Chaloner Arcedeckne

Chaloner Arcedeckne (c. 1743 – 20 December 1809), MP was an English politician and Jamaican landowner during British rule.

Biography

He descended from the Arcedecknes, an Anglo-Irish family who arrived in Suffolk and made it their home.^[1] His father, Andrew Arcedeckne (d. Jamaica, 17 August 1763)^[2] of Gurnamone, County Galway, was Attorney General of Jamaica, and he established Jamaica's Golden Grove sugar plantation in 1734.^[3] His mother was Elizabeth Kersey (b. Jamaica; d. circa 1743). A creole,^[4] Arcedeckne was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford.

Arcedeckne inherited the property in Jamaica from his father. Benjamin Cowell, Arcedeckne's brother-in-law, was his business partner, arranging the insurance for sugar cargoes shipped to England from Golden Grove.^[1] As an absentee proprietor, Arcedeckne also depended upon the Jamaican estate attorney, Sir John Taylor,^[5] Arcedeckne being this attorney's "most frequent client and correspondent".^[6]

Sir John Blois, 5th Baronet lent Cockfield Hall to Arcedeckne in the 1770s for 21 years,^[7] after which Arcedeckne built Glevering Hall as his seat in 1794.^[8] In 1780, he became MP for Wallingford and, in 1784, he sat for Westbury, resigning from the latter by becoming Steward of the Manor of East Hendred. He was High Sheriff of Suffolk during the period of 1797-98.^[9]

Arcedeckne died on 20 December 1809. He had married Catherine, daughter and coheir of John Leigh of Northcourt Manor, Isle of Wight. They had four children, sons Andrew and Chaloner, and daughters, Frances-Katherine and Mary-Louisa.^[10] His son, Andrew was also an MP.

References

1. Davies, J. David. "Llanelli and the Slave Trade". Treftadaeth Cymuned Llanelli ~ Llanelli Community Heritage. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
2. Jamaica Historical Society (1972). The Jamaican historical review. p. 46. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
3. B. W. Higman (2005). Plantation Jamaica, 1750-1850: capital and control in a colonial economy. University of the West Indies Press. p. 168. ISBN 978-976-640-165-8. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
4. Carrington, Selwyn H. H. (September 2006). "H-NET BOOK REVIEW". Michigan State University. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
5. Smith, Simon David (20 July 2006). Slavery, Family, and Gentry Capitalism in the British Atlantic: The World of the Lascelles,1648-1834. Cambridge University Press. pp. 278–. ISBN 978-0-521-86338-4. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
6. Craton, Michael (March 2007). "Untitled". The International History Review. Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 29 (1): 138–140. JSTOR 40109902.
7. Rochefoucauld, Francois De La; Norman Scarfe (21 July 2011). A Frenchman's Year in Suffolk: French Impressions of Suffolk Life in 1784. Boydell Press. pp. 133–. ISBN 978-1-84383-675-9. Retrieved 15 July 2012. Missing |last2= in Authors list (help)
8. Cromwell, Thomas Kitson (1819). Excursions in the county of Suffolk. p. 65. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
9. Namier, Lewis Bernstein; Brooke, John (1985). The House of Commons 1754-1790. Boydell & Brewer. pp. 1–. ISBN 978-0-436-30420-0. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
10. Burke, John; Burke, Bernard (1847). A genealogical and heraldic dictionary of the landed gentry of Great Britain & Ireland (Public domain ed.). H. Colburn. pp. 19–. Retrieved 15 July 2012.