46 www.CharlestonWomenPodcast.com | www.ReadCW.com | www.Instagram.com/CharlestonWomen Eliza Lucas Pinckney grew up on a sugarcane plantation in Antigua. Like other children of wealthy planters on the Caribbean island, she was sent to school in England where she studied literature, writing, music and botany, classics that would prepare her for a suitable marriage. CARIBBEAN TO CHARLESTON After Eliza returned to Antigua, a slave uprising threatened the planters’ security and in 1738, her father, George Lucas, lieutenant governor of Antigua, relocated the family to the Lowcountry where he had amassed three large plantations. Hampton, to the northeast of Charleston, encompassed a massive 25,000 acres at its height. Beyond was Waccamaw, a 3,000-acre property. Three miles southwest of the city was Wappoo, a 300acre tract. The two latter plantations have since been destroyed, and according to historian Lee Brockington, even the best archaeologists have been unable to locate the sites where they once existed. Tragically, Eliza’s mother, Ann, died after the move. Two years later, in 1740, her father was called back to Antigua to serve in active military duty during a war, leaving Eliza alone to run the plantations. As the oldest child with two brothers, Thomas and George, who were attending school in England, Eliza became the overseer of the family properties. The Golden Girl Eliza Lucas Pinckney: Indigo extraordinaire BY SARAH ROSE Charleston Women in the Arts
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