Sir John Alleyne, 1st Baronet

Sir John Gay Alleyne, 1st Baronet (28 April 1724 – 1801)^[1] was a baronet and Barbadian politician.

Background

Alleyne descended from the first settlers on Barbados and was born at St James as second son of John Alleyne and his wife Mary Terrill, daughter of William Terrill.^[1] On 19 October 1746 at St James Church, Barbados, he married firstly Christian, fourth daughter of Joseph Dottin and had by her a son.^[2] After her death in 1782, Alleyne remarried his forty years younger cousin Jane, daughter of Abel Alleyne on 29 June 1786.^[2] By his second wife he had two more sons as well as five daughters.^[2]

Career

In 1757, Alleyne was elected for the Parish of St. Andrew to the Parliament of Barbados, a seat he held for the next forty years, with only a break in 1771.^[3] Already after a decade in the Parliament, he became Speaker of the House of Assembly of Barbados, serving until 1770 and after another two years was reappointed until 1779^[4] Alleyne was created a baronet, of Four Hills, in the Island of Barbados on 6 April 1769.^[5]

Death and legacy

Alleyne's wife died in 1800 and he survived her until the following year.^[1] Both older sons having predeceased him, he was succeeded in the baronetcy by his third son Reynold.^[6]

In 1770, Alleyne financially laid the groundwork for establishing the Alleyne School, though it was actually without schoolhouse until 1784.^[7] Mount Gay Distilleries Ltd., makers of the world's oldest known rum brand still in existence, was renamed from its earlier name of Mount Gilboa Plantation/Distillery.^[8] Upon Alleyne's death, his close friend John Sober who had employed him as manager of the company, posthumously changed the name of the company in honour of him.^[8]

See also

Notes

1. Cokayne 1906, p. 152.
2. Debrett 1824, p. 564.
3. Brandow 1982, pp. 35–36.
4. The House of Assembly.
5. Kimber 1771, pp. 249–250.
6. Burke 1832, p. 25.
7. Carrington and Fraser 2003, p. 5.
8. "History". St Nicholas Abbey. 2007. Retrieved 1 January 2010. Sir John Alleyne, as he later became, was a very close friend of John Sober. John Sober inherited Mount Gilboa Plantation/Distillery from his father William Sandiford in 1747, and upon doing so he appointed Sir John Gay Alleyne as the manager. Sir John did such a good job at managing the plantation that it was renamed Mount Gay in his honour after his passing in 1801.

References

• Kimber, Edward (1771). Richard Johnson, ed. The Baronetage of England: Containing a Genealogical and Historical Account of All the English Baronets III. London: Thomas Wotton.
• Debrett, John (1824). Debrett's Baronetage of England I (5th ed.). London: G. Woodfall.
• Brandow, James C. (1982). Genealogies of Barbados Families. Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc. ISBN 0-8063-1004-9.
• Burke, John (1832). A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire I (4th ed.). London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley.
• Carrington, Sean; Fraser, Henry; Gilmore, John; Addinton Forde, G. (2003). A-Z of Barbados Heritage. MacMillan Caribbean. ISBN 978-0-333-92068-8.
• Cokayne, George Edward (1906). The Complete Baronetage V. Exeter: William Pollard Co. Ltd.
• "The House of Assembly". The Barbados Parliament. Retrieved 2 December 2009.