The Scots slave owner ‘celebrated’ for killing a native chief
An academic came face-to-face with her own family history while researching the story of Alexander Leith, writes Alison Campsie
Little has been known about Alexander Leith, who at 19 left his povertystricken family in Aberdeenshire to take up the offer of land in St Vincent , part of the Ceded Isles handed from the French to the British in 1763.
Now, new research has cast light on Leith and the hundreds of others, mainly from the North East, who ventured to these islands to exploit the booming trade in sugar, slaves and perhaps tobacco and indigo.
Leith, who went on to lead a local militia, was later hailed for killing Chatoyer, leader of the Garifuna people, in 1795 as the Scots sought to increase their territory on the island.
Leith’s memorial in St George’s Anglican Cathedral in Kingstown notes the “distinguished part” he played in the Carib war, with the Carib chief “falling by his hand”.
But for someone so noted in St Vincent history, the story of Leith, who worked as an attorney for plantation owners, owned at least 10 slaves himself and had two sons to an enslaved woman, remained largely elusive.
Dr Désha Osborne, who lectures at City University of New York and currently a IASH fellow at Edinburgh University, said: “All that remains of Leith in St Vincent is located with his remains – a note on a memorial slab of the cathedral. That was it.
“Around the time of St Vincent’s independence in 1979, a red carpet was placed over the slab in a deliberate act of disrespect to Leith and seemingly out of respect for the memory of Chatoyer. While all the other memorials to colonial administrators, soldiers and prominent European families are still visible, Leith is the only one covered. There have been no studies until now on the life of this man.” Leith hailed from the large and extensive family which held properties such as Leith Hall near Huntly, Glenkindie House, Arnage Castle in Ellon and nearby Fyvie Castle.
But while being born into one of the area’s most wealthy lot, a family disagreement left his parents financially ruined. In 1771, Alexander left for the West Indies, with advertisements for opportunities in the Ceded Islands well-advertised locally.
In St Vincent, a circle of men from the area were already in operation, including Major William Lumsden of Cushnie, Murray Farquharson of Coldrach near Ballater and Macduff Fyfe from Cabrach.
Leith quickly gained influence and by 1795, he became major of the local militia as the Second Carib War broke out.
The research also brought Dr Osborne her face-to-face with her own family history. With both parents hailing from St Vincent, her mother’s grandmother, Princess Rose, had a Scottish father, with the girl travelling to Scotland in the very early 1900s, aged just five.
Dr Osborne found at least 30 to 40 children born to enslaved women on St Vincent were fathered by Scots.
Leith’s sons, John and Patrick, were enslaved like their mother until Leith’s death in 1799, when they were given manumission. The three were given a combined inheritance of around £1,000 with John sent to Aberdeen for schooling. Both later bought land and slaves in St Vincent, with their mother, Roselind, later sold one of these plantations.
Dr Osborne said: “When I started looking into this, I was shocked, because we just haven’t known of these family stories. These stories are also part of my own family story. I found myself calling my parents and asking them, are there still Leiths, Cruickshanks and Gordons on St Vincent? The answer was always yes. I thought about the people who I have met during the course of this research, people from North America and Canada, who are so proud of their Scottish heritage, they learn Gaelic and they wear tartan, but it is not the same for a Caribbean. We just don’t know if it was a heritage that was embraced – or if it was wanted. We don’t know what there is to celebrate.”