Tranquil views like this might have enticed Robert Lyle to leave Scotland and become the resident owner of a coffee plantation in Jamaica.  This drawing was published in 1820 in a book by artist James Hakewill titled "A Picturesque Tour of the Island of Jamaica."  By not showing slaves undergoing the heavy burden of plantation labor, Hakewill's sanitized drawings appear to be an attempt to defend the indefensible institution of slavery from its critics.  James Hakewill - Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

Slavery on Lottery Plantation under Robert Lyle, 1817-1838

As required by British law, Robert Lyle filed a report listing the slaves in his possession in 1817, followed every three years until 1832 by a report listing those slaves he had bought or sold or who had been born or died at Lottery Plantation. The slave population at Lottery increased from 24 in 1817 to 97 in 1832. Over that period, there were 28 births and 28 deaths, and 73 slaves were bought by Lyle from other slave owners.

Slaves in Jamaica were given first names by their owners.  Sometimes the names were English words, but not names that would have been used to name white children.  For example, Robert Lyle had slaves named Glasgow, Fortune, and Queen.  Slaves born in Africa might never receive a surname, unless they were baptized.  Slaves born on a plantation were generally given a first name and a surname by the owner.  Of the 28 slaves born at Lottery, eleven were named after specific members of Robert Lyle's family, including his father James Lyle and his mother Elizabeth Wilson.  Seven more slaves were given common Scottish first names and the Lyle surname.  

While the transatlantic trade of slaves in the British Empire had been abolished in 1807, it was not until 1833 that the British Parliament declared an end to slavery, effective August 1, 1834.  There followed a period during which former slaves were "apprenticed" at low wages before fully gaining their freedom in 1838.  

Robert never married.  We don't know whether he might have been the father of any of the slaves that bore the Lyle surname.  However, his will, written in 1834, revealed a special relationship with Peggy Crawford, a slave who would still be bound to him under apprenticeship after emancipation took effect.  The will granted her the use of a small house and ten pounds per annum for the rest of her natural life, as well as releasing her from her apprenticeship, if he should die before it expired.  At the time he wrote the will, Robert was 57 and Peggy was 47, and they would have known each other for 17 years.  Peggy Crawford did not give birth to any slaves at Lottery Plantation.  However, it is known that in Jamaica slave owners sometimes granted freedom to children they had with slaves while those children were still infants.  It is possible that this could have happened with Robert and Peggy.

It was also the wish of Robert Lyle that those of his former slaves who had been born in Africa be allowed to live out their lives at the plantation.  In his will, after providing separately for Peggy, he stated that, "taking into consideration the faithful services rendered to me by the African Negroes with whom I settled Lottery and who are all still alive thereon, it is my desire that they should be allowed to retain the houses and grounds they now occupy on Lottery for the term of their natural lives and that they should on no account be turned off the property in their old days." Henry Cerf, Ann Markland, and Agnes Lyle are named here, along with several other former slaves whose names are illegible.

To compensate slave owners throughout the British Empire for their loss of human property as a result of emancipation, the British government paid out a total of 20 million pounds.  Robert received his share of 1929 pounds in 1835.  He died in 1839.  Nephew James Lyle inherited the plantation and probably arrived in Jamaica that same year.  

Full Emancipation Comes to Jamaica in 1838

After receiving limited rights as apprentices in 1834, all former slaves were granted full freedom in 1838 and were then free to leave the plantations. Many did, and as a result there began a period of labor shortages and economic decline, despite the compensation that plantation owners had received. Many plantations were abandoned. Exports of coffee from Jamaica dropped from 20 million pounds in 1832 to 6 million in 1846. We don't know how many freed people might have remained at Lottery Plantation as workers after 1838.

The Jamaican government decided it had to do something to address the labor shortage, so in 1840 an act was passed to offer free passage to immigrants from Europe if they would come to live and work on the plantations. A year later it was reported that 1417 immigrants had entered Jamaica under the program, with at least one ship coming from Scotland. This program continued until the end of 1842.

The Arrival of the Groves Family at Lottery Plantation in the 1840's

The Jamaican government's offer of free passage might have been an incentive for Elizabeth Grove's older siblings to travel to Jamaica and work for James Lyle at Lottery Plantation in 1842. We know for certain that Thomas, David, Ellen, and Ellen's husband John had all arrived there by 1843. David left a year later. Ellen with her spouse, and Thomas with his, both had children born to them in 1845 at Lottery and they may have remained in Jamaica until as late as 1850 before emigrating to America.

I assume that, due to their personal circumstances and the poor economy in Jamaica, the Groves family would not have been guests of James Lyle at Lottery Plantation unless they were willing to work, either for wages, for room and board, or (probably for the women) doing the unpaid domestic work that is necessary to maintain a household.   A journal from a coffee plantation in another Jamaican parish tells us what kind of work it took to grow and harvest coffee.  Coffee beans were harvested and transported to market from January through June, with pruning and weeding done for the rest of the year in preparation for the next year's harvest.  A plantation the size of Lottery might have required about 30 laborers to work in the coffee groves, plus 2 carpenters, 1 mason, 1 sawyer, 1 muleman, 2 watchmen, 2 domestics, and 1 nurse.  Some of the more skilled positions might have been filled by members of the Groves family--taking the place of former slaves who had left the plantation.

Although we don't have any photographs of Jamaica in the 1840's, the photograph below shows the harvesting of coffee beans as it was probably done at that time.