William Weare

Awarded the compensation for the Shaws estate on Nevis. According to Rubinstein, William Weare left £100,000 on his death in 1837; 'presumably a merchant in Bristol', son of William Weare d. 15 Jan. 1785; 'presumably the brother of John Fisher Weare'.

1. Will of William Weare of Bristol proved 12/01/1837. He left to George Weare Braikenridge (q.v.) 'my first cousin one removed' his leasehold house on Great George Street in Bristol, and among other monetary legacies £1000 each to John Campbell Fisher (q.v.), Isabella Fisher and 'Mrs Jones', the son and daughters of 'my first cousin' the Rev. John Fisher (whom also q.v.). He does not refer to property in the Caribbean, but the residue of his estate passed to George Weare Braikenridge.

2. According to Port Cities Bristol, the Shaws estate had belonged to a William Lawrence [in fact Laurence], who owed £7000 to Robert Claxton and Son. He paid the debt by granting the estate to the Claxtons until he could pay the money. Claxton [in fact it appears his son Butler Thompson Claxton] passed the estate to William Weare of Abbots Leigh, Bristol, to pay off £10,000 loan which he owed to Weare. It was then inherited from Weare by George Weare Braikenridge [q.v.], his cousin, in 1836. G. W. Braikenridge had been the mortgagee of the estate in 1818.

3. William Weare [given erroneously as William Hoare in one index summary] was party to two deeds concerning an estate - unnamed but almost certainly the Shaws estate discussed above - on Nevis on 7th and 8th April 1818.

William D. Rubinstein, Who were the rich? A biographical dictionary of British wealth-holders Volume One 1809-1839 (London, Social Affairs Unit, 2009) references 1837/6 and 1816/4.

1. PROB 11/1871.

2. http://discoveringbristol.org.uk/browse/slavery/category/manuscripts-books-ephemera/P1470/ for the title deeds held by G. W. Braikenridge (in the Jefferies collection – Bristol MSS Miscellaneous).

3. C DDI 4/17 07/04/1818 Lease for one year between Butler Thompson Claxton of the City of Bristol, Merchant and William Weare of Abbots Leigh in the County of Somerset respecting a plantation and parcels of land in the Parish of St. John in the island Nevis. Includes a schedule listing slaves and their ages; C DDI/2/18 08/04/1818 Mortgage Between Butler Thompson Claxton of the City of Bristol, William Hoare [sic] of Abbotts Leigh in the County of Somerset respecting a mortage of plantation in the island of Nevis. Also gives the names of slaves, both at http://catalogue.hullhistorycentre.org.uk/files/c-ddi.pdf [accessed 29/05/2018].