Ralph Payne, Baron Lavington family papers

Collection

Call Number: OSB MSS 138

Ralph Payne, Baron Lavington family papers

Scope and Contents: The Ralph Payne, Baron Lavington Papers document the West Indian portions of the economic fortunes and political career of the sugar planter and politician Ralph Payne, first Baron Lavington. The researcher will also find the papers of value in the study of the history of the Caribbean sugar trade, including documentation of land and slave ownership and estate management in the West Indies. While the record of Payne's holdings is far from complete, his papers reveal the dense networks of family and patronage connections that operated in the Caribbean colonies in the later eighteenth century. The papers span the dates 1689-1855, but the bulk of the material dates from 1730 to 1790. The collection is organized into six series: Correspondence; Political and Governmental Papers; Land and Plantation Records; Payne Family Personal Estate Papers; Other Business Papers; and Accounts, Bills and Receipts. Boxes 16-17 contain Oversize material. Oversize Broadside Material is housed in a separate location.
Language of Materials: Almost entirely in English; some of the official land records are in Law Latin.
Conditions Governing Access: The materials are open for research. Oversize and Parchment Oversize material in boxes 17-18 may be consulted only with permission of the appropriate curator. In some cases, conservation work to an item may be necessary before the item can be consulted. Restricted Fragile in box 19 may be consulted only with permission of the appropriate curator. Preservation photocopies have been substituted in the main files.
Conditions Governing Use: The Ralph Payne, Baron Lavington Papers is the physical property of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the appropriate curator.
Immediate Source of Acquisition: Purchased from the William Reese Company on the James Marshall and Marie-Louise Osborn Fund, 1999.
Associated Materials: Related material may be found in the Lavington Papers: Stuart Documents and in the Osborn Files, located at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library; the Payne Family Papers, located at the University of British Columbia; several collections in the British Library and the National Library of Ireland; and the Limerick University Library. Several items relating to Lord Lavington are cataloged in The Beinecke Lesser Antilles Collection at Hamilton College by Samuel J. and Penelope R. O. Hough (University Press of Florida, 1994)

Dates: 1679 - 1855; Majority of material found within 1730 - 1790
Extent: 9.65 Linear Feet ((19 boxes) + 17 broadside items)
Related Names: Lavington, Ralph Payne, baron, 1738-1807
Language of Materials: English
Language of Materials: English
Script: Latin
Language of Materials: Latin
Script: Latin