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William Priestley (Louisiana planter)
William Priestley (7 May 1771 – 1838) was the third child and second son of Dr Joseph Priestley and his wife Mary Wilkinson. He spent some time in France, before migrating to the USA in 1793, taking the oath of citizenship on 8 October 1798. In 1801 he moved to Louisiana, with the intention of establishing a school in Point Coupee Parish. Some time between 1804-7, William purchased a sugar plantation on the west bank of the Mississippi.
==William Priestley's early life and character==
William Priestley was born in Basinghall Street, Leeds, in the manse associated with Mill Hill Chapel, where his father was minister. He was educated in Bristol in John Prior Estlin's school, before spending two years at Daventry Academy, his father's alma mater, 1787-89. William Priestley was a mild-tempered and softly-spoken bohemian with long brown hair thrown back over his shoulders, and a passion for nature and music. He was a proficient flautist, who spoke French and German, studied Anglo-Saxon texts, and read Norse mythology. He carved wooden chess-pieces, and sculpted clay models of ancient temples.〔''Life of Mary Anne Schimmelpenninck'' (2 vols, London, 1858), I, 132-5, 156-8. Tony Rail, "William Priestley Vindicated, with a Previously Unpublished Letter", 'Enlightenment and Dissent', no.28 (2012), 150-195.〕 He was not inclined towards a career in commerce. His father, writing to a friend, regretted that William’s "''temper'' (of mind ) and ''high spirit'' (for life ), will hardly suit trade."〔In the eighteenth-century, ''temper'' indicated either a ''calmness of mind'', or simply ''frame of mind''; ''high spirit'' meant ''ebullience'' or ''zest for life''.〕 In this, William and his father were very much alike, for, when he was nineteen, Joseph Priestley himself, had rejected a firm offer of a career in commerce; as a minister at Needham Market, his congregation had objected to Priestley's "gay and airy disposition;" and at Nantwich he had a habit of vaulting over the counter of the grocer's shop at which he lodged.〔Anne Holt, ''A life of Joseph Priestley'' (Oxford, 1931), 7, 19.〕 Regrettably some modern historians have misunderstood contemporary word-usage, and have read the clause: "William's ''temper'' and ''high spirit'', will hardly suit trade," in a twenty-first-century idiom, mistakenly accusing William of being "''too high-spirited'' and ''hot-tempered'';"〔Robert E Schofield, ''The enlightened Joseph Priestley'' (Pennsylvania, 2004), 317.〕 and erroneously denouncing him as the "black sheep" of the family.〔James J Hoecker, Priestley pedigree, ''Price-Priestley Newsletter'', no.4 (1980), 75-8.〕
In the Summer of 1789 William accompanied his uncle William Wilkinson on a business trip through northern Europe and France, and was in Paris during the storming of the Bastille. When William Wilkinson return to England, William Priestley went on to Germany, as tutor to a family in Frankfurt.〔Rail, 151-4.〕 Despite William's disinclination towards office work, his father was prepared to pay for him to be articled to a merchant, though he baulked at the £1,000 Benjamin Vaughan had wanted.〔Priestley to Lindsey, 27 Oct 1790 (Mills).〕 In December 1790, William Russell agreed to take William on as an articled accounts clerk for three years, with a view to him looking after the Russell brothers' interests in America or France. William Priestley was working for the Russells at the time of the Birmingham riots. He insisted on remaining at home, "Fairhill", as his parents fled, initially to ensure that the kitchen fire and candles were fully extinguished. William helped round up numerous young volunteers, with whom he laboured several hours to remove as many of Dr Priestley's books and manuscripts as they could, continuing to carry books and furniture down the staircase even as the handrails, banisters and treads were being systematically demolished by the leading rioters. After the riots, William remained in Birmingham, gathering up such of his father's books and manuscripts as had survived.〔TNA, HO 42/19/418-421, 438. Rail, 154.〕
In the Autumn of 1791, William joined his father in London, where Dr Priestley was settling in to a new home in Lower Clapton, while William's mother was with his sister at Heath-forge, Wombourne; brother Joseph was working in Manchester; and brother Henry was at school in Bristol. Being Dr Priestley's only relative in London (apart from his uncle Timothy, minister at Jewin Street chapel), William helped manage the workmen carrying out numerous repairs and works, and helped his father arrange his library and set up his laboratory. William assisted in managing the household, such as it was, and looked after the dietetic needs of his father, who suffered a bowel condition throughout his adult life, with episodes of severe diarrhoea.〔Rail, 155-6.〕 The noted Unitarian benefactress, Mrs Elizabeth Rayner, was impressed enough by William's practical care and filial concern for his father, to single him out for particular mention in her will.〔PCC copy of will dated 19 Oct 1795, TNA PROB 11/1345.〕
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