Edward Colston MP (1636 - 1721)

Born 2 Nov 1636 in Temple St., Bristol, Gloucestershire, England

Ancestors

Died 11 Oct 1721 at age 84 in Mortlake, Surrey, England

Problems/Questions Profile manager: England Project WikiTree [send private message]

Edward Colston MP is managed by the England Project. Join: England Project Discuss: england

Biography

Edward Colston MP is Notable.

Edward Colston (1636–1721), merchant, slave trader, philanthropist, and Member of Parliament was born on the 2nd of November 1636, in Temple Street, Bristol, and was the eldest child of:

• William Colston (1608–1681), a merchant,
• and his wife Sarah Batten.^[1][2]

Phelps (1836), asserts that Colston's father was sometime Sheriff of Bristol, as well as Deputy Lieutenant.^[3]

Siblings

• William.^[3]
• Richard.^[3]
• Thomas.^[3]
• Robert of Bristol.^[3][4]

m. Anne, dau. of William Waters, esq. of Bristol.^[3][4]

• William.^[3]
• Mary.^[3]

m. Sir William Hayman, mayor of Bristol.^[3]

Occupation

By 1672 Colston established his own profitable trading business, which included dealing in African slaves. From 1680 to 1692 he was a director and shareholder of the Royal African Company (RAC),^[1][2]

Between 1672 and 1689, RAC ships are believed to have transported 84,000 men, women and children from Africa to the Americas.^[5] Farrer (2020), states that the RAC sold about 100,000 west Africans in the Carribean and the Americas during this time period.^[6]

Colston largely retired from active business in 1692 and in the following years applied a large part of his huge fortune to charitable projects.^[1][2]A practising Anglican, it is estimated that he gave away 71,000 pounds, equivalent to about 11,000,000 pounds in 2018.^[1]

Residence

While Colston was born in Bristol, he resided in London during his adult life.^[6]

Death

Colston never married, and regarded his brother Robert's son Edward Colston (b. aft. 1672 - d. 05 Apr 1719) as his heir. But his nephew predeceased him, and Colston's niece Mary Hayman, became his primary beneficiary.^[4]

Research Notes

By the will of his grandfather, Edward Batten, who died in 1638 he was left, together with his cousins, Edward Hobbs and Edward Galhampton, "my three tankards I bought of my cousin Pitt ....the eldest to choose first" ^[7]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Kenneth Morgan, “Colston, Edward (1636–1721)” in “Oxford Dictionary of National Biography”, 3 Jan 2008 https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/5996 accessible to members of subscribing libraries
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Andrew A. Hanham, “Colston, Edward (1636-1721), of Mortlake, Surr.” in “The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1690-1715”, 2002 http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1690-1715/member/colston-edward-ii-1636-1721
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8} Phelps, W. (1836). The History and Antiquities of Somersetshire, p. 470. Google Books. Pedigree.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2} Hayton, D., Cruickshanks, E. & Handley, S. (2002). "Colston, Edward I (aft.1672-1719), of Bristol," in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1690-1715. HOP.
5. ↑ Ball, R. (2017). 'Calculating the number of enslaved Africans transported by the Royal African Company during Edward Colstons involvement (1680-1692). Bristol Radical History Group Research Paper 1. BRHG.org. Web.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Farrer, M. (2020, June 8). Who was Edward Colston and why was his Bristol statue toppled? The Guardian. Web.
7. ↑ Genealogical gleanings in England Vol II

See Also:

• V. Coules, The Trade: Bristol and the Transatlantic Slave Trade (2007)
• Bristol Historic Environment Record; D. Merritt, Sculpture in Bristol (2002);
• R. Winstone, Bristol in the 1890s (1960)
• Edward Colston
• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Colston, Edward (1636–1721) Kenneth Morgan
• Edward Colston's Statue