Where You Can Learn More About the Historical Period Depicted in the Merchant Tides Series and the People Who Lived There
I enjoy experiencing history through the words of those who lived it. Reading the diaries and correspondence from 1700s sometimes feels like learning a foreign language or time traveling with Doctor Who.
In researching the Merchant Tides series, I relied on the inspired research of a brilliant and dedicated group of modern historians but also on original manuscripts, letters, government records, and contemporary accounts that have been preserved by historical societies, universities, and the Library of Congress. The sources below are some of the most important works that help to form the historical foundation for the novels in the series. This list has grown over time and will continue to be updated as I find more historical gems.
Many of these resources are available online or at local Florida public libraries, and are offered here for readers who wish to explore the remarkable world of eighteenth-century East Florida for themselves.
Colonial Office Papers (CO 5)
British Colonial Office records relating to East Florida, including governors' correspondence, formal reports, petitions, East Florida council meeting minutes, and communications with officials in London. These original manuscripts offer a firsthand glimpse into the lives and decisions of the governors, officials, and petitioners who shaped British East Florida during its formative years.
· Board of Trade and Plantations Official Correspondence and Documents (CO 5 volumes 540-547)
· British Secretary of State Official Correspondence and Documents (CO 5 volumes 548-557)
Books
Bartram, John. Diary of a journey through the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida from July 1, 1765, to April 10, 1766. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1942.
Bartram, William. Travels in Georgia and Florida, 1773-1774: A Report to Dr. John Fothergill. Annotated by Francis Harper. Lancaster: Lancaster Press, 1943.
Beeson, Kenneth H., Jr. Fromajadas and Indigo, The Minorcan Colony in Florida. Charleston: The History Press, 2008.
Camps, Father Pedro. The Golden Book of the Minorcans. Transcribed by Edward W. Lawson, 1946-1957. St. Augustine Historical Society Research Library.
Corse, Carita Dogget. Andrew Turnbull and the New Smyrna Colony of Florida. Eustis: Founders Publishing Company, 1994.
De Brahm, William Gerard. De Brahm’s Report of the General Survey in the Southern District of North America. Edited by Louis De Vorsey, Jr. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1971.
Fairbanks, George R. The History and Antiquities of the City of St. Augustine, Florida. New York: C.B. Norton, 1858.
Griffin, Patricia C., Mullet on the Beach: The Minorcans of Florida, 1768-1788. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1991.
Masters, Ann Browning. Floridanos, Menorcans, Cattle-Whip Crackers: Poetry of St. Augustine. The Florida Historical Society Press, 2015.
Mowat, Charles Lock. East Florida as a British Province, 1763-1784. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1964.
Panagopoulos, E. P. New Smyrna: An Eighteenth Century Greek Odyssey. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1966.
Pellicer, Leonard O. Minorcan Boy. Bookbaby, 2025.
Quinn, Jane. Minorcans in Florida: Their History and Heritage. St. Augustine: Mission Press, 1975.
Raab, James W. Spain, Britain and the American Revolution in Florida, 1763-1783. Jefferson: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2008.
Rasico, Philip D. The Minorcans of Florida: Their History, Language and Culture. New Smyrna Beach: Luthers, 1990.
Roger, Fra Francesc. Art de la cuina: Llibre de cuina menorquina del segle XVIII. Edited by Andreu Vidal Mascaró. Barcelona: Editorial Barcino, 1993.
Romans, Bernard. A Concise Natural History of East and West Florida. New Orleans: Pelican Publishing Co., 1961.
Ryan, William P. I Am Grey Eyes: A Story of Old Florida. 1st ed., Old Kings Road Press, 2008.
Ryan, William P. The Search for Old King’s Road: The First Route into Florida. 2nd ed., CreateSpace Ind. Publishing, 2014.
Siebert, Wilbur Henry. Loyalists in East Florida 1774 to 1785. Vol. 1. DeLand: Florida State Historical Society, 1929.
Sloss, Janet. Menorcan Proverbs: Proverbis Menorquins. London: The Bonaventura Press, 2003.
Stork, William. An Account of East Florida; With a Journal Kept by John Bartram, of Philadelphia, Botanist to His Majesty for the Floridas, upon a journey from St. Augustine up the River St. John’s. Fernandina: The Florida Mirror, 1881.
Journal Articles
Bauer, Deborah L. “‘... In a strange place ...’: The Experiences of British Women during the Colonization of East & West Florida.” Florida Historical Quarterly 89, no. 2 (2010): 145–171.
McCaffrey, Donna T. “Charles Townsend and Plans for British East Florida.” Florida Historical Quarterly 68, no. 3 (1989): 324-351.
Meide, Chuck. “Cast Away off the Bar: The Archaeological Investigation of the British Period Shipwrecks in St. Augustine”, The Florida Historical Quarterly: 500 Years of Florida History – The Eighteenth Century, Vol. 93, No. 3 (Winter 2015): 354-386.
Schafer, Daniel L. “Diary of Governor James Grant, Recorded in His Own Hand at the Governor’s House in St. Augustine, Florida, from January 1, 1767 to March 6, 1767”, El Escribano, Vol. 41 (2004): 69-96.
Schafer, Daniel L. “Early Plantation Development in British East Florida”, El Escribano, Vol. 19 (1982): 37-53.
Schafer, Daniel L. “Governor James Grant’s Villa: A British East Florida indigo Plantation”, El Escribano, Vol. 37 (2000).
Schafer, Daniel L. “St. Augustine’s British Years, 1763-1784”, El Escribano, Vol. 38 (2001).
Tingley, Charles. “Over the Swash and Out Again”, El Escribano (2008): 87-122.
Tingley, H. E. B. “Florida Under the British Flag, 1763-1783,” Journal of American History 4, no. 1 (1917).
Other Resources
Bauer, Deborah L. “Trial & Error: Royal Authority & Families in the Colonization of the British Floridas, 1763-1784.” PhD diss., University of South Florida, 2019.
McGaughy, Joseph T. “Cherokees, Creeks, and Charlestonians: The Colonial World of James Grant, 1757-1771.” PhD diss., Auburn University, 2020.
Florida Historical Quarterly (Website) – A digital repository of historical materials made available on the University of Central Florida’s STARS (Showcase of Text, Archives, Research, and Scholarship) platform
Florida History Online (Website) – A digital archive of textual and visual documents of Florida history produced by students and faculty at the University of North Florida.
The Minorcan Experience (Facebook Page) – A community page dedicated to exploring and preserving the history, culture, and genealogy of Minorcan descendants in Florida.
The Minorcan Studies Project (Website) – A resource for researchers, students, descendants, as well as readers with a more casual interest.
Smith, Roger Clark. “The Fourteenth Colony: Florida and the American Revolution in the South.” PhD diss., University of Florida, 2011.
Enjoying the rich history that is Eighteenth Century Florida?
See how these real people and events come to life in the Merchant Tides series.