John Hopton Forbes

1789 - 5th May 1873


Biography

Lawyer, senior partner in Forbes, Hale & Boys, Ely Place, awarded the compensation in several claims and involved as trustee or assignee and as agent in many more. It is not clear whether he was beneficial owner of enslaved people, although an indenture at the University of California Irvine suggests that in 1823 with Charles Kaye (q.v.) he purchased the Hampden estate and the enslaved people attached to it, reselling it (and them) in 1829.

  1. Apprenticed to Richard Walter Forbes, a lawyer of Ely Place in 1805, when his father was shown as John Forbes.

  2. J. H. Forbes of Ely Place, London was listed as a subscriber to Charles Shepherd's An Historical Account of the Island of Saint Vincent, published in 1832.

  3. Will and 4 codicils of John Hopton Forbes late of Merry Oak near Southampton who died 5/5/1873 at Merry Oak proved by Richard Walter Tweedie of 5 Lincolns Inn Fields sole exor., effects under £80,000.

  4. Johanna Agnes Forbes christened 10/12/1819 at St George the Martyr Queen Square; Walter Stuart Forbes baptised 09/07/1824 at St Pancras (and died 1829); and Isabel Lannett Forbes baptised at St Mary Hendon 04/12/1831. Johanna married in 1843 George Forbes, third son of the East India merchant Sir Charles Forbes 1st bart.


Sources

T71/898 Barbados claim no. 3975, T71/880 Grenada no. 774 (assignee), Portland no. 264A & B, Trelawney no. 542, Nevis no 99A (trustee), St Vincent 509A & 509B (assignee) and St Vincent 568 (trustee); Online Archive of California, 'Guide to the Indentures for the Purchase of Land and Slaves belonging to Hampden Plantation, Parish of St Andrews, Tobago, http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt2j49q25q/entire_text/ [accessed 13/06/2016]. Given as J.H. Forbes as awardee of Montserrat No. 55 and Antigua No. 111.

  1. Ancestry.com, UK, Articles of Clerkship, 1756-1854 [database online]

  2. Charles Shepherd, An Historical Account of the Island of Saint Vincent (1832) pp. vii-xii.

  3. National Probate Calendar 1873.

  4. Ancestry.com, London, England, Births and Baptisms, 1813-1906 [database online]. William D. Rubinstein, Who were the rich? 1860- (Volumes 3 and 4, manuscripts in preparation), reference 1863/21 George Forbes (1805-63) (which gives Johanna's year of birth as 1821 and shows John Hopton Forbes as 'of Westwood.'


Further Information

Absentee?
British/Irish
Spouse
Johanna Catherine
Children
Johanna (1819-), Walter Stuart (1824-), Isabel Lannett (1830-)
Occupation
Lawyer

Associated Claims (12)

£2,220 8s 11d
Other association
£4,194 12s 7d
Unsuccessful claimant (Attorney)
£347 12s 1d
Awardee
£1,358 17s 8d
Awardee (Assignee)
£1,433 10s 7d
Awardee (Trustee)
£418 3s 8d
Awardee
£3,333 13s 11d
Awardee
£3,161 5s 9d
Awardee (Trustee)
£2,174 16s 7d
Claimants in List E or Chancery cases
£5,933 0s 5d
Awardee (Trustee)
£5,402 13s 10d
Awardee (Assignee)
£1,626 10s 8d
Awardee (Assignee)

Associated Estates (2)

The dates listed below have different categories as denoted by the letters in the brackets following each date. Here is a key to explain those letter codes:

  • SD - Association Start Date
  • SY - Association Start Year
  • EA - Earliest Known Association
  • ED - Association End Date
  • EY - Association End Year
  • LA - Latest Known Association
1823 [SY] - 1829 [EY] → Joint owner

Two indentures at University of California Irvine show John Hopton Forbes and Charles Kaye as purchasers of the Hampden estate and the enslaved people upon it from the Brodie family in 1823 and sellers of it and them to John Gordon of Newton in 1829.

1834 [EA] - → Assignee

Legacies Summary

Commercial (1)

Senior partner
Forbes, Hale & Boys
Solicitor  
 

Imperial (1)

East India Company
Other  
notes →
His daughter Johanna married in 1843 George Forbes, third son of the East India merchant Sir Charles Forbes 1st...

Relationships (2)

Nephew → Uncle
Notes →
John Hopton Forbes became his uncle's partner in the latter's London firm of...
Trustee → Testator
Notes →
John Hopton Forbes was married to Johanna Wilson's niece Johanna Catherine...

Addresses (3)

6 Ely Place, Holborn, City of London, Middlesex, London, England
Merry Oak, Pear Tree Green, Southampton, Hampshire, Wessex, England
Westwood House, Westwood, South Stoneham, Hampshire, Wessex, England