James Tobin (1736/7–1817) was a prominent merchant and planter based in

Nevis Nevis ( ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea that forms part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies. Nevis and the neighbouring island of Saint Kitts constitute the Saint Kitts and Nevis, Federation of Saint Kitts ...

. During his life, he became one of the most prominent

proslavery Proslavery is support for slavery. It is sometimes found in the thought of ancient philosophers, religious texts, and in American and British writings especially before the American Civil War but also later through the 20th century. Arguments in ...

activists from the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

Life

Tobin was born in London, the son of James Tobin Sr. of Nevis, identified tentatively in the ODNB with the sea captain James Tobin (1698–1770), as given in ''Caribbeana''. Educated at

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

, he took articles as a solicitor. After a period in Nevis, he returned in 1784 to

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

. He was in business there, with John Pretor Pinney, and advocated for the planters' point of view on the abolitionist movement. He was a member of the Bristol West India Association. Tobin travelled first to Nevis in 1758, to work in the family plantation business, at Stoney Grove Estate. From 1760 to 1782 he was there at least three times. He went back there in 1808. In 1817, the year of his death, there were 213 enslaved people on the Stoney Grove plantation. In the end Tobin quarrelled with the Pinney family. He died in Bristol, on 6 October 1817.

Works

Tobin was one of a group of writers who defended the existing institution of slavery, based on experience in the Caribbean, that included also Samuel Estwick,

Edward Long Edward Long may refer to: * Edward Long (historian) (1734–1813), British-born planter, historian and writer * Edward Henry Carroll Long (1808–1865), US Representative from Maryland * Edward V. Long (1908–1972), US Senator from Missouri See a ...

, Richard Nisbet who published ''Slavery not Forbidden by Scripture'' (1773), and

Philip Thicknesse Captain Philip Thicknesse (1719 – 23 November 1792) was a British Army officer and writer who was a friend of the artist Thomas Gainsborough. He wrote several travel guides. Early life Philip Thicknesse was born in Staffordshire, England, so ...

. He was drawn into controversy by the views of James Ramsay, expressed in ''An Essay on the Treatment and Conversion of African Slaves in the British Sugar Colonies'' of 1784; and published a number of works: *''Cursory Remarks upon the Reverend Mr. Ramsay's Essay on the Treatment and Conversion of African Slaves in the Sugar Colonies'' (1785). Tobin deployed arguments including the deprivations found in English rural life, compared to an idealised West Indian plantation drawing on the novels of

Henry Mackenzie Henry Mackenzie FRSE (August 1745 – 14 January 1831, born and died in Edinburgh) was a Scottish lawyer, novelist and writer sometimes seen as the Addison of the North. While remembered mostly as an author, his main income came from legal ro ...

and

Sarah Scott Sarah Scott (née Robinson; 21 September 1720 – 3 November 1795) was an English novelist, translator, social reformer, and member of the Bluestockings. Her most famous work was her utopian novel ''Millenium Hall, A Description of Millenium Ha ...

. He cited the pro-slavery work of Rev. Robert Robertson from earlier in the century, and followed

racial purity The term racial hygiene was used to describe an approach to eugenics in the early 20th century, which found its most extensive implementation in Nazi Germany (Nazi eugenics). It was marked by efforts to avoid miscegenation, analogous to an animal ...

arguments from Long. * ''Short Rejoinder to the Reverend Mr. Ramsay's Reply'' (1787). Tobin pointed out the

Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts United Society Partners in the Gospel (USPG) is a United Kingdom-based charitable organisation (registered charity no. 234518). It was first incorporated under Royal Charter in 1701 as the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Pa ...

as owner of a

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

sugar plantation that used slave labour. Tobin was addressed personally by Ramsay in ''A Letter to James Tobin, Esq., late member of His Majesty's Council in the island of Nevis'' (1787). He replied in: *''A Farewel Address to the Rev. Mr. James Ramsay'' (1788) The 1786 ''Essay on Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species'' by

Thomas Clarkson Thomas Clarkson (28 March 1760 – 26 September 1846) was an English abolitionist, and a leading campaigner against the slave trade in the British Empire. He helped found the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade (also known ...

deals with Tobin as the "Cursory Remarker". In 1787,

Ottobah Cugoano Ottobah Cugoano ( – ), also known as John Stuart, was a British abolitionist and activist who was born in the Gold Coast (modern-day Ghana). He was sold into slavery at the age of thirteen and shipped to Grenada in the West Indies. In 1772, h ...

responded to a number of authors defending enslavement, including Tobin, in ''Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil and Wicked Traffic of the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species''.

Olaudah Equiano Olaudah Equiano (; c. 1745 – 31 March 1797), known for most of his life as Gustavus Vassa (), was a writer and abolitionist. According to his memoir, he was from the village of Essaka in present day southern Nigeria. Enslaved as a child in ...

replied to Tobin in 1788, in ''The Public Advertiser'', attacking two of his pamphlets, and also a related book from 1786 by Gordon Turnbull.

Hector Macneill Hector Macneill (22 October 1746 – 15 March 1818) was a Scottish poet born near Roslin, Midlothian, Scotland. Macneill had been the son of a poor army captain and went to work as a clerk in 1760 at the age of fourteen. Soon, he was sent to the ...

wrote positively about Tobin's ''Cursory Remarks'' in his ''Observations on the Treatment of the Negroes in Jamaica'' (1788). In February 1790 Tobin gave evidence to a parliamentary committee on the slave trade. A later work was ''A Plain Man's Thoughts on the present Price of Sugar'' (1792). In that year a bill to abolish the slave trade was defeated in the House of Commons.

Family

Tobin married in 1766 Elizabeth Webbe, daughter of George Webbe, a Nevis planter. Living until 1777 in

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

, they had eight children: James Webbe,

George George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...

, Henry Hope,

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

, Elizabeth, Charles Meadows, Joseph Webbe, and Frances. Elizabeth married John Cobham of

, and Frances Robert Bush of Clifton. In a marriage of first cousins, George Webbe Tobin, son of George, married Susannah Cobham, daughter of Elizabeth. Through his son, Joseph Webbe, Tobin is the four times great grandfather of astronomer William Tobin.

Notes

External links

Miniature believed to be of James Tobin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tobin, James English merchants English writers British slave owners 1730s births 1817 deaths