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 baronet (1749–1815)’, rev. Richard B. Sheridan, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 200]
/ref> He 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 – January 1815, and Member of Parliament for St Mawes, 19 June 1784 – 3 November 1806, and Buckingham
Buckingham ( ) is a market town in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, which had a population of 12,890 at the 2011 Census. The town lies approximately west of Central Milton Keynes, sou ...
, 5 November 1806 – 23 March 1807.
Early years
Young was born in Charlton, then in Kent, now Greater London, in December 1749, the eldest son of Sir William Young, 1st Baronet
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 Governo ...
(1724/5–1788), governor of Dominica, and his second wife, Elizabeth (1729–1801), the daughter of the mathematician Brook Taylor. His siblings included Sarah Elizabeth, Portia, Elizabeth, Mary, Henry, John, and Olivia. As a child, he and ten other family members were featured in the oil on canvas painting, ''The Family of Sir William Young, Baronet'' (ca.1766) by Johan Zoffany. He enrolled at Clare College, Cambridge
Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refounded ...
in 1767 but transferred to University College, Oxford
University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the univer ...
, on 26 November 1768. After graduating he travelled France and Italy and documented his travels. In 1777, he published ''The spirit of Athens'', an acclaimed insight into the political and philosophical history of Greece.
Career
In 1782, Young he was appointed by the proprietors of the colony 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 ...
to represent them in the French court to settle territorial disputes. He returned to England in 1784 where he settled and became an MP for St Mawes, Cornwall from 19 June, a seat which he held until 3 November 1806, when he was elected for Buckingham
Buckingham ( ) is a market town in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, which had a population of 12,890 at the 2011 Census. The town lies approximately west of Central Milton Keynes, sou ...
. 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 science, natural knowledge, incl ...
in 1786 and a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1791. In 1788, his father died and passed on four sugar plantations to his son—one in Antigua, two in St Vincent, and one in Tobago—and a total of 896 African slaves. His father had also been seriously in debt and left a sum of around £110,000 (£ in pounds) for his son to pay off. A secretary to the Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa, Young spoke regular in parliament on poor-law reform
The ''Poor Law Amendment Act 1834'' (PLAA) known widely as the New Poor Law, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed by the Whig government of Earl Grey. It completely replaced earlier legislation based on the ''Poor Relief ...
, income tax
An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...
, the slave trade
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 ...
, union with Ireland, foreign and colonial policy, and parliamentary reform.
On 30 October 1791, Young took a break from British politics and departed on a trip for several months in which he explored Barbados, St Vincent, Tobago, and Grenada, failing to save his plantations from bankruptcy and learn about the sugar industry and slave trade in the West Indies. He later documented part of his travels in the appendix of the second edition of ''An Historical Survey of the Island of Saint Domingo'' by Bryan Edwards in 1801, a book that defended the slave trade, in which he also served as chief editor. He printed a posthumous work of his grandfather, Brook Taylor, entitled ''Contemplatio Philosophica'' for private circulation in 1793, prefaced by a life of the author, and with an appendix containing letters by Bolingbroke, Bossuet, and others. Notable works by Young also included ''The rights of Englishmen, or, The British constitution of government compared with that of a democratic republic'' (1793); ''Considerations on Poorhouses and Workhouses: their Pernicious Tendency'' (1796), ''Instructions for the Armed Yeomanry'' (1797) and ''The West Indian Commonplace Book'' (1807).
Young reported that he had been extremely well treated by his slaves, presenting him with gifts and putting on festivities for him. On returning home to England to resume his MP duties for St Mawes in 1792, he advocated the amelioration of conditions for slaves, arguing that the trade of human beings from Africa to the islands would naturally die out without the need for parliamentary intervention. However, Young's reform plans were 'naïve and utopian', and William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce (24 August 175929 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist and leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becom ...
and his allies gained enough votes to pass the Slave Trade Act 1807
The Slave Trade Act 1807, officially An Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom prohibiting the slave trade in the British Empire. Although it did not abolish the practice of slavery, it ...
. The same year, Young was appointed 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 ...
, a post which he retained until his death. He died on 10 January 1815 at Government House, Tobago.
Personal life
On 12 August 1777, he married Sarah at St George the Martyr, Queen Square, London
Queen Square is a garden square in the Bloomsbury district of central London. Many of its buildings are associated with medicine, particularly neurology.
Construction
Queen Square was originally constructed between 1716 and 1725. It was forme ...
, the daughter and coheir of Charles Lawrence and his wife, Mary. They had four sons and two daughters. Sarah died in 1791 and Young remarried on 22 April 1793 at St George, Hanover Square, London, to Barbara, the daughter of Colonel Richard Talbot and his wife, Margaret, later Baroness Talbot of Malahide. Sarah's uncle was Peter Talbot, Archbishop of Dublin
The Archbishop of Dublin is an archepiscopal title which takes its name after Dublin, Ireland. Since the Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic successions to the title: one in the Catholic Church and the other in the Church of Irelan ...
. She survived Young, dying 15 years later after his death in 1830.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, William, 2nd Baronet
1749 births
1815 deaths
People from Charlton, London
Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for St Mawes
British MPs 1784–1790
British MPs 1790–1796
British MPs 1796–1800
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for St Mawes
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
UK MPs 1801–1802
UK MPs 1802–1806
UK MPs 1806–1807
Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain
Governors of British Tobago
Sugar plantation owners
Fellows of the Royal Society
Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London