Son of Colonel Richard Hetherington b Dec 1737 (Hollins, Westmoreland, England), died Aug 1821 at Tortola and Mary Pickering born c. 1743, died 1788 (Thornton in Lonsdale, Lancashire), he was born in England (Christened in Burton in Lonsdale) and was a naval Captain.
He married Mary Bell born c. 1785 died 30 November 1819 (during a hurricane at Tortola).
Bell Ellis Hetherington (b after 1805) at Tortola married Alan Stewart c. 1840s, Alan Stewart and Bell Ellis Hetherington had at least one son, John Ellis Stewart born 1848 in Prahran, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia died 21 December 1918 in Prahran, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, (buried 23 December 1918 in St Kilda Cemetery, Melbourne, Victoria).
Hetherington was president of the council during the time of the trial of Arthur Hodge for the murder of the slave "Prosper".
In response to the submission that Hodge could not be guilty of murdering his own slave, Hetherington is reported to have submitted to the jury: