Henry Lascelles (1690 – 16 October 1753) was an English-born

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

plantation owner. He was the son of

Daniel Lascelles (1655–1734) Daniel Lascelles (6 November 1655 – 5 September 1734), English landowner and politician of Stank and Northallerton, North Riding, Yorkshire, was elected to the House of Commons as Member of Parliament for Northallerton at a by-election on 3 Feb ...

and Margaret Metcalfe. He served as Collector of Customs for the British government in Barbados. He was a director of the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

1737–45, a financier, and

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Northallerton Northallerton ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England. It lies in the Vale of Mowbray and at the northern end of the Vale of York. It had a population of 16,832 in the 2011 census, an increase ...

. He lived in his constituency, in Harewood, in

Richmond-upon-Thames The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames () in southwest London forms part of Outer London and is the only London borough on both sides of the River Thames. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council areas amalgamated under the London ...

, and for periods in his twenties, at his family's plantation in Barbados.

Family, early life

The Lascelles family were increasingly prominent and politically involved

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

landed gentry The landed gentry, or the ''gentry'', is a largely historical British social class of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a country estate. While distinct from, and socially below, the British peerage, th ...

, at the time of Lascelles's birth, having owned land near Northallerton, in the

Vale of Mowbray The Vale of Mowbray (sometimes mistakenly referred to as the Vale of York) is a stretch of low-lying land between the North York Moors and the Hambleton Hills to the east and the Yorkshire Dales to the west. To the north lie the Cleveland lowla ...

, rich farming country, since at least the late thirteenth century. They were based at Stank Hall, now a sheep farm, which the head of the family acquired in 1608 from land management profits. Lascelles's grandfather

Francis Lascelles Francis Lascelles (1612-1667), also spelt Lassels, was an English politician, soldier and businessman who fought for Parliament in the 1639-1652 Wars of the Three Kingdoms and was a Member of Parliament between 1645 and 1660. One of the MPs wh ...

(c. 1612-1667) had been a

Roundhead Roundheads were the supporters of the Parliament of England during the English Civil War (1642–1651). Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I of England and his supporters, known as the Cavaliers or Royalists, who ...

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

in the

English Civil Wars This is a list of civil wars that have occurred in the history of England. * Rebellion of 1088 – a civil war in England and Normandy concerning the division of lands in the Kingdom of England and the Duchy of Normandy between William Rufus and ...

, and as an MP for the district sat in judgment on King

Charles I of England Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until Execution of Charles I, his execution in 1649. He was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of ...

, who was executed in 1649. Francis Lascelles was

Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

ian Commissioner for Yorkshire, during

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

's period as

Lord Protector Lord Protector (plural: ''Lords Protector'') was a title that has been used in British constitutional law for the head of state. It was also a particular title for the British heads of state in respect to the established church. It was sometimes ...

, ruling the country, and also served in both the

First Protectorate Parliament The First Protectorate Parliament was summoned by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Instrument of Government. It sat for one term from 3 September 1654 until 22 January 1655 with William Lenthall as the Speaker of the Hou ...

and the

Second Protectorate Parliament The Second Protectorate Parliament in England sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658, with Thomas Widdrington as the Speaker of the House of Commons. In its first session, the House of Commons was its only chamber; in t ...

in the 1650s. Henry Lascelles's father Daniel Lascelles (1655-1734) assisted in driving out the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

King

James II of England James VII and II (14 October 1633 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Gloriou ...

in 1688. He became

High Sheriff of Yorkshire The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been transferred elsewhere ...

in 1718–19, during the reign of King

George I of Great Britain George I (George Louis; ; 28 May 1660 – 11 June 1727) was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 and ruler of the Electorate of Hanover within the Holy Roman Empire from 23 January 1698 until his death in 1727. He was the first ...

, was briefly an MP for Northallerton, calling himself a Whig, and a businessman.

Barbados

Lascelles was in Barbados by the age of 22, in 1712, following his elder brother George, who first crossed the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

in 1706. The Lascelles family had Barbados interests as early as 1648, establishing a plantation, a warehouse, and shipping interests for the rapidly developing colony, first settled by the English in 1625. Henry Lascelles settled in Barbados with his brother Edward, where he was a merchant and planter; George Lascelles returned to England to run the business there. It was a family-managed enterprise, concentrating on sugar production and exports, transportation of goods to supply the colony, and

slavery 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 ...

. Slaves were imported from west

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, put to work on the plantations, and were objects of lucrative financial trading by the business leaders. The triangular shipping trade routes of the era ran as follows: British goods were shipped to West Africa, slaves were bought in exchange for the goods and shipped to Barbados and other West Indian islands for sale, and sugar and other export crops were shipped to Britain, with great profits on all three journey legs. Barbados was by about 1680 the most prosperous English colony in the Americas.;

Customs Collector

In 1714, Lascelles gained the powerful position of Collector of Customs for Barbados, coinciding with the ascension of the new

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Sir Robert Walpole Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, (26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745; known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole) was a British statesman and Whig politician who, as First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Leader ...

, a Whig. This influential and lucrative post, a reward for earlier political loyalties, was to remain in family hands for the next three decades. Lascelles was in charge of collecting duties on Barbados colonial exports (including his own), usually at the rate of 4.5 per cent; this money would then be remitted to the Treasury in London.

Business expansion

Upon George's death in 1729, Henry Lascelles returned to London and became one of its leading businessmen, with offices near the port district. He bought an estate in the country town of

, some 14 miles west of his business. He had developed a financial business, lending money on both sides of the Atlantic, and this was successful. Henry Lascelles later co-founded the firm of Lascelles and Maxwell, sugar factors, of Mark Lane, in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

. This very successful partnership with the Scotsman George Maxwell began in September 1743. On his partner Maxwell's death in 1763, the firm became Lascelles, Clarke, and Daling.

Marriages and progeny

Lascelles and his first wife Mary (daughter of Edward Carter (fellow plantation owner), whom he married in Barbados on 8 April 1712) left three surviving children, all of whom were born in Barbados: * Edwin Lascelles, 1st and last Baron Harewood (5February 171325January 1795) * Daniel Lascelles (20May 171424May 1784) *Captain Henry Lascelles (18August 171614July 1786) Mary died in 1721. Lascelles's second marriage to Jennet Whetstone in 1731 was childless.

Later years and death

Henry Lascelles retired from business in 1750, at the age of sixty, but retained his seat in Parliament, along with much of his influence. In his will, he divided most assets among his two eldest sons, with Edwin Lascelles receiving land, and Daniel Lascelles the business interests. Extensive business correspondence from the Lascelles and Maxwell firm has survived, and is the basis of modern research work by writer

Adam Nicolson Adam Nicolson, (born 12 September 1957) is an English author who has written about history, landscape, great literature and the sea. He is also the 5th Baron Carnock, but does not use the title. He is noted for his books ''Sea Room'' (about t ...

. Henry Lascelles committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

in 1753 by slashing veins in his arm. He had

cataract A cataract is a cloudy area in the lens of the eye that leads to a decrease in vision. Cataracts often develop slowly and can affect one or both eyes. Symptoms may include faded colors, blurry or double vision, halos around light, trouble w ...

s in his eyes. At this juncture, he was reckoned to be the wealthiest person in England, by writer

, with a personal fortune estimated at some half-million pounds.Nicolson, p. 239 and 213

Legacy

Henry Lascelles, the son of a minor Yorkshire gentry family, amassed such extraordinary wealth and influence that his eldest son Edwin Lascelles was raised to the English peerage as the first

Baron Harewood Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knigh ...

; he built

Harewood House Harewood House ( , ) is a country house in Harewood, West Yorkshire, England. Designed by architects John Carr and Robert Adam, it was built, between 1759 and 1771, for Edwin Lascelles, 1st Baron Harewood, a wealthy West Indian plantation a ...

, the family seat. The head of the Lascelles family in the next generation was promoted to an earldom.