James Ottley

Early holder of land in Tobago, including c. 1773 the Lots no. 20-23 and 27 in Courland Bay division (St David Parish) which had been purchased originally by Richard Ottley (q.v.) and which became the Adventure estate.

1. James Ottley was among the three dozen resident signatories of the address to the Lieutenant Governor (described as 'late Governor' in the address) of Tobago, Hon. George Ferguson, on his leaving the island 10/06/1781.

2. A James Ottley was identified as the nephew of Michael Lambert Weatherill in a case filed in 1784. Weatherill was the son of Margaret Weatherill and the brother-in-law of Drewry Ottley 2 (d. 1751), implying that James was the son of Drewry Ottley and Miss Weatherill. Oliver shows a James Ottley 'a minor in 1751; bachelor in 1774; died at St Christopher's' as the son of Drewry Ottley 2 and Margaret, tentatively identified by him as daughter of Col. James Weatherill of Antigua.

3. James Parson Ottley of Portman Street Middlesex, whose will was proved 24/04/1779 and for whom a trustee was John Willett Payne of Dean Street, was a first cousin. James Parson Ottley was shown as of St Christopher (St Kitts) in his death notices and Vere Langford Oliver shows him as 'of Maddens' on St Kitts, son of Thomas Ottley (the brother of Drewry Ottley 2) and Lucretia Payne, and grandson of Drewry Ottley the first of St Kitts.

'Tables showing the Lots in each Parish, numbered as originally granted - the original Grantee - the name of the Lot, or lots, if one has been acquired, and the present Possessor where there is one' and 'A Table, showing the Estates in cultivation in 1832, and their Owners, in 1832, copied from the list appended to Byres' map of that date, with those in cultivation in 1862', Henry Iles Woodcock, A History of Tobago (Ayr: Smith and Grant, 1867; new impression London: Frank Cass and Company Limited, 1971); John Fowler, A summary account of the present flourishing state of the respectable colony of Tobago in the British West Indies illustrated with a map of the island and a plan of its settlement, agreeably to the sales by his Majesty’s Commissioners (London: A Grant, 1774), pp. 38-39.

1. The Remembrancer, or Impartial Repository of Public Events for the Year 1781 Vol. 12 Part II p. 250.

2. Caribbeana Vol. IV p. 34; History of Antigua Vol. II pp.372-375.

3. PROB 11/1052/230; e.g. The Lady's Magazine (1779) p. 112.