William Manning

Son of a merchant and his wife Elizabeth, daughter and heir of John Ryan, a planter and slave owner in St Kitts and Santa Cruz. His father also came from a planter family and soon after his marriage started a merchant house in Bristol, trading in West Indies. His son inherited 2/3 of the Ryan estates on Santa Cruz. Connection with Smith took him into Pitt’s circle. Staunch supporter of the government. Agent for St Vincent, leading spokesman of West Indies interests in the Commons. Campaigned for a dock to construct the dock. Provided finance for slave owners and became a slave owner himself. Promoted compensation for slave owners. Good friends with Wilberforce. Went bankrupt in 1831 and withdrew from public life. Died in 1834

Born in 1763 to William C. Manning, West Indies merchant, and his wife Elizabeth Ryan, William Manning would join Manning & Anderdon, a West Indies firm started by William C. Manning and John Proctor Anderdon, and eventually take over the firm following the death of William C. Manning in 1791. When the firm faced debts of up to £374,372 in the 1810s and 1820s, Manning would blame the British government for their ‘neglect’ of the West Indies. Manning’s own interest in the West Indies, or more so, his financial interests in the West Indies, saw him join the West India Committee and the Committee of the 25th of April, 1823, to promote slavocracy in the West Indies and protest against abolitionist arguments. Between 1792 and 1806, Manning served as 1801 and 1834, Manning served as agent for St. Kitts, and as an agent again for Grenada, between 1825 and 1831. Manning was tied to many estates across the West Indies, most notably in St. Kitts. Whilst he was the owner of Plaisance Estate in Grenada between 1817 and 1823, whilst he was the joint owner of the Bourkes, Olivees, Priddies Morns, Spooners Cayon, Spooners Nichola Town, Profit, and Turtle Island estates across St Kitts, the Morning Star and Powels estates in Nevis, the Brechin Castle estate in Trinidad, and the New Prospect estate in St. Vincent. Manning would also act as the Mortgagee-in-possession of the Johnson’s and Stone Castle estates in St. Kitts. Following emancipation, Manning would claim £2,599 for the Estridge estate in St. Kitts, whereby 158 individuals had been enslaved; this claim was not granted. His problematic pursuits continued past his work in Manning & Anderdon; following its establishment in 1839, a ‘William Mannings’ was listed as a director of the New Zealand Company, whilst it is believed Manning was a member of an organisation dedicated to colonising and establishing trading rights with New Zealand. From 1794 to 1830, Manning served as a also serve as a member of the council of King’s College London, as listed in the 1829 charter of the university.