Mingo - from Servant to Lighthouse Keeper
| Sir William Batten was granted Letters Patent by King James I to
operate the Harwich Lighthouse, a profitable concern because of its
strategic importance to shipping in 1664. These extracts from his
will reveal that Batten wanted his 'servante Mingoe a Negroe'
to become lighthouse keeper upon his death. The servant was also left
a legacy of £20 per year for life - a substantial sum of money
at the time. PROB 11/325, q. 144 (Dec 1667) |
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