she knew the wealthiest ones personally : edward bayes , his jowls protruding beneath his whisp of beard , owned the choicest coastal lands north around speightstown ; thomas lancaster , now red-cheeked and glassy-eyed from the liquor , had the largest plantation in the rolling plains of st. george 's parish , mid-island ; nicholas whittington , dewlapped and portly , was master of a vast acreage in christ 's church parish , on the southern coast .