| Description | This series consists of the letter books of the Pinney family and their business partnerships, which largely contain copies of outgoing correspondence sent by individual members of the Pinney family (namely John Frederick Pinney, John [Pretor] Pinney, Charles Pinney and John Frederick Pinney, son of John [Pretor] Pinney) or jointly by the partners of the firms through which the Pinneys engaged in business with members of the Tobin, Ames and Case families, in various iterations (namely: Tobin & Pinney; Tobin, Pinney & Tobin; Tobin & Pinneys; Pinneys & Case; Pinney & Case; Pinneys & Ames; Pinney, Ames & Co). While the writers of the letters are not always explicitly stated, they have been inferred from the content and context of the correspondence. It is possible that the letter books were kept by clerks, servants or other employees of the Pinneys and their business partnerships on their behalf. As these letter books appear to have functioned largely as records of outgoing correspondence, with only a few instances of copies of incoming correspondence, this series retains their distinction from original, loose correspondence held elsewhere in the collection.
Please note that racist, ableist and dehumanising language is used in many of the letters books, primarily in relation to enslaved people, some of which has been reproduced in descriptions through quotations from the original documents. The correspondence also contains details related to transactions of enslaved people, and to practices associated with enslavement and the use of enslaved labour. While efforts have been made to provide specific content warnings in the descriptions of individual letters books, many of the volumes not been fully reviewed for such language and sensitive subject- please seek advice from Special Collections regarding concerns about specific letter books.
Many of the letter books contain correspondence relating to personal and business matters, with letters to family and friends kept alongside the Pinneys' correspondence with their business associates and plantation managers. The letter books of John Frederick Pinney and John [Pretor] Pinney contain a large quantity of letters relating to their management of enslaved labour plantations in Nevis and other business and property interests in the Caribbean, covering periods of residence in Nevis and periods of absentee management, during which the Pinneys resided in England. Those letters written by the Pinneys while in Nevis contain, among other details: requests for supplies to be shipped to Nevis; details of the shipping and sale of sugar produced in Nevis; descriptions of the weather conditions and political climate in the Caribbean, with references to hurricanes and the American War of Independence. Those written during periods of absentee management contain instructions and information for plantation managers and agents of the Pinneys in the Caribbean; these instructions often give details of enslaved people, referring to transactions of enslaved people by purchase and hire, their labour on plantations, and on occasion specific incidents such as their attempts to seek freedom from enslavement and instances of manumission. Some letters also refer to Pero Jones and Frances Coker, servants of the Pinney family who travelled to England, having been born into enslavement in Nevis.
The letter books of the family business partnerships deal more widely with their trade between Bristol and the Caribbean and other investments in the Caribbean, in particular those with members of the Ames and Case families, which follow the sale of the Pinneys' Mountravers plantation. The letters of Charles Pinney are largely concurrent with this period of Bristol-based trade, but also cover the lead-up to and the aftermath of the Slavery Abolition Act 1833, and as such relate to Pinney's pursuit of compensation for formerly enslaved people through the Slave Compensation Commission, in addition to the emancipation of enslaved people in Nevis on 1 August 1838.
A volume consisting of a bound fragment of a letter book of correspondence sent by Azariah Pinney and John Frederick Pinney, sons of John [Pretor] Pinney, notably contains letters sent to William Wordsworth during his stay with his sister Dorothy Wordsworth at the Pinneys' residence of Racedown Lodge (DM58/4/16).
Two volumes of correspondence and other documents previously kept under this series are now listed under DM58/2/1/9/4 and DM58/2/1/9/6, owing to their association with the estates of the Huggins family. |