complained of regular illnesses, and his sexual activity and sexual abuse declined as a result. Consequently, he observed that Phibbah was looking elsewhere for sexual gratification. Death and will Burnard also suggests that Jamaica was very different from the Colony of Virginia where the political offices such as vestrymen and justices of the peace tended to be dominated by wealthier planters. Jamaica did not have as many wealthy whites to fill such offices and thus had to draw on the services of white men with average wealth like Thistlewood. Because of the relative scarcity of whites, says Burnard, Jamaica experienced a greater spirit of white independence, pride, and white egalitarianism in comparison to other European colonies in the Americas. Working-class white men behaved as if they were the equal of the wealthiest white planters, in stark contrast with the class system entrenched in Britain. In 1784, Thistlewood became so ill that he had difficulty writing in his diary. He never returned to England, dying at Breadnut Island in November 1786. Thistlewood called Phibbah his "wife" in the will that freed her. William Tomlinson, acting on behalf of Thistlewood's estate, paid Cope £80 to free her on 26 November 1792. When Thistlewood died at the age of 65, his estate of £3,000 () and 34 slaves was rather modest by Jamaican standards, but quite substantial compared to those in other British colonies. See also Tacky's War List of plantations in Jamaica Archival material Thistlewood's diaries are at the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University, which purchased them in 2011. They are available online. Notes References Douglas Hall, In Miserable Slavery: Thomas Thistlewood in Jamaica, 1750–86, Macmillan, 1999, Further reading External links Thomas Thistlewood on 'Sales and branding' Thomas Thistlewood Papers. James Marshall and Marie-Louise Osborn Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University Digital images of the Thomas Thistlewood Papers at Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library History of the Colony of Jamaica English diarists 1721 births 1786 deaths People from East Lindsey District History of sugar 18th-century Jamaican people British planters British slave owners 18th century in Jamaica 18th-century diarists Jamaican justices of the peace