William Atherton (plantation owner)

William Atherton (31 May 1742 – 30 June 1803), was a merchant and wealthy landowner from Lancashire, England, who operated and co-owned sugar plantations in the former Colony of Jamaica.

When Atherton arrived on the island, he initially established himself as a merchant in Kingston, also operating in the vicinity of Martha Brae and the town of Falmouth, then a thriving seaport.

At the age of 23, Atherton inherited a share of Green Park Estate from Thomas Southworth in 1765, however the exact relationship between the two has never been established by historians.

[11] Southworth may also have been a slowly dying man with long-term injuries following Tacky's War, or had a degree of intimacy with Atherton.

He owned the Green Park Estate in Trelawny Parish and Spring Vale Pen in Saint James, his summer residence.

It has been established that he partnered with Peter Holme (1730-1779), a merchant from Liverpool,[16] who was responsible for over 50 slave voyages (known as the Middle Passage) from 1750 onwards.

Holme was older than Atherton and had been in partnership with William Davenport (1716-1794) and the former owners of Green Park Estate, Thomas Southworth and John Kennion.

[17] As a merchant, Atherton would have been an active shareholder in various Liverpool shipping companies and would have been initially guided by his brothers, John and Richard.

Since slave trading enterprises were often agreements limited between just a handful of individuals, Atherton may have been one of the many who financed such ventures as a sleeping partner, whilst based in Jamaica, with his uncle John Atherton, a slave trader with at least 18 voyages, or his subsequent partner, Peter Holme acting as signatories.

Atherton built a fortress plantation house, as his primary residence on the grounds of the Green Park Estate.

Suitable defenses were a requirement mandated by the British colonial authorities, in event of a Spanish attack, or a slave revolt.

Atherton spent a great deal of time in England as an absentee landlord, but would visit his plantations frequently.

Since the roads to the plantations were often bad, Atherton, like other local planters kept a home on Queen Street in Martha Brae, to be closer to the port and to be able to host shipmaster's and discuss incoming and outgoing cargo.

[21] Sugar from his plantations were packed into large barrels called hogsheads and transported to the port of Falmouth for loading onto a vessel bound for England or North America.

It is beyond a doubt that a man of his social status on the island would have departed with his own hand picked slaves for this long voyage.

A man of his standing would have owned the ship, which would have been fully laden with goods and merchandise to trade, as well as a great deal of his personal wealth, in preparation for what he hoped this new country would bring even greater fortune.

It is also likely that this sea voyage coincided with the trafficking of human cargo from the Caribbean, which he would have considered as part of his personal property, free to sell and trade along the route up to New England.

[24] Such vast fortune allowed him to eventually retire in comfort to his large country estate, Prescot Hall in St Helens in 1787, after residing in the United States for just under a period of 5 years.

It also refers to Atherton's exports into Bristol and mention the poor quality of his sugar and the commodities arrival on board the vessel Good Hope.

[30] The result of such slaving patterns made Jamaica the second most common destination for Igbo people arriving from the Bight of Biafra.

Atherton immediately disposed of his household goods and returned to England with his young stepson, Joseph Wanton.

A marble slab by Sir Richard Westmacott is dedicated in his memory,[38] surmounted with a family crest, with the motto clarior e tenebris (brighter after the darkness).

[41] Mary Southworth of Preston, of mixed black African and white European ancestry, was either a mistress or his offspring and is mentioned in his will.

However, it is most likely that she was the daughter of Thomas Southworth, the original owner of the Green Park plantation and an African slave mother, or Atherton's own child, named in the honour of his deceased friend.

Walton Hall, was sold by his son and heir, Colonel John Joseph Atherton, in 1802 to Thomas Leyland, who was also highly involved in the African slave trade.

[47] His brother, Henry Atherton (1740-1816), a notable barrister, helped further the career of John Scott, 1st Earl of Eldon.

[48][49] Atherton's largest co-owned sugar plantation, one of the oldest plantations in Trelawny parish, dated back to shortly after 1655, with the Invasion of Jamaica by the English, when Oliver Cromwell first granted land to James Bradshaw, the son of John Bradshaw, one of the regicides who signed the death warrant of King Charles I. Adjoining lands were granted to the Barrett family by King Charles II in 1660.

It was Atherton who completed the build of the main residence and subsequently enlarged what is presently known as Green Park Great House.

[56] Richard's sons, John and Edward were the initial beneficiaries of Green Park Estate and nearby Spring Vale Pen.