![SirWilliamYoungAndFamily](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/SirWilliamYoungAndFamily.jpg)
Sir William Young, 1st Baronet (1724/5–1788) was a British politician and sugar plantation and slave owner. He served as President of the Commission for the Sale of Lands in the Ceded Islands, and was appointed the first non-military
Governor of Dominica in 1768.
Early life
He was born in
Antigua
Antigua ( ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the native population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Bar ...
in 1725, the son of Dr William Young who had fled from Scotland after the Jacobite uprising of 1715.
Career
He 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 1748, his candidature citation reading "''Residing at Chalton near Canterbury, A Gentleman well versed in Natural and Experimental knowledge, and alwaies ready to promote whatever may tend to the Improvement of Arts and Sciences''".
He was the author of ''Considerations which may tend to promote the settlement of our new West-India colonies: by encouraging individuals to embark in the undertaking,'' published in 1764.
Early in 1764,
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 i ...
George Grenville
George Grenville (14 October 1712 – 13 November 1770) was a British Whig statesman who rose to the position of Prime Minister of Great Britain. Grenville was born into an influential political family and first entered Parliament in 1741 as an ...
nominated Young and he was appointed in the same year to be President of the Commission for the Sale of Lands in the Ceded Islands. The islands included
Grenada
Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pe ...
,
Tobago
Tobago () is an List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, island and Regions and municipalities of Trinidad and Tobago, ward within the Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located northeast of the larger island of Trini ...
,
Dominica, and
St Vincent, acquired from France as a result of the
1763 Peace of Paris.
The commission was under instructions to create model colonies, which would learn from the success of others but which would avoid their problems of depleted fertility and environmental degradation.
[Alston, David (2021), ''Slaves and Highlanders: Silenced Histories of Scotland and the Caribbean'', Edinburgh University Press, pp. 59 - 64, ] In late 1764, Young and his group sailed for
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) ...
, spending eight years away from his family during the period of 1764 to 1773, though in fact he made at least two return journeys in 1767 and 1770. James Harris reports on attending concerts at Young's residence in those years. Of particular note during this time, Young employed the artist
Agostino Brunias
Agostino Brunias (c. 1730 – 2 April 1796) was an Italian painter who was primarily active in the West Indies. Born in Rome around 1730, Brunias spent his early career as a painter after graduating from the Accademia di San Luca. After he befrie ...
to record Young's progress and the visual context of his Commission's work. Young was also a diarist and illustrator and documented his own time in the Caribbean islands.
He recorded "110 voyages of a like nature performed in the course of nine years amongst the ceded islands on the service of the Commission for the sale of lands."
In 1768, Young was made Lieutenant
Governor of Dominica. In 1769 he was made Baronet Young of North Dean. In 1770 he was chosen to be the first Governor of the new government, being sworn in on 17 November 1770.
He was responsible for building the main military stronghold of Dominica in
Roseau
Roseau (Dominican Creole: ''Wozo'') is the capital and largest city of Dominica, with a population of 14,725 as of 2011. It is a small and compact urban settlement, in the Saint George parish and surrounded by the Caribbean Sea, the Roseau Ri ...
,
Fort Young
Fort Young Hotel is a hotel on the quayside of Roseau, Dominica, in the southern part of the capital next to Garraway Hotel, Dominica Museum, the Roseau Public Library, just south of the Governor's Residence and Roseau Cathedral. Located withi ...
(now a hotel) in 1770 and for
Government House, Dominica
The State House, located in Roseau, is the official residence of the President of Dominica. Previously it was used as the official residence of the colonial governors of Dominica.
The residence of the British governors of the island, and for a ...
, his residence near the fort. He left Dominica in 1772, rushing to St Vincent to "assist with the Carib War" and to protect his estates there. Sir William Young was back in England at the end of 1773, and his office of Receiver and Governor ended, and it was concluded by his family that "the adventure in the ceded islands had proved so expensive and indeed ruinous" to him.
Personal life
Young and his second wife, Elizabeth (1729–1801), the daughter of the mathematician
Brook Taylor, had several children, including Sarah Elizabeth, William, Portia, Elizabeth, Mary, Henry, John, and Olivia.
He and ten family members were featured in the oil painting, ''The Family of Sir William Young, Baronet'' (ca.1766) by
Johann Zoffany.
His eldest son,
Sir William Young, 2nd Baronet
Sir William Young, 2nd Baronet, FRS, FSA (December 1749 – 10 January 1815) was a British colonial governor, politician and owner of sugar plantations which, in 1788, included 896 enslaved Africans.E. I. Carlyle, 'Young, Sir William, second ba ...
(1749–1815), was the Governor of
Tobago
Tobago () is an List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, island and Regions and municipalities of Trinidad and Tobago, ward within the Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located northeast of the larger island of Trini ...
from 1807-1815 as well as serving as a Member of Parliament.
Sir William purchased some of the best pieces of real estate on Antigua, St Vincent, and Tobago.
Despite this, he was seriously in debt and after his death in 1788 he left a debt of around £110,000 (£ in pounds) for his first son to pay off. Sir William Young, 2nd Baronet also inherited four plantations and 896 slaves in the colonies at that time, but was unable to save them from bankruptcy.
Legacy
Young Island in the
Grenadines is named in his honour.
See also
*
Young baronets
There have been five baronetcies created for persons with the surname Young, one in the Baronetage of England, one in the Baronetage of Great Britain and three in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. As of 2014, four of the creations are ext ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, William, 1st Baronet
1724 births
1788 deaths
Governors of Dominica
Sugar plantation owners
Roseau
British Dominica people
Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain
Fellows of the Royal Society
Date of birth unknown
Date of death unknown