Behind the Bastards Part One: Thomas Thistlewood: Slave Plantation Owner and Diarist
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Nov 11, 2025 T.T. Lee, a comedian and insightful commentator, joins Robert to delve into the haunting diary of Thomas Thistlewood, a notorious slave plantation owner. They dissect the depths of brutality documented in Thistlewood's meticulous records and explore the chilling realities of plantation life in Jamaica. T.T. unpacks the coded language Thistlewood used to hide his sexual crimes, while Robert highlights how these entries reflect a broader culture of exploitation. Together, they reveal that Thistlewood's horrifying actions were disturbingly typical of his time.
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Diaries As Multi-Disciplinary Evidence
- Thomas Thistlewood's diaries provide unusually detailed, primary documentation of daily life and brutality on Jamaican plantations.
- His records inform historians and naturalists about climate, commerce, and normalized atrocities in the slave system.
Colonial Migration Driven By Birth Order
- Thistlewood came from a middling English family and emigrated because second sons lacked inheritance prospects.
- Economic precarity and colonial recruitment funneled men like him into exploitative roles overseas.
Voyage Account Book Turned Diary
- Thistlewood sailed as a purser/supercargo, keeping ship accounts and buying goods to resell.
- He documented costs and transactions obsessively in a ledger-like diary during voyages.
