Thomas Atwood (died 1793) was chief justice of the island of Dominica, and afterwards of the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the ar ...

Biography

Although there are no records of the biographical details of Atwood's life, he wrote the first complete account of Dominica from both a historical and general perspective, ''The History of the Island of Dominica''. In it he explained his belief that Dominica was able to be the best colony that the English held in the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

, due to its high proportion of fertile and uncultivated land. From a historical perspective, he explained that the island had flourished due to the free port of

Roseau Roseau (Dominican Creole: ''Wozo'') is the capital and largest city of Dominica, with a population of 14,725 as of 2011. It is a small and compact urban settlement, in the Saint George parish and surrounded by the Caribbean Sea, the Roseau Ri ...

between 1770 and 1775, however due to mismanagement and "disadvantages" under the French rule after invasion of Dominica in 1778 until their surrender in 1783. However, he expressed his opinion that the island could be turned around with additional cattle and an increase of enslaved Africans for the sugar plantations. The history was published in 1791, and he also published a pamphlet - ''Observations on the true method of treatment and usage of the Negro slaves in the British West India Islands'' in which he defended slavery, claiming that the slaves were treated better than English workers back home. Atwood's description of Dominica during the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

was directly incorporated by Bryan Edwards into his 1793 ''The History, Civil and Commercial, of the British Colonies in the West Indies''. Atwood died in the King's Bench prison "at an advanced age, broken down with misfortunes, on 27 May 1793."

Legacy

The extinct

Dominican green-and-yellow macaw The Dominican green-and-yellow macaw (''Ara atwoodi''), Atwood's macaw or Dominican macaw, is an extinct species of macaw that may have lived on the island of Dominica. It is known only through the writings of British colonial judge Thomas Atwoo ...

is named ''Ara atwoodi'' in honour of his description of it in his 1791 ''The History of the Island of Dominica''.

Works

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atwood, Thomas 1793 deaths Dominica male writers Dominica historians British Dominica judges Year of birth unknown Colony of the Bahamas judges