Christopher Bethell-Codrington (until 1797 known as Christopher Codrington; October 1764 – 4 February 1843) was a British politician, planter and amateur cricket player who served as a MP in the British Parliament. In 1792, he inherited from his uncle Sir William Codrington, 2nd Baronet,

sugar plantations A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

Antigua Antigua ( ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the native population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Bar ...

and the Dodington Park estate in Gloucestershire. In 1797 he inherited further Caribbean property from his uncle Christopher Bethell, who had changed his name after inheriting the estates from his maternal uncle

Slingsby Bethell Slingsby Bethell (1695–1758) of Tower Hill, London was an English Member of Parliament and Lord Mayor of London. He was the third son of William Bethell of Swinden, Yorkshire and the younger brother of Hugh Bethell. In his early life he bough ...

in 1758. He then changed his surname to Bethell-Codrington.

Parliamentary career

Later in 1797 he was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Tewkesbury, holding the seat until 1812. In 1806 he rejected pressure from his constituents to support the abolition of the slave trade, but denied being motivated by his self-interest as a plantation-owner. Later in 1832, he had a very public debate in the newspapers with Sir Fowell Buxton on

abolition Abolition refers to the act of putting an end to something by law, and may refer to: * Abolitionism, abolition of slavery * Abolition of the death penalty, also called capital punishment * Abolition of monarchy *Abolition of nuclear weapons *Abol ...

, quoting a letter from his attorney and resident manager for Barbuda in 1825, John James, detailing the supposed contentedness of the slaves there. In 1817, he purchased further lands at

Wapley Wapley is a rural village in South Gloucestershire South Gloucestershire is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, South West England. Towns in the area include Yate, Chipping Sodbury, Thornbury, Filton, Pa ...

in Gloucestershire, which made his estate "extend upwards of 15 miles in one continued line".

Caribbean estates

Christopher Bethell-Codrington's sugar estates included Betty's Hope, Clare Hall, Garden, Cotton, New Work, Bolans, and Jennings, on the island of

and also the island of Barbuda which was used to supply the sugar estates with provisions and also earned commissions by salvaging the many ship wrecks on its reefs. These estates were managed by resident managers and attorneys. Many of their letters back to Christopher Bethell-Codrington at Dodington Park still exist and are available to read on microfilm and PDF in a collection known as the Codrington Papers. In the 1830s, the British government emancipated the slaves, and Bethell-Codrington was compensated over £30,000 for nearly 500 slaves in his ownership.

Cricket career

He was mainly associated with Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) Arthur Haygarth, ''Scores & Biographies'', Volume 1 (1744–1826), Lillywhite, 1862 and made five known appearances in first-class cricket matches in 1797.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bethell-Codrington, Christopher 1764 births 1843 deaths British MPs 1796–1800 English cricketers English cricketers of 1787 to 1825 English landowners Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies British slave owners Sugar plantation owners UK MPs 1801–1802 UK MPs 1802–1806 UK MPs 1806–1807 UK MPs 1807–1812

Christopher Christopher is the English language, English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek language, Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or ''Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Jesus ...

Colonel C. Lennox's XI cricketers