English planters & merchants: William Croydon

William Croydon owned property in Essequibo from at least as early as 1762 and was held in high regard by the governor, Storm van ‘s Gravesande:

Mr Clarke in Demerara and W. Croydon in Essequibo are honest, upright men, of much profit and advantage to the Colony, the welfare of which they have at heart. [van 's Gravesande, The Rise of British Guiana]

William Croydon's plantation on Wakenaam Island, Essequibo, can be seen in this detail from: Map of the Essequibo Colony, 1779 or 1780; Probably by A. Siraut - Destouches, Colonial Surveyor [David Rumset Map Collection].

In 1790 Croydon wrote to Thomas King of the slave trading company Camden, Calvert & King in London stating that ‘he has lost upwards of 70 capital slaves and has only 30 more goods’ [Hull Museums KINCM:2006.6923.34]. He also dealt with the Lascelles & Maxwell.

He had a 'coloured daughter' Sophia Maria Croyden, who married Jacob Belgrave in the late 1780s [The Journal of the Barbados Museum and Historical Society, Volumes 46-48].