Record

Authorised form of nameJordan; Gibbes Walker (1757 - 1823); lawyer
Dates1757 - 1823
NationalityBritish
Place of birthBarbados, North and Central America
Date of birth1757
Place of deathPortland Place, London, England, United Kingdom
Date of death16 February 1823
OccupationLawyer; colonial administrator; plantation and slave owner
Research fieldOptics
ActivityEducation:
Peterhouse then Pembroke College, University of Cambridge, BA (1780), MA (1799); admitted to Inner Temple (1773); called to the Bar (1782)
Career:
Bencher of the Inner Temple (1821); Colonial Agent for Barbados (c 1802-1823); owner of Walkers, Burnt House and Farley Hill plantations in Babados, which used enslaved people for labour; wrote treatise on optics and slavery legislation (see published works)
Memberships:
London Society of West India Planters and Merchants
Membership categoryFellow
Date of election29/05/1800
Age at election42
RelationshipsSon of Dr Joseph Jordan (Surgeon) 1729–1792 and Alis Christian Walker 1731-1792, married (1786) Amy North Pinder; father-in-law of Stephen Peter Rigaud (FRS 1805); father of Joseph William Jordan, Gibbes Walker Jordan, William Walker Jordan, Christian Walker Jordan, Ann isabella Jordan, John Jordan, Mary Jane Jordan and Francis Jordan
PublishedWorks'The observations of Newton concerning the inflections of light : accompanied by other observations differing from his, and appearing to lead to a change of his theory of light and colours', 1799; 'An account of the irides or coronae which appear around, and contiguous to the bodies of the sun, moon, and other luminous objects', 1799; 'New observations concerning the colours of thin transparent bodies : shewing those phaenomena to be inflections of light' (London), 1800; 'The claims of the British West India colonists to the right of obtaining necessary supplies from America, and of employing the necessary means of effectually obtaining those supplies under a limited and duly regulated intercourse, stated and vindicated in answer to Lord Sheffield's strictures', 1804; 'An examination of the principles of the Slave Registry Bill : and of the means of emancipation proposed by the authors of the Bill', 1816
OtherInfoColonial agents were authorized individuals in London representing the interests of British colonies, for example by interceding if unfavourable policies were being considered in Westmnster. They conducted business for their respective colonial governments and passed important documents and public information back and forth including legislation decided in London.
SourceSources:
Bulloch's Roll; UCL LBS
References:
'Gibbes Walker Jordan', Legacies of British Slave-ownership database, http://wwwdepts-live.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/2146631895 [accessed 9th July 2020]
Virtual International Authority Filehttp://viaf.org/viaf/40862098
CodeNA3029
Archives associated with this Fellow
RefNoTitleDate
L&P/11/112Paper, 'Account of the irides or corona which appears arounf the sun, moon and other luminous objects' by Gibbes Walker Jordan1799
EC/1800/05Jordan, Gibbes Walker: certificate of election to the Royal Society: certificate of election to the Royal Society
AP/8/14Unpublished paper, 'Observations on the new theory for explaining the coloured appearances of thin plates, lately published in the Transactions of this Society' by G [Gibbes] Walker Jordan16 February 1811
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