Appeals to the Privy Council
Report No. ANT_1749_02

Dunbar v Shephard

Antigua 

 

Case Name Long

John and Eleanor Dunbar, Elizabeth Watkins, and Ann Watkins (the Watkinses by Jonas Langford and William Mackinen) v Thomas and Rachel Shephard (revived by Rachel Shephard, Thomas Shephard [the son], Thomas Warner, Daniel Warner, Richard Bingham, Robert Shephard, Richard Boddicott, and Stephen Mignian [Minion], and George White)

 

Acts of the Privy Council, Colonial Series

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APC Citation  

v.4 [109] p.82–83 (2 May 1749 – 7 March 1753)

 
PC Register Citation  

George II v.12 (1 May 1748 – 29 March 1750) p.245: PC 2/101/245

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PC Register Citation  

George II v.14 (1 April 1752 – 31 Dec. 1753) p.153–154, 281, 337–338, 344–345: PC 2/103/153–154, 281, 337–338, 344–345

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Colonial Courts

Court of Common Pleas – 17 Sept. 1746

Court of Errors – 18 Aug. 1748

Participants

Bingham, Richard, esquire, respondent (executor of Thomas Shephard [1])

Boddicott, Richard, respondent (executor of Thomas Shephard [1])

Dunbar, Eleanor, infant, appellant (wife of John, daughter of Elizabeth [1] Watkins, sister of Ann, Elizabeth [2], and Mary Watkins)

Dunbar, John, doctor, appellant (husband of Eleanor)

Langford, Jonas, esquire, appellant (guardian of Eleanor Dunbar, Ann Watkins, and Elizabeth [2] Watkins)

Mackinen, William, esquire, appellant (guardian of Eleanor Dunbar, Ann Watkins, and Elizabeth [2] Watkins)

Mignian (Minion), Stephen, respondent (executor of Thomas Shephard [1])

Morgan, Elizabeth – see Watkins, Elizabeth (1)

Morgan, Jacob, esquire, deceased (father of Elizabeth [1] Watkins)

Shephard, Rachel, respondent (wife, later widow, of Thomas [1])

Shephard, Robert, gentleman, respondent (executor of Thomas [1])

Shephard, Thomas (1), respondent, later deceased (husband of Rachel, father of Thomas [2])

Shephard, Thomas (2), respondent (son and heir of Thomas [1])

Warner, Daniel, esquire, respondent (executor of Thomas Shephard [1])

Warner, Thomas, esquire, respondent (executor of Thomas Shephard [1])

Watkins, Ann, infant, spinster, appellant (daughter of Elizabeth [1], sister of Eleanor [now Eleanor Dunbar], Elizabeth [2], and Mary)

Watkins, Eleanor – see Dunbar, Eleanor

Watkins (née Morgan), Elizabeth (1), deceased (daughter of Jacob Morgan, mother of Ann, Eleanor [now Eleanor Dunbar], Elizabeth [2], and Mary)

Watkins, Elizabeth (2), infant, spinster, appellant (daughter of Elizabeth [1])

Watkins, Mary, deceased (daughter of Elizabeth [1], sister of Ann, Eleanor [now Eleanor Dunbar], and Elizabeth [2])

White, George, respondent (executor of Thomas Shephard [1])

Description

Concerning the delivery of Negro slaves formerly belonging to Jacob Morgan, deceased.

Disposition

Judgment of Aug. 1748 reversed; judgment of Sept. 1746 affirmed with costs.

Notes

Eleanor Dunbar, described as an ‘infant’, is also married. Her sisters, Ann and Elizabeth, also infants, are listed as ‘spinsters’. The description of Eleanor, coupled with the fact that Mary is described in the printed case (p.4) as “Infant, under the Age of 21 Years,” suggests that women were thought of as reaching their majority at 21 without regard to their marital status.

References in Smith, Appeals to the Privy Council from the American Plantations

Table of Cases (Dunbar v Shephard)


DOCUMENTATION

Printed Cases

Respondent’s
case

Case of the respondent (John and Elinor Dunbar, Elizabeth Watkins, and Anne Watkins v Thomas and Rachel Shephard)

Counsel

A. Hume-Campbell; Samuel Martin

 
Library

Law Library of Congress: (Sir George Lee Collection) (Printed/manuscript date on dorse 13 Feb 1753; no manuscript notes or underlinings)

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Privy Council Documents in PC 1 at The National Archives at Kew

Not found