Bryan Bayly Edwards (1743 - 1800)

Born 25 Jan 1743 in Westbury, Wiltshire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Martha Phipps — married 10 Nov 1774 in Westbury, Wiltshire, England

Descendants

Died 16 Jul 1800 at age 57 in Grampian, Scotland

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Biography

Bryan Bayly Edwards was a politician and historian, becoming a Fellow of the Royal Society after publishing three volumes on the history of the West Indies.

Bryan was one of six children of Bryan Edwards and Elizabeth Bayly and at age 13 after the death of his father was sent to Jamaica in the care of his mother's wealthy brothers; Zachary and Nathaniel Bayly. Nathaniel Bayly (1726-1798). He inherited 6 plantations from them. One of the plantations he also owned was Brampton Bryan Plantation that grew sugar, rum, and pimento. It can be found in James Robertson's 1804 map of Jamaica in Trewlawny.

Edwards became a leading member of the colonial assembly of Jamaica and when he returned to England from Jamaica, he eventually became MP for the Cornish borough of Grampound in 1796.

He married Martha Phipps in 1774.

The Hon. Benjamin Hume, business partner of the Hon. Zachary Bayly, Custos of St. Mary, a successful Sugar Planter on his death in 1773 left his entire fortune, which included two Sugar Plantations and a Cattle Estate in Jamaica, as well as hundreds of Slaves, to Bryan Edwards (1743-1800), the Historian, who was the favourite Nephew and Heir of his business partner, the Hon. Zachary Bayly, Custos of St. Mary.^[1]

At the time of his death, he had one surviving son and daughter with his wife Martha. He is believed to have had several children with free mulatto women. He left the bulk of his estate to his son Zachary Hume Edwards.

Bryan Edwards left over 600 enslaved people and personalty of £73,328 in Jamaica, according to his probate inventory - source https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/2146635625

The attorney of his estate was a Joseph Green - fathered 3 children with a Charlotte Bayly, a free woman of colour. They were Annie Grant Green (baptised in St Mary, Jamaica, in 1816, 'free child of colour'), Alexander Green (baptised in St Mary in 1824) and John Green (baptism not found). Source: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/46345 - were they also niece/nephews of Bryan Edwards?

Birth

Birth:

Date: 25 JAN 1743

Place: Westbury, Wiltshire, UK

Source:

Note: Bryan Edwards was an English West Indian Trader in Jamaica (slave owner) and wrote a history of the British in the West Indies. Became an anti-abolitionist.

multiple copies of BIRT DATE. Using 25 JAN 1743 - HOWEVER, other sources list born in Westbury on 21 May 1743 - or baptismal date? -See : https://westburyheritagesociety.org.uk/information/black-history-westbury-bryan-edwards/

Sources

1. ↑ https://thelastgreatgreathouseblog.wordpress.com/category/saint-mary/

• WikiTree profile Edwards-2436 created through the import of Lindale family tree September .ged on Oct 1, 2011 by Don Lindale. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Don and others.
• https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryan_Edwards_(politician)
• "England Marriages, 1538–1973 ", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NKQF-B6T : 13 March 2020), Bryan Edwards, 1774.
• "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N6S9-VG8 : 10 February 2018, Bryan Edwards, 21 May 1743); citing item 30, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,279,369.
• https://westburyheritagesociety.org.uk/information/black-history-westbury-bryan-edwards/
• The Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slave-ownership at

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/2146635625

• https://collections.folger.edu/detail/Edwards-Bryan-The-history-civil-and-commercial-of-the-British-colonies-in-the-West-Indies/f163d462-c766-4df2-9dd7-0ca2d11b44a9
• http://www.jamaicanfamilysearch.com/Members/Rbayly.htm
• http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/edwards-bryan-1743-1800
• https://thelastgreatgreathouseblog.wordpress.com/category/saint-mary/

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