Sir Robert Davers, 2nd Baronet
Sir Robert Davers, 2nd Baronet by Jonathan Richardson, c.1700
Bornc.1653
Barbados
Died1 October 1722
Rushbrooke Hall, Suffolk, England
FatherSir Robert Davers, 1st Baronet
MotherEleanor Luke
OccupationPolitician, landowner and slavetrader

Sir Robert Davers, 2nd Baronet (c. 1653 – 1 October 1722), of Rougham and Rushbrooke Hall, was an English Tory politician, landowner and slavetrader.[1]

Early life in Barbados

Davers was the only surviving son of Sir Robert Davers, 1st Baronet and Eleanor Luke.[1] His father was a Royalist who had made his fortune exploiting enslaved Africans on his plantation in Barbados.[2] He owned 300 acres worked by 200 "negroes".[3] Davers was born in Barbados before coming to England between 1680 and 1682. He then returned to Barbados and took his seat in the Council there on 13 June 1682.[4] On 30 November 1683 he was one of the Barons of the Court of Exchequer and of Pleas of Barbados.[1] He inherited his father's baronetcy in 1684 and was chosen to serve as High Sheriff of Suffolk for 1685, but did not take up the role.[4] Despite later moving to England, he would continue to be involved in – and a proponent of – the Atlantic slave trade into Barbados for the rest of his life.[5]

Political career

He moved back permanently to England in 1687. In 1688, his wife's uncle, Lord Dover selected Davers as the court candidate for Bury St Edmunds.[1] Davers, however, rejected the offer to stand for election at this stage and it soon became apparent to the supporters of James II of England that he would oppose repeal of the Test Acts if elected.[1]

In 1689, Davers defeated John Hervey to be elected as the Member of Parliament for Bury St Edmunds on the Tory interest.[4] In the following Convention Parliament, Davers voted with the Jacobite efforts to declare that throne was not vacant following the flight of James II to France.[1][6] At parliament he was appointed to 35 committees. His only recorded speech was in opposition to increasing supplies for the English effort in the Nine Years' War.[1] After 1690, he became a friend and political ally of Robert Harley and subsequently usually voted with the Tories. Between 1691 and 1714 he was a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber to William III and Anne, Queen of Great Britain.[1] Despite being a signatory of the Association of 1696, he was a member of the Tory October Club.[1][7]

In 1700 he was appointed a justice of the peace for Suffolk.[1] He represented Bury for a second term from 1703 to 1705, after which he was elected MP for Suffolk, holding that seat until his death in 1722. In 1721, his name was included on a list of leading politicians and likely Jacobite sympathisers sent to James Francis Edward Stuart.[1]

Personal life

Rushbrooke Hall as drawn in 1818.

Davers married Hon. Mary Jermyn, daughter and co-heiress of Thomas Jermyn, 2nd Baron Jermyn, on 2 February 1682.[2] They had five sons and five daughters. By this marriage he acquired in 1703 one-fifth of the Rushbrooke Hall estate, of which he purchased the other parts from his sister-in-law, Hon. Merolina Jermyn, the wife of Sir Thomas Spring, 3rd Baronet.[2] He sold the estate of Rougham between 1705 and 1710 to his son in law, Clement Corrance and made Rushbrooke the family's principle seat. Lady Davers died ten days after her husband in 1722. Davers was succeeded as baronet by his son, Robert.[1][4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Henning, B D. (1983). "DAVERS, Sir Robert, 2nd Bt. (c.1653-1722), of Rougham, nr. Bury St. Edmunds, Suff". The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1660-1690. historyofparliamentonline.org. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  2. ^ a b c William Betham, The Baronetage of England (1803), p. 58.
  3. ^ "Suffolk and the slave trade". www.bbc.co.uk. BBC. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d Cokayne, George Edward (1900). Complete Baronetage (Volume IV). Exeter: W. Pollard & co., ltd. p. 128.
  5. ^ Pettigrew, William A. (2007). "Free to Enslave: Politics and the Escalation of Britain's Transatlantic Slave Trade, 1688-1714". The William and Mary Quarterly. 64 (1): 19. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  6. ^ Plumb, J. H. (1937). "The Elections to the Convention Parliament of 1689". The Cambridge Historical Journal. 5 (3): 243. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  7. ^ Dickinson, H. T. (1970). "The October Club". Huntington Library Quarterly. 33 (2): 158. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
Parliament of England Preceded bySir Thomas HerveyWilliam Crofts Member of Parliament for Bury St Edmunds 1689–1701 With: Sir Thomas Hervey to 1690Henry Goldwell 1690–94John Hervey from 1694 Succeeded byJohn HerveySir Thomas Felton, Bt Preceded byThe Earl of DysartSir Dudley Cullum, Bt Member of Parliament for Suffolk 1705–1707 With: The Earl of Dysart Succeeded byParliament of Great Britain Parliament of Great Britain Preceded byParliament of England Member of Parliament for Suffolk 1707–1722 With: The Earl of Dysart to December 1707Leicester Martin December 1707 – 1708Sir Thomas Hanmer, Bt from 1708 Succeeded bySir William Barker, BtSir Thomas Hanmer, Bt Baronetage of England Preceded byRobert Davers Baronet(of Rougham) 1685–1722 Succeeded byRobert Davers
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