Robert Claxton of Bristol

???? - 1812


Biography

Bristol West India merchant, partner in Protheroes & Claxton, and then Robert Claxton & Son. Descended from "a well-established Bristol family which settled in St Kitts in the early seventeenth century".

  1. Will of Robert Claxton merchant of Bristol proved 06/02/1813. He left £3000 each to his younger sons Christopher, Robert, William and Philip Protheroe Claxton at 21, and £4000 each to his daughters Elizabeth and Margaret. To his wife Rachael he left his house and furniture in Park Street and £1000 a year.

  2. Robert Claxton's son Christopher was agent to James Evan Baillie (q.v.) in the 1830 'slavery election' in Bristol and circulated a petition defending the institution of slavery. Christopher was in direct conflict with Edward Protheroe Jnr q.v. standing as the anti-slavery Whig candidate.


Sources

Madge Dresser, Slavery Obscured (2001) p. 212.

  1. PROB 11/1541/102.

  2. Madge Dresser, Slavery Obscured (2001) pp. 211-214.

We are grateful to Ruth Hecht for her assistance with compiling this entry.


Further Information

Absentee?
British/Irish
Spouse
Rachel Mardenborough
Children
Butler Thompson; Christopher; William; Robert; Philip Protheroe
Occupation
West India merchant

Associated Estates (3)

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:

  • SD - Association Start Date
  • SY - Association Start Year
  • EA - Earliest Known Association
  • ED - Association End Date
  • EY - Association End Year
  • LA - Latest Known Association
1798 [SY] - → Mortgage Holder
1804 [EA] - → Mortgage Holder
1802 [EA] - 1803 [LA] → Mortgage Holder

Protheroe and Claxton were mortgagees of 100 enslaved people on Stoakes Hall from Eliphalet Fitch; their mortgage appears to have been paid off by Alexander Donaldson sometime between 1802-1803.


Legacies Summary

Commercial (2)

Partner
Philip & George Protheroe
West India merchant  
 
Senior Partner
Robert Claxton & Son
West India merchant  
 

Relationships (4)

Husband → Wife
Father → Son
Father → Son
Notes →
This is tentative. Robert Claxton certainly had a son William but to date the likely link with William Claxton of the compensation records has not been...
Uncle → Nephew

Addresses (1)

9 Park Street, Bristol, Gloucestershire, South-west England, England
Notes →

Vere Langford Oliver, Caribbeana being miscellaneous papers relating to the history, genealogy, topography, and antiquities of the British West Indies (6 vols., London, Mitchell, Hughes and Clarke, 1910-1919) vol. II p. 169 (sourced to Bristol Directory); also his will in which he leaves his house in Park Street to his wife Rachael.