Word Explanation

Throughout the cadastral lists, you may find several words that can be difficult to translate, so this guide has been created to help.

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Bosaler: This is a slave who has arrived from Africa within the last year.

Coopers: This is a cooper who makes barrels and other items for the plantation.

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Ditto: Ditto is a term used as an abbreviation for repetition.

E.g. Capable men, ditto women.

Invalids: This is a term used to refer to slaves who were too old to work or sick.

Marqueroon: This is another term that covers slaves who were too old to work or sick.

Maroon:

If a slave had gone maroon, they had run away and faced very severe punishment

If they were caught.

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Mulatto:

A mulatto is a slave who is of mixed ancestry, usually the mother was a slave or a free black woman,

who had a child with a white person, either voluntarily or under duress.

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Head tax:

The word head tax comes from the German word for head, Kopf. It was a tax that existed in Denmark from the Middle Ages until the 19th century. The tax was applied in the West Indies, and the cadastral lists were created to provide an overview of the number of slaves on the islands and how they were taxed.