In Miserable Slavery: Thomas Thistlewood in Jamaica, 1750-86

Thomas Thistlewood came to Jamaica from Lincolnshire, England in 1750, and lived as an estate overseer and small landowner in western Jamaica until his death in 1786. Throughout his life he kept a record of his daily activities and his observations of life around him. His diaries contain a rich chronicle of plantation life – its people, social life, agricultural techniques, medicinal remedies and relations between slaves and their owners.