Thomas Mewburn

Thomas Mewburn was a clerk who worked in Demerara from at least the 1790s, becoming the attorney for Thomas Cuming’s plantations by 1799 [see letters from Cuming to Mewburn in Warrand of Bught papers in library]. He became a leading figure in the colony as captain of the 1st Battalion of the Militia [1805], a financial representative on the governing body of the colony [1807], and chairman of proprietors in the new town of Cumingsburg [1810]. He acted as an agent in Demerara for Campbell & Co of Glasgow.

Mewburn appears to have left Demerara in December 1815 (or early in 1816), travelling with a servant, and again in 1817. His daughter Anne married in Liverpool in 1816 [Liverpool Mercury] and his African-born servant, George, was baptised there in 1818. In 1819 another daughter, Catherine [b1797], married Alexander MacAlister, from Skye, a surgeon in Demerara. Catherine’s mother was a Johanna De-Brugh. Catherine Mewburn died in Australia in 1872. [Gippsland Times and Sale Cemetery Register]

Public Vendue 1807
On Wednesday the 18th March, on Plantation Cuming's Lodge, by order of Thomas Mewburn, Esq. about Forty Head of Cattle (Milch Cows, Oxen, &c.) Saddle and Chaise Horses, 50 Sheep, Household Furniture, consisting of Bedsteads, Mattrasses, Sideboards, Mahogany Dining and other Tables, Chairs, &c. and a Collection of French Books.
Feb. 27, 1807.