Robert Hibbert of Chalfont Park and Birtles Hall

Robert Hibbert was the third son of Robert Hibbert (1717-1784) and Abigail Hibbert née Scholey. Born in Manchester, Robert was sent to join his uncle Thomas’ (1710-1780) merchant house in Kingston, Jamaica in 1771, following the death of his elder brother John (1748-1770). Robert’s brother Thomas (1744-1819) had been living on the island since 1766. The Hibbert merchant house was involved with both slave factorage and the supply of credit. Robert kept a diary throughout his time in Jamaica, covering the period 1770-1802. When Robert’s uncle Thomas died his vast estate was divided between Robert, his elder brother Thomas and their cousin Thomas (1761-1807).

Robert married Letitia Nembhard, the daughter of John Nembhard M.D. in 1785. The union between the Hibberts and the Nembhards was confirmed by the marriage of Robert’s cousin, also Robert (1769-1849), to Elizabeth Nembhard in 1792. The Nembhards owned a 300 acre estate in St. Mary’s parish called Konigsberg. Robert and Letitia had six surviving children. Robert purchased property in Jamaica including Albion located fifteen miles east of Kingston in what was St. David and Great Valley. Robert served as a Justice of the Peace for Kingston, St. George’s and St. Mary’s in 1783.

Robert Hibbert purchased Birtles Hall in Cheshire, four miles west of Macclesfield in 1791. The original house was demolished and a new one built for the Hibberts. Birtles remains a grade II listed property although its interior has now been transformed into six luxury apartments. English Heritage have described some of the key features of the property which include a Welsh slate roof, carved classical panels between each pair of windows, an Ionic porch and a balustraded parapet with the Hibbert coat of arms. Robert’s diary contain many references to the improving works on the land and house.

In 1798 he purchased Pains Hill in Surrey. The house had previously been owned by Charles Hamilton, the youngest son of the Earl of Abercorn and the great uncle of William Beckford. The land comprised of 230 acres. Hamilton had landscaped the garden and the features included ‘a 14-acre lake fed from the river by a large waterwheel, a Grotto, the Chinese Bridge, a ruined Abbey, Robert Adam’s Temple of Bacchus (1761), the Mausoleum, the castellated Tower, the Turkish Tent, and a vineyard.’ The temple of Bacchus ‘formerly contained a celebrated antique colossal statue of Bacchus of great merit, which is said to have cost £3,000. It was afterwards purchased by Mr. Beckford, and removed to Fonthill.’ Robert only kept the house for four years before selling it on to William Moffat M.P. a London banker and East India Company stockholder. Robert had previously offered the estate to his cousin Robert Junior (1769-1849) for the sum of £27,000, giving a rough estimate of what Moffat would have been likely to have paid. On Robert’s death in 1835 he left the staggering sum of £250,000 in personalty. Birtles Hall was left to Robert’s eldest son Thomas (1788-1879).

Katie Donington, 'The Benevolent Merchant? George Hibbert (1757-1837) and the Representation of West Indian Mercantile Identity' (PhD thesis, University College London, 2013).