The Salmon family

Clement Norman Salmon was born in 1896. 

When he was 21 Clem was out riding his bicycle.  He swerved to avoid a child in the road, hit a tree and was severely injured.

Clem lost his sight.

Because of his blindness Clem found it hard to find work and was unemployed most of his adult life. 

Despite this, he played the cello, made furniture and was an active member of the National League of the Blind and Disabled, a trade union of disabled workers, founded in 1894.

In 1901 Clem and his parents Edmund F W Salmon, his wife Catherine Williams and eight of their children were living at 147 Broadway, Cardiff.

Broadway, Cardiff, near Clement's family home

In 1881 the family were living with Robert Power, Catherine's husband and Edmund’s step-father.  

Catherine married Robert after the death of her first husband Edmund Salmon, Edmund F W’s father, who died in 1858.

Robert was a Lime Burner, originally from Ireland.

Edmund F W describes himself as a Warehouseman Wine and Spirits during this period.  He died in 1931.

Edmund F W’s Father Edmund Salmon was born in Bedminster near Bristol in 1833 until his death. He was an apprentice Bookbinder.

Thomas junior and Edmund's home in Bedminster

His father, Thomas Stokes Salmon junior was born in 1803 in St Phillips, Bedminster near Bristol.  He died in 1874. 

Thomas was a Bookbinder and married to Elizabeth Palmer.  In 1851 they were living at 58 South Street, Bedminster, near Bristol.

Thomas’s father Thomas Salmon senior was born in 1880 in Jamaica.  He married Hana Palmer in Gloucestershire in 1803.  He is thought to have been a doctor. 

His father, William Salmon, was born in 1743 and went to Jamaica around 1770.  His brothers Thomas Stokes Salmon and Brice Webb Salmon also spent time in Jamaica.  William's father John Salmon may also have gone to Jamaica.  

They were among the first of the 'white settlers' taking advantage of the British government's offer of land in the new colony.

William  was a Magistrate and Coroner in St Elizabeth parish Jamaica.  Thomas' mother, Mary Vassall, was described by William in his will as a ‘free woman of colour’, likely a Mulatto; from African and European stock.

To read more about the Mulatto experience, please see the Mixed Race Studies website.

William had six children with Mary Vassall.  Some say he had a further five children either with Mary or another woman, although these may have been his slaves - they are not mentioned in his will along with his children.

According to the parish register William Salmon and Mary Vassall were not married.  William had had a relationship with another mixed race woman before Mary, Elizabeth Young, with whom he had a daughter Suzanna in 1775.  Elizabeth Young died in Chettle, Jamaica in 1803. 

William and Mary’s children are described as ‘not white’.  The register states the baptisms were 'received in private', so they may have been carried out at home, and not administered by a priest.

William left Mary his house and about 12 acres of land in his will, and freed a number of slaves who had been his and Mary’s servants.

In 1817 William's children Brice Vassall and Elizabeth both owned slaves, as did Mary Vassall, which is interesting as they themselves were partly black.

The Vassalls  

John Vassall arrived in Britain in 1559.  He had been sent from Normandy by his father as a Huguenot refugee to escape the troubles in France.

By the time of his death in 1626 John Vassall had investments in Virginia, America.  He had commanded two ships against the Spanish Armada.  He built and captained a ship called the Mayflower, which took pilgrims to Cape Cod – we are not sure whether this ship was the Mayflower, which took the original pilgrim fathers to America, as there were several of this name at the time.

His great grandson John, born 1625 in Stepney, bought large tracts of land in Jamaica soon after it was seized in 1655. In 1751 the Vassalls owned three properties in St Elizabeth as well as the Friendship, Greenwich and Sweet River estates in Westomoorland.


Jamaican slaves

Mary's mother would have worked as a slave on one of these estates. 

It is most likely that Mary was the illegitimate daughter of Florentius Vassall, John’s grandson who was a big landowner in Jamaica.   

His brother Lewis may also have been the father, as he owned over 200 acres of land in St Elizabeth, and Mary named one of her sons Lewis.



Elizabeth Vassall; Mary's niece or second cousin

Florentius' granddaughter Elizabeth Vassall became a prominent socialite in England after marrying Henry Fox, 3rd Baron Holland, who she met in Naples while married to her first husband Sir Godfrey Webster, 4th Baronet, who she married when she was just 15.

Elizabeth was known for her domineering charactor.  She introduced the dahlia to England.

At the end of her life the diarist Charles Greville called her 'a social light, which illuminated and adorned England, and even Europe for a half a century'.


From his will it seems that William Salmon had a half stake in a plantation called New Crawle in St Elizabeth, Jamaica.  He left this to his brother Bryce Webb and his heirs.

William went to Jamaica along with his brother Thomas Stokes Salmon (born 1744).  His brother Bryce Webb was also in Jamaica for a while, but died in Cuba.

William’s brother Thomas Stokes Salmon was an Assistant Judge in St Elizabeth. 

Thomas Stokes Salmon also had a relationship with a mixed race woman called Suzanna Young.  They had seven children.


It is likely that Thomas Stokes Salmon’s son John inherited the New Savannah estate in Windsor, St Elizabeth.  In 1832 the estate had 1,500 acres and had over 90 slaves.  Again, John himself would have been mixed race.

In his will, Thomas Stokes Salmon paid for a memorial plaque to his mother Anne Stokes, which is still at St Mary’s Church, Thornbury (pictured below).

Thomas Stokes Salmon had an act of parliament passed to enable his children to inherit from him.  William does not appear to have made any such provision for his children, which may explain why he left his plantation to his brother Brice Webb and his heirs.

In his will, William left Thomas and his other 'reputed' sons £700 each, about £700,000 in today's money.  

Brice Webb's son and grandson, both called John,  became powerful landowners.  Brice's grandson the Hon John Salmon was Custos of St. Elizabeth and last President of the Privy and Legislative Councils of Jamaica from 1856 to 1865.  He was a leading Sugar Planter and Penkeeper (farmer). 

This picture is thought to be of the Hon. John Salmon

He owned five sugar and cattle estates in St Elizabeth parish namely; Fullerswood; Vauxhall; Maggotty; Middlesex; and The Kepp, and was one of the largest landed proprietors in Jamaica owning several thousand acres.

He lived at Fullerswood Great House, near Black River, and raised Thoroughbred Racehorses on his estate. 

The Hon John Salmon married Frances Charlotte Cooper.  They had eight children, including Thomas Stokes Salmon and William Brice Salmon (pictured). 

William Brice Salmon

William Brice Salmon (1826-1891) was a Master Mariner.  He is also listed in the Jamaica Almanac in 1860-70 as a Magistrate and Clerk of the Vestry and Collector of Dues and a Collector of Taxes - Lesser, lower works.

Emily Salmon, nee Bush, 1822-1908

William married Emily Salmon, formerly Emily Bush, (pictured).  

Emily Frances Anne Salmon b 1854

William and Emily had five children.  The eldest, Emily Frances Anne Salmon was born in 1854 is pictured below, aged about nine or ten.


















The Hon. John Salmon's son, Thomas Stokes Salmon married Emily Margaret Senior in 1848.  Emily was the daughter of Bernard Martin Senior, Esq. of Salt Spring Estate, St. Elizabeth. 


Mr.Senior was the Author of the book "Jamaica as It Was, As It Is And As It Maybe", one of the few published first-hand accounts of the Slave Rebellion of 1831-1832.   They had 5 children between 1849-1856 (Elizabeth Francis, John Bernard, Emily Charlotte, Edward Vidal and Louise).

Anne Stokes memorial, St Mary's Church, Thornbury

William and Thomas Stokes Salmon's father was John Salmon (abt. 1714-1800).  John was born in Alveston, near Bristol and it is likely that he came from the same family which owned Tokington Manor in nearby Oveston.

John’s father Edward Salmon was a Mercer (clothing tradesman) from Bristol, his father Nathaniel was a Wine Cooper from Bristol.

John Salmon married Anne Stokes, and it is likely that the Stokes family were powerful in the area, as the family used the Stokes-Salmon name for several generations afterwards, John and Anne inherited property from William Stokes.

Anne’s mother Elizabeth Grove’s father was William Grove, a Cordwainer (shoe maker) who also bequeathed property to John and Anne Salmon.

John Salmon was Mayor of Thornbury, Gloucestershire from 1756-8 and from 1766-7.  He died in 1800.

Find out more about the Salmon Family of Silver Street here.