Walter Maynard the elder

Owner of Gingerland estate on Nevis until his death c. 1804. It was recorded that he first brought the mango to Nevis from the island of Bourbon (now Réunion), following a trip to Madras in 1770.

1. Born March 1739, son of William Maynard of Nevis (q.v.). Walter Maynard was buried in Marylebone, London, 09/07/1804.

2. Will of Walter Maynard of Island of Nevis but in England [made 28/02/1804] proved 12/07/1804. He left the Gingerland estate to his three sons (Walter Maynard in Nevis and William and James residing with him in England) subject to an annuity of £350 p.a to his wife Frances Maynard and £500 each to his daughters Frances, Elizabeth (the wife of William Pemberton), Ann and Sally. He had, he said, 'expended a very large amount of money' on the New River estate, the property of the assigns of Messrs Lane Son and Fraser, on the promise that he would be the purchaser, and made the proviso that if his son Walter Maynard completed the purchase of the New River estate, Walter Maynard the son would forego his share of Gingerland. Walter Maynard the elder left his house on Gingerland to his wife's use for life, together with 'the use of my household negroes now consisting of about twenty men, women and children as far as I can recollect' until her death, when they 'and their increase' were to be divided equally among his sons and daughters share and share alike. He noted that whereas Elizabeth Butler of Nevis widow of John Butler of Nevis had left £1500 to his (Walter Maynard's) son John Butler Maynard secured on the estate called Butlers or Butler Grove on Nevis now in the possession of Henry Rawlins, and John Butler Maynard had since died, the money was still due to Walter Maynard's wife Frances, and Walter Maynard ordered it to be paid to her and upon her death her daughters. Finally, he instructed that his 'infant' sons should open a Chancery suit against his executors immediately after his death to better protect their inheritance.

Transactions of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts (1786), pp. 220-21. Available through Googlebooks: https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=SkjUF5FvtsEC&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&hl=en&pg=GBS.PA220.

1. Birth information by email from Jonathan Spencer Jones, 02/06/2020; Ancestry.com, London, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 [database online].

2. PROB 11/1411/153.

We are grateful to Jonathan Spencer Jones for his assistance with compiling this entry.