Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Christopher Codrington ( – ) was a Barbadian-born planter and colonial administrator who served as the governor of the Leeward Islands from 1689 to 1699.

Early life

Born about 1640 on

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

, Codrington was the son of another Christopher Codrington and probably the grandson of Robert Codrington, a

landed gentleman The landed gentry, or the gentry (sometimes collectively known as the squirearchy), is a largely historical Irish and British social class of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a country estate. It is th ...

with an estate at

Dodington, Gloucestershire Dodington is a village and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England. The village lies in a small, fertile valley between Codrington and Old Sodbury, and runs together with the even tinier hamlet of Coombes End. It is about 2.5 miles s ...

.James C. Brandow, ''Genealogies of Barbados Families: From Caribbeana and the Journal of the Barbados Museum and Historical Society'' (Genealogical Publishing Company, 1983)
pp. 221, 222
/ref> His father was a

royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...

who had arrived in Barbados around 1640, married a sister of

James Drax Colonel Sir James Drax ( – ) was an English planter and military officer. Born in Stoneleigh, Warwickshire, Drax migrated to the English colony of Barbados and acquired ownership of several sugar plantations and slaves. Drax was expelled from Ba ...

, a leading plantation owner, and acquired an estate in the parish of Saint John. He made a small fortune there, most of which he left to his son when he died in 1656.'"The Codringtons", in Darra Goldstein et al, ''The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets'' (Oxford University Press, 2015)
p. 674
/ref>

Career

In 1663, Codrington and other men of Barbados bought the island of

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...

from native chiefs there. While still in his twenties, he was appointed to the council of Barbados, and then as deputy governor, entrusted with day-to-day administration in the absence of the Governor. In that capacity, he set about building schools and hospitals, suppressing smuggling, and controlling excessive drinking. Codrington was married to a woman named Gertrude. His elder son, another

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 ...

, was born on Barbados in 1668,Henry Austin Dobson
Christopher Codrington
in

Leslie Stephen Sir Leslie Stephen (28 November 1832 – 22 February 1904) was an English author, critic, historian, biographer, mountaineer, and an Ethical Culture, Ethical movement activist. He was also the father of Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell and the ...

, ed., ''

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'' and then a younger son called John, who was an "imbecile." In 1669, Codrington was accused of murdering Henry Willoughby, a son of the Governor,

Lord Willoughby Baron Willoughby of Parham was a title in the Peerage of England with two creations. The first creation was for Sir William Willoughby who was raised to the peerage under letters patent in 1547, with the remainder to his heirs male of body. An ...

, in the course of a dispute about Codrington's acquisition of a desirable estate on Barbados called Consetts. Willoughby died suddenly with a "violent burning of the stomach", a few hours after eating a meal with Codrington, and although no wrongdoing was ever proved, Codrington never entirely recovered his good name on the island. He began to trade outside the law and to move his investments away from Barbados. In 1672, while Willoughby was away on a campaign, Codrington received a report of a rich silver mine on the island of

Dominica Dominica, officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. It is part of the Windward Islands chain in the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of t ...

, which was still in the possession of the

Kalinago The Kalinago, also called Island Caribs or simply Caribs, are an Indigenous people of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean. They may have been related to the Mainland Caribs (Kalina) of South America, but they spoke an unrelated language know ...

, and summoned the council of Barbados to ask it to agree that he should seize Dominica "before any other nation should possess the same". He then sent men to negotiate the purchase of the island, and a party to take possession. However, the French Governor General, the Marquis de Baas, promptly had the Englishmen removed from the island and protested that they had broken a treaty with the French of 1660. Although supported by the Council on Trade and Plantations, when Willoughby returned to Barbados Codrington was dismissed from his position and was also removed as commanding officer of a

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

regiment. The exact reasons for his removal are unclear, but on 12 November 1672 Lord Willoughby wrote "My late Deputy Coll: Codrington hath harrassed them to death wth needless improssitions." After leaving the council, between 1674 and 1682 Codrington was elected several times to the Assembly of Barbados and was its Speaker in 1674, 1675, and 1678.

Later life and death

Codrington went on to build up the largest land holdings in

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

, including his main plantation of Betty's Hope, which he named after his daughter, and also secured a lease of the whole island of

Barbuda Barbuda (; ) is an island and dependency located in the eastern Caribbean forming part of the twin-island state of Antigua and Barbuda as an autonomous entity. Barbuda is located approximately north of Antigua. The only settlements on the i ...

from

the Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

. He was appointed as captain-general of the English Leeward Islands, and in 1683 moved his base of operations to Antigua, where he was an important plantation-owner and was influential in reforms to make the island more like Barbados. By 1685, he had founded the settlement of Codrington on Barbuda and went on to build a stronghold there. During the

Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War was a European great power conflict from 1688 to 1697 between Kingdom of France, France and the Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg), Grand Alliance. Although largely concentrated in Europe, fighting spread to colonial poss ...

of 1688 to 1697 he led a series of armed conflicts with the French. As a captain general, Codrington found many ways to line his own pockets and was the target of allegations of corruption when he died in 1698, not long after the

Peace of Ryswick The Peace of Ryswick, or Rijswijk, was a series of treaties signed in the Dutch city of Rijswijk between 20 September and 30 October 1697. They ended the 1688 to 1697 Nine Years' War between France and the Grand Alliance, which included the Dutc ...

. His property was inherited by his elder son, another

Christopher Codrington Lieutenant-Colonel Christopher Codrington ( – 7 April 1710) was an English Army officer, planter and colonial administrator who served as governor of the Leeward Islands from 1699 to 1704. Born on Barbados into the planter class, he inheri ...

King William III William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 1650 – 8 March 1702), also known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from 167 ...

appointed this son to succeed him as captain-general and commander-in-chief of the Leeward Islands. When Codrington's eldest son died in 1710, he left money for his father's remains to be removed to

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

, and £500 for a monument to him to be erected there, but only £20 for his own gravestone at

All Souls' College, Oxford All Souls College (official name: The College of All Souls of the Faithful Departed, of Oxford) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full me ...

. However, his wishes for his father's remains were never carried out.Brandow (1983), p. 224

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Codrington, Christopher 1640s births 1698 deaths Barbadian slave owners Codrington family 17th-century Barbadian people Governors of the Leeward Islands Speakers of the House Assembly of Barbados Members of the House of Assembly of Barbados

Early life

Career

Later life and death

See also

References