John Colleton - Carolina Proprietor

Topic: Gullah History - Early Legends
The post for 3 July 2022 showed few facts have been established about John Colleton.  His name does not appear in the histories of the Civil War in Devon, [1] nor in the histories of Barbados. [2]  Even biographical details are scant: his wife, Katherine Amey, died in 1646 during the siege of Exeter, [3] leaving six children ranging in age from one to ten years. [4]  His youngest son, James was born two years later in 1648. [5]

When facts are few, people make inferences based on what they know of an historical period or about human nature.  Historians are careful to use words like “probably” to separate their theories from their data.  Over time, those caveats get lost and speculation becomes fact, and sometimes legend.

The earliest histories of South Carolina described the clauses of the governing charter in detail, but only named the proprietors in the order they appeared in the grant.  In 1779, Alexander Hewat thought “England began to recognize her claim to a large territory” and that the eight proprietors “being apprized of the excellent soil of this country, united and formed a project for planting a colony in it.” [6]

After the Revolution, David Ramsay wrote a history that followed Hewat.  He cited a voyage by Cabot as the source for England’s rights to Carolina, then described the charter and listed the proprietors. [7]  They did not appear again by name.

The first to profile the proprietors was William James Rivers in 1856.  His criteria seems to have been loyalty to Charles II.  He listed Edward Hyde, George Monck, and George Cateret, then mentioned Anthony Ashley Cooper as the author of the colony’s first constitution. [8]  Next, he named Colleton ahead of the other more senior men because he

“had been an active partisan of royalty, and impoverished himself by his uncalculating zeal in its cause.  After the success of the Parliamentary forces he retired to Barbadoes till the restoration of the king, when he returned to England and received the dignity of baronet.” [9]

His primary source was Burke’s reference tome on extinct English titles.  It used the phrase “active partisan of royalty” and “retire to Barbados.” [10]  Burke’s source for the second probably was a history of the Civil War written by Hyde.  The supporter of Charles I did not name individuals, but generalized:

“The Barbardoes, which was much the richest plantation, was principally inhabited by men who had retired thither only to be quiet, and to be free from the noise and oppressions in England.” [11]

Burke also drew material from William Bentham’s History of the English Baronets. [12]  The Anglican chaplain [13] seems to have obtain his material from Colleton’s great-great-grandson. [14]  Much of the information, like being a “captain of the foot and had a commission from John Berkley,” is the sort of amalgam that can develop in families.  John Berkeley, indeed, did say Colleton “had raised and commanded a regiment under me,” [15] but the commission and rank came from Colleton’s time in Barbados. [16]

Parts of Burke’s description were repeated by Edward McCrady in 1897 [17] and David Duncan Wallace in 1934. [18]  However, Wallace also was borrowing an idea introduced by John Thomas in 1930.  The latter was the first to discuss the influence on Barbados in South Carolina history and the first to say:

“a planter of Barbados, Sir John Colleton, who first suggested to Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper (Lord Ashley) that they, with associates, obtain a grant to this “rich and fertile Province of Carolina” from Charles II.” [19]

Wallace refers to the theory with the appropriate caveats: “If, as is reported, the idea of the Carolina charter originated with him.” [20]  Charles Andrews was equally cautious in 1939 when he claimed Colleton “probably originated the idea of obtaining a grant of land.” [21]
Thirty years later, Eugene Sirmans wrote a political history that emphasized the role of men from Barbados.  He baldly asserted “Sir John Colleton, who took the initiative in securing the Carolina charters.” [22]

Sirmans is the likely source for Richard Dunn. [23]  Dunn, in turn, is the probable source for Richard Waterhouse [24] and Walter Edgar. [25]  It wasn’t until 2004, that Lou Roper noted that “historians have argued, without supplying much in the way of evidence, that the impetus for colonizing Carolina came from Barbados.” [26]

Views of the early history of South Carolina have changed with experience.  Hewat and Ramsay were writing at the time of the American Revolution.  They accepted a top-down view of influence, and believed the colony’s political conflicts were a continuation of the English Civil War.  It just happened the Puritans were sent from England by the proprietors and the Cavaliers came from Barbados of their own accord. [27]

The role of South Carolina in precipitating the American Civil War created a different conundrum for historians. The first part, the need to explain why it was different, could be attributed to early settlers from Barbados. [28]  The second part, how they exerted their influence, may be ascribed to a belief in entrepreneurship and a preference for bottom-up views of change.

Andrews created the first scenario that explained how an underling like Colleton was able to obtain a charter.  He hypothesized that he was motivated by the reinstatement of Francis Willoughby as governor of Barbados.  He met with Cooper and William Berkeley, who both had overseas investments.  They, then, used their contacts to persuade men with influence to grant them a charter. [29]

The thrust of his argument may be valid, but the details are confused.  It was Willoughby’s claim to Hay’s proprietorship that was the issue. [30]  Charles confirmed the grant in 1660.  Willoughby appointed Walrond as governor in August 1660.  Willoughby became governor when Charles cancelled the proprietorship and assumed control in 1663. [31]

Walrond’s behavior in the 1650s, when he confiscated estates of men who opposed him, would certainly have aroused concerns among planters who had not supported him. [32]  In 1660, he arrested Modyford on charges of treason. [33]  Since Colleton had been one of the men responsible for Walrond’s banishment in 1652, [34] he would have had reason to leave.

Sirmans created a second rationale that “like so many other royalists” Colleton “set out for London to claim his reward.”  He contacted John Berkeley, who presented a memorial to Charles II that resulted in Colleton’s appointment to the Council for Foreign Plantations, his knighthood, and, ultimately, his share of the Carolina patent. [35]

Some evidence for this can be presented, since John Berkeley did write a certification of Colleton’s loyalty.  He noted Colleton had not been reimbursed for the costs of raising a regiment and supplying ammunition.  More important, he “gave credit, and staid long for considerable sums yet unpaid, of many of them, whereby a good sum must be due to him.” [36]  It’s very likely these loans were to Berkeley directly as the governor of Exeter, [37] and that Colleton had papers showing Berkeley was in debt to him.

Colleton may have been included in the group who received that charter for a very mundane reason.  The group of potential proprietors had learned from their first attempt to colonize Africa that someone had to do the routine work, [38] and that it was best if that person could be trusted with money.  Berkeley would have learned in Exeter that Colleton could be relied upon, and also known he needed provide an incentive for Colleton take on some responsibilities.  In the first meeting of the proprietors after the charter was granted, the named Colleton their cash keeper. [39]

None of these theories take into account the most usual reason men returned to England.  Many went to Barbados to make enough money to return home in an improved position.  Most of the indentured servants were single, while a number of the planters left their wives and children in England. [40]  Since the yellow fever epidemic of 1647, [41] the island had a reputation for being unhealthy.

There is no way of knowing if the 52-year-old Colleton was concerned about children he hadn’t seen in ten years, or if his own experience of losing his father as an adolescent made him indifferent.  Views of families have changed since 1660.  All J. E. Buchanan could discover about Colleton’s domestic affairs is that:

“He left Barbados so quickly after the Restoration he may not have been accompanied by his children.  He lived near the Church of St Giles from 1660-5 when he moved to St Martin-in-the-Fields.” [42]

Colleton died in 1667. [43]  His oldest son, Peter, inherited the proprietorship [44] and is the one who had been taking an active part in promoting the Carolina colony since the charter was issued in 1663. [45]

End Notes
I am using the given names of proprietors, not the changing titles they assumed in their careers.  The idea of reviewing the histories of South Carolina in chronological order came from an article by Kinloch Bull.  “Barbadian Settlers in Early Carolina: Historigraphical Notes.”  The South Carolina Historical Magazine 96(4):329–339:October 1995.

1.  Collecton’s name does not appear in histories by Eugene Andriette [46] and Mark Stoyle. [47]  As indicated in the post for 3 July 2022, one has to look into town records.

2.  The only history of Barbados I’ve seen that mentions Colleton is N. Darnell Davis.  Cavaliers and Roundheads in Barbados.  Georgetown, British Guiana: Argosy Press, 1887.  He could be mentioned by others; I have not done exhaustive bibliography on the history of the island.

3.  “Katheryne Amye.”  Geni website; last updated 19 November 2014.

4.  J. E. Buchanan.  “The Colleton Family and the Early History of South Carolina and Barbados 1646-1775.”  PhD dissertation.  University of Edinburgh, 1989.  13.

5.  Buchanan.  3.

6.  Alexander Hewatt.  An Historical Account Of The Rise And Progress Of The Colonies Of South Carolina And Georgia.  London: A. Donaldson, 1779.  Volume 1, chapter 2, section “The first proprietors and their charter.”  Hewat is discussed in the post for 12 June 2022.

7.  David Ramsey.  The History of South-Carolina.  Charleston, South Carolina: David Longworth, 1809.  Reprinted as Ramsay’s History of South Carolina.  Newberry, South Carolina: W. J. Duffie, 1858.  1:14.

8.  Wm. Jas. Rivers.  A Sketch of the History of South Carolina.  Charleston, South Carolina: McCarter and Company, 1856. 63.  Rivers is discussed in the post for 12 June 2022.

9.  Rivers.  64.

10.  John Burke and Bernard Burke.  A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Extinct and Dormant Baronetcies of England, Ireland and Scotland.  London: J. R. Smith, 1844.

11.  Edward Hyde.  The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, edited by William Warburton.  Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1826.  6:610.  Quoted by Buchanan.  Emphasis added.

12.  William Betham.  “Colleton of London.”  2:209–211 in The Baronetage of England.  Ipswich, UK: Burrell and Bransby, 1802.

13.  John Thomas Gilbert.  “Betham, William (1749-1839).”  4:423–424 in Dictionary of National Biography, edited by Leslie Stephan.  London: Smith, Elder and Company, 1885.

14.  Betham quotes a letter from Sir John Colleton, the fourth Baronet, to the Earl of Rochford, on page 210.  This John Colleton was born in 1731, [48] 64 years after our John died.

15.  Jn. Berkeley.  “These are humbly to certify your sacred Majesty,” 19 October 1660.  Reprinted by Betham.  210.

16.  Colleton would have been an officer in the militia in Barbados.  Darnel Davis referred to him as “Colonel Colleton” in the 1652 negotiations with George Aysecue. [49]  His later commission to raise a regiment for Oliver Cromwell’s attack on Spanish possessions in the Caribbean is mentioned in the post for 3 July 2022.

17.  Edward McCrady.  The History of South Carolina under the Proprietary Government, 1670-1719.  New York: The Macmillan Company, 1897.  63.

18.  David Duncan Wallace.  The History of South Carolina.  New York: American Historical Society, 1934.  1:60.

19.  Jno. P. Thomas, Jr.  “The Barbadians in Early South Carolina.”  The South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine 31(2):75–92:April 1930.  78.  Emphasis added.  Thomas is discussed in the post for 5 June 2022.

20.  Wallace.  60.  Emphasis added.

21.  Charles M. Andrews.  The Colonial Period of American History: The Settlements III.  New Haven: Yale University Press, 1937.  183.  Emphasis added.  Andrews is introduced in the post for 26 June 2022.

22.  M. Eugene Sirmans.  Colonial South Carolina: A Political History 1663–1764.  Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1966.  4.  Emphasis added.

23.  Richard S. Dunn.  Sugar and Slaves: The Rise of the Planter Class in the English West Indies, 1624–1713.  Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1972.  112.  “It was a Barbados planter, Sir John Colleton, who first organized the proprietary group that received a royal charter from Charles II in 1663.”  Emphasis added.  Dunn is discussed in the post for 19 June 2022.

24.  Richard Waterhouse.  “England, the Caribbean, and the Settlement of Carolina.”  Journal of American Studies 9(3):259–281:December 1975.  263.  “The idea of obtaining the charter originated in the mind of that prominent Barbadian, Sir John Colleton.”  Emphasis added.

25.  Walter Edgar.  South Carolina.  Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1998.  39.  “It is probable that Colleton turned first to his cousin and his old friend, Lord Berkeley, for assistance with his scheme for a colony between Virginia and Spanish Florida.”  Emphasis added.

26.  L. H. Roper.  Conceiving Carolina: Proprietors, Planters, and Plots, 1662–1729.  New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004.  15.

27.  Hewatt.  Volume 1, chapter 2, section “Variances break out in the colony.”

Ramsay. 20.  He quoted much of Hewat without attribution, but added slightly different conclusions. [50]  As mentioned in the post for 26 June 2022, Hewat supported the King George, and Ramsay the Revolution.

28.  This transference of responsibility is discussed in the post for 5 June 2022.
29.  Andrews.  184–186.

30.  Robert M. Bliss has good description of the events along with the motives of planters, merchants, and creditors of James Hay, and Charles II in Revolution and Empire.  Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1993.  142–145.

31.  “List of governors of Barbados.”  Wikipedia website.
32.  For more on Walrond, see the post for 17 April 2022.
33.  Bliss. 144.
34.  See the post for 3 July 2022 for more on Colleton and Walrond.
35.  Sirmans.  4.
36.  Berkeley.
37.  Berkley’s role in Exeter is discussed in the posts for 3 April 2022 and 3 July 2022.

38.  George Frederick Zook.  “The Royal Adventurers in England.”  The Journal of Negro History 4(2):143–162:April 1919.  147–148.  Some of the history of the African enterprise is mentioned in the post for 26 June 2022.

39.  Minutes of a meeting of the Lords Proprietors of Carolina, 23 May 1663.  Colonial Office 5/286/1.  Cited by Roper.  166, note 48.

40.  Dunn.  253.  “Many of the planters, merchants, managers, and overseers who operated the sugar industry were young bachelors or married men who left their wives and children in England.”

41.  The yellow fever epidemic is discussed in the post for 27 March 2022.

42.  Buchanan.  43.  He thinks Colleton took Peter with him when he first went to Barbados, [51] but makes no mention of his second son, Thomas until 1663 when Thomas is told to take the charter to Barbados. [52]

43.  Buchanan.  77.
44.  Buchanan.  79.

45.  Peter H. Wood.  Black Majority: Negroes in Colonial South Carlina from 1670 through the Stono Rebellion.  New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1974.  14.  “the most direct initiative for colonization came from crowded Barbados.  Peter Colleton (John’s son) and his influential relative, Sir Thomas Modyford, returned there from London to promote the proprietary scheme.”

46.  Eugene A. Andriette.  Devon and Exeter in the Civil War.  Newton Abbot, UK: David and Charles, 1971.

47.  Mark Stoyle.  Loyalty and Locality: Popular Allegiance in Devon during the English Civil War.  Exeter, UK: University of Exeter Press, 1994.

48.  Buchanan.  9.
49.  Davis.  239, 246.

50.  Ramsy’s habit of plagiarism is mentioned by the Wikipedia article “Alexander Hewat.”  It cited two sources.

Publications of the Southern History Association (Vol. 2).  Southern History Association.  26 February – 26 October 1898.  144.  I could not identify this further.

Peter George Mode.  Source Book and Bibliographical Guide for American Church History.  Menasha Wisconsin: George Banta Publishing Company, 1921.  188.

51.  Buchanan.  22.
52.  Buchanan.  55.