William Stanford Grignon

Baptised in St James, 1782, son of Rev. James Grignon and his wife Mary. Brother of Mary Lawrence Grignon. Resident attorney in Jamaica, held to have triggered the 1831 uprising by enslaved people in the west of the island through his 'act of wanton oppression' in punishing an enslaved woman on Salt Spring (belonging to J.H. Deffell, q.v.). According to his testimony in 1834 he had arrived in Jamaica in 1798 and remained there apart from a short visit to America. He did not own an estate but was awarded compensation as owner-in-fee for 31 enslaved people at Montego Bay and 23 on Barneyside Pen in Westmoreland.

1. The son of William Stanford Grignon, also William Stanford Grignon (1824-1907), was headmaster of Felsted School. Adm. sizar (age 17) at TRINITY, July 13, 1841. [3rd] s. of William Stanford [of Upton Hall, Montego Bay, and Barneyside, Jamaica]. B. Jan. 1, 1824, in Jamaica. Came to England in 1830. Schools, Islington and King's College, London, where he came under the influence of F. D. Maurice. Matric. Michs. 1842; Scholar, 1845; B.A. (Class. Trip., 1st Class) 1846; M.A. 1849. Adm. at the Inner Temple, Jan. 11, 1843; ‘3rd s. of William Stanford, of Montego Bay, Jamaica.’ Assistant Master at Brighton College, 1850. Head Master of a proprietary School at Sheffield, 1852-5. Ord. deacon (Chichester) 1853; priest (Wells) 1853. Head Master of Felsted School, 1856-75. Retired and took private pupils. Married and had issue. Died Jan. 7, 1907, at Torquay. Buried in Paignton cemetery. Brother of the above. (Al. Felsted (Headmasters); Crockford; Adelaide E. Grignon; Scott, MSS.; The Times, Jan. 11, 1907.).

2. In 1881, William Stanford Grignon (the son) was living at Hambrook Grove, Winterbourne, Gloucs. aged 57 clergyman without care of souls, born Jamaica with his sister Elizabeth S. Grignon aged 66, his daughter Adelaide (aged 26, born Sheffield), three pupils and three servants.

Familysearch.org, Jamaica Church of England Parish Register Transcripts, 1664-1880 [database online]; 'Anglin and Scarlett Families', http://www.jamaicanfamilysearch.com/Members/r/Ranglinp.htm; B.W. Higman, Plantation Jamaica, 1750-1850 pp. 51-52, citing Henry Bleby Death Struggles of Slavery (1853); Accounts and Papers 1835 (Vol. 33), Papers in Explanation of the Measures adopted by his Majesty's Government for giving effect to the Act for the Abolition of Slavery Throughout the British Colonies, Part I Jamaica 1833-1835 (52), p. 90; life dates are taken from online genealogical sources and have not been verified.

1. Ancestry.Com, Cambridge University Alumni, 1261-1900 [database online].

2. 1881 census online.

We are grateful to David Barker for his assistance with compiling this entry.