George Watson-Taylor (1771 – 6 Jun 1841), of Saul's River, Jamaica, was the fourth son of George Watson. From 1810 he was the husband of Anna Susana Taylor, the daughter of Jamaican planter

Sir John Taylor, 1st Baronet Sir John Taylor, 1st Baronet FRS (1745 – 8 May 1786) was a Jamaican-born planter who was a fellow of the Royal Society and was created a baronet of Lysson Hall in Jamaica. He lived in London but he died in Jamaica. Background Taylor was born ...

, and heiress of her brother Sir Simon Richard Brissett Taylor, 2nd baronet. Suffixing his name with that of his wife's family, he would become the richest planter on Jamaica. He used the proceeds to purchase a house on

Cavendish Square Cavendish Square is a public garden square in Marylebone in the West End of London. It has a double-helix underground commercial car park. Its northern road forms ends of four streets: of Wigmore Street that runs to Portman Square in the much la ...

, Middlesex and Erlestoke Park, near Devizes, Wiltshire, becoming the Liberal MP for

Devizes Devizes is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It developed around Devizes Castle, an 11th-century Norman castle, and received a charter in 1141. The castle was besieged during the Anarchy, a 12th-century civil war between ...

, an ardent campaigner for the retention of slavery, and a renowned fine art collector. Following the abolition of slavery his finances collapsed, and he died on 6 June 1841, in Edinburgh.

Early life and education

He was the fourth son of George Watson of Saul's River, Jamaica and was educated at Lincoln's Inn from 1788 and St. Mary Hall, Oxford from 1791.

Political career

He was a

Member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

(MP) for

Newport, Isle of Wight Newport is the county town of the Isle of Wight, an island county off the south coast of England. The town is slightly north of the centre of the island, and is in the civil parish of Newport and Carisbrooke. It has a quay at the head of the na ...

15 April 1816 – 1818, Seaford 1818–1820, East Looe 1820 – 23 February 1826 and for

1 March 1826 – 1832. On arrival in the House of Commons he was immediately elected to the standing committee of the Society of West India Planters and Merchants. He began his career as a member of the committee of West India planters and merchants, and opposed the abolition of slavery.Petley, ''White Fury'', p. 214. When the slaves were emancipated in the 1830s, he received compensation to the tune of over £20,000 for over 1,000 slaves in Jamaica.

Other interests

Watson-Taylor was elected 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 knowledge, including mathemat ...

in 1826. In 1830 he arranged to have privately printed ''Pieces of Poetry: With Two Dramas'', a collection of his short poems, some of them humorous or parodies of other works.

Marriage into the Taylor family

In 1810, Watson married Anna Susanna, daughter of

of Lysson Hall, Jamaica, and thus gained considerable wealth from the Jamaican sugar cane plantations of Sir John's brother Simon Taylor (d.1813). He was granted the additional surname of Taylor by royal licence of 19 June 1815, following the death earlier that year of Sir Simon Richard Brissett Taylor, 2nd Baronet, whom his wife (as eldest niece) had succeeded. The inheritance made George and his wife as wealthy as practically anyone outside of the Royal Family and the aristocracy. The couple bought a large landed estate in Wiltshire for £200,000, and a house in London which they renovated, the total cost coming to £68,000. This wealth allowed them to socialise with King

William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded h ...

, and to host the future

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

.Christer Petley, ''White Fury: A Jamaican Slaveholder and the Age of Revolution'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018), p. 214.

Death

Despite inheriting great wealth from his wife's family, Watson was a spendthrift. He failed to live within his means, and by 1832 he was heavily in debt, and was compelled to auction off his personal property, having squandered much of the family fortune. He died in financial difficulties in Edinburgh in 1841, his estates at Erlestoke and in Jamaica having passed to his wife. His son Simon Watson-Taylor was also briefly a member of parliament for Devizes.

References

External links

Portrait (etching) of George Watson-Taylor, 1821
– British Museum
Portraits of George Watson-Taylor
– National Portrait Gallery {{DEFAULTSORT:Watson-Taylor, George 1771 births 1841 deaths Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Cornwall UK MPs 1812–1818 UK MPs 1818–1820 UK MPs 1820–1826 UK MPs 1826–1830 UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs 1831–1832 Sugar plantation owners Fellows of the Royal Society