William Heath the elder?

To date this man has proved elusive. He was almost certainly the brother and co-tenant-in-tail of John Heath of Corsham Wiltshire (q.v.) whose will was proved in 1786. William Heath was shown as of Great Britain as owner of Peru in 1800; a Wm Heath from a London address wrote to the Commissioners of Slave Compensation re the claim for the enslaved people on Wickwar; and Wm Heath collected the compensation for that estate (which was awarded to trustees). There is clearly a nexus of connections around Wickwar in Gloucestershire: in 1811 at Wickwar Christopher Heath of Chippenham married Mary Heath, daughter of William Heath; one of the witnesses was Ann Hobbs, and one of the trustees for the award for Wickwar was John Peart of Jamaica, who had married Elizabeth Hobbs of Wickwar in 1807. But no will or probate has been found for William Heath, nor has Wm Heath the younger, acting as attorney for Wm Heath the elder in 1817, been traced. A William Heath of Harford Place Bedminster buried in 1830 aged 80 at St James' Bristol is shown in online genealogical material as the brother of John Heath of Corsham d. 1786: the will of this man proved 30/03/1830 is terse, makes no mention of Jamaica, but shows a son William and daughter Mary, details consistent with the above.

T71/860 Manchester claim no. 216; PROB 11/1768/251