John Willett Adye (1745–1815), in later life John Willett Willett, was a British politician.
Life
editHe was the second son of Stephen Adye of St Kitts and his wife Clara Payne, born 1 January 1745. He was adopted while still young by Ralph Willett, a first cousin of his mother. After education at Lincoln's Inn, he took to the gentlemanly life of a collector, following the example of his adoptive father Willett.[1]
Willett died in 1795. Adye was his principal heir, to plantations in St Kitts, and under a condition of the will took Willett as his surname. The following year he was elected as Member of Parliament for New Romney. A supporter of William Pitt the younger, he did not stand in the 1806 United Kingdom general election after Pitt's death.[1]
In later life Willett had financial troubles, and during 1813 sold collections from Merley House. He died on 26 September 1815.[1] He was a Fellow of the Royal Society and of the Society of Antiquaries of London. A monument to him was placed in the church of Canford Magna.[2]
Family
edit_Adye,_later_Catherine_Willett,_c1784-1785_-_Huntington_Library.jpg)
Adye married:[1]
- In 1780, Catherine Brouncker (died 1798), daughter of Henry Brouncker of St Kitts; and
- In 1805, Frances Wilson.
Sons of the first marriage included the eldest, John Willett Willett Jr., (1784–1839), declared a lunatic, and Henry Ralph Willett, a barrister, to whom the estate passed.[3][4][5]
Notes
edit- ^ a b c d "Willett, John Willett (1745–1815), of Merley, Dorset., History of Parliament Online". Retrieved 29 April 2018.
- ^ 'Poole', in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 2, South east (London, 1970), pp. 189-240. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/dorset/vol2/pp189-240 [accessed 29 April 2018].
- ^ "Summary of Individual John Willett Willett 25th Apr 1784 – 13th Dec 1839, Legacies of British Slave-ownership". Retrieved 29 April 2018.
- ^ "Summary of Individual Henry Ralph Willett 27th Apr 1786 – 9th Dec 1857, Legacies of British Slave-ownership". Retrieved 29 April 2018.
- ^ "British Museum - Ralph Willett (collector; British; Male; 1719 - 1795)". Retrieved 29 April 2018.