Sir William Young, 1st Baronet
Encyclopedia
Dominica
Dominica , officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island nation in the Lesser Antilles region of the Caribbean Sea, south-southeast of Guadeloupe and northwest of Martinique. Its size is and the highest point in the country is Morne Diablotins, which has an elevation of . The Commonwealth...
in 1770.
Career
Early in 1764, Prime Minister George GrenvilleGeorge Grenville
George Grenville was a British Whig statesman who rose to the position of Prime Minister of Great Britain. Grenville was born into an influential political family and first entered Parliament in 1741 as an MP for Buckingham...
nominated Young and he was appointed in the same year to be President of the Commission for the Sale of Lands in the Ceded Islands. The islands included Grenada
Grenada
Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...
, Tobago
Tobago
Tobago is the smaller of the two main islands that make up the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located in the southern Caribbean, northeast of the island of Trinidad and southeast of Grenada. The island lies outside the hurricane belt...
, Dominica
Dominica
Dominica , officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island nation in the Lesser Antilles region of the Caribbean Sea, south-southeast of Guadeloupe and northwest of Martinique. Its size is and the highest point in the country is Morne Diablotins, which has an elevation of . The Commonwealth...
, and St Vincent
Saint Vincent (island)
Saint Vincent is a volcanic island in the Caribbean. It is the largest island of the chain called Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. It is located in the Caribbean Sea, between Saint Lucia and Grenada. It is composed of partially submerged volcanic mountains...
, acquired from France as a result of the 1763 Peace of Paris
Treaty of Paris (1763)
The Treaty of Paris, often called the Peace of Paris, or the Treaty of 1763, was signed on 10 February 1763, by the kingdoms of Great Britain, France and Spain, with Portugal in agreement. It ended the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War...
.
In late 1764, he and his group sailed for Barbados
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
, spending eight years away from his family during the period of 1764 to 1773. The artist Agostino Brunias
Agostino Brunias
Agostino Brunias was a London-based Italian painter from Rome. Strongly associated with West Indian art, he left England at the height of his career to chronicle Dominica and the neighboring islands of the West Indies...
travelled with Young, recording Young's progress and the visual context of his Commission's work.
Young recorded "110 voyages of a like nature performed in the course of nine years amongst the ceded islands on the service of the Commission for the sale of lands." In 1768, Young was made Lieutenant Governor of Dominica and was chosen to be the first Governor of the new government, being sworn in on 17 November 1770. He was responsible for building the main military stronghold of Dominica in Roseau
Roseau
-Architecture:The central district of Roseau is tightly packed with small and large houses and even larger modern concrete structures. There is little green or open space situated within the city, and this is even more so today, as many of the courtyards which was once commonplace within the city...
, Fort Young
Fort Young Hotel
Fort Young Hotel is a hotel on the quayside of Roseau, Dominica, located in the southern part of the capital next to Garraway Hotel and Dominica Museum and Roseau Public Library, just south of the Governor's Residence and Roseau Cathedral...
(now a hotel) in 1770 and for Government House, Dominica
Government House, Dominica
Government House, located in Roseau, was the official residence of the Governors of Dominica.The residence of the British governors of the island, and for a time the French, is situated on a low hill to the south of the commercial center of Roseau. Written accounts from the 1790s make mention of...
, his residence near the fort. He left Dominica in 1772, rushing to St Vincent to "assist with the Carib War" and to protect his estates there. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
and a member of the Young Baronets
Young Baronets
There have been five Baronetcies created for persons with the surname Young, one in the Baronetage of England, one in the Baronetage of Great Britain and three in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. Four of the creations are still extant...
. He was also a diarist and illustrator of works related to the Caribbean islands, although he hired Italian painter Brunias to paint pictures for him of the islands' people and interaction between the colonists and the natives, travelling with him through the islands. He was the author of Considerations which may tend to promote the settlement of our new West-India colonies: by encouraging individuals to embark in the undertaking (1764).
Personal life
Young and his second wife, Elizabeth (1729–1801), had several children, including Sarah Elizabeth, William, Portia, Elizabeth, Mary, Henry, John, and Olivia. He and ten family members were featured in the oil painting, The Family of Sir William Young, Baronet (ca.1766) by Johann ZoffanyJohann Zoffany
Johan Zoffany, Zoffani or Zauffelij was a German neoclassical painter, active mainly in England...
. His eldest son, Sir William Young, 2nd Baronet
Sir William Young, 2nd Baronet
William Young was a British colonial governor, politician and sugar plantation owner. He was the governor of Grenada in 1776 and British Guiana from 8 March 1777–3 April 1777 and Tobago from 1807 – January 1815....
(1749–1815), became a Governor of Grenada, British Guiana
British Guiana
British Guiana was the name of the British colony on the northern coast of South America, now the independent nation of Guyana.The area was originally settled by the Dutch at the start of the 17th century as the colonies of Essequibo, Demerara, and Berbice...
, and Tobago
Tobago
Tobago is the smaller of the two main islands that make up the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located in the southern Caribbean, northeast of the island of Trinidad and southeast of Grenada. The island lies outside the hurricane belt...
.
Sir William purchased some of the best pieces of real estate on Antigua, St Vincent, and Tobago. He left four plantations to his son, William, after his death and a total of 896 African slaves. He had been seriously in debt and left a sum of around £110,000 (£ in pounds) for his son to pay off.