Edward Hamlyn Adams (30 April 1777 – 30 May 1842) was a British lawyer, slave contractor and politician.
Early life Adams was born on 30 April 1777 in Kingston, Colony of Jamaica (present-day Jamaica) to William Adams and Elizabeth Anne Adams (). Adams had at least one older brother who died during childhood. Educated in England, Adams returned to Jamaica to study law.
Career In 1807, Adams became a partner at the counting house in Atkinson, Mure, and Boyle. Owned by Alexander Lindsay, 6th Earl of Balcarres, Adams contracted slave-labour on behalf of the Earl to both the army and the civil government in Jamaica. Later entering into a business partnership with Robert Robertson, Adams contracted enslaved people into the Army. Adams also managed the coffee plantations of the 6th Earl of Balcarres in his absence.
In 1824, Adams purchased the Middleton Hall Estate (present-day site of the National Botanic Garden of Wales) in Llanarthne. A Justice of the peace for Carmarthenshire, Adams served as the High Sheriff of Carmarthenshire in 1831. From 1832 to 1834, Adams was a member of Parliament for Carmarthenshire. Adams purchased the 'Lord Nelson' inn (present-day 'Abadam Arms') in Porthyrhyd, Carmarthenshire, which was attacked in the Rebecca Riots.
Personal life
In 1796, Adams married Amelia Sophia Adams (née MacPherson) with whom he had five children. Adams was the grandfather of Eugene Lee-Hamilton, Vernon Lee and Alice Abadam.
On 30 May 1842, Adams died at Middleton Hall Estate aged 65.
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