Caldwell Family

Origins

St Helena

Our Caldwell family, as we know it, began on the island of St Helena with the arrival of Lieutenant William Caldwell. William had been posted to St Helena to take command of the British East India Company battalion (commonly referred to as the HEIC, Honourable East India Company). William apparently brought with him his pregnant wife Elizabeth.

William’s time on the island was limited. He died of unknown causes in 1774 at the age of 34. William and Elizabeth had two children. Elizabeth remained on St Helena and  partnered with an unknown man with whom she had 3 more children, one of whom was our direct descendant, Daniel Caldwell. As there were 4 Daniels, this first Daniel will be called Daniel Caldwell 1. Elizabeth probably had a common-law relationship with her second partner and opted to keep the name Caldwell, her married name, for the 3 children. Thus, we descendants of this first of four Daniels are not blood related to the Caldwell line. I have not been able to trace the Caldwells further back than William.

We know little about Daniel 1. He apparently served in the island militia and clerked in a St Helena store. Daniel married Mary Manay(?), described in HEIC documents as a freed slave of colour. 

Slavery

Sobering, isn’t it, to realize how closely tied so many of us are to slavery, both as descendants of victims and perpetrators. On my father’s side, is Mary Manay, my 3X great grandmother, a slave. On my mother’s side, in the late 1600s, is Dr. Fulke Rose, my first cousin 9X removed, one of 4 major slave traders in Jamaica, and a doctor of medicine!

Napoleon

Napoleon was exiled to St. Helena in 1815 where he remained until his death in 1821. To the great joy of the people of St Helena, Napoleon’s presence generated a burgeoning economy. Worried about the possibility of attack by the French to free their popular Emperor, the British government bolstered the St Helena regiment and fortifications, and assigned a fleet of warships to continuously circle the island. Napoleon would not escape a third time! 

This was captivity with a royal touch. Napoleon was allowed free-reign on the island and lived in a large estate attended by multiple servants and French courtiers. The costs to the British government of all this were astronomic. The people of Saint Helena obligingly provided all the perishable goods needed and all the services. They could not have been happier. And the island economy boomed. 

Penang

Then, in 1821, when Napoleon died, the St Helena economy went with him. Sometime in the 1820s, the Caldwell family left St Helena for Penang, a small trading centre on the west coast of Malaya, controlled by the British. My guess is that, starting in 1821, the HEIC offered subsidized, perhaps even free transportation, to those wishing to leave the island for other British settlements. The Caldwells chose Penang.

For some years, the Caldwells lived in Penang. Nothing is known about how they survived or how long they were there. We do know that the father, Daniel Caldwell, died there, in 1828. That  event was possibly what prompted another move, this time to Singapore, where more opportunities lay for Mary and her teenage children. 

Singapore

Like Penang, nothing is known about the Caldwell’s lives in Singapore, with the exception of the son, Daniel Richard Caldwell. Historians tell us this: Daniel was a wild, unmanageable teenager and at 18, he was kicked out of the house. However, he was a resourceful fellow and soon found work crewing on a clipper which smuggled Opium into Canton against the Chinese prohibition. It meant death if he was caught. But the pay was excellent and the wine, women and song, which went with the job, were just as bountiful.

At some point, he contracted an illness which left him unable to continue those unbridled days. In Singapore, Daniel found more suitable work with the commissariat of the British Expeditionary Force, based in Singapore. The commissariat supplied food and equipment to the field forces.

During his days as a smuggler, Daniel rubbed shoulders with multiple ethnic minorities. With astonishing speed, he picked up their languages and dialects, a propensity which brought him to the attention of the BEF commander. The commander had just been handed the position of judge in the Hong Kong courts and needed an interpreter to facilitate court process. Daniel agreed to join him and the beginning of Daniel’s remarkable chapter in Hong Kong began.