Richard Gildart II of London

London merchant, and son of the Liverpool merchant and slave-trader Richard Gildart I (1671-1770, MP for Liverpool 1734-1754). Richard Gildart II's son from his second marriage, the Rev. Frederick Gildart, left £120,000 in 1841.

1. Will of Richard Gildart merchant of London [made in 1769] proved 23/01/1771. In his will among other provisions for real and personal property in Britain, he said that he was 'intitled to the reversion in fee simple expectant on the death of my son Richard and the failure of issue of his body of and in a plantation...in the island of St Christopher...with the slaves, cattle, mills and works for making sugar and rum.' He left this reversion in trust for his son Johnson Gildart and his heirs, with remainder to each of his surviving children in turn, down to the Rev. Frederick Gildart. He had, he said, purchased annuities of £240 p.a. and two of £120 p.a. each (to be reduced to £200 p.a. and £100 p.a. respectively if paid promptly) secured on the estate in Montserrat of Michael White for the lives of his [Richard Gildart II's] son William and daughters Ann and Dorothea, the latter two of which he already assigned to the two daughters. His residuary heir was his son Richard Gildart III.

2. The St Kitts estate of which Richard Gildart II held the reversion has not yet been identified, but two estates were shown as 'Richd Gildart Esq.' by Samuel Baker's 1753 map, in the north-west corner of St George Basseterre, one inland and one by the coast. In the will proved in 1803 of Richard Gildart IV (who predeceased his father Richard Gildart III), Richard Gildart IV said that an estate on St Kitts to which he was entitled in remainder expectant on his father's death had 'some years ago' been sold for £13,450, which was intended to be invested for his father's benefit for life and then the capital come to him [Richard Gildart IV]. Only £6610 13s 9d of the purchase price had been paid (and invested as foreseen in Bank Annuities), and Richard Gildart IV left his interest in these Bank Annuities and in the unpaid balance of the purchase price to 'the brother of his father of the half-blood', the Rev. Frederick Gildart, subject to the life interest of his father Richard Gildart III and to several other legacies he [Richard Gildart IV] made and charged upon the proceeds of the sale of the St Kitts' estate.

For Richard Gildart I, see http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1715-1754/member/gildart-richard-1671-1770 [accessed 09/07/2016] which describes him by 1750 as 'one of the leading Liverpool slave traders, sending ships to the Gold Coast to barter tobacco for slaves for the West Indies.'; Rubinstein Who were the rich? Vol. II MS 1841/22.

1. PROB 11/963/255.

2. Will of Richard Gildart Captain in the Staffordshire Militia proved 25/02/1803 PROB 11/1386/343.