William Betts

???? - 1846

Claimant or beneficiary

Biography

Absentee slave-owner in Jamaica, having returned or moved to England some time before the 1830s. Identified as 'England' in the compensation records. Possibly the William Betts who had served as Lieutenant in the Portland Regiment of the militia 1796 and as Assistant Judge in Portland 1808 and 1817. William Betts is shown as the owner of Sion Hill from at least 1812 to 1833, but no longer in 1838.

  1. Will of William Betts late of the island of Jamaica but for some years since resident at Kensington Middlesex proved 11/12/1846. In the will [made in 1836] he confirmed the settlement he made the same day for his wife Margaretta Betts and daughter Georgiana Betts. He left his wife his leasehold house at No. 8 Pembroke Square and £300. He left Sion Hill and his pen called Traveller's Lodge in trust for his wife for life and then half to his daughter and half to her children with contingent remainder to Elizabeth Humphrys, formerly Elizabeth Parker, wife of Ambrose Humphrys (q.v.). His wife died in 1867 leaving £600, and his daughter then Georgiana Borton in 1868, leaving £7,000, both formerly of 18 Gilston Road and then of Tunbridge Wells.

Sources

T71/905 p. 20 Portland claim no. 10; Jamaica Almanac (1796, 1808, 1812, 1817, 1833, 1838). There was a William Betts baptised in Portland, Jamaica, July 1809 (No names of parents recorded). There was also a daughter, Susannah Sarah Betts, baptised in St Catherine, Jamaica, 30/08/1840, to William Betts and Catherine Munro. The registration of the enslaved was made in 1817, 1820 and 1826 by attorneys to William Betts www.familysearch.org digital folder 004620474 and batch no. I03991-7. Ancestry.com, Slave Registers of former British Colonial Dependencies, 1812-1834 [database on-line], Portland - 1817, 1820 and 1826.

  1. PROB 11/2046/58; National Probate Calendar 1867 and 1868.

Further Information

Absentee?
British/Irish
Spouse
Margaretta
Children
Georgiana

Associated Claims (1)

£1,769 10s 11d
Awardee (Owner-in-fee)

Associated Estates (2)

The dates listed below have different categories as denoted by the letters in the brackets following each date. Here is a key to explain those letter codes:

  • SD - Association Start Date
  • SY - Association Start Year
  • EA - Earliest Known Association
  • ED - Association End Date
  • EY - Association End Year
  • LA - Latest Known Association
1815 [EA] - 1828 [LA] → Owner
1817 [EA] - 1834 [LA] → Owner

Relationships (1)

Testator → Legatee
Notes →
Eliza Trower Humphrys was the contingent legatee of William...

Addresses (1)

8 Pembroke Square, London, Middlesex, South-east England, England
Notes →

William Betts bequeathed the leasehold of No. 8 Pembroke Square in his will made in 1836.