William Paxton (British businessman)

[1] He was the son of John Paxton, chief clerk to Scottish wine merchant Archibald Stewart, who had become Lord Provost of Edinburgh.

[2] In 1745, when Charles Edward Stuart, "Bonnie Prince Charlie", marched down from Caledonian with his army of Highlanders to make his bid for the throne, Stewart feebly opposed him.

This allowed the quiet but arithmetically skilled boy to be schooled further, and his ship saw action with the bombardment and capture of Louisburg (French Canada) in July 1757.

The pair had speculated on shares in London, which Paxton had facilitated through his connections to allow them to undertake riskier trades, for which he took a small percentage on the sums placed.

[2] Having been sounded out by Philip Francis on a plan of currency reform in 1776, in January 1778 he succeeded Charles Lloyd as Master of the Mint of Bengal.

British expatriates had come to India to make money to enable them to live a secure and ideally wealthy retirement back in the United Kingdom.

Paxton could both assure them through the process of assay that their money was good, and then transfer the fresh Sicca rupees to bank accounts in London securely.

Non-British companies trading into India needed to either transfer cash out with their goods, risking either loss through shipwreck or piracy; or arrange payment through assayed currency in country.

[2] After the London EIC board agreed Hasting's plan, on 27 January 1785, Paxton asked permission to resign from his office as Master of the Mint, and to proceed to Europe.

Up until then, his brother Archibald had represented the business in London, but Paxton had been made aware of how large the companies trade had become, and the necessity to have direct representation.

[2] Departing the Hughli in February 1785, he made the six-month journey with his six-year-old daughter, whose mother knew the relationship would only survive in India.

Also travelling with Paxton was Welshman David Williams, a retiring Captain of the East India Company's military service.

While some simply wanted their monies placed into current accounts, or exchanged into other currencies; others trusted Paxton to trade and invest their funds in commodities, bonds, and the stock market.

Paxton employed engineer James Grier as estate manager, and surveyor Samuel Lapidge, who had worked with Lancelot "Capability" Brown, to design and landscape the gardens.

A Neo-Gothic folly erected in honour of Lord Nelson, it is situated on the top of a hilltop near Llanarthney in the River Tywi valley.

Now resident in West Wales, in the 1802 General Election he stood representing the Whig party in Carmarthenshire, against local Welsh Conservative James Hamlyn Williams.

Inexperienced in electioneering but with lots of money, Paxton's accounts show that he bought voters: 11,070 breakfasts; 36,901 dinners; 25,275 gallons of ale; 11,068 bottles of spirits; and spent £768 on blue ribbons.

It is during his period as Mayor that in 1802 he met Lord Nelson in person, and hence may have been inspired to build Paxton's Tower folly after his death at the Battle of Trafalgar.

A once thriving medieval seaport that had trade routes all over Europe, the English Civil War followed by a plague epidemic in 1650 had killed half its population.

"[2] With the Napoleonic Wars restricting rich tourists from accessing the spa resorts in Europe, the need for home-based sea bathing grew.

Engaging the team who had built Middleton Hall, engineer Grier and architect Pepys Cockerell were briefed to create a "fashionable bathing establishment suitable for the highest society."

However, although he later got passed a Bill in Parliament to enable fresh water to be piped through the town, his 1809 theatre was closed in 1818 due to lack of patronage.

This included the discovery of a chalybeate spring at Middleton Hall, his Paxton's Tower in memorial to Lord Nelson, and coaching inns developed from Swansea to Narberth.

Paxton's efforts to revive the town succeeded, and even when victory at the Battle of Trafalgar reopened Europe, the growth of Victorian Tenby was inevitable.

His wife Ann and eldest daughter Eliza were well provided for in a supplemental manner, and donations were made to several other members of the family and to a number of charitable institutions.