Slingsby Bethell MP
Slingsby Bethell (1695-1758), MP for London 1747-1758, does not appear in the TASTDB, despite the clarity of his History of Parliament entry, which says ‘Some information about his trade appears in the evidence he gave before the House of Commons on 16 Feb. 1736: he was sending ‘great quantities’ of English woollens to the Guinea coast, purchasing there negroes for the British plantations, and receiving in exchange ‘the produce of the said islands, and particularly cotton’’. A connection with the Royal African Company is evidenced by the records of litigation in the related suits of Finch v Royal African Company in 1747 and Finch v Boddicote in 1748, in both of which Slingsby Bethell was a defendant alongside the Royal African Co.
Title: /
First name: Slingsby
Middle name: /
Last name: Bethell
Aliases: /
Primary cohort: Unknown
Sex: Male
Religion: /
Social background: /
Primary outcome: /
Political Affiliation: Whig
Relations
No information
Political Offices Held
Parliament
MP for London 1747-58
Local
Lord Mayor of London 1755-56.
Bankruptcies
No Information
Geographic experiences
Americas
Chief agent and manager of the Antigua estates [and enslaved people attached to them] of his brother-in-lawSir William Codrington.
Internal migrant: Yes
Foreign born: No
Supplier to slave trade voyages: Yes
Supplier of woollens
Creditor to slave trade voyages: Don't know
Philanthropy: Don't know
Plantation owner: Yes
Mortgagee over the Vernon property yin Antigua
Sources: https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1715-1754/member/bethell-slingsby-1695-1758 and https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/bethell-slingsby-1695-1758, in which entry his 1736 testimony is sourced to the Journal of the House of Commons xxii (1732-37) p. 566] Finch v Royal African Company in 1747 (C 11/816/47) and Finch v Boddicote in 1748 (C 11/870/27).
Other Individuals
No information
Organisations
No information
Crossings
No information
Birth
Date: 1695
Location: /
Death
Date: 01/11/1758
Location: /
Burial
Date: /
Location: /
Memorial details: /
Christening: /
Knighthood: /
Baronetcy: /
Peerage: /
Residencies
Occupation: /
Schools
No Information
Universities
No Information
Inns of Court
No Information
Military training
No Information
Imperial positions
No Information
Apprenticeships
No Information
Livery company affiliations
No Information
Other business activities
No Information
Was slave trading profitable: Don't know
Will
Value of Total Personalty: /
Value of Known Legacies (where material to total estate): /
Occupation: /
Town/City: City of London (Middlesex)
Courts: PCC
In his will, Slingsby Bethell left monetary legacies to his sister and her children, but left the bulk of his real property, including possibly in Antigua, to one of these children, his nephew Christopher Codrington (later Christopher Bethell, d. 1797, q.v.). Christopher Bethell's property in turn passed to his own nephew Sir Christopher Bethell-Codrington bart (q.v.) and his siblings, the children of Edward Codrington (1732-1775).
Legacies
No information
No information