George Poyntz Ricketts (1749 – 8 April 1800) was a Jamaican-born English plantation owner who became

Governor of Tobago This article lists governors of Tobago. Governors of Tobago have been referred to by the formal titles of "Governor" and "Lieutenant-Governor". For governors of the united Trinidad and Tobago after 1889 see List of Governors of Trinidad and Tobago ...

and

Governor of Barbados This article contains a list of viceroys in Barbados from its initial colonisation in 1627 by England until it achieved independence in 1966. From 1833 to 1885, Barbados was part of the colony of the Windward Islands, and the governor of Barbad ...

. He was born the son of Jacob Ricketts and Hannah Poyntz on the Midgham plantation, Jamaica (named after Midgham, Berkshire, the family seat of the Poyntz). He succeeded his father in 1756 to the plantation, which was sold to the Woollery family c.1772. He married in 1774 Sophie Watts, whose sister Amelia was the mother of

Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool, (7 June 1770 – 4 December 1828) was a British Tory statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1812 to 1827. He held many important cabinet offices such as Foreign Secret ...

, Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1812 to 1827. Ricketts also had

mixed race Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-ethn ...

half-siblings on Jamaica. He was appointed

in 1793. On Lord Liverpool's recommendation he was elevated to

in 1794, a position he held until his resignation in 1800 because of ill health. He then returned to England and died in Liverpool later that year. He and his wife had 4 sons and a daughter. Their son Charles Milner Ricketts was briefly MP for Dartmouth.

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Portrait of Sophie Watts
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ricketts, George Poyntz 1749 births 1800 deaths Jamaican people of British descent Governors of British Tobago Governors of Barbados