John Stewart (1789–1860)

John Stewart
John Stewart
Member of Parliament ; for Lymington
	In office; 12 December 1832 – 31 July 1847 Serving with William Alexander Mackinnon (1835–1847); Harry Burrard-Neale (1832–1835)
Preceded by	William Alexander Mackinnon; George Burrard
Succeeded by	William Alexander Mackinnon; George Keppel
Personal details
Born	1789
Died	14 March 1860 (aged 70–71); London, England
Nationality	British
Political party	Conservative/Tory
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Vincent; Phoebe Rossiter (m. 1848)
Parents	John Stewart

John Stewart (1789 – 14 March 1860)[1] was a British Conservative and Tory politician. He was possibly the first mixed-race Member of Parliament (MP) of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.[2]

Family

Stewart was an illegitimate son of former Camelford Tory MP John Stewart (1754/5–1826) and Mary Duncan. Upon his father's death, he took ownership of plantations in Grenada and Demerara, as well as the family home in Albany, London. However, by 1830, he was living in Wellington Street, Westminster, with his wife, Elizabeth née Vincent, and son William Duncan Stewart (born April 1829). On 14 December 1848, Stewart remarried to Phoebe Rossiter, daughter of Joseph Rossiter.[2]

Business career

After the abolition of slavery in 1833, Steward was compensated £22,486 for the Demerara plantation in British Guiana, where 433 were enslaved. He retained possession of this estate, as well as Stewartville, also in British Guiana, and purchased a further estate in the region in 1839, importing some labour from Madeira to Annandale. Also, a trustee of the Hope Vale estate in Grenada, in 1836 he claimed to have owned the "largest slave state" in Antigua between 1824 and 1826.[2]

By the 1850s, he was well-established in the City of London, investing at least £16,000 in the British railways. He became a director of the British West India Company in 1846, a member of the provisional committee of the Demerara Railway Company in the same year, a director of the London and Westminster Joint Stock Bank; and deputy chairman of the Universal Life Assurance Society.[2]

Member of Parliament

Stewart became parliament's first mixed-race MP when he was elected Tory MP for Lymington at the 1832 general election. During this election, he defended his record as a slave owner and rebuffed arguments that slaves on his Demerara estates were subject to cruelty. After his election, he presented a petition to the Commons against the abolition of slavery, and often spoke in defence of West Indian plantation owners, sharing concerns over apprenticeships and sugar duties with other MPs with West Indian interests.[2]

Becoming a Conservative MP in 1834, Stewart then went on to oppose Sir George Strickland, 7th Baronet's motion that apprenticeships should be abolished on 1 August 1838, and in 1833 and the 1840s, he opposed the reduction of sugar duties, although this latter position was "a little inconsistent". While a supporter of free trade, the abolition of the Corn Laws, and Robert Peel's government, he voted against the government on some occasions.[2]

However, these positions ultimately led to his downfall at the 1847 general election, when he was defeated.[3][4] While his career was "undistinguished", "the bigoted anti-colour party in the West Indies could never get over his election by an English borough, but he was extremely popular with his constituents".[2]

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References

Rayment, Leigh (28 August 2018). "The House of Commons: Constituencies beginning with "L"". Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page. Archived from the original on 3 December 2011. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
McClelland, Keith (6 October 2016). "Stewart, John (1789–1860)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/109523. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. p. 196. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
Stooks Smith, Henry. (1973) [1844-1850]. Craig, F. W. S. (ed.). The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 127–129. ISBN 0-900178-13-2.

External links

Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Mr John Stewart

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by William Alexander Mackinnon George Burrard	Member of Parliament for Lymington 1832–1847 With: William Alexander Mackinnon (1835–1847) Harry Burrard-Neale (1832–1835)	Succeeded by William Alexander Mackinnon George Keppel

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[leighrayment-1] Rayment, Leigh (28 August 2018). "The House of Commons: Constituencies beginning with "L"". Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page. Archived from the original on 3 December 2011. Retrieved 24 November 2018.

[odnb-2] McClelland, Keith (6 October 2016). "Stewart, John (1789–1860)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/109523. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

[craig1832-3] Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. p. 196. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.

[stooks-smith-4] Stooks Smith, Henry. (1973) [1844-1850]. Craig, F. W. S. (ed.). The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 127–129. ISBN 0-900178-13-2.