Rev. George Caldwell

Son and heir of Charles Caldwell (1737-1814) merchant of Liverpool, brother of William Caldwell of Kingston (q.v.) and brother-in-law of Sir William Abdy 7th bart. (q.v.). Shown as co-owner of two estates in Antigua and one in St Vincent, but he appears in fact to have been trustee under the will of James Gordon (q.v.) whose niece he had married and who was a contingent heir in remainder to the estates under James Gordon's will.

1. The Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database shows Charles Caldwell as co-owner of 15 voyages between 1759 and 1767, 9 with Benjamin and Arthur Heywood and others, and 5 with William Ingram and others and 1 with Francis Ingram and others. Gill Slater was a co-investor in 14 of the 15 voyages. in principle this could be either Charles Caldwell (1707-1776), who married Elizabeth Heywood, or his son Charles Caldwell (1737-1814). However, in the 1750s the elder Charles Caldwell was at the Custom House and correspondence shows his son Charles arriving in Liverpool c. 1757.

2. George Caldwell was born Liverpool c. 1773; BA Cambridge (Jesus) 1795, MA 1798; Fellow of Jesus 1796-1817. Ordained deacon August 3 1817, priest August 24 1817. 'Of Cheltenham 1841-7; unbeneficed.'

3. Married Harriot Abdy, daughter of Sir William Abdy 6th bart and Mary Brebner-Gordon, 04/12/1817 at St James Piccadilly. George Caldwell's cousin Charles Andrews Caldwell, son of George Caldwell's uncle Admiral Benjamin Caldwell, married one of Harriot Abdy's sisters, Charlotte Anne, 01/12/1808 at St George's Hanover.

4. Will of Rev. George Caldwell of Cheltenham proved 03/08/1848. In the will he left his son William Browne Caldwell his house at No. 5 Sandford Place Cheltenham (which in a codicil he said he had since sold), as well as land in Ireland (Davidstown in Co. Meath; Harrolds Cross in Co. Dublin). He left a further estate in Ireland, Adams Town in Co. Kilkenny, to this sister Henrietta Caldwell. The will is silent on property in the West Indies. His son William Browne Caldwell left £190,201 0s 4d on his death of Cheltenham in 1893.

T71/877 Antigua claim nos. 259 (Lavingtons) and 342 (Sandersons). The Caldwell Collection in the Royal Irish Academy contains the papers of the family, https://www.ria.ie/sites/default/files/caldwell-collection-catalogue-sp-list-a040.pdf [accessed 24/11/2017]: 'The Caldwell Collection is a broad and varied collection spanning almost three centuries. Its core is made up of the private and business correspondence of members of the Caldwell family. These members are for the most part the male heads of the family, namely Andrew Caldwell (1683-1730/1), Charles Caldwell (1707-76), Andrew Caldwell MRIA (1733-1808), Admiral Benjamin Caldwell (1739-1820), Charles Andrew Caldwell (1785-1859) and Charles Benjamin Caldwell (1809-96) and to a lesser extent their wives, siblings, near relatives and business partners, including in particular Charlotte Ann Caldwell, née Abdy and Sophia Frances Caldwell, née Cust.' Rev. George Caldwell was the grandson of Charles Caldwell (1707-1776) and the nephew of Andrew Caldwell (1733-1808) and Admiral Benjamin Caldwell (1739-1820) and first cousin of Charles Andrew Caldwell (1785-1859). Item 12R 42/84 is a letter from the elder Charles Caldwell to his son Charles giving advice on the latter's arrival in Liverpool.

1. www.slavevoyages.org [accessed 28/03/2011].

2. CCEd [database online] Person ID 99609; in fact the compensation record show his as of Cheltenham in the 1830s as well, and he was given as Rector of Kings Stanley Gloucestershire on his marriage by Times 05/12/1817 p. 3.

3. Ancestry.com, London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921 [database online], which gives him as one of the fellows of Jesus College; Sir Bernard Burke, A genealogical and heraldic history of the landed gentry of Ireland (London, Harrison and Sons, 1912) p. 95.

4. PROB 11/2079/77; National Probate Calendar 1893.