Hon. Stedman Rawlins (c. 1784–1830) was a slaveholder and sugar plantation owner, and the President of His Majesty's Council, on the Caribbean island of St. Christopher.

Life

He was born in the Caribbean and baptized at Trinity Anglican Church,

Trinity Palmetto Point Parish Trinity Palmetto Point is one of 14 administrative parishes that make up Saint Kitts and Nevis. It ranks 6th in terms of size of all the parishes on Saint Kitts. The parish capital is Trinity. Land The coastline of the parish consists of small s ...

. He matriculated at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

in 1801. Rawlins became a profitable slave owner in

Saint Thomas Middle Island Parish Saint Thomas Middle Island is one of 14 administrative parishes that make up Saint Kitts and Nevis. It is the third largest parish on the island of Saint Kitts, and fourth largest in the federation. The parish capital is Middle Island. Land The ...

, just as his father, Stedman Rawlins Sr. (b.1749), had been." /> The French used one of the Rawlins Sr. plantations to bomb British fortifications on Brimstone Hill during the American Revolution. Rawlins Jr. married Gertrude Tyson circa 1805. England outlawed the slave trade in 1807. Rawlins became the Governor of Saint Christopher in 1816. He owned the Verchild's and the Crab Hole plantations. Rawlins was one of the magistrates that ruled against slave Betto Douglas's complaint of cruelty, returning her to her master after he had kept her in

stocks Stocks are feet restraining devices that were used as a form of corporal punishment and public humiliation. The use of stocks is seen as early as Ancient Greece, where they are described as being in use in Solon's law code. The law describing ...

for 7 months in 1826. Rawlins was the President of His Majesty's Council on St. Christopher. Missionary accounts indicate that he encouraged missionaries to preach to the slaves in the President's hall. In 1827, Rawlins became the acting Governor of St. Kitts. He was charged with the selling of criminal slaves, even after the slave trade had been abolished. He went to Halifax, Nova Scotia and died there, being buried in the Old Burying Ground in 1830. Rawlins's obituary reads that he was at St. Christopher, "where he was much respected. He had recently come to this country ova Scotiain the hope of restoring his constitution, debilitated by a long residence in the West Indies." Three years later, the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 outlawed slavery all together in the British empire.Privateer Incident
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Life

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References

Other readings