Portrait miniature of Henry Swinburne, watercolour on ivory, painted by Richard Crosse (1742-1810). Great Britain, ca. 1775-1780.

Portrait miniature of Henry Swinburne, watercolour on ivory, depicted half-length, with his face turned in half-profile, wearing a red jacket.

Given by John Sheepshanks, 1857

The subject of this miniature, the traveller and travel writer Henry Swinburne, illustrates the network of social and economic relations which bound Britain and the West Indies in the second half of the 18th century. Henry was born in Bristol, fourth son of Sir John Swinburne, third baronet of Capheaton, Northumberland, head of an old Roman Catholic family. By 1763 the deaths of his father, mother and eldest brother had left him financially independent and he undertook a tour of Italy. His return journey took him through Paris where he met Martha Baker. They married in 1767. Martha's father John Baker was solicitor to the Leeward Islands, a British colony in the West Indies consisting of Antigua, Barbuda, the British Virgin Islands, Montserrat, Saint Kitts, Nevis, Anguilla and Dominica. Much of the family's wealth was invested in property in the West Indies.

The couple settled in County Durham but continued to tour Europe. By 1783 Martha's property had been 'devastated and utterly laid waste by the French and Caribs' (H. Swinburne, The Courts of Europe at the Close of the Last Century, 2 vols, 2nd edn, 1895, xx). Henry appealed to the French court and was awarded, as compensation, uncultivated crown lands on the island of St Vincent (disputed territory between France and England in the 18th century, ceded to the latter in 1783) valued at £30,000. In an effort to reduce the national debt, which had assumed staggering proportions due to the rebellion of the North American colonies, Prime Minister William Pitt (the Younger) imposed heavy taxation upon uncultivated lands throughout the West Indies so as to increase cultivation. Like many owners Henry was forced to part with his property, for which he raised a mere £6,500.

In November 1891 Henry's relationship with the West Indies became more direct as he accepted the post of vendue master in Trinidad and also that of Commissioner, supervising the handover of the islands of St Croix, St John and St Thomas to Denmark. On 1 April 1803 Henry died from the effects of sunstroke in San Juan, Trinidad. He was buried there and had a monument raised to his memory by his friend Sir Ralph Woodford.

[Notes prepared for 'Uncomfortable Truths / Traces of the Trade' gallery trails (Trail 3: 'Britain & The West Indies'), 20 February - 31 December 2007. Helen Mears & Janet Browne. Largely drawn from Henry Swinburne's entry in the ODNB, 1986.]

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