 261 young Samuel was but a child when this tragic event took place, he must have been deeply impressed by its significance, for Miss Schaw presents a pleasing picture of the large troop of healthy negroes upon the "Green Castle" plantation--numbering about three hundred at this time--cheerfully performing the tasks imposed by a kind and beneficent master, a prince of subjects rather than an owner of slaves. Many of them had been freed, as Miss Schaw says, and others were freed later by Martin in his will.

Of Colonel Martin's life we have but a slender outline. He was born about 1690--the exact date being uncertain, because statements differ as to the age at which he died--and he died in Antigua in November, 1776, a little less than two years after Miss Schaw's visit. His early career is obscure, owing to the presence of more than one Samuel Martin on the island, but he seems to have been the Samuel of "Five Islands" plantation, who was major of militia in 1707 and of the troop of mounted horse or carabineers in 1712. In 1716 he was elected to the assembly and, except for a trip to England in 1716-1717, continued to serve either as deputy or speaker until he again left the colony in 1729. He married, before 1714, Frances Yeamans, daughter of John Yeamans, the deputy governor (1693-1711), but she died and he married, as his second wife, Sarah Wyke, the daughter of Edward Wyke, deputy governor of Montserrat, and widow of William Irish of the same island. His fourth child, Henry, the second son by his second wife, was born in Dorset, England, in 1733, so he probably remained in England on his second visit for a number of years. Soon after his return he must have been commissioned a colonel of militia, for Miss Schaw tells us that in 1772 he had been head of the militia "upwards of forty years." In 1750 he was again elected to the assembly and chosen speaker at its first session. From this time forward, living on his "Green Castle" plantation in New Division, which was picturesquely located in Bermudian Valley under Windmill Hill (Davy's West Indies, p. 408), he led an increasingly peaceful and prosperous life, resigning his place as speaker in 1763, and his seat in the assembly in 1768. At the urgent request of his children, three of whom, Samuel, Jr., Henry, and William Byam, had been living there for a number of years (a nephew, William, was a business man in London), he went to England, when nearly

Page 262 eighty years of age, doubtless with the expectation of spending his declining years there. But as he told Miss Schaw, he could not stand "the dreary climate." He spent his time partly in Surrey and partly in Dorset, and at the former place, August 13, 1773, made his will, adding codicils and generally settling his affairs. He must have returned to Antigua soon afterwards, glad to get back, as he himself said, to the "warm sunshine" of his semitropical island. He died on the island, where he had been born, and where he had spent more than three score and ten of the more than four score years of his life. His only venture into the field of authorship, as far as we know, is a pamphlet entitled An Essay upon Plantership, humbly inscribed to his Excellency George Thomas, Esq., Chief Governor of All the Leeward Islands, As a Monument to Ancient Friendship, which was written in Antigua and first published there about 1755. A third edition was issued in London in 1763, and a fourth, a work of sixty-two pages, in 1765. The treatise shows Colonel Martin to have been a model planter and a high-minded, considerate master.

Colonel Martin, according to his own statement, had twenty-three children, but of this number it is impossible to give the names of more than seven: Samuel, Jr., and Henrietta, children by his first wife, and George, Henry, Josiah, William Byam, and Fanny, children by his second wife. That many of his children died young is probable, and that others may be found among the many Martins whose names appear in the records of Antigua and neighboring islands, is equally likely.

Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland, UK12-Burke-1855, p863

Rev Harry Paxton, MA of Baythorne and Yoldham, Essex, rector of Syderstone, co Norfolk, vicar of Battisford, co Suffolk, m Sarah dau of William Irish, Esq of the Hermitae and the River Head estates Montserrat (only son of William Irish Esq by Sarah his wife, dau of Edward Wyke, Esq Lieutenant governor and president of the council of that island: by her he had issue, 5 daus of whom the eldest Sarah-Elizabeth m John Norman Esq of Iwood House and of Yatton co Somerset

Burke’s Perage and Barontage Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary, p31

Samuel Martin Esq of Green Castle (desc from Josiah Martin of co Dublin, m Lydia dau of Col George Thomas of Antigua and by that lady who m 2nd Edward Byam, Esq, governor of Leeward Island had son Samuel Martin esq of Antigue who m1 Frances dau of John Yeamans, Attorney-Gen of Antigue; m2 Sarah dau of Edward Wyke, Lieutenant governor of Montserrat and relict of William Irish Esq of Montserrat, and by that lady who died in 1748, had

• 1. George d 1748 @19Y
• 2. Henry
• 3. Josiah colonel in army and governor of NC in 1770 who married his cousin Elizabeth, dau of Josiah Martin Esq of Long Island and died 1786 leaving Josiah, who died unm in 1709, Mary Elizabeth, Sarah, and Alice
• 4. William Byam of White Knights, co Berks, m Charloette dau of Col Yorke