George Bowley Medley

Son of Samuel Medley (1769-1857) and Susannah Bowley, born c. 1802, co-proprietor of Keynsham estate in Jamaica and administrator of his father-in-law John Racker Webb (q.v.).

1. Married 27/09/1825 at St John Hackney to Hester Webb (1804-1849), reputed daughter of John Racker Webb and Mary Wint (who was described in the will of her previous partner John Angell as a 'free quadroon', i.e. with one grandparent of African descent and three grandparents of European descent) of Jamaica. One of the witnesses of the marriage was Henry Cerf (q.v.). George Bowley Medley was a stockbroker of Threadneedle Street in 1826. He moved to Jamaica [in late 1820s], became Justice of the Peace and Assistant Judge in Manchester in 1834, and returned to England by 1841 (the 1841 census shows him and his family in Lambeth, Jamaica planter, born F[oreign parts]); he then became a Lloyds underwriter, and was bankrupt in 1854. His son with Hester, George Webb Medley (1826-1898) was a stockbroker, free trader, writer for the Cobden Club, Chairman of Assam Tea Co., and chess pioneer, and reportedly left net personalty of £252,038 5s 7d.

2. In the 1845 Railway subscription lists, George Bowley Medley of Austin Friars appears as subscribing £45,000, presumably on behalf of a group of investors.

3. Brother-in-law of Thomas Webb (q.v.) and Robert Podmore Clark (q.v.).

T71/860 Manchester Nos. 228 and 262. A biography of his son George Webb Medley, entitled Mr Sugar Face and his Moll by Nigel & Caroline Webb, was published in 2019 by Legini Press.

1. Ancestry.com, London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921 [database online]; 1841 census online; Medley and Webb Images and Biographical Notes 1-3, http://www.jamaicanfamilysearch.com/Members/Medleychildren.htm [accessed 19/10/2010].

2. See separate section for railway subscribers.

3. See separate entries for Thomas Webb and Robert Podmore Clark.