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May 2019
Renfrewshire’s Slave Legacy: The
Napiers of Milliken
The Government’s slave compensation
records from 1834 reveal that many of
Renfrewshire’s landed elite owned hundreds of African men, women
and children on sugar plantations. Contrary to the misconception that
Scots were banned from the empire before the Union of 1707, the
connections started early. From the 1640s, ships from the lower Clyde
ports ventured to the Caribbean.
James Milliken was born in 1669, the
year after Port Glasgow was founded.
One of the reasons why Renfrewshire’s
slave ownership has been hidden for
so long, is that those involved tried to
cover up their activities. In the history
books, Milliken was allegedly a career
soldier who rose to the rank of major in
the British army. However, Milliken’s
father was a seafarer in Irvine, and his
uncle was a partner in Glasgow’s fi rst
sugar house. Through their infl uence,
Milliken ventured to the Leeward
islands c.1690, as a slave overseer
(not a soldier). When the French The Sugar Works Chimney
were driven out of St Kitts from 1710,
Milliken acquired the 200-acre Monkey Hill plantation. This was the
family’s main source of income for the next century. The Sugar Works
Chimney, at Monkey Hill, St. Kitts still stands today.
James Milliken was among the fi rst of the new sugar elite to invest
in Renfrewshire. He came home from the Caribbean in 1729 and
acquired half of Johnstone estate from the Houstons. He demolished
Johnstone castle, and built a mansion, renaming his new estate
‘Milliken’. He expanded his estate, and became patron of the parish
kirk.
Milliken died in 1741 and was succeeded by his son James II of
Milliken. In the third generation, Milliken’s grandsons went on the
Grand Tour, but died in Paris and Venice in their early twenties. In
1768, the estate went to their sister, who had married a Napier,
and the family became the Napiers ‘of Milliken’. By the 1780s the
family were the third largest landowners in Renfrewshire, dominating
Kilbarchan and surrounding parishes.
Returning to our interest in the slave compensation records. In 1834
the second Napier of Milliken was awarded £2,555 (nearly £200,000
at today’s value) in compensation, for the loss of 161 enslaved
Africans on his Monkey Hill sugar plantation, St Kitts. Given the death
rate and through managing plantations of associates, the family had
worked their way through thousands of Africans between 1710 and
1834.
Much of the money that the Napier-Millikens poured into Kilbarchan
parish and its church, came directly from the labour of their African
slaves. Through their sugar fortune, and the improving ideas brought
home, the Millikens were described as the earliest enclosers and
improvers in Renfrewshire, and the main fi nancers of new roads and
bridges.
The Milliken’s wealth and route to fortune infl uenced others to
invest in sugar plantations. Two years after the return of the fi rst
James Milliken to Scotland, his neighbour, Cunningham of Craigends
acquired a plantation in Jamaica. More about the Cunninghams next
month.
© 2019 Stuart Nisbet, Renfrewshire Local History Forum
Johnstone History Society
Adam Birkmyre 1848 - 1906
Adam Birkmyre was one of Kilmacolm’s greatest benefactors and a resident of
Shallot now part of St. Columba’s School in the village of Kilmacolm. He purchased
an eight-acre site, to the west of his house which he overlooked and presented
it to the community. Opened in 1890, it was named by the community, not by
Adam, as Birkmyre Park. Now held in trust by Inverclyde Council and maintained by
them. It is in constant use and is the centre for a full range of sporting activities
including rugby, cricket, putting, football, hockey and tennis. In addition, there is
a gymnasium on site run by Inverclyde Leisure and in a separate building Duchal
Nursery for young pre-school children.
Adam was a popular and memorable character and a well loved member of the
community although somewhat eccentric. He always carried an open umbrella
regardless of the weather and wore a deerstalker hat and a cape. From the garden
of Shallot across from Birkmyre Park, he viewed the Kilmacolm countryside through
a small window in a totally enclosed Sudan chair mounted on a pivot, which rotated
to follow the sun.
Research on the Birkmyre name has led to several interesting fi ndings. The name
can be traced with certainty from the Kilbarchan parish records during the sixth
decade of the 18th Century. At that point in time, weaving was a principal village
industry. These records show that Henry Birkmyre, a weaver, was born in 1762. At
the age of 30, he joined the Gourock Ropework Company, which had established a
sound reputation for the manufacture of rope and sailcloth. In 1814, he was made
a partner in the fi rm having previously been made a foreman. In 1814, his sons
and grandsons gained full control of the Gourock Ropework Company, which rose
to be an international power in the rope and heavy canvas industry.
Records show that Adam was a New Lanark World Heritage Site
descendant of Henry Birkmyre and
so confi rmed his association with
Gourock Ropework Company. Adam
was part of the fi rm’s operational
team with responsibility for foreign
travel and overseas business
development. In 1894, Henry
Birkmyre formed a partnership with
his sons to run New Lanark where
they introduced new machinery
and broadened the product range signifi cantly.
Eventually in 1983, New Lanark was placed in public ownership and became the
fi rst Industrial site in Scotland included on UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites.
Adam died in Switzerland in May 1906 while on holiday.
Our fi nal meeting of this session will be on the 14th May in the Masonic Hall Collier
Street at 7pm. Our speaker will be Matthew Moranfrom the Scottish Maritime
Museum and he will be showing us a selection of photographs from the Museums
collection. It is hoped we will have a good attendance and all will be made most
welcome. We had a fairly good attendance at our April meeting and all were
treated to a very good talk about the Paisley Pamphlets something many of us
knew nothing about for this we must thank Valerie Reilly our secretary for stepping
in at the last minute we our arranged speaker had to cancel fo health reasons.
The Museum continues to open Wednesday Friday and Saturday from 10.30am till
4pm. Our displays have all been updated so if you have not been in for some time
now would be a good time to come. We also have many books and publications on
sale, these can also be purchased online and paid via PayPal at johnstonehistory.
org We still have a few Calendars left selling at the bargain price of £2 each.
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