Jamaica was by far the richest colony in the British Empire. Thistlewood was only of average wealth in white Jamaican society, especially in comparison to wealthy planters such as Simon Taylor, but at the time of his death he was still far wealthier than most British men in other parts of the Empire. He acquired more wealth in Jamaica than he could have done if he had chosen to remain in Lincolnshire. White Jamaicans who survived tropical diseases were on average 50 times wealthier than residents of the British Isles, and certainly wealthier than their counterparts in North America.