- Source: Lydia Byam
Lydia Byam Sutton (baptised 1772 – 28 January 1854) was a British botanical illustrator known for her works depicting plants from the Caribbean. Byam's career flourished during the period between 1797 and 1800. She published two works A collection of exotics, from the Island of Antigua (1797) and Fruits of the West Indies (1800) respectively. These are important for the role they played in garnering interest in botany of the Caribbean islands and the dietary and medicinal benefits they offered.
Biography
Lydia Byam was born to parents William Byam (a lawyer and member of the Privy Council in Antigua, died and was buried in St. Georges, Antigua in 1779) and Martha Rogers (daughter of Edward Rogers).
She was baptized on September 4, 1772, in Antigua.
The Byam family were slaveowners in Antigua. In 1821, Lydia owned an enslaved woman named Jenny, aged 18, and had inherited a further 18 slaves purchased by her late father, despite the Slave Trade Act 1807. In 1835, Lydia and her daughter received £1,706 (equivalent to £212,000 in 2023) in slave compensation following the abolishment of slavery in the British Empire.
The prominence of the Byam family on the island is clear from the will her father wrote, describing the extensive estate and slaves he owned. William Byam's will, dated March 1773, left his estate in Antigua, real and personal, to the first son Edward Byam, 4,000 pounds (equivalent to £642,000 in 2023) to son Samuel Byam, and 3,000 pounds (equivalent to £482,000 in 2023) to daughter Lydia Byam; his wife Martha was granted the house and lands in Pembrokeshire, which was to be granted to Lydia at her death.
Her great-grandfather Edward Byam served as deputy or Lieutenant governor of Antigua from 1715–1741.
Byam married Rev. Robert Sutton in 1801 in London. She died in Swanton Morley, Norfolk, aged 86.
Works
The books were published anonymously with dedications and a dedication to her distant relative Elizabeth, Viscountess Galway, the wife of Robert Monckton-Arundell, 4th Viscount Galway, the daughter of Daniel Mathew and Mary Byam.
A collection of exotics, from the Island of Antigua (1797)
Fruits of the West Indies (1800)
Gallery
See also
Maria Riddell
References
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