Jonathan Blenman owned enslaved people on his property  'Duke's Farm' in Barbados. In his will, proved in 1808, he left the estate and 'all the negro and other slaves on it' to his wife, Maria Anna Blenman, and directed that if she chose to move to Britain, they should be sold and the proceeds used to support her. ¹

 

Jonathan was the son of William Blenman, who owned the Mesopotamia estate in St George, Tobago as well as the Cooper's Hill estate in Barbados which came to him through his marriage to Elizabeth Dottin in 1748/9.² ³

 

These estates, in addition to 'Kirton' or 'Kent' in Christ Church, Barbados, which had been purchased by William's father in 1766, were seized by the Lascelles family for debt in 1784.³ William was also the executor of his sister's will, proved in 1774, in which she bequeathed 'all [her] slaves in the island of Barbados' to her and William's mother.³

 

Jonathan matriculated at Christ's in 1770, prior to the Blenman family's estates being seized in 1784, suggesting that at least some of the funding for his education was probably derived from slavery. Notably, Jonathan also appears to have donated two large silver candlesticks to the college.⁴

 

A more extensive study of Jonathan Blenman, his family, and their recognition as beneficiaries of enslavement in archives was created by Georgie Moore as part of the 2021 Legacies of Enslavement Project.

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