Lydia Byam Sutton (baptised 1772 – 28 January 1854) was a British

botanical illustrator Botanical illustration is the art of depicting the form, color, and details of plant species. They are generally meant to be scientifically descriptive about subjects depicted and are often found printed alongside a botanical description in boo ...

known for her works depicting plants from the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

. Byam's career flourished during the period between 1797 and 1800. She published two works ''A collection of exotics, from the Island of Antigua'' (1797) and ''Fruits of the West Indies'' (1800) respectively. These are important for the role they played in garnering interest in

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

of the Caribbean islands and the dietary and medicinal benefits they offered.

Early life, family and education

Lydia Byam was born to parents William Byam and Martha Rogers (daughter of Edward Rogers). She was baptised on September 4, 1772, 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 ...

. Her father was a lawyer and member of the Privy Council in Antigua, who died and was buried in St. Georges, Antigua in 1779. Through her father she was a great granddaughter of Edward Byam (c. 1664-1741), Governor of the

Leeward Islands The Leeward Islands () are a group of islands situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean. Starting with the Virgin Islands east of Puerto Rico, they extend southeast to Guadeloupe and its dependencies. In Engl ...

in 1715 and

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

from 1715 until his death in 1741. She was related to William Gunthorpe, another Governor of Antigua and her extended family were woven through the rich white slaving owning class of Antigua. Surviving letters indicate that Byam is likely to have been educated in Britain before returning to Antigua. The Byam family were slaveowners in Antigua. In 1821, Lydia owned an enslaved woman named Jenny, aged 18, and had inherited a further 18 enslaved people purchased by her late father, despite the

Slave Trade Act 1807 The Slave Trade Act 1807 ( 47 Geo. 3 Sess. 1. c. 36), or the Abolition of Slave Trade Act 1807, was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom prohibiting the Atlantic slave trade in the British Empire. Although it did not automatica ...

. In 1835, Lydia and her daughter received £1,706 () in slave compensation for the Willis Freeman estate following the abolishment of slavery in the British Empire. The prominence of the Byam family on the island is clear from the will her father wrote, describing the extensive estate and slaves he owned. William Byam's will, dated March 1773, left his estate in Antigua, real and personal, to the first son Edward Byam, 4,000 pounds () to son Samuel Byam, and 3,000 pounds () to daughter Lydia Byam; his wife Martha was granted the house and lands in Pembrokeshire, which was to be granted to Lydia at her death.

Personal life

Byam married Rev. Robert Sutton in 1801 in London. She died in

Swanton Morley Swanton Morley is a village and civil parish situated in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated in the heart of Norfolk 18 miles from the centre of Norwich and three miles from Dereham, at the geographical centre of Norfolk. It covers an ...

, Norfolk, on 28 January 1854, aged 86, where she had settled in 1851 following the death of her husband. Her will left her daughters Ann Hester Freeman Grounds (b. 1807) and Maria Freeman Miles effects under £600. The family maintained a practice of using her maiden name Byam as a family name, including Thomas Byam Grounds (d. 1916) (son of her daughter Ann Hester Freeman Sutton) and her great-grandson Noel Barwick Charles Byam Grounds (d.1956).

Works

It is thought that Byam may have met Henri de Ponthieu (1731-1808) who had to collect specimens for Sir Joseph Banks whilst travelling to the Caribbean in 1786-7. The plates which illustrate Byam's books were coloured by hand and her written descriptions of Caribbean plants may have been influenced by those of poet

Maria Riddell Maria Banks Riddell (née Woodley; 1772–1808) was a West Indies-born poet, anthologist, naturalist, editor and travel writer, who was resident in Scotland and Wales. Robert Burns paid tribute to her as "a votary of the Muses". Riddel was ...

(1772-1808) who met the Byam family whilst in Antigua in 1788. Byam's books were published anonymously with dedications, including one to her distant relative Elizabeth Monckton-Arundell, Viscountess Galway, the wife of

Robert Monckton-Arundell, 4th Viscount Galway Robert Monckton-Arundell, 4th Viscount Galway, PC KB (4 July 1752 – 23 July 1810) was a British politician. Early life He was the second surviving of three sons and two daughters born to William Monckton-Arundell, 2nd Viscount Galway and ...

, the daughter of Daniel Mathew and Mary Byam. * ''A collection of exotics, from the Island of Antigua'' (1797) * ''Fruits of the West Indies'' (1800) Her works are held in the collections of

Dumbarton Oaks Dumbarton Oaks, formally the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, is a historic estate in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It was the residence and gardens of wealthy U.S. diplomat Robert Woods Bliss and his wife ...

, the Royal Collections Trust and the

John Carter Brown Library The John Carter Brown Library is an independently funded research library of history and the humanities on the campus of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. The library's rare book, manuscript, and map collections encompass a variety of ...

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

Gallery

File:Byam Acacia mimosa.jpg, Acacia mimosa File:Byam Avocado pear.jpg, Avocado pear File:Byam Bombay gossipium.jpg, Bombay gossipium File:Byam Canella alba.jpg, Canella alba File:Byam Carica papaya female.jpg, Carica papaya female File:Byam Carica papaya.jpg, Carica papaya File:Byam Rocou.jpg, Rocou File:Byam Cashew.jpg, Cashew File:Byam Castor.jpg, Castor File:Byam Coffee tree.jpg, Coffee tree File:Byam Dates.jpg, Dates File:Byam Granadilla.jpg, Granadilla File:Byam Guaiacum.jpg, Guaiacum File:Byam Poinciana.jpg, Poinciana File:Byam Potato vine.jpg, Potato vine File:Byam Rose apple.jpg, Rose apple File:Byam Sea-side grape.jpg, Sea-side grape File:Byam Smooth cerasee.jpg, Smooth cerasee File:Byam Sorrel hibiscus.jpg, Sorrel hibiscus File:Byam Syringa lacinitia.jpg, Syringa lacinitia File:Byam Wythe apple.jpg, Wythe apple

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Byam, Lydia 18th-century British women artists Antigua and Barbuda women illustrators Antigua and Barbuda illustrators 18th-century births 1854 deaths 18th-century British women scientists Women slave owners Recipients of payments from the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 British slave owners

Early life, family and education

Personal life

Works

Gallery

See also

References