Daniel Island namesake and Barbados colonial roots explored in new book

Authors Margaret “Peg” Eastman and Robert Stockton knew they had a unique and important story to tell – one that traces Barbados’ deep and personal ties to Charleston’s earliest days. 

“People have written about the connections between Barbados and Carolina, but nobody ever wrote about the individual people and their families,” Stockton said.  

Earlier this year, their book “A Colony of a Colony: Barbadians Settle Charles Town, South Carolina” was published to high acclaim, with reviewers calling it both “the first comprehensive, detailed account of this remarkable odyssey” and an “essential guide” to Charleston’s early figures. 

On April 21, the pair spoke at a Daniel Island Historical Society program at Church of the Holy Spirit, where Stockton highlighted key Barbadian settlers who helped shape the colony, including Sir John Yeamans, Robert Gibbes, Edward Middleton, Sir John Colleton, Thomas Drayton, Sir Nathaniel Johnson, and Daniel Island’s namesake, Robert Daniell. 

In the book, Eastman and Stockton detail Daniell’s arrival in South Carolina prior to 1677 via Barbados aboard the ship Daniell. Born in England in 1646, Daniell was a sea captain, merchant trader, and political leader who would go on to amass thousands of acres as a landgrave and serve as deputy governor of both North Carolina (1703-1705) and South Carolina (1716-1717). 

Eastman noted Daniell’s “naval prowess,” while Stockton cited historian Edward McCrady’s description of him as a “very capable” governor. Daniell was also part of the powerful “Goose Creek Men,” a group that Eastman and Stockton referred to as “the richest and most powerful faction” in the new colony. Their quest for profits often created conflict with other Carolinians and the Lords Proprietors. 

“Ultimately, they staged a coup and overthrew the Proprietary regime, in the ‘bloodless’ Revolution of 1719,” the book states.  

Daniell died at his home on Daniel Island on May 1, 1718, and his remains were later re-interred at St. Philip’s Church in downtown Charleston. His influence, and that of fellow Barbadian settlers, helped shape the colony’s foundation here. As McCrady described, they were “adventurers whom one cause or another – domestic or political – had induced to see in the New World fortunes they could not achieve in the Old.” 

They brought with them Caribbean architectural styles, farming practices, systems of governance, language, and culture, as well as the harsh realities of Barbados’ slave trade – elements that became embedded in Charleston’s identity. 

Charleston Mayor William Cogswell, quoted in the book, said those ties “run deep.” 

“From the design of our homes to the food we eat to the dialect we speak, the influence of Barbadian culture – both Black and White – is unmistakable,” continued Cogswell. “Those traditions, born of complex histories, are deeply woven into the fabric of Charleston.” 

Stockton hopes readers of the book come away with a fresh perspective. “We hope we’re imparting information that hasn’t been read before.” 

“A Colony of a Colony” is available at several local retailers, including Buxton Books and the Preservation Society of Charleston’s shop.