Richard Oliver Alderman of London and MP

Profile & Legacies Summary

1735 - 1784

Biography

London West India merchant, MP and absentee slave-owner of Antigua, Nevis and Grenada. He married his cousin Mary, daughter of Richard Oliver of Antigua (d. 1763).

MP for London 1770-1780, brother-in-law and cousin of Thomas Oliver of Mark Lane (q.v.) and co-owner of the Diamond estate in Grenada. Born Antigua, son of Rowland Oliver, judge and member of council in Antigua, 1753-1762.
His father Rowland Oliver is referred to as a brother-in-law in the will of Bayer Otto Bayer (signed 1736, proved in London 1738). Elsewhere in his will the testator Bayer Otto Bayer refers to an Ann Oliver as being sister to his own wife Frances: "I give to my said dear Wife and to her Sister Ann Oliver each a Suit of Mourning..." Ann Oliver b. 1711) and Frances Bayer nee Oliver were daughters of Richard Oliver of Antigua (d. 1716); Ann Oliver (b. 1711) married John Watkins in 1741.

Sources

http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/oliver-richard-1735-84 [accessed 15/12/2015]; Barker, G. (2004-09-23). Oliver, Richard (bap. 1735, d. 1784), politician. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 24 May. 2018, from http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-20730.
Will of Bayer Otto Bayer of Antigua, PROB 11/693/154; Vere Langford Oliver, History of Antigua Vol. II p. 319.

We are grateful to Rita Lamb for her assistance with compiling this entry.

Further Information

Absentee?

Transatlantic

Spouse

Mary Oliver

Oxford DNB Entry

Visit Oxford Dictionary of National Biography site

Associated Estates (4)

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

Owner

Clarke's [ Nevis ]

Alderman Richard Oliver is shown as having owned Clarkes in a note [no dates given] by C Eickelmann and D Small, [which refers to 'The History of Clarke's Estate on Nevis: From Sugar Plantation to Luxury Resort', unpublished MSS, 2001), at http://eis.bris.ac.uk/~emceee/otherwork.html [accessed 31/01/2018]. The site carries fuller details of meticulous research on other estates on Nevis.

1780 [EA] - 1784 [EY] → Joint owner

Diamond [ Grenada | St Mark ]

Joint owner with William Tooke and William Smith of Grenada, identified as such in the will of William Tooke proved 1802.

1756 [EA] - → Mortgage Holder

Morning Star Estate [ Nevis ]

- 1784 [EY] → Owner

North Sound and Olivers [ Antigua ]

Owner of Olivers which he inherited from his father Rowland Oliver in 1767 according to Vere Langford Oliver, Caribbeana Vol. I p. 192.