Charles Best

London merchant, dying of Bath c. 1813. Charles Best of the Crescent, Minories was party to an indenture of 24 and 25/03/1775 with the London bankers Stephen Sayre and Bartholomew Coote Purdon and John Williams of Wimpole Street [q.v. under John Williams the younger]. Under the indenture, Best was the assignee of a mortgage entered into by Williams with Sayre and Purdon over Williams' estates on Nevis. Charles Best gave power of attorney to Magnus Morton 11/05/1776 to protect his interests under this deed.

1. Will of Charles Best gentleman of Bath proved 12/06/1813. He left £5000 to his wife Henrietta Harriet Best and £4000 to his daughter Catherine Best and £4000 to his son Charles Best. He had he said settled £3372 on his son Rev. James Wilkes Best on the latter's marriage in 1787, and left that amount in trust. His three children were the residuary legatees.

Common Records 1776-1777, British Library, EAP794/1/1/16, https://eap.bl.uk/archive-file/EAP794-1-1-16 pp. 1- 21 and pp. 343-4; the will of Charles Best gentleman of Bath proved 12/06/1813, PROB 11/1545/136, is silent on 'slave-property', but the connection of that will to the Charles Best of the 1775 deed is shown by the description of 'Charles Best formerly of the City of London, merchant, since of Worcester, but now of Bath, esquire' in an assignment of a lease in the Dorset History Centre D/FRY/30 shown at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/3915ff39-cb6e-4142-89c2-82244294f04e [accessed 24/12/2020].

1. PROB 11/1545/136.