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The Royal Society: Science in the Making

Unpublished letter, regarding cultivation of indigo in Jamaica from Robert Gray to Joseph Banks

Reference number: AP/5/16

Date: 01 March 1786

Description

Gray describes the cultivation of indigo in Jamaica using a technique brought from South Carolina and Georgia [United States] following an evacuation from these areas by British troops. Gray explains that indigo had previously been cultivated in Jamaica but was highly taxed to the point of prohibition. Corrections appear in ink throughout.

Subject: Agriculture / Industry

Written by Gray at Savannah Point, St George's Parish, [Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland Parish] Jamaica.

Reference number
AP/5/16
Earliest possible date
01 March 1786
Physical description
Ink on paper
Page extent
17 pages
Format
Manuscript

Creator name

Robert Gray

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Citation

Robert Gray, Unpublished letter, regarding cultivation of indigo in Jamaica from Robert Gray to Joseph Banks, 01 March 1786, AP/5/16, The Royal Society Archives, London, https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/ap_5_16/unpublished-letter-regarding-cultivation-of-indigo-in-jamaica-from-robert-gray-to-joseph-banks, accessed on 06 March 2026

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https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/ap_5_16/unpublished-letter-regarding-cultivation-of-indigo-in-jamaica-from-robert-gray-to-joseph-banks

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  • Archived Papers

    The 'Archived Papers' collection is comprised of original manuscript scientific papers and letters submitted to the Royal Society which remained unpublished or were abstracted in the journal 'Proceedings of the Royal Society' published from 1830 onwards.

    Dates: 1768 - 1989

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