John Byng 5th Viscount Torrington

The diarist, with an entry in the ODNB as such. Beneficiary of 'slave-property' under his marriage settlement with Bridget Forrest, daughter of Admiral Arthur Forrest (q.v.).

1. The summary of the marriage settlement 09/03/1767 at Hull History Centre makes it clear that enslaved people formed part of the security for the settlement: 'Marriage Settlement Between Arthur Forrest of Binfield in the County of Berkshire; Bridget Forrest of Binfield, daughter of Arthur Forrest; John Byng of Colden within the liberty of Westminster and Edmund Earl of Cork and Orrery, Ireland, respecting several parcels of land at Luana in the Parish of St. Elizabeth in the island of Jamica. Includes a list of the names of slave men, women and children.'

2. Attended Westminster School: "BYNG, JOHN, 5TH VISCOUNT TORRINGTON, brother of George Byng, 4th Viscount Torrington (qv); b. 11 Oct 1742; at school under Markham (list of noblemen educated at the School preserved in Chapter Muniments); Page of Honour to King George II 25 Jan 1753 - Mar 1760; Cornet, Royal Horse Guards, 11 Jan 1760; Capt., 58th Foot, 29 Feb 1762; Lieut. and Capt., 1st Foot Guards, 11 Aug 1762; Capt. -Lieut., 19 Feb 1776; Capt. and Lieut. -Col., 26 Apr 1776; retd. 18 May 1780; a Commissioner of Stamps, 1 Jun 1782-99; succeeded his brother as 5th Viscount Torrington 14 Dec 1812; his travel diaries for the years 1781-94 have been published as The Torrington Diaries, 4 vols.; m. 16 Mar 1767 Bridget, dau. of Commodore Arthur Forrest, Royal Navy, sometime Commander in Chief, Jamaica station; d. 1 Jan 1813. DNB Missing Persons."

3. Will of the Rt Hon John Lord Viscount Torrington heretofore the Hon. John Byng proved 08/04/1813. In the will he left the £6000 from his marriage settlement with Bridget Forrest, under which his brother George Lord Viscount Torrington had settled £3000 and Arthur Forrest had settled £3000 secured on some of his property in Jamaica, unequally among his children.

"Byng, John, fifth Viscount Torrington (1743–1813), diarist." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 22 May. 2018. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-37252.

1. The Record of Old Westminsters (1928), with improvements © Hugh Edmund Pagan MA FSA, available via the online catalogue for Westminster School's Archive & Collections, http://collections.westminster.org.uk/index.php/torrington-john-byng-5th-viscount-1742-1813 [accessed 05/01/2020].

2. C DDI/1/4, http://catalogue.hullhistorycentre.org.uk/files/c-ddi.pdf [accessed 21/05/2018].

3. PROB 11/1544/22. The online index of PROB 11/ transposes his titles.

We are grateful to Hugh Pagan, Bethany Duck and Elizabeth Wells for their assistance with compiling this entry.