Author: Watson, George
Biography:
WATSON, George, later Watson-Taylor (c. 1770-1841: Wikipedia)
The marriage of Anna Susanna Taylor and George Watson at St. James, Piccadilly, London, on 6 Mar. 1810 brought together two prominent Jamaican plantation families whose fortunes were based on slave labour. George Watson, born in Jamaica, was the fourth son of George Watson and his wife Isabella Stevenson, of Saul’s River, Jamaica. Little is known of his early life but in 1788 he entered Lincoln’s Inn to study law (but does not appear to have been called to the bar) and in 1791 he matriculated at St. Mary Hall, Oxford, but did not proceed to a degree. His writings for the stage and his publications in verse mostly antedate his marriage. The couple lived in London and had four of their five children baptised at St. James’s. In 1815 their lives changed dramatically, however, when Anna Susanna unexpectedly inherited a fortune following the deaths of her uncle and (the immediate heir) her brother. They bought a country estate, Erlestone Park, near Devizes, Wiltshire, and a mansion in Cavendish Square, London; they entertained lavishly and began to build up important collections of books and of art. In June 1815 by royal licence they took on the surname Taylor and became the Watson-Taylors. He was made FRS in 1826; his edition of the poems of Charles, duke of Orléans (q.v.), was his Roxburghe Club production in 1827. George Watson-Taylor entered parliament as MP for Newport (1816-18), Seaford (1818-20), East Looe (1820-26), and Devizes (1826-32). He voted with the Tory government and led a coalition of members to oppose the abolition of the slave trade. But he was ruined by a combination of the depreciation of West Indian property and his own extravagance. Little by little his collections were sold off and his houses given up or let to tenants. Bankrupted, Watson-Taylor fled first to Amsterdam and then to a debtors’ sanctuary attached to the Abbey at Holyrood Palace in Scotland. He died at home at 10 Carlton Place, Edinburgh, on 6 June 1841, aged 71. His wife lived to 1853, died at her home on Belgrave Square, London, and thanks to the terms of her marriage settlement was able to leave something to their children. (“George Watson-Taylor,” Wikipedia 25 Apr. 2024; findmypast.com; historyofparliamentonline.org 25 Apr. 2024; LBS [husband and wife]; MH 12 June 1841)
Other Names:
- G. W. Taylor
- George Watson Taylor