Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Sir Thomas Modyford, 1st Baronet (c. 1620 – 1 September 1679) was a planter of

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 ...

and Governor of Jamaica from 1664 to 1671.

Early life

Modyford was the son of a mayor of

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

with family connections to the

Duke of Albemarle The Dukedom of Albemarle () has been created twice in the Peerage of England, each time ending in extinction. Additionally, the title was created a third time by James II in exile and a fourth time by his son the Old Pretender, in the Jacobit ...

Barbados

Modyford emigrated to Barbados as a young man with other family members in 1647, in the opening stages of the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

. He had £1,000 for a down payment on a plantation and £6,000 to commit in the next three years. Modyford soon was dominant in Barbados island politics, rising to be speaker of the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible g ...

during the reign of King Charles II, and factor for the Royal Adventurers Trading to Africa, who had a monopoly in the

slave trade Slave trade may refer to: * History of slavery - overview of slavery It may also refer to slave trades in specific countries, areas: * Al-Andalus slave trade * Atlantic slave trade ** Brazilian slave trade ** Bristol slave trade ** Danish sl ...

to the islands. By 1647, Modyford had made a fortune from sugar and slavery. In 1651, Modyford sided with the Cavaliers under Lord

Francis Willoughby, 5th Baron Willoughby of Parham Francis Willoughby, 5th Baron Willoughby of Parham (baptised 1614; died 23 July 1666 O.S., 2 August 1666 Old Style and New Style dates, N.S.) was an English people, English Peerage of England, peer of the House of Lords. He succeeded to the tit ...

, as they defied

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...

, but when a force was despatched under the command of Sir

George Ayscue Admiral Sir George Ayscue (c. 1616 – 5 April 1672) was an English naval officer who served in the English Civil War and the Anglo-Dutch Wars who rose to the rank of Admiral of the White. He also served as Governor of the Isles of Scilly (164 ...

, Modyford switched sides, deserting Willoughby and his royalist forces. In 1660, he negotiated with the Commissioners of the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

to be governor of Barbados, which put him in an awkward position with the Restoration of the English monarchy.

Jamaica

Sir Thomas Modyford was appointed Governor of Jamaica, by commission dated 15 February 1664 and made a

Baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

. He arrived in Jamaica 4 June 1664, with seven hundred planters and their slaves, marking the wholesale introduction of a slavery-based plantation economy in Jamaica. The move was marked by tragedy for Modyford however, whose eldest son John was lost at sea when returning for his mother in

. But it was not long before Modyford took tight control of the Jamaican government by culling the council and filling it with his own supporters, including his brother, Col. Sir James Modyford, whom he made Lieutenant-Governor of Jamaica, Governor of the Town and Castle of

Port Royal Port Royal () was a town located at the end of the Palisadoes, at the mouth of Kingston Harbour, in southeastern Jamaica. Founded in 1494 by the Spanish, it was once the largest and most prosperous city in the Caribbean, functioning as the cen ...

and sole judge of the Admiralty and Customs. Thomas Modyford remained a factor for the Royal Adventurers until 1669, overseeing their plantation in Jamaica whilst Sir James was granted a royal licence in November to ship convicted felons from England to his brother in Jamaica. In Jamaica Sir Thomas used a labour force of twenty-eight

indentured servant Indentured servitude is a form of Work (human activity), labor in which a person is contracted to work without salary for a specific number of years. The contract called an "indenture", may be entered voluntarily for a prepaid lump sum, as paymen ...

s from England, and a large number of African slaves. It was also under Thomas Modyford that the island was first divided into parishes. His own cacao plantation at Sixteen Mile Walk was located in St. Katherine's parish. However, these plantations came under regular attacks from

Jamaican Maroons Jamaican Maroons descend from Africans who freed themselves from slavery in the Colony of Jamaica and established communities of Free black people in Jamaica, free black people in the island's mountainous interior, primarily in the eastern Pari ...

. In the second half of the 1660s, Modyford waged war against the Karmahaly Maroons, led by

Juan de Serras Juan de Serras was one of the first Jamaican Maroon chiefs in the seventeenth century. His community was based primarily around Los Vermajales, and as a result the English called his group of Maroons the Karmahaly Maroons. It is likely that his Ma ...

, but the governor failed to subdue this community of runaway slaves. In 1670 he was "Governor of His Majesty's Island of Jamaica Commander-in-Chief of all His Majesties Forces within the said Island and in the Islands adjacent Vice-Admiral to His Royal Highness the

Duke of York Duke of York is a title of nobility in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of List of English monarchs, English (later List of British monarchs, British) monarchs ...

in the American Seas", according to the commission to

Henry Morgan Sir Henry Morgan (; – 25 August 1688) was a Welsh privateer, plantation owner, and, later, the lieutenant governor of Jamaica. From his base in Port Royal, Jamaica, he and those under his command raided settlements and shipping ports o ...

to make war upon the Spanish. The issuance of the aforementioned privateer commission to Morgan, who used it to attack and plunder the Spanish possession of Panama, resulted in revocation of Modyford's governorship and arrest in 1671. King Charles II of England, in desperate need of Spain as an ally in an impending war with the Dutch, had ordered the arrest and revocation merely to appease a Spanish Crown, furious over the destruction of their prize city. Though charges were never preferred, and no trial was ever held, Modyford spent two years in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...

. He was released in 1674, and returned to Jamaica in 1675.

Death

Modyford died on 1 September 1679. He was buried the next day at the cathedral in

Spanish Town Spanish Town (Jamaican Patois: Spain) is the capital and the largest town in the Parishes of Jamaica, parish of St. Catherine, Jamaica, St. Catherine in the historic county of Middlesex, Jamaica, Middlesex, Jamaica. It was the Spanish and Briti ...

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

alongside his wife, Elizabeth. At his death, Modyford owned one of the largest plantations in the West Indies, with over 600 African slaves and white indentured servants.Hilary Beckles, "The 'Hub of Empire': The Caribbean and Britain in the Seventeenth Century", ''The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume 1 The Origins of Empire'', ed. by Nicholas Canny (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), p. 225.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Modyford, Thomas 1620s births 1679 deaths Merchants from the British West Indies Speakers of the House Assembly of Barbados Baronets in the Baronetage of England Governors of Jamaica Governors of Barbados Chief justices of Jamaica Colony of Jamaica judges 17th-century Jamaican judges Jamaican planters English slave owners Jamaican slave owners