Bryan Edwards, FRS (May 21, 1743 – July 15 or 16, 1800) was an English politician and historian born in Westbury, Wiltshire. Edwards supported the slave trade, and was described by abolitionist William Wilberforce as a powerful opponent.
Edwards' father died in 1756, and his maintenance and education were undertaken by his maternal uncle, Zachary Bayly, a wealthy merchant in Jamaica. About 1759 Edwards joined his uncle there and Bayly engaged a p...
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Bryan Edwards, FRS (May 21, 1743 – July 15 or 16, 1800) was an English politician and historian born in Westbury, Wiltshire. Edwards supported the slave trade, and was described by abolitionist William Wilberforce as a powerful opponent.
Edwards' father died in 1756, and his maintenance and education were undertaken by his maternal uncle, Zachary Bayly, a wealthy merchant in Jamaica. About 1759 Edwards joined his uncle there and Bayly engaged a private tutor to complete the boy's education. When Bayly died Edwards inherited his wealth, and in 1773 also succeeded to the estate of another Jamaica resident named Efume.
Edwards soon became a leading member of the colonial assembly of Jamaica, but in a few years returned to England. In 1782 he tried and failed to secure a seat in parliament as member for Chichester. He was in Jamaica again from 1787 to 1792. He then settled in England as a West India merchant, making another futile attempt to enter parliament in 1795, this time standing in...
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