William Clarke of Bush Hill

Father of Mary Forbes nee Clarke and Ann Clarke, grandfather of George Clarke Forbes (q.v.) and very probably the owner of Bush Hill on Nevis, in London by the time of his death c. 1783.

1. Will of William Clarke of [Bush Hill] Edmonton proved 30/06/1783. He requested to be buried in the vault he had made for his family at Edmonton. He ratified the marriage settlement he had made on the marriage of his daughter Mary to George Forbes under which he settled £4000 in 3% bank annuities; he left his daughter Anne the same amount of £4000 in 3% bank annuities. He left the two daughters together the £6 p.a. Irish tontine he held on the life of Matilda Catharina Marianne Douglas in trust together with a further £300 to be invested, all to pay Matilda Douglas the interest and tontine payments. He left half his real estate to his daughter Ann[e] and half in trust for his other daughter Mary Forbes. His will does not specify the Bush Hill estate in Nevis or the enslaved people attached to it.

The connection between William Clarke and Bush Hill estate in Nevis is suggested but not definitively shown in a 'Bush Hill Estate, St John Figtree, Nevis: a preliminary assessment of the documentary evidence' by Christine Eickelmann and David Small at The University of Bristol, http://eis.bris.ac.uk/~emceee/bushhillhistory.pdf [accessed 31/01/2018].

1. PROB 11/1104/402