John Sutton Williams

Awarded the compensation for the enslaved people on Glebe Pen in St Elizabeth Jamaica with the London merchant E.F. Green. He was in London at the time of compensation and signed with Green at the National Debt Office.

1. John Sutton Williams, son of Bartholomew Owen Williams and Alice Pierce (nee Ibbott), his wife, born 13/10/1791 and baptised in Kingston 18/12/1791.

2. John Sutton Williams entered the Royal Navy on 11/01/1806 on board the “Petrel”, which was stationed in the West Indies. In January 1807, he attained the rank of “Midshipman”, and continued to serve on various vessels. In February 1815, he was promoted to lieutenant and sailed to the West Indies, on board the “Beaver”, in January 1817. He was paid off from the navy on 19th January 1819. He probably remained in Jamaica, until c.1830s, before moving to Scotland.

3. Banns were proclaimed for the marriage of John Sutton Williams and Agnes Sanders (nee Watson) in Inveresk, Scotland, 16/12/1836. Agnes was the sister of George Watson (q.v.) who was also the business partner of Bartholomew Ibbott Williams (q.v.). Both John Sutton Williams and Bartholomew Ibbott Williams were bequeathed £200 in the will of George Watson (proved in 1835) and Agnes Sanders was one of his residuary legatees.

4. In the 1841 census, John S. Williams, age 49, Agnes Williams, age 49, Elizabeth Watson, age 45 (Agnes' sister), and two servants were living at Campie House, Inveresk.

5. John Sutton Williams died at Campie House on 20/11/1850. The will of John Sutton Williams Lieutenant in the Royal Navy of Campie [East Lothian] was proved 14/04/1851. The will, which identified his brother as Bartholomew Ibbot[t] Williams of Kingston Jamaica, largely left property in Scotland to his widow Agnes Williams or Watson.

6. In April 1851, the Rev. John Muir, minister of St Vigeans Church, near Arbroath, Scotland, and husband of Grace Watson, presented the gift of a barometer "to the fishermen of Auchmithie, from a departed friend, to indicate to them the changes of the weather….the fishermen… entertain a high feeling of respect for the donor". The barometer bore the following inscription - "To the fishermen of Auchmithie, presented according to the intention of the late John Sutton Williams Esq. of Campie House, who by the mercy of God, crossed the Atlantic from the Thames to the West Indies, in safety, forty-five times."

7. In 1851, Agnes Williams, 64, proprietrix of houses and land, was still living in Campie House. At the time of this census, Isabella Wright, 40, sick nurse; Eliza Hope, 42, cook; Jane Mein, 19, housemaid; Grace Muir, 68, wife of Rev. John Muir (and Agnes' sister); and Robert W. Davies, 13, scholar and visitor, were also in the household. Robert W. Davies was listed as a British Subject, born at sea, so may have been a nephew of John Sutton Williams. (possibly Bartholomew Watson Davies).

8. Agnes Williams died at Abbey Bank, St Vigeans on 10/07/1860, aged 76, and was buried in St. Vigeans Churchyard. In her Will, Agnes made bequests to some of her late husband's relatives, some of whom were still living in Jamaica. "… the sum of five hundred pounds Sterling for the purpose of completing the education of Bartholomew Watson Davies, son of the late Thomas Davies, planter, Salt Hill, Jamaica … To John Davies, now or lately clerk in a Mercantile House in Jamaica, nephew of my late husband… the sum of fifty pounds … To Miss Alice Price (Pierce) Williams, sister of my late husband, an annuity of thirty pounds free of Income Tax ….to Miss Eliza Williams, also sister of my late husband, an annuity of ten pounds free of Income Tax". Among the outstanding debts were two from Jamaica. James Derbyshire Esq. merchant in Kingston, Jamaica owed £1,000 to the deceased John Sutton Williams' estate and the Representatives of the deceased John Muir, merchant in Kingston, owed £2,500, which was then valued at £1,000. The Will also stated, "… the sum of one thousand pounds or such other sum, as may be due to me, as one of the Representatives of the late George Watson, my brother, by Bartholomew Ibbott Williams Esq., merchant in Kingston ... as representing the late firm of Watson and Williams, merchants there; also the sum of one hundred and fifty pounds Sterling, being the half of three hundred pounds contained in a Bond and Disposition … part or share of the lands and estate called Windsor Lodge Plantation, in the Parish of Port Royal . and whole buildings thereon to which the said Mrs Agnes Williams has the right as one of the heirs and representatives of the deceased George Watson Esq., my brother …."

T71/870 St Elizabeth no. 727

1. Familysearch.org, Jamaica Church of England Parish Register Transcripts, 1664-1880 [database online].

2. William Richard O'Byrne, A Naval Biographical Dictionary (1849) p. 1296.

3. GROS Marriages 685/1 370 229 Edinburgh; PROB 11/1853.

4. 1841 census online.

5. PROB 11/2131/317. Hannah Williams 'seaman's wife' and her son John Sutton Williams aged 10 are shown in the 1861 census at 41 John Street St George-in-the-East London: this might be the sister-in-law and the nephew of John Sutton Williams the awardee.

6. Dundee Courier, 30/04/1851.

7. 1851 census online.

8. GROS Deaths 1860 272 172 Arbroath; Forfar Sheriff Court, Additional Inventory SC/47/40/27/p156.

We are grateful to Mary Hewitt for compiling this entry.