Daniel Henry Rucker

1757 - 1848


Biography

London West India and Hamburg merchant (in the latter case trading in wool), partner with Henry John Rucker (q.v.) and John Anthony Rucker in D. H. Rucker & Co., extensive mortgagees of 'slave-property' in several British colonies, especially the Ceded & Neutral Islands. The firm failed in 1831, and the assignees Joseph Edlman and John William Borradaile (each of whom q.v.) were awarded compensation or claimed unsuccessfully in that capacity for awards in Tobago, Antigua and St Vincent, in most of which the Ruckers had been mortgagees. Daniel Henry Rucker himself also appears as an unsuccessful claimant in two different capacities.

  1. In 1806 Daniel Henry Rucker of West Hill Wandsworth was named as one of three potential sheriffs of Surrey.

  2. In 1841 Daniel Henry Rucker born F[oreign parts] aged 85 was living in Farnham Surrey, where he was buried 16/03/1848 aged 91.


Sources

He was the nephew and main heir of John Anthony Rucker of West Hill (q.v.).

  1. London Gazette 15974 11/11/1806 p. 1478.

  2. 1841 census online; Ancestry.com, Surrey, England, Burials 1813-1957 [database online]


Further Information

Absentee?
British/Irish
Occupation
West India merchant

Associated Claims (9)

£1,554 5s 5d
Other association
£3,077 16s 3d
Other association
£4,421 10s 3d
Other association
£4,851 6s 7d
Other association
£5,188 1s 10d
Other association
£1,199 2s 7d
Other association
£1,619 14s 7d
Other association
£4,128 17s 4d
Unsuccessful claimant (Executor or executrix)
£2,574 4s 5d
Unsuccessful claimant (Mortgagee)

Associated Estates (9)

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
1817 [EA] - 1825 [LA] → Not known

The enslaved people on Adelphi were registered to D.H. Rucker in the 1817, 1822 and 1825 Slave Registers, as owner in the case of 1817 and 'in the possession of' in 1822. However, by 1828 and certainly at the time of slave compensation the estate was again in the hands of the descendants of Charles Grant, notwithstanding the fact that Rucker had bought in the equity of redemption of Charles Grant in 1810. The key to this sequence might be an earlier deed of 31/03/1800, which appears to show Daniel Henry Rucker as having become mortgagee of Charles Grant c.1794 for £16,000 of the enslaved people rather than the estate. There is possibly some entwining of the Adelphi and Wallibo estates in LBS' reading of the deeds.

Mortgage Holder
1823 [EA] - 1829 [LA] → Joint owner
Mortgage Holder

Shown in the will of James Gordon of Tobago as holding a mortgage of £9900 over the Goldsborough estate.

1823 [EA] - 1829 [LA] → Not known
1826 [EA] - 1826 [LA] → Mortgagee-in-Possession
1818 [EA] - 1830 [LA] → Mortgage Holder
1817 [EA] - 1829 [LA] → Joint owner
1810 [EA] - 1810 [LA] → Buyer

Daniel Henry Rucker bought the estate in 1810 subject to mortgages of £10,000 originally from John Collins of Berners Street and £3400 from Thomas Etherington.


Legacies Summary

Commercial (2)

Name partner
D H Rucker
West India merchant  
 
Name partner
Gordon & Rucker
West India merchant  
 

Physical (1)

Country house
Melrose House [Built] 
description →
Built by John Anthony Rucker, who left it together with his West Indian property - including enslaved people - to his nephew Daniel Henry Rucker. The estate was further developed with Repton by D. H....

Relationships (4)

Executor → Testator
Business partners
Business partners
Nephew → Uncle

Addresses (1)

Melrose House, West Hill, Wandsworth, Surrey, South-east England , England