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- [00:00]
Dana Schwartz
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:03]
Amazon Health AI Announcer
Guaranteed Human Amazon Health AI presents painful
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thoughts I I can't stop scratching my downtown. Yeah, but I'm not itching to go downtown and tell a receptionist I'm here to talk about my downtown. Some things you'd rather type than say out loud.
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- [01:05]
Troy Millings
This is Troy Millings from Earn your leisure when traveling for events or festivals throughout the country, every dollar matters. We compare flights, prices, hotel rates and restaurant options. So why wouldn't we compare rides? Personally, I always check Lyft before booking a ride. Prices can change throughout the day, depending on traffic, weather and what's happening in the city. If you're headed to a concert or out to dinner or catching up with your friends on a Friday night, taking a few seconds to check Lyft could leave you with more money to enjoy the experience. Save money.
- [01:36]
Dana Schwartz
Check lift welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Menke. Listener discretion advised. In July 1738, Jamaica's House of Assembly convened in stock Diego de la Vega for what seemed to be an ordinary day of legislative business. In that room were some of the richest men in Britain's richest Caribbean colony, likely dressed in light linen shirts to weather the heat. While these men were elected officials, they were hardly representative of the population at this time. Around 100,000 enslaved Africans and lived in Jamaica, outnumbering the white population of the island 10 to 1. But these white propertied elite who built their fortunes on sugar plantations and the enslaved people who worked on them, wrote the laws that governed the colony. One topic of discussion was a private petition from a woman named Susanna Augier. Susanna was mixed race. Her father was a white planter and her mother was enslaved on his plantation. Her mother's name did not survive the historical record. Susanna was born into slavery, but had been freed sometime before her father died in 1722 we don't know exactly how Susanna was freed, but she went on to have a number of relationships with white plantation owners and bore six children. Free people of color like Susanna and her children occupied an uneasy middle position in Jamaican society. They could own property and businesses and in some cases, amass a significant amount of wealth. But they couldn't vote, inherit large amounts of property or testify in court, and they were saddled with additional fees and taxes. Their position was only made more uneasy in 1728 when the assembly ruled that anyone with more than one black great grandparent could not legally be white out of a fear that the colony's growing mixed race population might side with the enslaved in a rebellion. In the summer of 1738, Susanna had brought a petition before the assembly to grant herself and two of her daughters the same rights and privileges with English subjects. Born of white parents, Susanna was the second recorded individual and the first woman to submit a private bill like this to the Jamaican Assembly. Although Susanna was born into slavery with an African parent, she was asking the House of Assembly to grant herself and her daughters whiteness under the eyes of the law. On July 19, 1738, the Jamaican assembly approved Susanna's petition. She had taken great pains to show the assembly that she was no threat to the white propertied Jamaican elite. In spite of her origins, Susanna had come to own a share of a sugar plantation which included both land and enslaved human beings. Her daughters had a Church of England education, and their father had a number of plum posts in the legal elite as the Provost Marshal and serjeant at mace of the Jamaican High Court of Admiralty. It was not cheap to lodge a petition with the assembly. It cost 90 pounds, roughly the price of, according to historian Miranda Kaufman, three enslaved people. Susanna's petition would set her two daughters up for riches and status far beyond even the considerable wealth she had managed to earn in her own life. One of these daughters, Frances, who was just nine in 1738, would go on to marry a Scottish aristocrat, the youngest son of the first Earl of Fife. In doing so, she became the first heiress of African ancestry, as far as we know, to join the British aristocracy. I'm Dana Schwartz, and this is noble blood. By the time Frances Dalzell was born in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1729, her mother, Susanna had already had four other children. Three of these were with Peter Caillard, a prosperous merchant in Kingston. Peter was a friend and business partner of Susanna's father, and he eventually entered into a sexual relationship with Susanna when she was around 13, and Peter was in his 50s, these types of arrangements between white enslavers and black or mixed heritage women were commonplace in the Caribbean. As Miranda Kaufman put it, these relationships existed on a spectrum from brutal rape to long term cohabitation, but always involved a coercive element or at best an extreme imbalance of power. In 1725, when Peter was 60 and Susanna was 17, she had her first daughter by Peter and would go on to have two more children in 1726 and 1728. Peter died the same month that their youngest child was born, leaving Susanna with a massive fortune, which included several properties in Kingston and San Diego de la Vega, a plantation in St Andrew and two cattle pen and two plots of land in St Catherine, all of which was worth an estimated £26,150. Kaufman speculates that Peter even bought Susanna's freedom a few years earlier, sometime before her father died in 1722. Although no surviving evidence confirms that, it does explain a curious detail in Susanna's father's will after his death. His will ensured the manumission of many of his enslaved children and left them part of his inheritance, which was extremely rare for the time. But he did not free Susanna, nor did he leave anything for her. In his will, Kaufman infers that her father had left Susanna out because he knew that his friend and colleague Peter had already freed her and offered her tremendous financial support. After Peter's death, Susanna began a relationship with another wealthy merchant, Gibson Dalzell, who had left Scotland as a young man and built a fortune in Jamaica's booming sugar economy. Gibson was far closer to Susanna's age at this point than Peter had been and appeared to show her and her children affection throughout their relationship. But there is no evidence of her feelings for him. In any case, their relationship was unequal at its core. As a free woman of color, Susanna's legal rights still depended on his goodwill. Gibson and Susanna conceived Frances the year they met. Susanna raised Frances in a townhouse that had once belonged to Peter in Water Lane in Kingston. After Susanna's petition successfully guaranteed her and her children's legal whiteness, Frances left for boarding school in Britain in the fall of 1738. Frances was lucky to go to boarding school at the time she did. At the end of the 18th century, elite schools would crack down on admissions to people of mixed heritage. But in the 1730s, thousands of young people of color left the Caribbean to attend British schools. The Jamaican enslaver and historian Edward Long explained that mixed race children are often sent to the most expensive public schools, where the history of their parentage is entirely unknown. They pass under the general name of West Indians, and the bronze of their complexion is ignorantly ascribed to the fervor of the sun in the torrid zone. In Frances case, this may have only been partially true. Francis grandfather, Robert Dalzel, was her closest relative in London, but it seems that he may have received her coolly. In spite of his wealth, his sister in law paid Frances tuition instead. Perhaps her grandfather treated Frances with such distance because she represented Gibson's life in Jamaica, which to Robert seemed like an undignified dalliance from a real career in London. In 1743, a few years after Francis left Jamaica for school, Robert ordered Gibson to return to England. He promised that he would set his son up with a job, a townhouse, a coach, quote everything he likes. Robert may have even used his granddaughter as a bargaining chip, Although she was too young to marry. Robert said that if Gibson returned to England and picked out a good match for her, he, Robert, would, quote, give her a fortune, according to a letter from Gibson's aunt. Much to his father's delight, Gibson arrived in London in 1746, reuniting with 15 year old Francis for the first time in six years. Robert had secured his son Gibson a prestigious directorship and a lucrative public office in London that would allow him to make a fortune while running his plantations remotely. But Gibson was in London reluctantly, still longing for his life back in Jamaica. Even though Susanna and Gibson were not married, their lives were deeply intertwined. They lived together in Kingston with Frances younger brother Bob, who had been born while Frances was away. In 1739, Susanna had bought 300 acres of land that she had transferred to Gibson. For a token payment of 5 shillings. Gibson expanded it by 1,000 acres, transforming it into a sugar plantation called Lucky Hill. In spite of Gibson's protestations, his father convinced him to remain in London. In late 1746, Gibson's son Bob joined him at the Dalzell house in Mayfair to go to a posh elementary school, just like his sister had. Meanwhile, Susanna remained in Jamaica alone. Frances often wore a gold chain that her mother had sent, perhaps as a tribute to her. It was unclear if Frances would ever see her mother again. Throughout Frances young adulthood, she and her father tried to stay in touch with Susanna. Both wrote Susanna long letters. Gibson even included affectionate messages for her in his business correspondence. In one, he wrote, tell her I sincerely wish her health and happiness, which I suppose does qualify as affectionate. But replies were few and far between. In July 1751, Frances was still waiting for her mother to reply to a letter she had sent last November. Susanna had problems of her own to deal with back in Jamaica in 1748. When one of Susanna's debts led her to transfer a valuable bond Gibson had given her, creditors came after him for more than 2,000 pounds. The crisis forced the family to reorganize Susanna's affairs. Gibson's attorney persuaded her to write a will leaving her estate to their two children. With his old, imperious father skeptical of his financial dealings in the Caribbean and his son too young to understand, Gibson turned to his daughter Frances to discuss his business as if she were his apprentice. He even entrusted her with a copy of his will when she was just 17. Frances too was preparing for her future. In March 1756, Frances introduced her father to the man that she hoped to marry, George Duff. A 20 year old cornet in the 10th Regiment of Dragoons. He seemed to be besotted with Frances from the jump. After they met at the marriage mart in Bath, he plied her with flowery letters writing, the power you have over me, you can use me ill or well as you please. And that when they weren't together, I could not be said to live. Frances affectionately called him my dear Duff. But she was a little more reserved than George was, at least from his perspective. In one letter, he complained she wasn't expressing as much devotion to him as she was to her. But it was hard to compete with George's devotion. He wrote that I could work for your smile at poverty and say it was happiness above expression while I had my fanny. While perhaps a sweet sentiment, it seemed clear that neither of them would have a life of poverty. As the youngest son of William Duff, Lord Braccoe of Kilbride, George was rich and titled, educated at Edinburgh and St Andrews, and about to inherit estates in Banffshire and moray, yielding over £1,000 a year. George approached Frances Father Gibson, with a similar poetic flair. The day after they met, George wrote to him, I have loved your daughter ever since I had the happiness to know her, and it is in your power and hers to make me happy or miserable forever. I never can be happy without her, but rather than you should be displeased with her, suffer all the torments the world affords. But before George could formally get Francis Father's permission for her hand in marriage, Gibson died in May 1756 at the age of 58. Frances had to break the news to her mother. She wrote to Susanna, it will always give me great pleasure to hear of your happiness and to Serve you in everything in my power Whichever you want, please to command me. Gibson's will placed his assets in trust, the income to be shared equally between his two children. His total personal property in Jamaica was worth 5,798 pounds, including both land and 133 enslaved people across his plantations. The people he enslaved represented almost 75% of his wealth. Additionally, Gibson left Francis the income from several shares of his businesses in London. Unusually, her younger brother Bob would benefit from these assets only in the event of Frances death without children, suggesting just how much Gibson trusted his daughter. But Gibson had not named a formal executor for his estates in his will, leaving it open to interference from his various trustees. Frances feared that they would use the interests of her 14 year old younger brother, still too young, to advocate for himself, as an excuse to wrest control of the estate. As she put it, she would not permit any of the trustees in England to interfere because, in her words, they had treated her very ill since her father's death. Frances challenged the arrangement in court. In English law of the time, a beneficiary of a will could apply for probate in situations where no executor was named. In July 17, 1856, Frances won letters of administration giving her legal control over her father's estate. But she had not managed to inherit the land in Jamaica. To do that, she would need a grant from the governor. She sent copies of the letters of administration and Gibson's will across the Atlantic and appointed two of her father's friends with power of attorney, allowing them to act as her agents on the island. Later that year, the governor granted her responsibility for running her late father's Lucky Hill estate, an extraordinary victory for an unmarried 26 year old woman. But even though Frances was able to secure her inheritance, her engagement to George was on less than solid ground. In her way was another set of gatekeepers. George's parents. After George told his parents he was engaged in late 1756, his parents were furious. He received an angry letter from his mother and his father threatened to disown him. There is no solid evidence as to what exactly about Frances the family disliked, but they had plenty of ammo. In spite of her wealth, Frances was 26 years old, considered old for the time from Jamaica, had unmarried parents and had mixed heritage. George's sentimental promises of eternal love wouldn't work on the ambitious, pragmatic Duffs. Kaufman speculates that the Duffs were self conscious about their social position. George's brother and sister had already married unimpressive prospects in their parents eyes, his brother had seduced his mother's maid while his sister eloped with a Jacobite. George's father had only held his title since 1735 and feared that his social scene saw them as impostors. But in February 1757, George's parents spent seemed open to changing their minds. They were impressed by Frances connection to her grandfather Robert Dalzel, who was by that point a well known general and the oldest serving officer in Britain. One of George's uncles described Francis as a grandchild of General Dalzel's, by whom George got a good fortune. George's father sent two of his relatives to visit the general quote to know his mind with regard to the intended marriage and whether he would agree to leave Francis any money, according to a letter he sent to his son. While we don't know what they discussed, it must have pleased the Duffs well enough to consent to Frances marriage to George. Frances married George Duff on April 7, 1757 at St. Martin in the Fields. But even at that moment she entered married life. Frances was watchful of ways things could go wrong. She kept her marriage a secret for several months, refusing to change her maiden name. She was still nervous about her father's trustees going after her estate because the power of attorney she had sent to Jamaica had been executed under her maiden name. Changing her name might give them leeway to question its validity. It wasn't until the end of the year she began to sign her name Frances Duff instead of Frances Dalzel. For all of the excitement of her new marriage, Frances was still thinking of Jamaica. Frances had been contemplating a trip home to take charge of her inheritance in person and perhaps even to see her mother again. After decades of separation. She wrote to one of her business partners, if my courage was equal to my inclination of seeing you, I certainly should be at Jamaica in three months time. But the ongoing Seven Years War made Atlantic crossings slower and more dangerous. So Frances delayed her trip and by April 1757, Susanna was dead. She had passed suddenly in February, but Frances hadn't found out until May, a month after her wedding. Susanna may have taken pride in seeing how far her daughter had risen, made possible in part by her own determined advocacy. But in a few years, the German assembly would make that trajectory nearly impossible for anyone else. In 1761, the Jamaica assembly passed a law limiting inheritances for mixed heritage people to £2,000 in Jamaica currency, which would have prevented Frances from amassing the fortune she had fought so hard for. Although Susanna might have hoped that her 1738 private act would have exempted her daughter from these restrictions by 1761, that was no longer a guarantee. In a motion to the British government, the Jamaican assembly even cited Francis inheritance explicitly as an example of what they were trying to prevent. The legislators wrote about these kinds of inheritance and as a brief aside, because they use antiquated terms for race, I'll be replacing them in my reading. They wrote that these inheritances, quote, tend to greatly destroy the distinction requisite and absolutely necessary to be kept up in this island between white persons and people of color, their issue and offspring, and may in progress of time be the means of decreasing the number of white inhabitants. The state viewed mixed heritage women, like for Francis, as particular threats to the status quo. The British agent to Jamaica wrote that they needed to be restrained or else a great part of the property of the island will be in the hands of mixed race people. And as power ever follows property, the power will then be in their hands. These fears were unfounded, at least in Frances Case. After years apprenticing her father as a teenager, she was prepared to take over the work of operating her father's plantations as they were. She proved herself to be an attentive businesswoman, ordering inventories of every asset and demanding meticulous accounts. She purchased 20 enslaved people for Lucky Hill in 1757 and instructed her lawyer to brand them with our mark, a common practice at the time. We're not sure exactly what this brand might have looked like. Often it was the owner's initials. Perhaps it was once her father's initials and then after he died, it might have been hers. As historian Miranda Kaufman puts it, the stain of human exploitation permeated Frances success as deeply as her initials were branded on the people who toiled on her plantation. It is a complicated, fascinating story, a moment in time when a woman of mixed heritage could rise, but only on the terms of a deeply exploitative system. That's the story of Frances Duff, but stick around to hear about how her story may have influenced a work of classic English literature.
- [28:07]
Amazon Health AI Announcer
Amazon Health AI presents painful thoughts.
- [28:12]
Amazon Health AI User
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Jenny Garth
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Dana Schwartz
in William Thackeray's Vanity Fair, an 1848 satirical novel about upper crust British life. A Minor character named Ms. Swartz bears a notable resemblance to Frances Duff. Swartz is of course reminiscent of the German word for black. And like Frances, Ms. Swartz is a mixed heritage heiress from the Caribbean who goes to London as a child to attend a fancy boarding school. Because of Ms. Swartz's wealth, she is proposed as a potential spouse for a self obsessed banker's son, George Osborne, but he refuses, rejecting her because of her race, Ms. Swartz and Frances both end up marrying members of the Scottish nobility. It's unclear whether Frances Duff inspired the character Miranda Kaufman wrote. Frances Dalzell may have been long forgotten by the novel reading public by 1848, but the resemblance reveals that the racial anxieties Frances encountered lingered in the Victorian imagination almost a century later. Noble Blood is a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild from Erin Menke. Noble Blood is hosted by me, Dana Schwartz. Writers for Noble Blood are Hannah Johnston, Hannah Zwick, Paul Jaffe, Natasha Lasky and me Dana Schwartz. The show is edited and produced by Jesse Funk and Nomes Griffin, with supervising producer Rima Il Kayali and executive producers Erin Menke, Trevor Young and Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
- [32:25]
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- [32:54]
Dana Schwartz
Sponsored by Gilead this is Troy Millings
- [32:56]
Troy Millings
from Earn your leisure when traveling for events or festivals throughout the country, every dollar matters. We compare flights, prices, hotel rates and restaurant options. So why wouldn't we compare rides? Personally, I always check Lyft before booking a ride. Prices can change throughout the day, depending on traffic, weather and what's happening in the city. If you're headed to a concert, out to dinner or or catching up with your friends on a Friday night, taking a few seconds to check Lyft could leave you with more money to enjoy the experience. Save money, Check Lyft.
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Dana Schwartz
Price void in Florida this is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.