Saturday 26 July 2014

Who Died in the West Indies?

I have been inputting details of some of my Myers forebears today into FTM and Wikitree.   I came to insert the information for Sir William Myers, my 6th great uncle.  He was Commander in Chief of the British Forces in the Leeward Islands before meeting his demise in 1804.  Sir William is buried in St Michael's Cathedral in Barbados.



I found a reference to the memorial stone for Sir William Myers in this church, he died in Barbados three weeks after being made a baronet.  How is that for bad luck?!  Interestingly, the church records state that "he was the 14th of 18 members of his family to have died on entry to the West Indies."   Who were these 17 relatives of his (and therefore potentially me) to have died in the West Indies?

The Pogsons were related to Sir William by marriage (it was Sir William's niece, Emily, who married Thomas Pogson).   Would the Pogsons have been included in this tally?  Emily was certainly very proud of her uncle and there are references to mementos about Sir William in her will.  But lets ignore the Pogsons for now.  So far my tally of dead "Myers" in the West Indies is as follows:-

  • Sir William Myers, died in 1804, Barbados
  • Mary Myers (wife of Christopher James Myers, nephew to Sir William), died in 1804, Barbados
  • James Myers (nephew to Sir William and brother-in-law to the said Mary Myers), died in December 1804, Barbados.
  • Sir William Myers, son of the 1811 Sir William, died in battle in 1804, also in the West Indies.

Who were the rest?   Mary Myers had a niece, Catherine Palmer, who died in Barbados aged 9, she is referenced on the memorial gravestone.  Perhaps we should include her in the tally.  Still leaves me with 13 more ancestors to find somewhere in the death & burial records of the Caribbean.



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