Capt. Thomas Garth R.N.

1781 - 1841

Claimant or beneficiary

Biography

Captain, Royal Navy, nephew of General Thomas Garth and son of Charles Garth (1738-1784, colonial agent and MP for Devizes 1765-1780). Inherited Haines Hill and estates and enslaved people on Barbados after the death of his brother Charles (d. 1818) who had inherited from Frances Colleton (q.v.), widow of James Edward Colleton (q.v.). John Garth, the grandfather of Charles (d. 1818) and Thomas Garth (1781-1841) had been James Edward Colleton's second cousin. Captain Thomas Garth left £300,000 in 1841.

  1. John Colleton, grandson of a royalist who fled to Barbados after the civil war, bought Haines Hill in Berkshire in 1736 and his son James Edward (d. 1787) MP for Lostwithiel married the daughter of the first Earl Cowper and had considerable property in England as well as West Indian plantations. 

  2. The Times on General Thomas Garth's will shows Thomas Garth as the nephew of General Thomas Garth. 

  3. Correspondence with the Commissioners of Compensation identify him as Captain Thomas Garth Royal Navy.

  4. Thomas Colleton Garth, son of Thomas Garth the awardee, left £214,783 3s 8d (resworn from £215,813 5s 7d) 22/10/1907.

 


Sources

T71/899 Barbados claim no. 4210 (Colletons); T71/879 St Kitts claim no. 351 (Parry). 

William D. Rubinstein, Who were the rich? A biographical dictionary of British wealth-holders Volume Two 1840-1859 MS 1841/8. The 1841 census shows Thomas Garth Capt RN at Hill Street in London aged '55', with wife Charlotte aged 38.  

  1. John Habakkuk, Marriage, debt and the estate system (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1994), p. 458. 

  2. Times, 12/12/1829 p. 3. 

  3. T71/1593 p. 49 Commissioners to Capt. Thomas Garth RN Haines Hill Maidenhead 09/01/1836; see also Register of Claims, T71/879 St Kitts claim no. 351 which gives Thomas Garth Haines Hill Co. Wilts [sic] Capt. RN.

  4. National Probate Calendar 1907.

We are grateful to Guy Grannum for his assistance with compiling this entry.


Further Information

Absentee?
British/Irish
Spouse
Charlotte, daughter of General Frederick Maitland
Children
Thomas Colleton
Will

Estate probated "within province", which according to Rubinstein 'may suggest that he also had assets overseas, possibly in America'.  In fact, these included West Indian estates.  

Wealth at death
£300,000
Rubinstein
1841/8

Associated Claims (2)

£6,381 4s 2d
Awardee (Owner-in-fee)
£1,990 17s 1d
Awardee (Trustee)

Associated Estates (1)

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
1818 [EA] - 1834 [LA] → Owner

Relationships (2)

Other relatives
Notes →
Thomas Garth was the son of Charles Garth, who in turn was the son of James Edward Colleton's second cousin John Garth, the son of Elizabeth Colleton and Lt Col. Thomas Garth. Elizabeth Colleton and...
Brothers

Addresses (1)

Haines Hill House, Berkshire, Central England, England
Notes →

For Haines Hill and its connections to the Colleton-Garth-Godsal families see 'Handed On' and Obituary of Alan Godsal, Daily Telegraph, 7 August 2011.