???? - 1804
London merchant, and co-owner with Robert Harvey (q.v.) of 'slave-property' in Grenada. With John Harvey (q.v.) he had formed a partnership in 1763 to invest £20,000 in land and plantations in Grenada. He was co-founder of a banking firm that evolved into Dorrien, Magens and Mello, a predecessor of RBS.
The will of John Anthony Rucker of West Hill, Wandsworth [made in 1801] was proved 01/06/1804. In the will he left monetary legacies totalling £53,000 to nephews and grand-nephews and nieces, a further £27,000 to the children of Sigismund Rucker and £7000 to other family members, plus smaller monetary legacies and annuities. He had he said left Sigismund Diederick Rucker only £4,000 on the basis that Sigismund Diederick had inherited the entire business of senator Sigismund Rucker of Hamburgh [sic]. He left his house at West Hill and his estates and enslaved people in Grenada to his nephew Daniel Henry Rucker (q.v.), and divided his residuary estate 2/3rd to Daniel Henry Rucker and 1/3rd to his great-nephew John Anthony Rucker.
John Anthony Rucker built an early calico works on the Wandle c. 1788, feeding water to it from 'Rucker's new cutt'.
Rucker was a witness to the 1789-90 Committee on the Slave Trade, when he described himself as a considerable proprietor of land in Grenada, Cariacau [sic] and St Vincent. 'The purchases he made in the West Indies were particularly fortunate and advantageous', although he noted that the credit of 'W. India property' had been very bad before the agitation and was then much worse.
S.J. and P.O. Hough, The Beinecke Lesser Antilles Collection at Hamilton College (1994) p. 231; https://www.rbs.com/heritage/companies/dorrien-magens-mello-and-co.html [accessed 24/09/2018].
PROB 11/1410/15.
https://heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk/HBSMR/MonRecord.aspx?uid=MNA129721 [accessed 24/09/2018].
Abridgement of the Minutes of the Evidence: Taken Before a Committee of the Whole House..to Consider the Slave Trade (1790) Vol. II part 2 pp. 83-4.
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Absentee?
British/Irish
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The dates listed below have different categories as denoted by the letters in the brackets following each date. Here is a key to explain those letter codes:
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Joint owner
The Chambord, Plain and Mornefendue estates on Grenada owned by John Harvey and then Robert Harvey and then Harvey and Rucker evolved from the early purchases of land by John Harvey and J.A. Rucker; LBS has not established which Lots corresponds to which estates. |
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1790 [EA] - 1790 [LA] → Owner
J. A. Rusher [sic] was shown as the owner of Harvey Vale on Carriacou in 1790. |
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1780 [EA] - → Joint owner
The Chambord, Plain and Mornefendue estates on Grenada owned by John Harvey and then Robert Harvey and then Harvey and Rucker evolved from the early purchases of land by John Harvey and J.A. Rucker; LBS has not established which Lots corresponds to which estates. |
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1780 [EA] - → Owner
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1780 [EA] - → Joint owner
The Chambord, Plain and Mornefendue estates on Grenada owned by John Harvey and then Robert Harvey and then Harvey and Rucker evolved from the early purchases of land by John Harvey and J.A. Rucker. LBS has not established which Lots corresponds to which estates. |
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1780 [EA] - → Joint owner
The Chambord, Plain and Mornefendue estates on Grenada owned by John Harvey and then Robert Harvey and hen Harvey and Rucker evolved from the early purchases of land by John Harvey and J.A. Rucker. LBS has not established which Lots corresponds to which estates. |
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1780 [EA] - → Joint owner
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Joint owner
The Chambord, Plain and Mornefendue estates on Grenada owned by John Harvey and then Robert Harvey and then Harvey and Rucker evolved from the early purchases of land by John Harvey and J.A. Rucker; LBS has not established which Lots corresponds to which estates. |
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Joint owner
The Chambord, Plain and Mornefendue estates on Grenada owned by John Harvey and then Robert Harvey and then Harvey and Rucker evolved from the early purchases of land by John Harvey and J.A. Rucker; LBS has not established which Lots corresponds to which estates. |
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1793 [EA] - 1798 [LA] → Mortgage Holder
John Anthony Rucker of West Hill was party to a deed of 21 and 22/06/1798 concerning security for moneys originally advanced to George Dalzell in 1793. EAP Deed Book 1799 pp. 457 et seq. The assignees of the successor Rucker firm pursued compensation as the mortgagees of the enslaved people on the estate in the 1830s. |
Commercial (1) |
Founding Partner
Dorrien, Magens, Mello
Banker |
Physical (2) |
Country house
Melrose House, West Hill [Built]
description → Built by John Anthony Rucker, who left it together with his West Indian property - including enslaved people - to his nephew Daniel Henry Rucker. The estate was further developed with Repton by D. H....
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Tomb or Grave
Bazalgette Mausoleum [Built]
description → Mausoleum at St Mary's Wimbledon built for John Anthony Rucker (d. 1804) who was buried there, but sold by D. H.Rucker. Possibly enlarged or even rebuilt by the...
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Business partners
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Uncle → Nephew
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Business partners
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Great-uncle → Great-nephew
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Melrose House, West Hill, Wandsworth, Surrey, South-east England , England
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1788 - 1876
Irish merchant, slave-owner and philanthropist.
Document comprises 4 parts, written recto and verso across 5 folios: 1. An inventory and valuation of enslaved persons at Windsor Estate, St Elizabeth parish, Jamaica, 1814. 2. An inventory and valuation of enslaved persons at Williamsfield settlement, St Elisabeth parish, Jamaica, 1814. 3. An inventory of animals at Windsor Estate, St Elizabeth parish, Jamaica, 1814. 4. A cover note outlining the contents of the document.
© Copyright Legacies of British Slavery - UCL Department of History 2024
CITING THIS RECORD:
'John Anthony Rucker of West Hill', Legacies of British Slavery database, http://wwwdepts-live.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/2146649779 [accessed 22nd December 2024].
