Munro (Edderton)

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Matthew Munro [1761/62-97] was one of the son of Rev Jospeph Munro [1724-85], minister of Edderton, and Barbara Ross [1718-89].  His sister, Annabella Stewart Munro [b1747], married Rev George Douglas [1739-94], minister of Tain, whose brother Gilbert Douglas owned a Demerara plantation. Two other sisters, Janet Mary [b1753] and Barbara Margaret [1756-1835], married respectively Rev Angus Bethune [1742-1801] of Alness and Rev John Bethune [1745-1816] of Dornoch, whose families had extensive links with Berbice.

Matthew arrived in Grenada in the spring of 1778 as the new clerk for Houstoun & Paterson and rose to become a member of the island's assembly by the late 1780s. [Douglas Hamilton, Scotland, The Caribbean and the Atlantic World, 1750-1820, p88; Ned C Landsman (ed), Nation and Province in the First British Empire: Scotland and the Americas, p111]

In 1792 he was granted the 500 acres plantation on the coast of Berbice, which was named Edinburgh [Kaartboek van de navolgende gronden uitgegeven in de kolonie Berbice, met acten van meting (1790-1793)]. He was also in partnership with William Macfarlane and James Blair, both of Grenada, and Lambert Blair of Berbice, trading as Lambert Blair & Co [London Gazette 1799]. He returned to England, settling at West Horsley, Surrey, where he died in February 1797, aged 36, and was buried in Bath Abbey [plaque in Bath Abbey]. At his death he owned plantations in Berbice, Grenada and St Lucia.

With his wife, Elizabeth, he had a son, also Matthew, who became a lieutenant in the Royal Navy, and a daughter, Mary [These children are identifed in Prob11/1286 f72 Will of Matthew Munro; Prob11/1712 Will of George Munro of Plantation Alness, Berbice].