Richard Straker Wickham

Richard Straker Wickham (c. 1794-1876), Barbadian-born son of Richard Straker Wickham and Mary Jane Hothersal Pinder (1772-1830), soldier in the 1st West India Regiment.

1. Baptised in St James, Barbados, 22/04/1794, son of Richard Straker Wickham and Mary Jane Hothersal née Pindar. His parents married in St Michael, Barbados, 10/02/1790 and had 6 sons and 3 daughters, at least 6 of whom were baptised in Barbados. His maternal grandfather was William Pinder (?-1806), owner of Hogstye (later called Hothersall) and Ayshford Plantations, who left £2000 currency to Mary Jane Hothersall Pindar in his will dated 29/09/1806.

2. Richard Straker Wickham married Elfreda Pinder Bishop in St Michael, Barbados, 17/12/1818. Elfreda was the daughter of William Bishop, President of the Council of Barbados, and Elizabeth Bishop née Skeeter.

3. Lieut. Richard S. Wickham of Barbados was listed as a subscriber to Charles Shephard's An Historical Account of the Island of Saint Vincent, published in 1832. In a letter to the Compensation Commission dated 25/12/1842, Penelope Wentworth Wickham (q.v.) described Richard S. Wickham as a Captain in the 1st West Indies Regiment and the heir to his late brother-in-law David Moyes Macgibbon (q.v.). Two letters in the same bundle from Richard Wickham were dated 29/11/1842 from St Kitts and 24/12/1842 from Barbados.

4. Richard Straker Wickham gave power of attorney to Maria Teresa Stepney of Dublin to receive the compensation for him, who in turn gave power of attorney to Cox and Co.

5. At some point between 1842 and 1851, Richard Straker Wickham moved to Britain. In 1851 he was living at 211 Bolton Road, Elton, Lancashire, age 58, Barrack Master (Army), born Barbados, with his wife Elfreda Wickham, age 54, born Barbados, his daughter Mary Wickham, unmarried, age 30, born St Vincent, one visitor and 1 female servant.

6. By 1861 he had moved to 50 Rankeillor Street, Edinburgh, occupation “Barrack Master of Edin District And Department”, with his wife and daughter and 1 female servant. He is given at the same address for the death of his wife 24/11/1862. By 1871 he was living at 32 Rankeillor Street with his daughter and 1 female servant.

7. Death of Richard Straker Wickham, 22/03/1876 in Newington, Edinburgh, age 83 years, “late Major 1st West India Reg & Barrack Master Retired”, widower of Elspeda Pinder Bishop [sic], parents Richard Straker Wickham, Landed Proprietor, deceased, and Mary Jane Wickham née Pinder, deceased. The informant of his death is his daughter Mary Elizabeth Wickham.

T71/877 Antigua claim no. 426; T71/897 Barbados claim no. 2516.

1. Information from www.familysearch.org: for the baptism of Richard Straker Wickham junior 22/04/1794, batch no. C51387-1; marriage of Richard Straker Wickham and Mary Jane Pindar 10/02/1790, batch no. M51395-3; baptisms of Isabella Wickham 21/05/1811, John Hothersall Wickham 18/03/1796, William Wickham 22/04/1794, Emily Wickham 04/09/1815 and Elizabeth Wickham, 29/07/1802, all batch no. C51387-1. For the ancestry of Mary Jane Hothersall Pindar and the will of William Pinder see James C. Brandow, Genealogies of Barbados families: from Caribbeana and the Journal of the Barbados Museum and Historical Society (Baltimore, Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc, 1983) pp. 447-448.

2. www.familysearch.org batch no. M51395-4. Parents of Elfreda Pinder Bishop identified from her death certificate, see General Register Office for Scotland, Deaths 1862 685/5 610 where William was described as President of the Council of Barbados. For more on William Bishop see S. D. Smith, Slavery, Family, and Gentry Capitalism in the British Atlantic. The World of the Lascelles, 1648–1834 (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2006) pp. 235-236.

3. Charles Shephard, An Historical Account of the Island of Saint Vincent (1832) pp. vii-xii; T71/1611 unnumbered bundle of letters, dated 25/12/1842, 29/11/1842 and 24/12/1842.

4. T71/1609, unnumbered bundle of letters, from Cox and Co., dated 15/10/1835.

5. 1851 census online.

6. 1861 census online. Death of Elfreda Pinder Bishop, General Register Office for Scotland, 1862 685/5 610. 1871 census online.

7. General Register Office of Scotland, 1876 685/5 252 Newington.