| Authorised form of name | Young; Sir; William (1749 - 1815); colonial governor |
| Dates | 1749 - 1815 |
| Nationality | British |
| Place of birth | Charlton, Kent, England, United Kingdom |
| Date of birth | 01 December 1749 |
| Place of death | Government House, Tobago, Caribbean |
| Date of death | 10 January 1815 |
| Occupation | Politician; colonial agent; colonial governor; plantation and slave owner |
| Research field | Philosophy |
| Politics |
| Activity | Education:
Eton College (1758-1767); Lincoln's Inn (1767); Clare College, University of Cambridge (1768); University College, Oxford (1768); grand tour (1770-1774)
Career:
MP for St Mawes (1784-1806), for Buckingham (1806-1807); Agent, St Vincent (1795-1802); Captain, Buckinghamshire Yeoman Cavalry (1795), Mid Bucks (1803), Major (1804); Governor, Tobago (1807-death); owner of four sugar plantations in Antigua, St Vincent and Tobago which exploited enslaved people for labour and leading opponent of Wilberforce's campaign for the abolition of the Transatlantic slave trade; toured his West Indian estates (1791-1792) and published an account (1801).
Memberships:
FSA; Africa Association |
| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 15/06/1786 |
| Age at election | 36 |
| Proposer | George Atwood |
| Osmond Beauvoir |
| John Lockman |
| Benjamin Wilson |
| Grimston |
| Caleb Whitefoord |
| Isaac Hawkins Browne |
| John Hunter |
| William Seward |
| Relationships | Parents: Sir William Young (FRS 1747) first baronet (1724/5–1788), governor of Dominica, and his second wife Elizabeth (1729–1801) nee Taylor.
Grandfather: Brook Taylor (FRS 1711)
Spouse: 1) Sarah Lawrence (m. 1777), daughter of Charles Lawrence 2) Barbara Talbot, daughter of Richard Talbot of Malahide Castle, Dublin. |
| PublishedWorks | 'Considerations on Poorhouses and Workhouses: their Pernicious Tendency'' (1796); 'A tour through the several islands of Barbadoes, St Vincent, Tobago, and Grenada, in the years 1791 and 1792' (1801) |
| OtherInfo | Donated the volume of mss letters (MS/82) of his grandfather, Brook Taylor FRS 1711.
Inherited four sugar plantations, one in Antigua, two in St Vincent, and one in Tobago, as well as 896 African slaves.
Campaigned for the purchase of the Huntarian Museum.
Campaigned against workshouse and for reforms to draconian poor laws. |
| Related images | Discover a selection of related images in our picture library |
| Source | Sources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB; UCL LBS; HP; GM
King's College London, Exhibitions and Conferences, Young's Essay on Tobago, Background on Sir William Young (1749-1815), [URL: https://kingscollections.org/exhibitions/specialcollections/youngs-essay-on-tobago/background-information/background-on-sir-william-young-1749-1815; last accessed: 13/08/2025]
References:
Sir William Young 2nd Bart.', Legacies of British Slavery database, http://wwwdepts-live.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/2146632174 [accessed 23rd July 2020] |
| Virtual International Authority File | http://viaf.org/viaf/54179714 |
| Code | NA2737 |