Sir William Stapleton, 1st Baronet

In 1667, Stapleton, as an English Army officer, sailed with Sir Tobias Bridge and his regiment to Barbados, where he was granted the rank of lieutenant colonel; the governor of Barbados, Lord Willoughby, dispatched him to the Leeward Islands. The next year, he was appointed Deputy Governor of Montserrat, and in 1671 William became the first governor of the Leeward Islands. The same year, he married Anne Russell, the daughter of Colonel Randolph Russell, a military officer and plantation owner based in Nevis, which brought William into a network of locally established planter families.^[1][2]

During his time in the West Indies, William acquired several slave plantations, including the "Waterwork" plantation in Montserrat, the "Cayon Quarter" plantation on Saint Kitts (a gift to William from Philip de Nogle), the "Figtree" plantation in Nevis, and the "Carleton" plantations on Antigua. The "Figtree" plantation was granted by him to Charles Pim on behalf of the Crown in 1678, with William quickly repurchasing the estate for 400,000 pounds of muscovado sugar; the "Carleton" plantations were granted to his older brother, Redmond in 1679, though three years later William purchased them from him for 100,000 pounds of muscovado sugar.^[1][2]

On 20 December 1679, William was awarded a baronetcy by the Crown; the Stapleton baronetcy became extinct in 1995 after the 10th baronet left no male heir.^[3][2] William died in Paris in 1686, leaving complicated financial affairs behind him.^[1] Stapleton's surviving sons were James, who succeeded him as the 2nd Baronet, but died young; the baronetcy was then passed to his second son William, who became the 3rd Baronet; and Miles. He also left a daughter, Mary, who married Irish colonial administrator Sir James Fitz Edmond Cotter.^[1]