Wills and testaments
There is evidence from wills and testaments that enslaved people in the colonies were regarded as ‘moveable property’, meaning they could be bequeathed after the owner’s death. Copies of original testaments of plantation owners may survive in estate papers or among family papers. If the testament was registered by a court whose jurisdiction covered the plantation itself, the registers might survive in the relevant national archives of that country. Scots who owned land in both the colonies and in Scotland could have their testaments registered in the Commissary Court of Edinburgh and (later) the Sheriff Court of Edinburgh. The registers for both of these have been digitised and are searchable online via the ScotlandsPeople website. See below under 'websites and bibliography'.
Registers of Deeds
Contracts, indentures, factories and other legal papers concerning the sale of enslaved people can give details about the transaction, the parties involved, the price paid and other conditions under which the sale was to be finalised. Some of these are among collections of estate and plantation records or family papers (e.g. indenture between John Davies, Antigua, and James Matthew Hodges, Antigua, regarding the sale of a enslaved person, 1833 (NRS reference GD209/21) and indenture between Eliza Mines, Jamaica, and Cunningham Buchanan, Jamaica, regarding sale of two female enslaved individuals, 1809 (NRS reference CS228/B/15/52). It is possible that many others might appear in the various registers of deeds in the NRS, which can be very time-consuming to search. Many registers are not indexed, and those which are indexed are only by personal name. For more details see our research guide on searching registers of deeds.
