John Stewart (1789 – 14 March 1860) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

and

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

politician. He was one of the first mixed-race Member of Parliament (MP) of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...

Family

Stewart was an illegitimate son of former

Camelford Camelford () is a town and civil parish in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, situated in the River Camel valley northwest of Bodmin Moor. The town is approximately north of Bodmin and is governed by Camelford Town Council. The ward pop ...

Tory MP John Stewart (1754/5–1826) and Mary Duncan, who was Black. Upon his father's death, he took ownership of plantations in

Grenada Grenada is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea. The southernmost of the Windward Islands, Grenada is directly south of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and about north of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and the So ...

and

Demerara Demerara (; , ) is a historical region in the Guianas, on the north coast of South America, now part of the country of Guyana. It was a colony of the Dutch West India Company between 1745 and 1792 and a colony of the Dutch state from 1792 unti ...

, as well as the family home in Albany, London. However, by 1830, he was living in Wellington Street, Westminster, with his wife, Elizabeth, née Vincent, and son William Duncan Stewart (born April 1829). On 14 December 1848, Stewart remarried to Phoebe Rossiter, daughter of Joseph Rossiter.

Business career

After the

abolition of slavery Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was France in 1315, but it was later used in its colonies. T ...

in 1833, Stewart was compensated £22,486 for the

plantation in

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies. It was located on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first known Europeans to encounter Guia ...

, where 433 were enslaved. He retained possession of this estate, as well as Stewartville, also in British Guiana, and purchased a further estate in the region in 1839, importing some labour from

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

to Annandale. Also, a trustee of the Hope Vale estate in Grenada, in 1836 he claimed to have owned the "largest slave state" in

Antigua Antigua ( ; ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the local population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the most populous island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua ...

between 1824 and 1826. By the 1850s, he was well-established in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

, investing at least £16,000 in the British railways. He became a director of the British West India Company in 1846, a member of the provisional committee of the Demerara Railway Company in the same year, a director of the London and Westminster Joint Stock Bank; and deputy chairman of the Universal Life Assurance Society.

Member of Parliament

Stewart became one of parliament's first mixed-race MPs when he was elected Tory MP for

Lymington Lymington is a port town on the west bank of the Lymington River on the Solent, in the New Forest (district), New Forest district of Hampshire, England. The town faces Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, to which there is a Roll-on/roll-off, car ferry s ...

at the 1832 general election. During this election, he defended his record as a slave owner and rebuffed arguments that slaves on his Demerara estates were subject to cruelty. After his election, he presented a petition to the Commons against the

, and often spoke in defence of West Indian plantation owners, sharing concerns over apprenticeships and sugar duties with other MPs with West Indian interests. Becoming a Conservative MP in 1834, Stewart then went on to oppose

Sir George Strickland, 7th Baronet Sir George Strickland, 7th Baronet (26 May 1782 – 23 December 1874), also known as Sir George Cholmley was an English Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament and lawyer. He took the name Cholmley to succeed to the Cholmley ...

's motion that apprenticeships should be abolished on 1 August 1838, and in 1833 and the 1840s, he opposed the reduction of sugar duties, although this latter position was "a little inconsistent". While a supporter of free trade, the abolition of the

Corn Laws The Corn Laws were tariffs and other trade restrictions on imported food and corn enforced in the United Kingdom between 1815 and 1846. The word ''corn'' in British English denotes all cereal grains, including wheat, oats and barley. The la ...

, and

Robert Peel Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850), was a British Conservative statesman who twice was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835, 1841–1846), and simultaneously was Chancellor of the Exchequer (1834–183 ...

's government, he voted against the government on some occasions. However, these positions ultimately led to his downfall at the 1847 general election, when he was defeated. While his career was "undistinguished", "the bigoted anti-colour party in the West Indies could never get over his election by an English borough, but he was extremely popular with his constituents".

References

External links

*
John Stewart
at

Legacies of British Slavery The Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery, formerly the Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slave-ownership, is a research centre of University College, London (UCL) that focuses on revealing the impact of British ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, John 1789 births 1860 deaths UK MPs 1832–1835 UK MPs 1835–1837 UK MPs 1837–1841 UK MPs 1841–1847 Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Tory MPs (pre-1834) Black British MPs