Part 571sd – Smith Robertson Genealogy – GGG-Grandmother Mary Ann (née Doret) Smith – Food For Thought – Part 2

Good Day,

To continue with my discussion and from my previous Post, Part 570sd, regarding the search for the genealogy and ancestry of my ggg-grandmother Mary Ann (née Doret) Smith, I now present statements, family tales and thoughts that I have gathered.

From my search and research it is extremely important to collect all details, written and by word-of-mouth as one never knows where or when some iota of truth and evidence may be revealed.

The following points are written as I did either receive and record.

• James Smith married Eugenie Grandsol of Martinique.
• James Smith of Glasgow and Madame Doree of Martinique.
• James Smith of Glasgow (Seaman from Glasgow), Married in St. Kitts and had one family there; he then proceeded to Martinique and acquired a Madame Doree (whom he presumably married!) and they had four children.
• James Smith, a Shipwright/Seaman from Glasgow (West Coast) Scotland UK, came to the West Indies in the late 18th Century. He was a Ship’s Carpenter. He married in St. Christopher (Kitts) W.I. and had one family there?? 1793/6? He married Mdm. Mary Anne Dorette and they had the following children: Thomas (b. 15/11/1820); Harry (5/3/1818); Sophia?
• Born in 1765, James Smith lived to the ripe old age of 95. In 1805 he married Madame Dore.
• Mary Ann Doret was James Smith’s housekeeper.
• Mary Ann Doret was from Martinique.
• James Smith acquired Madame Doret.
• Madame Doret may have been of African descent.

In my latest reading and from pages 90 and 91 of Douglas J. Hamilton’s book Scotland, the Caribbean and the Atlantic World, 1750-1820; Manchester University Press, 2005, I have learned the following:

“James Baillie lived in Grenada throughout the 1770s, and ran the Hermitage Estate as well as building up his trading empire. His most important connection in the island was with Alexander Campbell, who was also a close friend of the speaker of the assembly, Ninian Home…

…Baillie’s personal connections with both St. Kitts and St. Vincent ensured that both islands remained part of his company’s network, to which were added Grenada, Nevis, Martinique and, to a lesser extent, Antigua and Barbadoes by the end of the century. The expansion into Martinique, in particular, demonstrated a real willingness on Baillie’s part to seize new opportunity as they presented themselves. Martinique was a French Colony occupied by British forces between 1794 and 1802, when it was returned after the Treaty of Amiens.”

My Smith Transcription Project of the Indentures from the Grenada Registers of Records includes references to James Baillie, Alexander Campbell, and Ninian Home.

The time frames, the people, and the locations certainly indicate that possible truth about ggg-grandmother Mary Ann’s origins and possible ancestry.

Food for thought?

In my next discussion I will present that which I have learned about ggg-grandmother Mary Ann (née Doret) Smith from my Transcription Project.

Stay tuned,

Enjoy,

Jim