Richard Burroughs Eldridge

Resident slave-owner in Antigua, the son of William Nathaniel Eldridge of Great Yarmouth.

1. R.B. Eldridge was a Member of the Assembly in Antigua in the 1830s when Apprenticeship was waived for the island.

2. Marriage of Richard Burroughs Eldridge to Tryphena Branch 29/01/1819 Needham, Norwich Norfolk.

3. The summary of the will of William Nathaniel Eldridge gentleman of Great Yarmouth proved 26/04/1811 shows Richard Burroughs Eldridge and Wm Eldridge among his children. It indicates his property was in ships and shipping, and has no mention of property in Antigua. It appears likely that Richard Burroughs Eldridge initially went out to Antigua as a merchant or overseer. A William N. Eldridge made a smaller claim on Antigua, while Ruth Louisa Eldridge (nee McNish) was awarded the compensation for Mount View estate on the island.  

T71/877 Antigua claim nos. 33, 34, 469, 486 (Little Sion (?), Belfast division), 577, 714, 715, 950, 957 and 958. Name of his second wife and his death date are taken form Vere Langford Oliver More Monumental Inscriptions: Tombstones of the British West Indies p. 15.

1. James A. Thome and Joseph H. Kimball, Emancipation in the West Indies: A six months' tour in Antigua, Barbadoes, and Jamaica in the year 1837 (New York, American Anti-slavery Society, 1838) p. 157.

2. Ancestry.com, England, Select Marriages, 1538-1973 [database online].

3. IR 26/397/33.