A Solo Entry and a Brotherly Quartet

Two transactions document the beginnings of a connection that was to last a further 327 years. In 1648, Robert Oswicke conveyed a Barbadian sugar estate called Frames to a syndicate of three merchants that included Edward Lascelles. The following year, the same Edward Lascelles purchased a further 100 acres in St Andrew's Parish to augment his holding. These twin acquisitions formed part of a wave of inward investment that saw 10 per cent of Barbados' total acreage change hands in just two years, as more than £140,000 of capital (much of it originating from London) was sunk into the island's real estate.

Little is known about Frames' owner, except that he was a Bridgetown merchant with shipping assets. In October 1655, the St Michael's Parish vestry awarded Edward the contract to replace the Bridgetown's ‘Indian Bridge’: an enterprise that appears to have involved him in financial difficulties. He was sued by the vestry in 1657 for failing to complete the promised work; two years later, the new structure was badly damaged by a serious fire. Lascelles himself may have suffered losses in the conflagration of February 1659, since he owned warehouses situated close to the bridge. Deeds dated May 1660 and June 1661 record him raising money by mortgaging a house and five slaves, perhaps to raise capital needed to rebuild his business.