Robert Sewell (lawyer)
Robert Sewell (1751 – 30 April 1828) was Attorney General of Jamaica and pro-slavery member of the Parliament of Great Britain.
Sewell was the son of Sir Thomas Sewell and Catherine Heath of Ottershaw Park, Surrey and christened 13 December 1751 at All Hallows, London. He studied law at the Middle Temple and was called to the bar in 1770.
He married Sarah Lewis in St Pancras, London on 18 November 1775.[1] In February 1776 they set sail for Jamaica on board the Judith and Hilaria from Portsmouth with Sarah's sisters Mary, Maria and Catherine.[2] In 1780 he was appointed Attorney General of Jamaica, returning in 1795 to become the agent for Jamaica.
He became Member of Parliament for Grampound from 1796 to 1802 and spoke in the House of Commons on behalf of the West Indian Planters interest. In May 1797, he argued that it would be economically impossible to abolish slavery. In April and May 1798 he spoke against the abolitionist William Smith's proposal to provide minimum space for enslaved Africans on slave ships. He rejected a minimum of 40 cubic feet (1.1 m3) arguing that "negroes prefer being herded together".[3]
He was an uncle of "Monk" Lewis. He also brought up William Henry, who adopted the name William Henry Sewell and became a general in the British Army.
References
- Sewell Co-ordinator's Report December 2006 accessed 26 December 2008
- Charlotte Taylor, Her Life and Times accessed 26 December 2008
- Monk Lewis by David Lorne Macdonald, University of Toronto Press, 2000, p49
| Parliament of Great Britain | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Thomas Wallace Jeremiah Crutchley |
Member of Parliament for Grampound 1796–1800 With: Bryan Edwards |
Succeeded by Parliament of the United Kingdom |
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by Parliament of Great Britain |
Member of Parliament for Grampound 1801–1802 With: Sir Christopher Hawkins, Bt |
Succeeded by Benjamin Hobhouse Sir Christopher Hawkins, Bt |