Francis Russell Hart Collection (Boston, MA)

This archive could be useful to those in North America with an interest in eighteenth and nineteenth Jamaica. From the abstract it is described as a 'collection consists of deeds, wills, leases, inventories of plantations, manuscripts, and maps gathered by Francis Russell Hart relating to the history of the West Indies and Central America, specifically Antigua, Barbados, Colombia, Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Nevis, St. Christopher, St. Thomas, and Trinidad.'

Francis Russell Hart (1868 - 1938) had an interest in Caribbean history and wrote three historical books, a number of articles and his own recollections on time spend working in the region. Namely Admirals of the Caribbean (Boston, 1922), The Disaster of Darien; the story of the Scots' Settlement and the causes of its failure, 1699-1701 (Boston, 1929); and The siege of Havana, 1762 (Boston, 1931) - the first being out of copyright and available here.

Much of the collection is related to the works mentioned above and the material often copies of originals. The Jamaican material relates mostly to government correspondence, printed items from newspapers and extracts. Other documents related to the British West Indies can also be found in this collection.

For more information: MHS Francis Russell Hart Collection