Henry Cort

		Henry Cort Inventor - Creator of puddled iron - Father of iron trade
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Guiana and the Cort-Gladstone connection

Historical background

The country that is now Guyana was British Guiana for most of the nineteenth century. It originated as three Dutch colonies: Berbice, Demerara and Essequibo. The history of Berbice is most relevant to the early part of this story.

For the period up to 1795, Dutch settlers are happy for British settlers to join them, except for a brief period when the countries are at war in the early 1780s.

In 1795 the Netherlands are overrun by the French, who set up a new Government, known as the Batavian Republic, which joins its war against Britain. The Dutch in Berbice and their governor, Abraham Jacob van Imbyze van Batenburg, are uncomfortable with the new arrangement, and welcome the British force which captures the three colonies in 1796. The British allow van Batenburg to continue in office as the King's representative.

In the Peace of Amiens, concluded in March 1802, the colonies are handed back to Holland. Governor van Batenburg remains in Berbice (whether or not in office I'm not sure, but it doesn't matter to this story) until February 1803. War is resumed in May, and in September Britain recaptures the colonies.

In January 1804 the British Government reappoints van Batenburg, who returns to the colony in June and remains as governor until his death in October 1806.

Earliest evidence: William Cort in Guiana

Four of Henry Cort's children travel to Guiana before 1810: Henry, William, Charlotte and Frederick.

The earliest record is for William, who is one of the signatories to an address to Governor van Batenburg, dated 7 February 1803, from grateful inhabitants of Berbice. Signatories are listed in order of rank: William's title of Capitein der Burgery ranks twelfth.

We can conclude that he has been in the country for several years, and may have found favour with the governor. It may be during this period that one William van Batenburgh Cort, reckoned to be his son, is born.

A possible sponsor

It is a fair guess that William was encouraged, possibly helped, to go to Berbice. A likely candidate is Joseph Hamer.

Odd facts about Hamer emerge from the Web, but not all are reliable.

Two of his children are baptised on the same day, 31 July 1787, at Holy Trinity Gosport. Previously (21 January 1777), one of Henry Cort's children is christened John Hamer in the same church.

Another of Joseph's children is christened William Attwick Hamer, showing a close link with the Attwick family.

Joseph's will (made July 1800) and material from legal disputes that arise from it, show him owning plantations in Demerara and undeveloped land in Berbice. One of the will's executors is John Wilson, who is given the task of overseeing the Demerara plantations.

Without doubt this John Wilson is the man whom Charlotte Cort marries. The dates of Charlotte's arrival in Guiana and her marriage are still matters for speculation. When Hamer's will is made in 1800 she is only 20, and would presumably need permission to marry.

We may note that Charlotte's sister Harriet went out to join relations in India, where she married a man considerably older. Has Charlotte taken a leaf out of Harriet's book?

William and Henry in Berbice.

Occasional snatches emerge about William's activities in Berbice between 1803 and 1807.

The Commissary of the Vendue advertises that on Monday the 5th of March will be Exposed for Sale to the highest Bidders, by order of Mr. J. G. Cloot de Nieuwerkirk q. q. Wm. Cort & Roderick Cozier as Executors to the Estate of Johd [sic] Lewis deceased. A Dwelling House situated on the front of Plantation Vlissingen. The half of a Schooner Boat, also a Boat Negro, some clothes, and a parcel of books. Demerary, 25th February 1804. E. N. Wichers.

From Demerara and Essequibo Gazette.

In a document listing exports from Berbice over a period ending August 1804, William is registered as proprietor of Plantation Hampshire: later documents suggest he retains that position for the rest of his life.

But early in 1805 there is a strange interlude.

We got to Fareham yesterday around 8 o'clock, set off for Portsmouth tho' Wm is not arrived.

From letter of William's brother Henry, February 1805.

It seems that William has made a trip to England: though his role as signatory of petitions in Berbice dated 6th December 1804 and 23 April 1805 shows he doesn't stay long!

Henry's letter is later accepted as his will, since it states unambiguously how he wishes his estate to be distributed on his death. Among legatees he names his sisters Elizabeth (Betsy), Caroline, Louisa and Catherine (Kitty), who are all unmarried and (presumably) living in England. Harriet and Charlotte are missing. Harriet is known to be married and living in India. It is therefore a fair deduction that Charlotte, by this time, is also married (to John Wilson) and living in Guiana.

If so, when did she arrive there? It seems unlikely she would have ventured out with William when he first went out; equally unlikely she would travel there later on her own. A strong possibility is that her brother Frederick went out some time after William, and she accompanied him. When William returned briefly in 1804-5, Frederick would presumably have stayed to oversee the plantation, as he did during William's later sojourn in England.

It is evident that Henry and his wife accompany William on the return voyage in 1805. She gives birth to a daughter while in Berbice, but alas her husband soon dies there. A list of trusts approved by the Berbice Court of Civil Justice (near the end of CO318/74 in National Archives) shows one set up in her daughter's name (Frances) in January 1806, so it's pretty obvious that her husband's death was earlier, but probably after young Frances's birth in September. Widow and child return to England later in 1806.

By January 1809 William too is back in England, where three children (mother Mary Ann) are baptised in Yattendon (Berkshire) over the next three years. Brother Frederick is evidently overseeing the plantation back in Berbice: his signature appears on two documents addressed by its citizens to the governor in 1809. Paradoxically, it also appears among many in a letter published in the Essequibo and Demerara Gazette in December 1810, expressing appreciation for the services of Major General Samuel Dalrymple to the colonies.

Last evidence of William's stay in England is in correspondence relating to the Parliamentary Inquiry of 1812. By April 1814 he has returned to Berbice, where he is appointed to the Court of Civil Justice, one of two bodies charged with administration of the colony: the other is the Court of Policy and Criminal Justice, whose name is later changed to Council of Government at the instigation of the Colonial Office.

His appointment comes about the same time that a new governor, William Bentinck, takes office. The governor is ex officio president of the court, and Bentinck has his own ideas on how it should conduct his business.

Daily experience convinces me of the impropriety of our Courts late practise of appointing its own Members to be Guardians, Executors, Sequestrators and other Capacities.

From Governor Bentinck's address to Court of Civil Justice, 18 October 1814.

The court goes along with him at first, but they fall out when he unilaterally reverses one of its decisions. Matters come to a head at a meeting on 19 November.

In Consequence of the arbitrary interference of the executive power We do jointly and Severally as Members of the Court of Civil Justice most Solemnly protest against any further Judgments or decisions of this Court, till the Said grievances be redrest.

Motion by Stephen Mourant at Court meeting, 19 November 1814.

The governor refuses to accept Mourant's motion. He insists they move on to deal with other business. They insist on discussing their grievance first. Impasse!

His Excellency then ordered the doors to be thrown open and ordered the Marshal to proclaim that the Court has dissolved.

From minutes of Court of Civil Justice meeting, 19 November 1814.

In the entry for 15 December (the next in the files in chronological order) Cort and his fellows are described as "late members" of the court, a temporary replacement having been organised by the Court of Policy. They are unwilling to let the matter rest there, and complain to Earl Bathurst, Secretary for War and the Colonies, in London. They get no sympathy from him.

I have no hesitation in expressing my Entire Approbation of your Conduct.

From letter of Earl Bathust to Governor Bentinck, 17 July 1815.

Developments in Demerara

We must backtrack to 1806, by which time John Wilson is making a name for himself in Demerara (and Essequibo, which is run jointly with Demerara for the early part of the century). His name appears amongst those attending annual meetings of the colonies' Court of Policy from 1806 to 1810, though it is absent for other meetings of the court.

Around the beginning of 1807 he signs, as "attorney for several estates", a petition objecting to restrictions imposed by the British government on trade with America, but the petition's requests are turned down.

He also signs a Memorial of Merchants and Planters in 1809, requesting an extra convoy to carry goods to Europe, since the current one leaves too early to include many perishable items. On this occasion he lists the eight estates for which he has become attorney.

Three of these (Endragt, Mon Repos and Good Hope) are among the bequests of Joseph Hamer, although elsewhere it is recorded that Good Hope has been sold to Edmund Thornton and Simon Fraser in 1801. Presumably Thornton and Fraser are using him as their local attorney.

The owners for whom Wilson is acting for the other five estates have yet to be identified. But other evidence reveals that the Success and Lusignan estates, like the Hamer bequests, are all in Demerara. The whereabouts of the remaining three (Nog Eens, New Orange Nassau, Bellefield) have yet to be established: probably in Demerara, and certainly absent from a list of Berbice estates issued in 1803.

He still holds a residual position ("postholder") in Berbice, where a salary of £145 is registered in a list of government expenditure in 1811. Also on the list is a clerk, J S Wilson, whose salary of £675 is exceeded by only four others in the colony. If he is John's son, it must be from a marriage (or liaison) before that with Charlotte Cort.

In May 1812, Wilson Starts to attend meetings of the Court of Civil & Criminal Justice for Demerara and Essequibo. Later in the year he acts as executor for deceased planter Thomas Harris; while the Demerara and Essequibo Gazette records his appointment to two committees, describing him as "The Hon. John Wilson": it is very unlikely that there is another man in the colony with the same name and sufficient status to qualify as "honourable".

Involvement of John Gladstone

Returning to 1806, the year Lambert Blair, another of Joseph Hamer's executors, comes to England. Blair owns several plantations in Berbice: one of the objects of his trip is to find a British importer to take his produce.

Information about his success in this task has yet to emerge, but it has been established that a contract is agreed for Liverpool merchant John Gladstone to take consignments from two Demerara plantations, Endragt and Mon Repos, bequests of Joseph Hamer overseen by John Wilson. Thus a link is established between Wilson and Gladstone (whose son William will become one of the most prominent British politicians of the nineteenth century).

Gladstone subsequently buys up several plantations in Demerara, including the one overseen by Wilson at Success. Since Gladstone never visits the colony, it is a fair bet that he has advice and help with other purchases from Wilson, who soon becomes his attorney in Demerara.

By 1815.. the full potential of the plantations became apparent. The price of a slave in Demerara was, because of his productivity, very much greater than elsewhere.

From S.G. Checkland, The Gladstones: A Family Biography 1764-1851 (Cambridge 1971).

At the height of his career in the West Indies he owned in Demerara the estates Success, Wales, Waller's Delight, Covenden, Hampton Court, Vredenhoop and Vreedestein.

From S.G. Checkland, 'John Gladstone as Trader and Planter', Economic History Review, Vol 7 Part 2 (1954) p226.

Much of the evidence for this part of the story is Checkland's material, which mostly comes from the Gwynne-Gladstone (GG) collection at St Deiniol Library, Hawarden (available to library non-members via Flintshire Record Office if requested in advance). There is also John Gladstone's letterbook 1823-1826 (920 MD 140) at Liverpool Record Office, and his son Robertson's Journal of a Voyage & Residence in the Colony of Demerara (commencing 12th October 1828) in the library of Liverpool Athenaeum (requires advance booking).

None of these sources, however, mentions the continuing role of Gladstone as importer for produce from the Hamer plantations, though Wilson's twin roles as Gladstone's attorney and Hamer's executor gives him oversight of both groups of plantations.

Wilson's role at the Demerara court impinges on his relations with Gladstone. Official despatches from the colony at this time are loaded with material related to the court's proceedings. One of these relates to a long and complicated dispute, going back to 1804, involving the then court president Thomas Frankland and chief criminal officer van Berckel. Deeming this "a subject of utmost importance", Wilson devotes a whole letter on it to Gladstone in September 1812. Gladstone passes the letter on to Earl Bathurst, Secretary of State for the Colonies.

Dispatches do not give a comprehensive picture of court proceedings, quoting only those minutes relevant to the case. The earliest record for Wilson's attendance is 31 January 1812, the latest 17 August 1813. From 21 June 1814, court membership has substantially changed - possibly due to another dispute, or to the arrival of a new governor: Wilson is absent from all subsequent meetings recorded, but there is evidence showing his continued presence in Demerara.

Activities of Frederick Cort

During Wilson's period in Demerara, only one instance has so far emerged on Frederick Cort's continuing activities in Berbice. In the Berbice Gazette of 9 August 1817, he is shown as attorney acting in the conveyance of Plantation Washington to a new owner. Evidently he is doing more than helping his brother William.

In 1819 John Wilson returns to England. Gladstone takes him on as partner (John Gladstone, Grant & Wilson) and accepts his recommendation of his brother-in-law, Frederick Cort, as the new attorney. This changeover is presumably the occasion of Frederick's move from Berbice to Demerara. A full list of plantations he oversees is not available, but they include Wilson's former charge at Lusignan as well as the Hamer and Gladstone properties. Frederick remains as attorney for these properties for ten years, during which Gladstone continues to import the Hamer produce. The most momentous event of this period is the slave revolt of 1823.

The slave revolt

Although the slave trade has been abolished in Britain, colonists are still allowed to own slaves, a big factor in the sugar and coffee plantations in Demerara.

You will have heard from Mr Wilson of the violent clamour that has of late been raised in England against the present state of slavery in the West Indies.

From letter of Sir John Gladstone to Frederick Cort, 25 May 1823.

Perhaps it would be best to hold out favours to the Females in the shape of exemption from Labour Commensurate with the correctness of their Conduct.

From letter of Sir John Gladstone to Frederick Cort, 25 May 1823.

In 1823 Gladstone is worried about the possibility of a slave revolt. Though a committed Christian, he has convinced himself that the inferior status of negroes is ordained in the Scriptures, and tells Frederick that they too may be convinced by being obliged to attend Sunday church services at which "the Manager was to add.. some exhortations or explanations" on their "duties of subordination as set forth therein". He is, however, concerned about their welfare, with a view to which slaves should be encouraged to marry!

Cort wrote in reassuring vein. Punishment, he said of the estates under his management, was seldom necessary. The slaves could make considerable money by the sale of surplus produce of their provision grounds.. Cort described the happy contented countenances and the general good behaviour.. Some had taught themselves to read and a few were instructing others.

From S.G. Checkland, The Gladstones: A Family Biography 1764-1851.

However, rebellion soon breaks out among the slaves at Plantation Success.

You will most likely have heard 'ere this can reach you of the insurrection of the Negroes in the East Coast of the Colony, which broke out on the evening of Monday the 18th instant.

From letter of Frederick Cort to Sir John Gladstone, 29 August 1823 (GG2757).

The rebellion is put down, to Gladstone's relief. "I am glad to see," he writes to Cort, "the contracts for Building the Military Barracks at Annerdale have been entered into." This should "produce a beneficial effect in the minds of the Negroes" and show the "determination of the Governt to keep them in due subjection".

Gladstone's son visits Demerara

Gladstone had complete confidence in Cort, speaking highly of him to the Colonial Secretary, the Governor, the Fiscals and everyone else. Even when representations were made to the Governor that Cort was incompetent as attorney and planter, Gladstone stuck by him.

From S.G. Checkland, 'John Gladstone as Trader and Planter', Economic History Review, Vol 7 Part 2 (1954) p226.

There are examples elsewhere of planters bad-mouthing those who treated the slaves humanely, so we may wonder whether that is Frederick's main sin. Or maybe Frederick has been conditioned to be impervious to criticism - his father has been unjustly persecuted, so he must expect the same.

When stationed at Pt Felicity during the first week of the revolt, I received deputations of Negroes from Lusignan and Hamers' Estates entreating me to go there, that peace might be restored and their work resumed.

From letter of Frederick Cort to Sir John Gladstone, 29 August 1823 (GG2757).

When Robertson Gladstone visits Demerara on his father's behalf at the end of 1828, he soon forms his own opinion of Frederick.

Harry Watson and Mr McLean both came off the the ship, and I found Mr Cort waiting for me as soon as I landed.

From letter of Robertson Gladstone to his mother, 25 November 1828, three days after his arrival in Demerara (GG390).

My father will doubtless mention to you as I have written him fully upon the subject, the disappointment I had in finding Mr Cort to be not at all altogether what he would wish.

From letter of Robertson Gladstone to his brother Thomas, 16 January 1829 (GG428).

He cites a few examples of Frederick's erratic management of his father's estates.

Mr Cort had carried away all the buildings except the Managers house, a kitchen apart, and 5 o 6 Negroe Houses to Success, which must have lessened very materially their value to the proprietor.

From Robertson Gladstone's assessment of Plantation Covenden in his Journal.

He has been the cause of Mr Mackenzie's property, Lusignan, being such a terribly ruinous concern, when he came under our charge.

From letter of Robertson Gladstone to his brother Thomas, 16 January 1829.

His father responds rapidly to these allegations.

I regret to see the report you make of Cort, which I fear is too just. I have written to him on various subjects in such a manner as will I think cause him to throw up his attorneyships, which in that case will be transferred to Mr Mclean.

From letter of John Gladstone to his son Robertson, 5th March 1829 (GG543).

Frederick's role as Gladstone's attorney ends before August 1829, being replaced by "Mr McLean". The following month John Wilson leaves the partnership.

An interesting postscript. In October 1831 Demerara's Governor D'Urban proclaims that "all the Slaves the Property of the Crown in British Guiana shall be forthwith made free" by Royal Command. Apparently other slaves think this may apply to them too, and planters are horrified. Next month McLean writes to Gladstone about a conspiracy "discovered the other day that Fire was intended to be set simultaneously to every district in Town on the night of the 9th or 10th inst", but there is nothing about this in the Governor's dispatches. By comparison with McLean's outburst, Frederick Cort's attitude during the 1723 troubles seems positively phlegmatic.

Frederick's final years

Frederick leaves Demerara aboard the Albina in 1831. He settles in Liverpool, and on 31 December enters a partnership agreement with brother-in-law John Wilson; taking a quarter share, on a contribution of £7,000 towards a capital of £28,000.

The term of the agreement is five years from 1st January 1832, but it is cut short by an accident involving "a runaway horse" (according to the Guiana Chronicle) on 5th May 1834: Frederick dies a week later.

During the period 1832-4 he sires a bastard, Eliza Ann, by one Ann Whittaker.

Ann Whittaker is the same person who lived with me as servant at Everton in 1832 and 1833, is known to my sisters Caroline and Mrs Wilson.

From will of Frederick Cort.

This extract from the will, made after Eliza Ann's baptism, indicates that his sister Charlotte is still alive. The will features all his surviving siblings, and includes small bequests to his cousins Anna Becher and Elizabeth Turner.

A dispute later arises about the will: documents reveal that he has ignored Gladstone's wish for female slaves to marry male ones. Two "coloured" illegitimate sons, William and Frederick, have been born in Demerara to a woman identified as Louisa Cort: both take the Cort surname. William accompanied his father when Frederick left Demerara, and by 1837 is "at School Parrys Salsbury Street Liverpool". The will expresses a wish that his brother should join him, given their mother's permission.

One may wonder how conscious Gladstone's son William is of the connection with his father when the question of recompense for the Corts comes before Parliament in 1856.

I consider him a very unfit man for the situation he holds.

Robertson Gladstone's view of Frederick Cort, as expressed in his Journal.

Died - On the 12 May, at Liverpool, Fredk. CORT Esq., an old & highly respected inhabitant of this colony.

From Guiana Chronicle Friday 26 June 1835

William Cort's later career

With William Cort's departure from the Court of Civil Justice, information about him becomes more sparse. By 1819 he is proprietor of a second plantation, Williamsburg, with approximately 270 slaves overall. We assume he spends the rest of his time in Berbice, which in 1831 joins the other two colonies to form British Guiana.

James Carmichael Smyth arrives as governor in 1833, and on 2nd October issues a proclamation foreshadowing the end of slavery. From 1st August 1834, slaves will become apprentice labourers, serving the same master but with greater privilieges. On 1st August 1840 they will be free. A petition raised in 1837 by local inhabitants, concerning the aftermath of these developments, contains William Cort's signature.

William dies in Berbice on 2nd September 1853. A notice in The Times of October 5th appears to have been wrongly transcribed onto the web. It says he is "in the 32nd year of his age": it should be the 82nd. The death recorded cannot be either of the two other William Corts who might be in Berbice at the time, since one (Frederick's illegitimate son) was born in 1829 and the death of the other (William's own son) is separately recorded in 1855.

RELATED TOPICS

Henry Cort's family

Religion and sexual mores

Abolition and the Corts

Fact, error and conjecture

Life of Henry Cort

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Eric passed away abt 2012
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