John Gardner Millward

1761 - 1822


Biography

John Gardner Milward was the husband of Anna Maria Elizabeth Millward of Lewisham, and father of Ann Gardner Allen (q.v.) The couple lived in Spanish Town and also owned Mount Pleasant plantation. He served as Lieutenant-General of the Militia in Jamaica.

  1. There is a family memorial in the Cathedral in Spanish-town: On the east wall of the south transept:- Sacred to the memory of JOHN GARDNER MILLWARD Esquire who died after a lingering illness which he bore with resignation and fortitude, on the 24th December 1822 in the 62 year of his age. Also sacred to the memory of THOMAS JAMES BROWN Esquire who died on 20th of April 1823 in the 33rd year of his age on his passage to England where he was going for the recovery of his health. This monument is erected by their affectionate widows ANNA MARIA MILLWARD, & ANN GARDNER BROWN. (1823.) Also to the memory of MARY KERR, MARY ANNA, and THOS. JAMES, children of THOS. JAS. BROWN and ANN GARDNER his wife, and grandchildren of the above J.G. MILLWARD. They died in their infancy. There is also a memorial to Anna Millward in the churchyard of St Mary's Lewisham: Sacred to the memory of Anna Maria Elizabeth MILLWARD relict of John Gardner Millward, Esq. of the Island of Jamaica died 24 Dec., 1836, aged 75 years. "Calm on the bosom of thy God!/Fair spirit I rest thee now!/Even while with us thy footsteps trod,/His seal was on thy brow./Dust to its narrow home beneath!/Soul to its place on high!/They that have seen thy look in death,/No more may fear to die".

  2. The Millwards appear in the correspondence of the Brodbelt family: Anna Maria Millward was the niece of Francis Rigby Brodbelt, and as living at the Mount Pleasant estate outside Spanish Town in the early 1790s.

  3. Will of John Gardner Millward Attorney at Law of Saint Catherine in the County of Middlesex, Jamaica [made in 1829] proved 02/07/1823. He left £4000 currency to his son John Millward, with his residuary estate to his wife for life and then to his two daughters Frances Brodbelt the wife of Francis Rigby Brodbelt and Ann Gardner Brown. Will of Anna Maria Millward widow of Lewisham Kent proved 10/01/1837.


Sources

  1. http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/Research/Libr/MIs/MIsLewisham/01.htm [accessed 30/03/2011].

  2. Geraldine Mozley (ed.), Letters to Jane from Jamaica 1788-1796 (London, West India Committee for the Institute of Jamaica, n.d.), for example, pp. 14, 26, 29-30, 36-39, 84-85.

  3. PROB 11/1673/28; PROB 11/1871.


Further Information

Spouse
Anna Maria Milward
Children
Frances Milward (born 1786) and Ann Gardner Milward
Occupation
Plantation owner

Associated Estates (3)

The dates listed below have different categories as denoted by the letters in the brackets following each date. Here is a key to explain those letter codes:

  • SD - Association Start Date
  • SY - Association Start Year
  • EA - Earliest Known Association
  • ED - Association End Date
  • EY - Association End Year
  • LA - Latest Known Association
1789 [EA] - 1820 [LA] → Owner

John Gardner Milward likely owned Mount Pleasant earlier than 1789. The earliest piece of evidence linking Milward to Mount Pleasant was a letter dated 12 July 1789, written by Ann Brodbelt to her daughter Jane. The Brodbelts and the Milwards were connected through marriage. Milward died in 1822 however Mount Pleasant continued to be listed as part of his 'estate' in the Jamaica Almanacs up until the 1829 edition which was based on the givings in for the 1828 March quarter. Mount Pleasant was next listed in the 1832 Jamaica Almanac, which was based on the 1831 March quarter, as under the ownership of Samuel Mendes.

1823 [EA] - 1826 [LA] → Previous owner
1767 [EA] - 1768 [LA] → Not known

The Accounts Produce were filed by the executor of John Gardner junior and the guardian of John Millward Gardner a minor as devisee.


Relationships (5)

Husband → Wife
Father → Daughter
Father-in-law → Son-in-law
Father → Daughter
Father-in-law → Son-in-law