Bryan Edwards,
FRS (21 May 1743 – 15/16 July 1800) was an English politician and historian born in
Westbury, Wiltshire
Westbury is a town and civil parish in the west of the English county of Wiltshire, below the northwestern edge of Salisbury Plain, about south of Trowbridge and a similar distance north of Warminster. Originally a market town, Westbury was kn ...
. Edwards supported the
slave trade
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
, and was described by
abolitionist
Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people.
The British ...
William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce (24 August 175929 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist and leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becom ...
as a powerful opponent.
Family
He was the eldest son of Bryan Edwards (died 1756) and his wife, Elizabeth Bayly, sister of
Zachary Bayly, a slave-owner in Jamaica. After his father's death he was supported for a time by
Nathaniel Bayly
Nathaniel Bayly (c.1726–1798) was an English owner of West Indies plantations and a politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1770 to 1779.
Early life
In 1726, Nathaniel Bayly was born in Westbury, Wiltshire.''Nathaniel Bayly'', Legaci ...
, another uncle, but they fell out.
His maintenance and education were then undertaken by Zachary Bayly. About 1759, Edwards joined Zachary in Jamaica, and Bayly engaged a private tutor to complete the boy's education.
When Bayly died Edwards inherited his wealth, including six Jamaican plantations.
In 1773 he also succeeded to the estate of another Jamaica resident, named Hume.
Edwards married Martha Phipps, daughter of Thomas Phipps of Leighton House, Westbury; they had one surviving son and a daughter. He left the bulk of his estates to the son, Zacchary Hume Edwards, when he died in Southampton in 1800.
Career
Politics
Edwards became a leading member of the colonial assembly of Jamaica, but in a few years returned to England.
In 1782 Edwards tried and failed to secure a seat in
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
as member for
Chichester
Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ci ...
. He was in Jamaica again from 1787 to 1792. He then settled in England as a West India merchant, making another failed attempt to enter Parliament in 1795, this time standing in
Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
.
On 28 May 1796, he became Member of Parliament for
Grampound
Grampound ( kw, Ponsmeur) is a village in Cornwall, England. It is at an ancient crossing point of the River Fal and today is on the A390 road west of St Austell and east of Truro.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 204 ''Truro & Falmouth'' ...
, a notoriously corrupt
Cornish borough, along with
Robert Sewell, another pro-slavery politician with interests in Jamaica. Edwards retained this seat until his death.
Publications
In 1784 Edwards wrote ''Thoughts on the late Proceedings of Government respecting the Trade of the West India Islands with the United States of America'', in which he attacked the restrictions placed by the government upon trade with the United States. In 1793 he published in two volumes the ''History, Civil and Commercial, of the British Colonies in the West Indies'', and in 1797 published his ''Historical Survey of the French Colony in the Island of St Domingo''.
The latter two titles were later republished, with some additional material, as the ''History of the British Colonies in the West Indies'', in three volumes. This has been translated into German and, in part, into French and Spanish. A fifth edition was issued in 1819.
When
Mungo Park returned in 1796 from his celebrated journey in Africa, Edwards drew up from Park's narrative an account of his travels. Edwards was secretary of the Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa, which published this piece in their ''Proceedings''. When Park wrote his own account of his journeys he availed himself of Edwards' assistance.
Edwards also wrote poems and some other works relating to the history of the West Indies.
Awards
Edwards was elected a member of the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
in 1774 and a
Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...
in 1794.
References
External links
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Volume 1Volume 2Volume 3Volume 4
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Bryan
1743 births
1800 deaths
People from Westbury, Wiltshire
West Indies merchants
Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for constituencies in Cornwall
British MPs 1796–1800
18th-century English historians
Fellows of the Royal Society
Members of the American Philosophical Society