Sir James Drax
Born: 1609
Died: 1661
Sir James Drax made a major fortune as a pioneer of sugar production in Barbados in the early 1640s. He returned to England in 1654 to live as an absentee planter, at which point he invested in several slave trading voyages, presumably to help supply his own plantations in Barbados with enslaved African labour. In addition to two independent slave trading voyages, Drax invested with his son, Henry, in the Company of Royal Adventurers.
Title: Sir
First name: James
Middle name: /
Last name: Drax
Aliases: James Drakes
Primary cohort: London
Sex: Male
Religion: Nonconformist or ‘Dissenter’
Social background: Yeoman farmer
Primary outcome: Gentry
Political Affiliation: Parliamentary
Relations
William Drax
Father
Anglican vicar of Stoneleigh, Warwickshire
William Drax
Brother
Part of the Drax's Barbadian business operation. Acquiring land in Barbados by the early 1630s.
Frances Drax
Sister
Emigrated to Barbados in 1630s
Meloria Drax
Spouse
Married around the mid-1630s, died c.1653.
James Drax
Son
Henry Drax
Son
Major Barbadian plantation owner who wrote a manual for plantation management known as 'Henry Drax's Instructions'
Margaret Drax
Spouse
Second wife
Elizabeth Drax
Daughter
John Drax
Daughter
Meliora Drax
Daughter
Pluateas Drax
Daughter
Jacob Drax
Son
Political Offices Held
No Information
Bankruptcies
No Information
Geographic experiences
Americas
Resident plantation owner in Barbados from c.1627-1654, making several visits to England for business purposes in the intervening years, and forced exile to England when Barbados came under Royalist control in the early 1650s.
Internal migrant: Yes
Moved from Stoneleigh, Warwickshire to Barbados. Settled in London after 1654 until his death in 1661.
Foreign born: No
Supplier to slave trade voyages: No
Creditor to slave trade voyages: No
Philanthropy: Yes
Charitable bequests in his will to the poor of St John Zachary, London and Coventry.
Plantation owner: Yes
Major Barbadian plantation owner. Aggregated hundreds of acres in St. George parish, forming Drax Hall plantation, which remains to this day in the hands of a descendent, Richard Drax MP.
Sources: Parker, Sugar Barons pp. 14, 29-30, 115-119 https://reclaimec1.wordpress.com/2022/04/20/remove-the-drax-slaver-memorials-from-st-anne-and-st-agnes-church-aka-the-voces8-centre-in-the-city-of-london/
Other Individuals
No information
Organisations
No information
Crossings (2)
Birth
Date: 1609
Location: Coventry (Warwickshire)
Death
Date: 1661
Location: City of London (Middlesex)
Burial
Date: /
Location: City of London (Middlesex)
Memorial details: Parish church of St John Zachary destroyed in Great Fire of 1666. Bust of James Drax and his memorial was moved to St Anne and St Agnes Church, Aldersgate, where it is still displayed alongside that of his son and fellow enslaver Henry Drax.
Christening: /
Knighthood: 12/1657
Baronetcy: 18/02/1661
Peerage: /
Residencies
Occupation: Landowner (Elite)
One of the wealthiest planters in Barbados, owning plantations in St. George parish.
Schools
No Information
Universities
No Information
Inns of Court
No Information
Military training
No Information
Imperial positions
Council Member, Barbados
English Caribbean
Assembly Member, Barbados
English Caribbean
Militia Officer, Barbados
English Caribbean
Council of Foreign Plantations, 1660-61
England
Apprenticeships
No Information
Livery company affiliations
No Information
Other business activities
Region: English Caribbean
Economic sector: Commerce
As well as being a plantation-owner in Barbados Drax also directly engaged in overseas trade, including the slave trade.
Region: England
Economic sector: Land
Using the profits he generated from sugar and slavery, Drax purchased a manor house and land in Boston (Lincolnshire), land in Kent and Coventry, and Ellerton Priory in Swaledale.
Was slave trading profitable: No
Will
Value of Total Personalty: /
Value of Known Legacies (where material to total estate): /
Occupation: Knight
Town/City: City of London (Middlesex)
Courts: PCC
PROB 11/307/442
Legacies
Physical Imprints
Building Category: Urban
Type: Modified
Town/City: City of London (Middlesex)
Scale: /
Year: 1659
Value: /
In his will Sir James Drax specified he was to be buried in 'the vault of the parish church of St John Zachary in London'. This church was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666 and not rebuilt, but the busts of both Sir James Drax and his son Henry Drax were recovered and moved to St Anne and St Agnes Church, Gresham Street, where they are still displayed today.
Land
Value: /
Manor of Allerton in the County of York bequeathed to his wife, Dame Margaret Drax
Land
Value: /
Bequeaths his Barbadian plantations to his two sons, James Drax and Henry Drax. Also secures a number of annuities on the proceeds of the plantations
Physical Imprints
Building Category: Rural
Type: Built
Town/City: /
Scale: /
Value: /
Drax Hall, St. George Parish, Barbados. Constructed in the early 1650s, it is the oldest surviving Jacobean plantation house in the Americas.
Philanthropy
Type: Social
Town/City: City of London (Middlesex)
Scale: /
Year: c.1659
Value: £100
£100 to the poor of the parish of St. John Zachary where Drax lived before his death
Philanthropy
Type: Social
Town/City: Coventry (Warwickshire)
Scale: /
Value: £150
£150 to the poor of the city of Coventry to be laid out in buying 50 cows to be distributed to 50 poor housekeepers that shall stand most in need. Two magistrates of Coventry to carry out this bequest
No information