Early Life
Gilbert Fleming was born in Shropshire c. 1689, christened on the 3
rd of August that year at
Clun. He was the 14
th son of
John Fleming and
Elizabeth Edwards2.
Career
Gilbert spent much of his time in the Caribbean, as a governor or administrator of various islands. He is said
2 to have settled in
Antigua before 1720, presumably setting up in trade of some kind.
- In 1723, Gilbert made a petition for a grant of land in St John's Town (probably Antigua), fronting St Mary's street2
- In 1727, he was returned to Assembly ("elected"?) for St Ann Sandy Point (St Kitts)2
- In 1728, he was made Receiver of all the money arising form the sale of lands in St Kitts2
- Gilbert was appointed Lieutenant General of St Christopher (later St Kitts) in 1733:
Whitehall, May 81
His Majesty has been pleased to appoint Gilbert Fleming, Esq; to be Lieutenant General of the Charibbee [Leeward] Islands in America, in the room of Wm. Mathew, Esq [the previous governor]; and likewise to appoint the said Gilbert Fleming, Esq; to be Lieutenant-General of the Island of St. Christopher's in America, in the Room of the said William Matthew, Esq;
- In 1757, a memo from Ann, his second wife, related that he has an ulcer of the face which continues to spread; he fears it is a cancer and asks for leave. The memo was received in December 1757 and he was granted 12 month's leave on the 6th of December that year.
Family Life
Gilbert married twice, first to
Katherine Fane. We know her name was Katherine, but her surname is a bit less clear. There is circumstantial evidence that she was of the Fane family:
- Their eldest son was called Gilbert Fane Fleming;
- His other son was called Scrope Joseph Fleming (Ann Scrope would have been Katherine's mother if she was indeed Katherine Fane)
- In the will of Gilbert Fleming of this page he mentions his great and worthy friend Henry Fane, who could have been Henry Fane of Wormsley.
- In the will of Gilbert's son, Gilbert Fane Fleming, the latter appoints as Executor the 'Honourable Henry Fane', who with that title would have been an MP, so probably also the same Henry Fane mentioned above
If Katherine was Henry Fane's brother, then Katherine's parents would have been
Henry Fane of Brympton and Ann Scrope, though that entry makes no mention of a daughter called Katherine.
I have found no trace of the first marriage, which must have happened before 1719, given the need to have an elder sister to their daughter Katherine.
Gilbert and Katherine had probably five children:
- ___, born before 1720, who married a William Wayne of Somerset
- Katherine, born in 1720 and baptised in Antigua March2 and who married Gabriel Wayne of Bristol
- Ann, born in 1723, baptised in Antigua on the 19th of September and who died in July 1724
- Gilbert Fane, who married Lady Camilla Bennet
- Scrope Joseph, heir to his aunt Arabella Edwards
I can't find baptismal records for the sons, or the eldest daughter, so their existence is based solely on the pedigree in footnote 2. Katherine Fane must have died by 1732, when Gilbert re-married.
Gilbert married secondly Ann Matthew, the widow of Charles Mathew of St Kitts, in 1732. They had no further issue (though she had children from her first marriage).
Death
According to
The History of Antigua2, Gilbert died on the 1
st of January 1762, in Berkshire
3. This same date is confirmed by
Musgrave's Obituaries courtesy of Ancestry.
In terms of his burial, things are slightly confusing, as there are two possible records:
- A burial record for Shropshire, on the 14th of January 1762, from Ancestry's Shropshire Extracted Church of England Parish Records
- On FamilySearch there is a burial record, for the same date (14th January 1762), but in Herefordshire, rather than Shropshire.
His will (dated April 1760, stating his place of residence as London) is described here:
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/2146645291 and in summary:
- Gives his lands known as the Salt Ponds on St Kitts, or the value derived from their sale, to his second wife Ann
- Mentions his late brother Captain Joseph Fleming, his sister-in-law Sarah and their daughter Catherine, married to Edward Stanley
- His second wife's daughter, Susannah, married to a Mr Mathew
- His great and worthy friend Henry Fane Esq4
- Cousin Richard Fleming
- His son Gilbert Fane Fleming
- His grand-daughters Elizabeth and Catherine Wayne, as well as their father (his son-in-law) Gabriel Wayne, and their brother (also Gabriel Wayne)
- The Countess Dowager of Tankerville (mother-in-law of his son Gilbert Fane)
He doesn't mention his daughter Katherine, as she'd died 18 years earlier. He also fails to mention his eldest daughter (name unknown) who married William Wayne (see entry for Gabriel Wayne, born 1715). So either they'd fallen out or she had died (or doesn't actually exist).
Note also that the surname of his second wife (
Mathew), matches the surname of the previous governor of the Leeward Isles prior to Gilbert. That's a line that could be followed, to see if she was the widow of William Mathew, or perhaps his daughter.
Footnotes
[1]
Stamford Mercury, 17 May 1733, Page 2
[2]
The History of the Island of Antigua, Vere Langford Oliver, 1894, London, pages 252-256
[3]
Gentleman's Magazine of 1762, page 45
[4] Possibly his brother-in-law, Henry Fane (1703-1777) but the latter was an MP at the time and so should have been called 'Right Hon' not 'Esq'; an alternative option is Henry Fane (1739-1802) who would have been Gilbert's nephew but was only aged 21 at the time of Gilbert's death so unlikely to be a "great and worthy friend". I think Gilbert was referring to the former (his brother-in-law) and the use of Esq. may have been an absentmindedness.
Abt 1689 - Abt 1762 (~ 73 years)
[1] 
