William Paxton (businessman)

Sir William Paxton (1744−1824), was a Scottish-born sailor, businessman and later Welsh Member of Parliament for Carmarthen, who helped in the early Victorian age to develop the seaside resort of Tenby.

Paxton's family originated from Auchencrow near to Paxton, Berwickshire. He was the son of John Paxton, chief clerk to Scottish wine merchant Archibald Stewart, who had become Lord Provost of Edinburgh.

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. Arrested and imprisoned in the Tower of London from where, after six weeks, he was released on a bail of £15,000. Two years later, he was found "not guilty" but Stewart found his name sullied in the eyes of the Edinburgh public and decided to transfer home and business to London. Stewart resultantly moved his business and his trusted agent John Paxton to No.11 Buckingham Street, just off the Strand, where the Paxton family lived in a flat on the upper floor.

His elder brother Archibald helped his father run the Stewart wine business. Stewart's son John had made his fortune in the East India Company, before becoming an MP. On his death, John and Archibald Paxton took over the Stewart wine business. His middle brother John became a painter and artist, whose works were displayed at the Royal Academy.

John Stewart's connections into the EIC allowed William, aged 12, to join the Royal Navy as Captain William Gordon's captain's boy in November 1755, aboard HMS St Albans. 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. In 1760 he joined the new HMS Thunderer as Midshipman officer, under Captain Charles Proby.

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