Rev. John Swete ne Tripe

Rev. John Swete ne Tripe of Ashburton, Devon, England, heir of Esther Swete (q.v.) for slave-property in Antigua and instructed as one of her trustees to sell her property in Jamaica that had been willed to her by Mary Hynes, for his benefit as residuary legatee. He has an entry in the ODNB as 'antiquary and topographer' that explains his change of name 'in order to inherit a considerable fortune' but does not indicate the source of the wealth.

1. "Between 1789 and 1800 he undertook a number of lengthy excursions around Devon, later recording his travels in a series of illustrated journals. These originally consisted of twenty volumes which contained over 670 watercolour illustrations. Three of the volumes were lost during the Second World War but the remaining seventeen, which cover most of the county, are an important source of topographical description for Devon. His comments are those of a man who defined the landscape in terms of its picturesque and Romantic qualities, noting particularly the seats of the gentry and their gardens. His observations on local industries and agricultural methods are especially valuable as these were made just before the changes brought about by the industrial revolution." [ODNB]

Ancestry.com, Oxford University Alumni, 1500-1886 [database online]; www.devon.gov.uk/revjohnswete.pdf [accessed 12/08/2014]; J. A. Marchand, ‘Swete , John (1752–1821)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/26827, accessed 6 June 2017].

1. J. A. Marchand, ‘Swete , John (1752–1821)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography; Todd Gray, The Garden History of Devon: An Illustrated Guide to Sources (1995); Todd Gray and Margerie Rowe (eds), Travels in Georgian Devon: The Illustrated Journals of the Reverend John Swete, 1789–1800 (1997).

We are grateful to Philippe Planel for his assistance with compiling this entry.