EDWARDS, BRYAN (1743 to 180o), English politician and historian, was born at Westbury, Wilts., on May 21, 1743. About '759 he went to join his uncle in Jamaica, and subsequently succeeded to his estates there. He sat in the colonial assembly of Jamaica and in 1796, by which time he had finally returned to England, became M.P. for Grampound, retaining his seat till his death at Southampton on July 15 or 16, 180o. A supporter of the slave trade, he was a powerful opponent of Wilberforce. His great book is a History of the British Colonies in the West Indies (3 vols.) .
See the biographical sketch prefixed to the 18o1 edition of his History of the West Indies.