Draft:Ashur Levy

Ashur Levy (born c. 1788) was a Jewish recipient of compensation under the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 who later emigrated to the United States from England.

Early life and Jewish background

Little is known of Levy’s early life. Passenger records indicate he was born about 1788. By 1838 he was resident in or connected with London.

The given name Ashur is a variant spelling of the Hebrew biblical name Asher (אָשֵׁר), one of the twelve sons of Jacob; both forms appear in 18th- and 19th-century Anglo-Jewish records. The surname Levy (from the Hebrew Levi) is one of the most common Jewish family names.

Ashur Levy was mentioned in a letter from Hyman Levy (of Kingston, Jamaica) to Tobias I. Tobias (of New York), dated 4 November 1824. This indicates that Ashur Levy was living in Jamaica at the time and was part of Hyman Levy’s family or close social circle.

Slave ownership in Jamaica

In 1817, Ashur Levy was recorded in the Former British Colonial Dependencies, Slave Registers, 1813-1834 as a resident of Jamaicaand the owner of over 60 enslaved black people both male and female in the Parish of St. Catherine and the Parish of St. Thomas.

Named slaves of Ashur Levy in the surviving Former British Colonial Dependencies, Slave Registers, 1813-1834. Parish of St. Catherine, Jamaica, 1817.

Names	Colour	Ages	African or Creole
Frederick (christ. William Myers)	Negro	28	African
James (christ. James Dawkins)	Negro	28	Creole
Allick (christ. Alexander Johnson)	Negro	23	Creole
William (christ. William Maxwell)	Negro	29	Creole
Thomas (christ. Thomas Allen)	Negro	16	Creole

Named slaves of Ashur Levy in the surviving Former British Colonial Dependencies, Slave Registers, 1813-1834. Parish of St. Thomas, 1832.

Names	Colour	Ages	African or Creole	Remarks	Increase and Cause Thereof	Decrease and Cause Thereof
Males
Charles Scott	Negro	33	Creole		By Purchase
Alexander Low	Negro	42	Creole		By Purchase
Bryann Brown Caldwell	Negro	42	Creole		By Purchase
Charles Caldwell	Negro	47	Creole		By Purchase
Walter Grey	Negro	38	Creole		By Purchase
William Harris	Negro	34	Creole		By Purchase
Collin Caldwell	Negro	35	African		By Purchase
Robert Grey	Negro	65	African		By Purchase
Charles Williamson	Negro	27	Creole		By Purchase
Edward Grey	Negro	27	Creole		By Purchase
Richard Welch	Negro	29	Creole		By Purchase
William Grey	Negro	50	Creole		By Purchase
James Collins	Negro	21	Creole		By Purchase
William Davis	Negro	19	Creole		By Purchase
Henry Grey	Negro	18	Creole		By Purchase
James Cadwell	Negro	21	Creole		By Purchase
George Morison	Negro	16	Creole		By Purchase
George Collins	Negro	17	Creole		By Purchase
Tom Johnston	Negro	55	Creole		By Purchase
Thomas Johnston	Negro	26	Creole		By Purchase
Alexander Lake	Sambo	14	Creole		By Purchase
Richard Welch	Sambo	11	Creole	Son of Harriet Caldwell	By Purchase
Alexander Murry	Mulatto	7	Creole	Son of Lucinda Grey	By Purchase
James Scott	Negro	9	Creole	Son of Priscilla Welch	By Purchase
Robert Price	Negro	8	Creole		By Purchase
Edward Price	Negro	5 yrs 10m	Creole	Son of Jane Luckay	By Purchase
Francis Price	Negro	3 yrs 2m	Creole		By Purchase
George Graham	Negro	3 yrs 5m	Creole	Son of Maria Winter	By Purchase
John Thomas	Negro	2 yrs 6m	Creole	Son of Milly Johnston	By Purchase
William Mattis	Negro	1 yr 6m	Creole	Son of Jane Grey	By Birth
Thos Fuller	Negro	1 yr 3m	Creole	Son of Sarah Johnston	By Birth
Henry Davis	Mulatto	1 yr 3m	Creole	Son of Jane Luckay – By Birth	By Birth
Females					By Purchase
Isabella Caldwell	Negro	45	Creole		By Purchase
Jane Luckay	Negro	30	Creole		By Purchase
Selina Brown	Negro	33	Creole		By Purchase
Jessey Caldwell	Negro	53	African		By Purchase
Maria Winter	Negro	29	Creole		By Purchase
Elizabeth Johnston	Negro	27	Creole		By Purchase
Priscilla Walsh	Negro	42	Creole		By Purchase
Rosina Caldwell alias Grey	Negro	53	African		By Purchase
Kate Grey	Negro	30	African		By Purchase
Harriet Caldwell	Negro	37	Creole		By Purchase
Agnes Johnston	Negro	27	Creole		By Purchase
Jane Clark	Sambo	25	Creole		By Purchase
Jane Grey	Negro	26	Creole		By Purchase
Margaret Grey	Negro	25	Creole		By Purchase
Sarah Johnston (twin of Milly Johnston)	Negro	23	Creole		By Purchase
Milly Johnston (twin of Sarah Johnston)	Negro	23	Creole		By Purchase
Lucinda Grey	Negro	23	Creole		By Purchase
Betsey Murry	Negro	22	Creole		By Purchase
Evelina Murry	Negro	17	Creole		By Purchase
Rosaly Caldwell	Negro	13	Creole		By Purchase
Patty Ann Price	Negro	10	Creole	Daughter of Jane Luckay	By Purchase
Leonora Graham	Negro	8	Creole	Daughter of Maria Winter	By Purchase
Isabella Scott	Negro	6	Creole	Daughter of Priscilla Walsh	By Purchase
Eleanor Walker	Negro	6	Creole		By Purchase
Eliza Walker	Negro	4 yrs 8m	Creole	Daughter of Harriet Caldwell	By Purchase
Sarah Williamson	Negro	2 yrs 6m	Creole	Daughter of Jane Clark	By Purchase
Rebecca Scott	Negro	2 yrs 6m	Creole	Daughter of Agnes Johnston	By Purchase
Jennet Walker	Negro	1 yr 4m	Creole	Daughter of Harriet Caldwell	By Birth
Maryann Davis	Sambo	4m	Creole	Daughter of Lucinda Grey	By Birth
					Increase	Decrease
					Sixty-one	none

Slave compensation

On 14 April 1838 Levy received a single payment of £57 13s 9d from the Bank of England under the slave compensation scheme established by the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 and the subsequent Slave Compensation Act 1837. The payment is recorded in the Transcription of the Slave Compensation Account and Litigated Slave Compensation Account (folio 4340, Bank of England transaction number 6661).

SCA Data

Sort no.	Folio no.	Date	Forename	Surname	BoE Transaction no.	Pounds	Shillings	Pence
9219	4340	14 April 1838	Ashur	Levy	6661	57	13	9

Emigration to the United States

Five months after receiving his slave compensation payment from the British government, on 13 September 1838, a 50-year-old Ashur Levy arrived in New York from London aboard the ship Quebec. The passenger list records his place of origin as Great Britain and his destination as the United States.

Later life

In 1846 Levy appears in an index of English estates of American settlers compiled from records of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury. The entry links him to New York and indicates either his residence there or the existence of a will or administration connected with him.

No further details of his occupation, family, or date and place of death have yet been firmly established in published sources.

Distinction from other individuals

Ashur Levy (c. 1788) should not be confused with Asser Levy (died 1682), one of the earliest Jewish settlers of New Amsterdam (later New York).