| Authorised form of name | Willett; John Willett (- 1815); plantation and slave owner |
| Other forms of name | John Willett |
| Other forms of surname | Adye |
| Dates | - 1815 |
| Nationality | British |
| Date of birth | 01 Jan 1745 |
| Place of death | Bath, England, United Kingdom |
| Date of death | 26 September 1815 |
| Occupation | Plantation and slave owner; politician |
| Research field | Antiquities |
| Art |
| Activity | Education:
Lincoln's Inn (1763)
Career:
MP for New Romney (1796-1806); Sheriff of Dorset (1809); owner of Red Gate and Bevon Island plantations in St Kitts, which exploited enslaved people for labour (1795-death); sold the book collections inherited from his patron Ralph Willett due to decline in profit from his plantations and mounting debts (1813); monument at the Church of Cranford Magna, Dorset
Memberships:
FSA
|
| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 08/12/1774 |
| Age at election | 29 |
| Relationships | Son of Stephen Adye and Clara Payne daughter of Abraham of St Kitts; maternal second cousin of Ralph Willett (FRS 1764) who left him his estate and fortune, including Merley House, Dorset and plantations in St Kitts, after which he changed his surname from Adye to Willett (1795)
Married 1) Catherine Brouncker (1780) daughter of Herny Brouncker of St Kitts, 2) Frances Wilson (1805) |
| Source | Sources:
Bulloch's Roll; HP: Wikipedia; UCL LBS
References:
'John Willett Willett senior, formerly Adye', Legacies of British Slavery database, http://wwwdepts-live.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/1871639041 [accessed 9th July 2020]. |
| Code | NA3141 |
Archives associated with this Fellow
| RefNo | Title | Date |
| EC/1774/22 | Willett, John Willett: certificate of election to the Royal Society | |