The poster may be interested to know that Thomas Oakley (1774-1831) inherited a profitable sugar plantation, Mount Oakley, situated in the north-eastern parish of Portland on the Caribbean island of Jamaica from his father, Thomas Oakley (b1744). His aunt, Parnel(l) Oakley (1735-1815), who was also brought up and eventually was to die at Lydart House, married a Stephen Attlay from Teignmouth, Devon - owner of the nearby Prospect plantation and an adjacent livestock pen together employing some 170 slaves.

At one point, the younger Thomas Oakley and his cousin, Stephen Oakeley* Attlay (Parnel and Stephen's son), were simultaneously significant planters and slave-owners in the region. Both were ultimately awarded compensation for "assets" they relinquished when slavery was abolished in the Colonies.

In 1786, Thomas Oakley was resident in parish capital Port Antonio as a merchant, handling sugar and rum sent from Prospect for export. By 1817, an individual named Thomas Oakley had become the owner of two properties in Portland parish that collectively employed sixty enslaved workers. Three years later, the slave registration return prefaced the owner’s name with the word ‘Honourable’: a title reserved for members of Jamaica’s Council. The person named was either the Port Antonio merchant, his son Thomas or his nephew (his brother's son), confusingly also called Thomas Oakeley (b.1773), who in 1796 was living on Jamaica under the care of his uncle, but by 1816 had returned to England (or Wales?) in order to re-marry.

On August 24. 1824, Thomas Oakley (likely the son) put his Mount Oakley plantation in Portland, Jamaica up for sale thus:

"To be sold. Mount Oakley, including Lydart, 322 acres and three rods, with the buildings, 60 slaves, 23 cattle, 57 sheep; or, if more agreeable, a part of the land and Negroes as may be most desireable (sic) to a purchaser. Time will be given for the payment, by instalments, on giving good and sufficient security. This property is known to be a very healthy and pleasant residence. Apply to the proprietor on the property." Thomas Oakley

Here Lydart, I suspect. refers to the name of the Plantation House , named to correspond with the name of the Oakley family seat in Monmouthshire

Presumably he was unsuccessful since he was compensated for his lost slaves a decade later.

The Oakleys legacy remains insofar as Mount Oakley is today the name of a moderately populated district south of Port Antonio. Many of its inhabitants - all descendants of African slaves - carry the Oakley surname.

Prospect, located along the north coast east of Port Antonio, has been a housing scheme for at least a century. Locals mostly refer to the community as Land Settlement.

What is my interest in all this? My name is Alan Oakley. My late father Shadrach was born at Prospect Land Settlement in 1919 and his parents George and Rhoda were born at Mount Oakley. According to her mother, my grandmother Rhoda (nee Briscoe - 1888-1965) was named after an "English child" with whom her maternal grandmother had become friendly. I am speculating that the Rhoda listed in the Mitchel Troy household of Thomas Oakley in 1841, presumably his daughter and Thomas William Oakley's sister, may have been that child and that they were children and played together despite their different status.

* Jamaican records feature alternative spellings of Oakley/Oakeley. Stephen Oakeley Attlay references almost invariably include the extra 'e'.

I have read that Thomas and Parnel Oakley were members of the Snakecroft (later Bagnall) Oakeleys: a scion of the gentry Oakeley family of Shropshire. The Oakeley baronecy was created for Sir Charles Oakeley (d1826). His son, Frederick, may be best known as translator into English of the hymn 'O Come All Ye Faithful'.

The Snakecroft Oakeleys originated from Bishop’s Castle in Shropshire, where brother and sister Parnel and Thomas were both born, but the family also possessed land in Monmouthshire. Parnel Oakeley lived out years of widowhood at Lydart House; after her death, members of the Oakeleys resided at Lydart and the 1851 Census provides an indication of their social status. The head of the Oakeley household was a freeholder and farmed 136 acres, while his three sons were occupied as a solicitor, a curate, and an Oxford undergraduate.

Hopefully someone will have found this interesting.

1861
Susan Lane abt 1848 Lea, Herefordshire, England Servant Mitcheldean Gloucestershire

1871
Susan Lane abt 1848 Lea, Herefordshire, England Servant Upper Lea Herefordshire

Name: Susan Lane
Name: William Henry Williams
Year of Registration: 1875
Quarter of Registration: Oct-Nov-Dec
District: Ross
County: Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Hereford and Worcester
Volume: 6a
Page: 1002

1870's Bill is believed to be working in the Forest of Dean at Trafalgar Colliery

Did he marry Susan LANE and move to London?

1881 Clapham London ( ties in with 1871 entry )
William H. Williams abt 1847 Mitcheldean, Gloucestershire, England Head
Susan Williams abt 1848 Lea, Hereford, England Wife

or 1881 is he now a partially Blind labourer in London - 16 Queen St
William H. Williams abt 1848 Monmouth, Wales Lodger St Anne Soho London

The Oakleys were well-to-do. Attached to the house they had a farm of over 600
acres, which no doubt was profitably run. Their wealth was shown by the retinue
of seven living-in servants, which included a footman, as well as outdoor staff.
The eldest son of the family was a solicitor who practised in Monmouth. Another
was a curate and a third was also to become a clergyman.

Elizabeth Williams was seduced by the eldest son, Thomas William Oakley, who was
then unmarried and about twenty-nine or thirty years old. She became pregnant,
and when her pregnancy was too great to conceal she went to Trelleck, where her
baby was born. The child was christened William Henry Williams in the parish
church ten days later.

Oakley's seduction of Elizabeth was perhaps just another example of the son of a
Victorian squire taking advantage of a working girl, but he did not deny his
paternity; he accepted responsibility and maintained his son for many years.

Oakley married a few years after Bill's birth and sired many more children, but
he kept in touch with Bill. His address at Lydart House is in the back of his
diary, and Bill twice reminds himself that he must write to 'T.W.O.', as he
calls him.

What happened to Elizabeth we do not know - She may have died shortly after his
birth: an unmarried Elizabeth Williams died in Penallt near Trelleck in 1849,
aged twenty.

On the other hand, knowing that Oakley was prepared to pay for her son to be
looked after, she may have abandoned him and gone off to start life afresh, for
the disgrace of becoming pregnant out of wedlock was considerable in Victorian
times, and bringing up an illegitimate child a constant reminder of that
disgrace.

In any event the child was soon farmed out to George and Rachel Herbert, an
elderly couple who lived in Monnow Street, Monmouth. The 1851 census refers to
Bill as George Herbert's nephew, but the Herberts were more likely to have been
paid child-minders. Oakley paid for Bill's time there and for his education at
William Bradshaw's private school.

The Diary of a Working Man, 1872-73: Bill Williams in the Forest of Dean
Paperback: 160 pages
Publisher: Sutton Publishing (29 Sep 1994)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0750905840
ISBN-13: 978-0750905848

Ref. to Records

Birth ?
Name: William Henry Williams
Year of Registration: 1847
Quarter of Registration: Apr-May-Jun
District: Monmouth (1837-1939)
County: Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Monmouthshire
Volume: 26
Page:

Name: Elizabeth Williams
Year of Registration: 1847
Quarter of Registration: Jul-Aug-Sep
District: Monmouth (1837-1939)
County: Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Monmouthshire
Volume: 26
Page: 51

1841 Trelleck Monmouthshire ?
Thomas William abt 1771 Monmouthshire, Wales
Mary William abt 1801 Monmouthshire, Wales
Edwin William abt 1834 Monmouthshire, Wales
Elenor William abt 1821 Monmouthshire, Wales
Elizabeth William abt 1829 Monmouthshire, Wales

1841 Mitchel Troy Monmouthshire
Thomas Oakley abt 1776
Elizabeth Oakley abt 1791
Beatrice Oakley abt 1826
Emelia Oakley abt 1826
James Oakley abt 1826
Julia Oakley abt 1821
Rhoda Oakley abt 1826 Monmouthshire, Wales
Thomas Oakley abt 1816 Mitch

1851 Lydart House Mitchel Troy Monmouthshire

Thomas Oakley abt 1774 Shropshire, England Head
Elizabeth Oakley abt 1791 Gloucestershire, England Wife
James Oakley abt 1830 Mitchel Troy, Monmouthshire, Wales Son
Rhoda Oakley abt 1828 Mitchel Troy, Monmouthshire, Wales Daughter
Thomas Wm Oakley abt 1818 Mitchel Troy, Monmouthshire, Wales Son
William Oakley abt 1823 Mitchel Troy, Monmouthshire, Wales Son

1851 Monmouth Monmouthshire
George Herbert abt 1791 Bath, Somerset, England Head
Rachael Herbert abt 1794 Lanhihaugh, Monmouthshire, Wales Wife
Emma Herbert abt 1835 Monmouthshire, Wales Daughter
Sarah Richards abt 1827 Lanvihangch, Monmouthshire, Wales Visitor
William Henry Williams abt 1847 Trellick, Monmouthshire, Wales Nephew