John Stewart (Lymington MP) facts for kids

John Stewart (born 1789, died 1860) was a British politician. He was a member of the Conservative and Tory parties. Stewart was also known for supporting the continuation of slavery. He might have been the second mixed-race Member of Parliament (MP) in the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Stewart's Family Life

John Stewart was the son of John Stewart (who died in 1826) and Mary Duncan. His father was also a politician. When his father passed away, John Stewart inherited plantations in Grenada and Demerara. He also took ownership of the family home in London.

By 1830, he lived in London with his wife, Elizabeth Vincent. They had a son named William Duncan Stewart. Later, in 1848, John Stewart married Phoebe Rossiter.

Stewart's Business Ventures

After slavery was abolished in the British West Indies in 1833, John Stewart received money. He was paid about £22,486 for his Demerara plantation in Guyana. This plantation had 433 enslaved people. He kept this estate and another one called Stewartville in British Guiana.

In 1839, he bought another estate in the area. He brought workers from Madeira to work on his Annandale plantation. Stewart also managed the Hope Vale estate in Grenada. He once said he owned the "largest slave state" in Antigua between 1824 and 1826.

By the 1850s, he was a successful businessman in London. He invested a lot of money, at least £16,000, in British railways. He became a director of the British West India Company in 1846. He also joined the Demerara Railway Company committee that same year. Stewart was a director at the London and Westminster Joint Stock Bank. He was also the deputy chairman of the Universal Life Assurance Society.

Becoming a Member of Parliament

John Stewart became a Member of Parliament (MP) in 1832. He was elected for Lymington as a Tory MP. This made him possibly the first mixed-race MP in parliament. During his election campaign, he defended his past as a slave owner. He denied claims that enslaved people on his estates were treated badly.

After he was elected, he spoke in parliament against the abolition of slavery. He often spoke up for plantation owners in the West Indies. He shared concerns with other MPs who had interests in the West Indies. These concerns were about worker training and taxes on sugar.

Stewart's Political Stances

In 1834, Stewart became a Conservative MP. He voted against a plan to end worker training programs in 1838. In the 1830s and 1840s, he also opposed lowering taxes on sugar. Even though he supported free trade and the end of the Corn Laws, he sometimes voted against his own government.

His political views eventually led to his defeat in the 1847 election. Even though his political career was not very famous, he was very popular with the people he represented. People who were against mixed-race politicians found it hard to believe he was elected by an English town.