Christopher Bethell-Codrington
Christopher Bethell-Codrington (born Christopher Codrington; October 1764 – 4 February 1843) was a British Member of Parliament, owner of sugar plantations in the Caribbean, and English amateur cricketer.
Contents
Career as member for Tewkesbury
In 1797 he inherited from his uncle Sir William Codrington, 2nd Baronet, plantations in Antigua and Dodington Park estate in south Gloucestershire.[1] Later that year he was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Tewkesbury, holding the seat until 1812.[1][2]
In 1806 he rejected pressure from constituents to support the abolition of the slave trade, but denied being motivated by his self-interest as a plantation-owner.[1] Later in 1832, he had a very public debate in the newspapers with Sir Fowell Buxton on abolition, quoting a letter from his attorney and resident manager for Barbuda in 1825, John James, detailing the contentedness of the slaves there.[3]
In 1817, he purchased further lands at Wapley in Gloucestershire, which made his estate "extend upwards of 15 miles in one continued line".[1]
Caribbean estates
Christopher Bethell-Codrington's sugar estates included Betty's Hope, Clare Hall, Garden, Cotton, New Work, Bolans, and Jennings, on the island of Antigua and also the island of Barbuda which was used to supply the sugar estates with provisions and also earned commissions by salvaging the many ship wrecks on its reefs.[4] These estates where managed by resident managers and attorneys. Many of their letters back to Christopher Bethell-Codrington at Dodington Park still exist and are available to read on microfilm and PDF in a collection known as the Codrington Papers.[4]
Cricket career
He was mainly associated with Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC)[5] and made five known appearances in first-class cricket matches in 1797.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "T" (part 1)[self-published source][better source needed]
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Arthur Haygarth, Scores & Biographies, Volume 1 (1744–1826), Lillywhite, 1862
External sources
| Parliament of Great Britain | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Tewkesbury 1797–1800 With: James Martin |
Succeeded by Parliament of the United Kingdom |
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by
Parliament of Great Britain
|
Member of Parliament for Tewkesbury 1801–12 With: James Martin to 1807 Charles Hanbury-Tracy 1807–12 |
Succeeded by John Edmund Dowdeswell John Martin |
- Accuracy disputes from June 2014
- Articles lacking reliable references from June 2014
- Wikipedia articles incorporating an LRPP-MP template with two unnamed parameters
- English cricketers
- English cricketers of 1787 to 1825
- Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers
- 1764 births
- 1843 deaths
- Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies
- British MPs 1796–1800
- Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
- UK MPs 1801–02
- UK MPs 1802–06
- UK MPs 1806–07
- UK MPs 1807–12
