Sir James Bontein of Balglas

Soldier and exemplar of colonial 'Old Corruption', shown as owner of 41 enslaved people on Evesham Vale on St Vincent in 1817.

1. Bontein had been Collector of Customs at Martinique, and was alleged by Charles Grey, 1st Earl Grey (with whom he was involved in a conflict after Bontein had agreed in 1795 to share his income from the post with Thomas Grey but refused to share it with Capt. George Grey after Thomas's death) to have accumulated £100,000 from his post.

2. Will of Sir James Bontein of [Charles Street Berkeley Square in the parish of] St George Middlesex proved 12/08/1823. After some minor legacies, he left his estate to his wife for life and then 1/4 to his daughter Alice and the other 3/4 equally between his sons Edward Trant, James and John Pitt Bontein share and share alike. In a codicil he left an additional £500 to James.

T71/493 pp. 209-213. Bontein's gravestone gives 1749 as his date of birth: genealogical sources show 1752.

1. Bontein was ousted in 1799 by George Grey: Paul David Nelson, Sir Charles Grey, first Earl Grey: Royal Soldier, Family Patriarch (1996) p. 190.

2. PROB 11/1674/163.