Antigua and the Antiguans Volume II Part 30

No. 18.

GENEALOGY OF THE WILLOUGHBY FAMILY.

The Willoughby family trace from a long line of n.o.ble ancestors, the first of whom known in England was

Sir John de Willoughby, one of the followers of William, Duke of Normandy, who, on the conquest of England, gave to him the lordship from him called Willoughby, in Lincolnshire; and from this Sir John, we pa.s.s to his descendant, in a direct line,

Sir William de Willoughby, who, the 54th of the reign of Henry III., was signed with the cross, as the phrase then was, and accompanied Prince Edward (afterwards King Edward I.) into the Holy Land. He m. Alice, dau. of John, Lord Beke, of Eresby, and had issue,

Sir Robert de Willoughby, who, the 4th of Henry II., inherited, as next heir, the estates of Anthony Bec, bishop of Durham, and was summoned to parliament, in three years afterwards, as Baron Willoughby de Eresby. From this n.o.bleman we pa.s.s to his great-great-grandson, and lineal descendant,

William Willoughby, fifth Baron Willoughby de Eresby, who died in 1409, leaving, by Lucy, his first wife, dau. of Roger, Lord Strange, two sons-viz., i. Robert, sixth Baron Willoughby de Eresby, ancestor of the Willoughbys of Eresby.

ii. Sir Thomas, a soldier of distinction, and one of the heroes of Agincourt. He m. Joan, the dau. and heir of Sir Richard FitzAlan, and was succeeded by his son,

Sir Robert, who, dying in his minority, was succeeded by his brother,

Sir Christopher, who was made a Knight of the Bath, 6 July, 1483.

He m. Margaret, dau. of Sir William Jennet, and by her (among other children) had,

Sir Christopher, knighted for his gallant conduct at the siege of Tournay, temp. Henry VIII. He m. Elizabeth, dau. of Sir George Talboys, and by her had,

Sir William, Knt., who was elevated to the peerage, by letters patent, dated 16 Feb. 1547, in the dignity of Lord Willoughby of Parham. His lordship having distinguished himself in the wars of Henry VIII., was made lieutenant of Calais, 4th of Edward VI., and resided there the remainder of that reign. He m. Elizabeth, the dau. and heir of Sir Thomas Heneage, by whom he had,

Charles, second Lord Willoughby of Parham, who espoused Lady Margaret Clinton, dau. of Edward, first Earl of Lincoln, by whom he had issue,

William, who died before his father, leaving issue, by Elizabeth, his wife, dau. and heir of Sir Christopher Hilliard, a son,

William, third Lord Willoughby of Parham, who succeeded his grandfather. This n.o.bleman died in 1617, leaving issue, by his wife, Lady Frances Manners, dau. of John, fourth Earl of Rutland, three sons, Henry, Francis, and William. Henry was the fourth lord, but dying in his infancy, his brother

Francis succeeded him, and became fifth Lord Willoughby of Parham. This n.o.bleman, on whose account, in the first and princ.i.p.al degree, we have introduced the present lineage, married Elizabeth, second dau. and co-heir of Edward Cicil, Visct.

Wimbledon, and had issue one son, William, who died young, and three daughters, i. Diana, m. to Heneage, Earl of Winchilsea.

ii. Frances, m. to William Brereton, Lord Brereton, of Laghlin, in Ireland; and iii. Elizabeth, m. to Roger Jones, Visct. Ranelagh.

This n.o.bleman-viz., Francis, fifth Lord Willoughby-was one of the most celebrated characters of his age, but whose fortune brought him to Antigua, and the other Caribbee Islands, of which he became one of the most distinguished and notable governors; having under his command at one time, the whole archipelago of which the British empire in those parts consist.

Those who would wish to be fully acquainted with the character and conduct of this n.o.bleman, must consult all the annals of the eventful period in which he lived, comprising the entire epoch of the civil wars, and which, from first to last, abound with anecdotes and facts relating to his personal history. We find him first mentioned in connexion with the siege of Newark, a place he gallantly besieged and took, sword in hand, at twelve o'clock at night; and also at the termination of the civil commotions, as state prisoner in the Tower of London, for attempting (after his return from the West India Islands, in 1652) to raise a rebellion against the government of the Protector, Oliver Cromwell.

In 1649, when the English fleet revolted from the parliament and the service of the Commonwealth, they chose this n.o.bleman, Francis Lord Willoughby, for their commander and admiral; a capacity in which he attended upon his Majesty Charles II., then in Holland. Pointing out to his Majesty the islands in the West Indies which still remained faithful to his cause, and unsubdued, and where had congregated a vast a.s.semblage of gallant royalists- the island of Barbados alone counting several thousands of them- his Majesty proposed to him to give him a commission of governor thereof, provided only he would go out and a.s.sume the command in his own person; terms with which Lord F. Willoughby was readily induced to comply-obtaining also a commission from the Earl of Carlisle, to whom those islands had been previously granted. Thus armed at all points, he arrived at the island of Barbados at the beginning of the year 1650. The first act of his lordship's government, and of the ardent spirits there a.s.sembled and a.s.sociated with him, was, now that Charles I. had perished by the fatal axe, to proclaim Charles II., his son, as his successor;- this was done when, by the laws of the Commonwealth, it was felony and death to acknowledge the Prince of Wales as king of England, or rightful heir of any of the territories thereunto belonging;-and Charles II. was proclaimed accordingly, on 7th May, 1650. But the legislature of Barbados being at this time engaged in some affairs of a very delicate nature, they wished to bring them to a close before any new commander a.s.sumed the head of the government; they therefore entreated his lordship to suspend his authority for the s.p.a.ce of three months, when, on his return at the end of that period, they promised him all due submission-an arrangement to which Lord Willoughby a.s.senting, he left Barbados, with some of his personal friends, (Major Byam in the number,) and came to Antigua, where they again proclaimed Charles II. as king of England and the territories thereto belonging. This seems to be the first occasion of his visiting the sh.o.r.es of this island; for at the end of the specified term he returned to Barbados, where, at the expiration of little more than another year, a fleet arrived for the reduction of that colony, an account of which will be found in the annals of the Byam family. (Vide page 40, vol. i.)

Lord Willoughby availing himself of the comprehensive nature of the terms then and there obtained, went to England. After the restoration of Charles II. to the throne of his ancestors, his lordship renewed his pretensions to Antigua and other West India colonies; and again obtaining a commission, dated 12th June, 1663, he shipped himself for those ports, and arrived at Barbados in the August following. In another part of this work is given an account of his loss off the Saint's Island, near Guadaloupe, with a large fleet under his command, destined for the recovery of St.

Christopher's, recently taken by the French. On his plantations at Surinam, his lordship expended no less than 26,000, a vast sum in those days, equal to 150,000 according to the value of money in our time; and these possessions (all lost by the surrender of Surinam, according to the terms of the treaty of Breda) his lordship, by his will, bequeathed to his nephew, Lieut-Gen. Henry Willoughby; his Barbados property to his next nephew, William; and his Antigua estates to his dau., Lady Brereton, already mentioned. Of this possession of his lordship's in the island of Antigua, we find traces in the maps of the same, as late as 1748, wherein on "Collins's" estate, near Nonsuch Harbour, is marked down, "My lord's pond," "My lord's cove,"

evidently in allusion to his lordship's former possessions, and perhaps personal residence in the island. Lord Francis Willoughby dying without male issue him surviving, his brother

William succeeded to his hereditary honours, and became sixth Lord Willoughby of Parham, and obtaining letters patent for the renewal of his brother Francis's commission, dated 3 Jan. 1666-7, he shipped himself for these colonies, where he arrived soon afterwards. His sons Henry and William, acted conspicuous parts in the West India islands, where, together with their father, they found their grave, though no memorial of them now seems to exist, nor, indeed, have the exact dates of their deaths been ascertained; but their father, William, Lord Willoughby, by whom the most ancient of the Antigua laws, as they now exist in the printed statutes book, were signed, died at Barbados, on 10 April, 1673. To the circ.u.mstance of the considerable mortality in this family (occurring in these islands) may fairly be traced the speedy extinction of their hereditary honours, and thus enabling a foot soldier (collaterally related to those who died in the Western hemisphere) to claim and recover the ancient honours of the Willoughby family; for Edward Willoughby, a private in the confederate army, serving under the ill.u.s.trious Duke of Marlborough, perceiving the family honours vacant, and knowing himself to be a cadet of the house, laid claim to them, and succeeded in establishing his right to the same, though he did not long enjoy them, dying in April, 1713, when his brother Charles succeeded him. It would not be consistent with the plan of this work to pursue the history of this family further than to observe, that the t.i.tle finally became extinct in 1779, in the person of George Willoughby, the seventeenth Lord Willoughby of Parham.

The present Earl of Abingdon traces his descent from George, seventh Lord Willoughby of Parham, (who succeeded [on the failure of male issue] William, sixth Lord Willoughby of Parham, capt.-gen. of the Leeward and Windward Caribbee Islands, and who died 10 April, 1673,) in the following manner:-

Elizabeth, dau. and sole heir of George, seventh Lord Willoughby, m. James Bertie, second son of James Bertie, second Earl of Abingdon, (by his wife, Eleanor, dau. of Sir Henry Leigh,) and had issue a son, who succeeded his grandfather as Willoughby, third Earl of Abingdon, born in 1692, m. Anna-Maria, dau. of Sir John Cullin, by whom he had issue, Willoughby, fourth Earl of Abingdon, born in 1740, m. Charlotte, dau. and coheir of Sir Peter Warren, K.G., and dying in 1799, was succeeded by his son, Montague, fifth and present Earl of Abingdon, born in 1784, m.

Emily, dau. of Gen. Thomas Gage, by whom he has issue a son, Lord Norreys, born in 1808, M.P. for co. of Oxford.

No. 19.

GENEALOGY OF THE MARTIN FAMILY, OF GREEN CASTLE.

- Martin, colonel in the army. He emigrated to the West Indies, and became proprietor of an estate at Surinam, at which colony, soon after the Restoration, he swore to having been present at Charing Cross, London, when Charles, Prince of Wales, was proclaimed King, under the t.i.tle of Charles II., and when his proclamation was read, commanding all persons _then in office_ to continue so until further notice. This gentleman is said to have been, under the appellation of Sovereign, the chief magistrate of Belfast It is supposed he died at Surinam, previous to the removal of that colony to Antigua, according to the terms of the treaty of Breda, in 1667, leaving, by --, his wife, a son,

Samuel Martin, major in the army, speaker of the house of a.s.sembly in Antigua, in 1689, during the administration of Christopher Codrington, the elder. He m. 1st, 18 Aug. 1690, the relict of Christopher Reynall, (who died 8 Aug. 1691, s. p.;) and 2ndly, 28 Jan. 1692, Lydia, dau. of the Hon. William Thomas, of Antigua, by whom (who re-married Governor Edward Byam) he left issue three sons, i. Samuel, son and heir, of whom hereafter.

ii. Thomas, M.D., born in Antigua, died at Jamaica in 1747, leaving issue.

iii. Josiah, president of the Council of Antigua, m. 1st, Mrs.

Chester, and 2ndly, Mary, dau. of William Yeamans, of New York, by whom he left a numerous issue.

Major Samuel Martin being murdered 25 Dec. 1701, was buried at St. John's, Antigua, and was succeeded in his estates by his eldest son,

Samuel, (above mentioned,) a minor at his father's death, but became afterwards colonel in the army, and speaker of the house of a.s.sembly in Antigua, from about 1753 to 1763. He was possessed of great virtues and eminent qualifications, and having insured the goodwill of all his contemporaries, died in 1788, universally lamented, at the advanced age of about 90 years, leaving by his first wife, Frances, dau. of John Yeamans, Esq. of Mill Hill, Antigua, i. Henrietta, wife of Col. Anstar FitzGerald, (of the Desmond family,) and who was ancestor of William Thomas FitzGerald, the poet, and John Fonblanque, the present Commissioner of Bankruptcies, and ii. Samuel, treasurer to the Princess of Wales, M.P. for Camelford and Hastings, and one of the joint-secretaries of the treasury. He is famous for the duel he fought with the celebrated Wilkes, who received a wound in the encounter.

Samuel Martin died s. p.

And by his second wife, Sarah, dau. of Edward Wyke, of Monserrat, Esq., Col. Martin had three sons, i. Henry, of whom hereafter.

ii. Josiah, appointed governor of North Carolina, 8 Dec. 1770.

iii. William-Byam, of White Knights, Reading, high-sheriff for the county of Berks, in 1787, died in 1816, leaving by his wife Charlotte, dau. of Col. Yorke, three sons-viz., 1.

Samuel, lieut.-col. in the guards; killed in France, 13 Dec.

1813; m. Elizabeth, dau. of Samuel Rolleston, Esq., by whom he left issue three sons and one dau.; 2. William-Byam, resident in Hyderabad, now of Hyde-park-corner-terrace; and 3. Henry-Yorke-Byam, d. unm. in 1808.

Sir Henry, commissioner of the navy, M.P., born in 1733, created a Baronet in 1791. He m. Eliza-Anne, dau. of Harding Parker, Esq., by whom he had issue, i. Sir William-Henry, second Baronet.

ii. Josiah, collector of the customs, Antigua.

iii. Sir Byam, G.C.B., M.P., comptroller of the navy; m.

Catherine, dau. of Commissioner Fanshawe, by whom he has issue, 1. Capt William-Fanshawe Martin, R.N.; 2. Capt Henry-Byam Martin, R.N., and a dau.

iv. Judith, m. to John-Poll. b.a.s.t.a.r.d, Esq., Devon.

Sir William-Henry, second Baronet, born in 1768, died in 1842, leaving issue by his wife, Catherine, (to whom he was married 23 Jan. 1792,) dau. of Thomas Powell, Esq., a son and heir,

Sir Henry, the third and present Baronet, born in 1801, and married to his first cousin, Catharine, the dau. of Sir Byam Martin, G.C.B.

No. 20.