More evidence of the Robley's Family's claims to several Robley Tobago Estates:
The last codicil to his will is dated the 28th of October 1821. and
he makes final provision for his Tobago family and formally recognises
Eliza by giving her his surname Robley. He had a very real concern for
his Tobago family and the elaborate provisions for their welfare after
his death are a testimony to this.
John
died in 1821 at the age of 47 years. The cause of his death is not
known. He died in Tobago on the 3rd. November, 1821. His will was
'Proved' in London in 1824 and in the presence of his executors
including his mother, Anne and his brother, George. John's will goes
into tremendous detail as to how his estate and effects were to be
distributed. In all, it fills 25 pages in the Public Records Office.
Nevertheless it is significant that it was to give rise to Litigation.
One issue was between John Horatio and the Executors and Trustees
and a second between John Horatio Robley and Phillis Aida Robley ie.
his son and heir and his 'natural' daughter. The list of those
associated with the litigation is quite extensive and included: Caroline
Robley, his widow, George and Henry Robley, his brothers, Fanny Anne,
his sister and her husband Benjamin Frend, his sister Adelaide and her
husband Digby Marsh and their children, Adelaide the Younger, Willoughby
Digby, Saint Vincent, and Horatio Marsh, John's father-in-law william
Blake and his son, William John. Included also were Phillis Aida
herself, her husband, Joseph Stancomb and James Cunningham, who was
John's Executor and trustee of his will, as well as guardian and trustee
for Phillis Aida and John's other children including his daughter Sybil
John Horatio's position put to the court was broadly as follows:
John Robley in 1821 was largely indebted on mortgages and other
securities. Between 1821 and 1837 his executors and trustees were
heavily involved in collecting together his personal estate, and
effects, and applying the money so gained to paying off debts, and
minimizing the interest bill as far as possible. They had also settled
litigation with John's partner and brother-in-law, Charles Brooke.
Because of the disputes, litigation and embarrassed state of the West
Indies property, the trustees were not in a position to pay debts,
annuities and legacies. However, by 1837 the trustees had received, on
account of the real estate, several large amounts of money, more than
twice the amount required to satisfy the debts and more money could be
anticipated. John Horatio claimed that it was the intention of the
trustees to apply this to paying the annuitants and legatees in
proportion to that specified in the will and codicils.
He asserted that John's natural daughters, Phillis Aida and Sybil,
were each entitled to 5,000 pounds, plus interest, according to the will
and codicils. Both, however, claimed to be entitled to receive an
annuity of 100 pounds per annum and four separate legacies, totalling
10,000 pounds each, together with interest and arrears from the time of
John's death in 1821. It seemed that the sisters also claimed that they
were entitled to have the proceeds of the Goldsborough and Goodwood
estates applied to the payment of their legacies of 5,000 pounds and
5,000 pounds, given by the codicil of 1819, as well as the interest on
the later in preference to any other legacies given under John's will
John Horatio claimed it was the intention of the trustees to pay the
sisters the amounts that they claimed, but that there were insufficient
funds arising from the Golden Grove, Friendship and Cove estates, as
well as the rents and profits from other real estate to meet all the
demands including the remaining legacies under John's will. He disputed
the decision, by the trustees, that the considerable sums of money
currently in their hands, and arising from the Goodwood and Goldborough
estates, should be applied to paying any part of the 20,000 pounds, plus
interest, to the Tobago sisters while other legacies etc. remained
unpaid. He disputed the sisters claims, particularly, as far as the
amounts claimed ie. he asserted that the legacies be restricted to 5,000
pounds each. He confirmed the others as party to the dispute and drew
attention to the amounts that could be owing to the Attorney General
with respect to legacies payable to John's daughter, Clara, now
deceased.
There was a second argument in that the original codicil to John's
will, drawn up in 1818, contained the names of his first two children,
by Eliza McKenzie, Edward and William Robley. When Edward and William
died, John substituted the names of Phillis Aida and Frederick in their
place. It was claimed, by John Horatio that this was done without being
attested and executed as required by law.
He was seeking also to restrain the activities of the remaining
trustees ie. his mother, Caroline Robley, William Blake, James
Cunningham and George Robley, his brother, from selling any more real
estate. He claimed that sales already made, rent profits etc. were
sufficient to satisfy the annuities and legacies bestowed by his late
uncle, Joseph Robley and his father John. There was enough also to
cover any other debts, including the 5,000 pounds legacies to Phillis
Aida and Sybil Robley, which were already admitted.
How John Horatio's siblings viewed this litigation is not recorded.
In later years, however, his daughter Anna, in a letter, described him
as having cut himself off from the rest of the family. Also, in a
letter to John Robley, in Cheltenham in October 1844, his wife, Augusta
Robley, wrote:
"Captain Robley has never recovered
the shock of his mother's death, But I hope the beautiful climate (of
Madeira) will restore him."
It is very doubtful if this litigation was well received. In effect,
John was taking action to frustrate the endeavors of the trustees,
which included close family members, to settle the estate.
How John's Estates fared after his death is not known but the British
Parliamentary fiat of 31st. July 1834 effectively abolished slavery in
the Caribbean and freed 776,000 slaves on British owned plantations.
This would have had a devastating effect on the profitability, if not
the very existence, of the Robley Estates already harried by debt and
mortgages and which must have fallen into total despair when the freed
slaves left. Estate and plantation land, throughout the West Indies,
was eventually to be resumed by the British Crown.
There is a flourishing 'clan' of Robleys in the Island of Tobago
today, which must have a connection to John Robley either through blood
or association with his Estates. We do know, though, that John left no
male offspring from his relationship with Eliza MacKenzie. There remain
2 sugar mills at Golden Grove, and 2 mills at Friendship which have
been converted into houses.
James Cunningham left the West Indies some time after the death of
John Robley.He is listed in Pigot's Directory of 1830 as being
"Merchant, West Indies", and his address is 7, Queen's Square, Bristol.
He is mentioned again in 1837 in Robson's Commercial Directory together
with Henry Robley, again as "Merchant, West Indies" at 8, Queen's
Square, Bristol.
John Robley never saw his son Henry Robley, as he left for Tobago before Henry was born, and never returned.
There is a record of the marriage of a "Sybill Robley" in Clifton, in
June 1859. She may be the daughter of Henry, although there is a
strong possibility that she was his half sister from Tobago. The
coincidence of this rather unusual name is thought provoking! At the
time of the litigation she would have been about 19 years of age, and
therefore under the guardianship of James Cunningham. Her sister,
Phillis Aida was already 21, and married, and therefore outside the
guardianship. It is not unreasonable to suppose that she may have been
brought to England, from the West Indies, by James and after the Court
proceedings were resolved, remained with him in Clifton, Bristol.
George Robley survived his brother, but it is doubtful if he remained
long in Tobago. As a trustee of John's estate, he must have found John
Horatio's litigation quite distasteful! Certainly he was in England
and involved in the sale of 'Fleetwood' in 1827. In his will dated 1840
he left most of his property to his housekeeper, Elizabeth Tracy, and
his share of Walton House to his mother Ann. His sister Anne, to whom
'Fleetwood' had been left by her father, may have died prior to 1827, or
else a massive decline in the family fortunes made the sale a
necessity.
Brother
Joseph married Mary Wilson and nothing more is known of him other than
he was admitted to Trinity College, Cambridge as a pensioner (he paid
his own fees) on 30th. September 1805, graduated Bachelor of Arts 1810
and was admitted at the Middle Temple on 23rd. January, 1812 (Inns of
Court). He predeceased his brother George.
John's sister, Marianne (Mary Anne) married Charles Brooke in Stoke
Newington and Martha Elizabeth a Mr. Grice. Little is really known of
the remaining sisters other than through the will of Caroline Frances
Robley in 1820. She ends this document by saying
"To
my brothers I have nothing to leave but I hope to them and all my
sisters my past conduct has been such as only to leave a pleasing regret
in their remembrance".
Similarly, Olivia Henrietta Robley, in her will of 1812, stated:
"To
my brothers and sisters I have nothing to leave, but the hope that I
have earned their lasting esteem through my respect and affection."
Olivia left her interest in Studly Park Estate in Tobago to her
mother, Ann, and the 3,000 pounds inherited from her uncle, Joseph
Robley, to Charles Dubois, the Younger, begging him to accept it as a
token of her attachment!
John's wife, Caroline, inherited the house in Russell Square and her
will ,dated 1843, shows her living in Tiverton in Devon. She died the
same year.
John's son, John Horatio became a Captain in the East India Company
and was thence to become a Merchant and Ship's Chandler on the Island of
Madeira, although in the proceedings of the litigation with Phillis
Aida he is said to be of
"Nice, in the Kingdom of Sardinia".
Daughter Adelaide married Captain Digby Marsh RN (later to become
Admiral). Their son, Colonel (RE) Willoughby Digby Marsh's daughter,
Anne Adelaide Caroline, was to marry Hugh Aglionby Shore the 6th. Baron
Teignmouth. The Marshes had two other sons named Saint Vincent and
Horatio, no doubt after Lord Nelson and his famous victory.
Henry
Robley married and lived at Clifton, Bristol. Daughter, Fanny Anne,
married Benjamin Friend. John's cousin, Paul K. Smith, who was living
for a time in Tobago, and who was mentioned in the codicils to the 1808
will, was nominated as trustee by John but in fact never acted in any
legal capacity. He refused to be trustee or guardian to either Phillis
Aida or Sybil, nor was he involved in any way with the trusts.
John Robley. Lesmurdie, W. Australia. August, 2002
