Yes, I have come across the term "to give a slave his/her time," and it 
means, as you have surmised, an unofficial emancipation:  the person 
was allowed to live as a free person, but legally they were not 
free--and thus subject to having their "freedom" revoked at any time by 
their legal owner or his/her heirs.

The reasons for this practice were probably numerous.  In Virginia, the 
law (of 1806, if memory serves?) stating that those who were officially 
freed either had to leave the state within a year, or have their 
residence in the state approved by a petition to the legislature, 
probably led some slaveholders to "give time" in this fashion rather 
than go to the trouble, and publicity, of turning to the legislature.

I don't know, but can imagine, that it might therefore have been an 
especially useful mechanism among two grooups:  those who had 
themselves been manumitted and were subsequently able to purchase 
enslaved family members, but who (even if they were literate and could 
craft a formal petition) might reasonably have supposed that their 
wishes would carry little weight with the legislature; and those--such 
as Martha Jefferson Randolph--whose social position was such that 
whatever informal arrangements they might make for their human chattel 
would likely have been treated with respect, discretion, and 
understanding by the white community, thus affording the slaves so 
treated some measure of local protection.

Hope this helps.

--Jurretta Heckscher

On Feb 27, 2007, at 5:53 PM, Heritage Society wrote:

> Martha Jefferson Randolph, by an unsigned note, expressed a wish for 
> her children
> "to give their time" to three slaves ("Betsy Hemmings, Sally and 
> Wormely").
> Other references in the note make it clear that the slaves are not 
> being liberated. This note has been referred to as a "codicil," but it 
> is unsigned and unrecorded , and why it has been referred to as a 
> "codicil" is unclear. Has anyone run across this term "to give their 
> time"? The procedure for manumission was specific in the Virginia 
> statutes at this time , so this term suggests a euphemism for a 
> practice where slaves were permitted to go on their own , but were not 
> required to leave Virginia , since they were not legally freed from 
> slavery . Does this term appear anywhere else in the literature? . Any 
> comments would be appreciated and it may be off list if preferred.
>

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