Henry Drax (1693-1755)

He was educated at Eton and Magdalene College, Cambridge. His father changed their family surname from "Shetterden" to "Drax" on inheriting his uncle's - Henry Drax's - estates in Barbados. Drax Hall was the largest plantation in Barbados. Having lived briefly as a planter-merchant at Drax Hall, Henry hired 'proper persons' to act in, and do all business in Bridgetown (Barbados) while he returned to England where he was a Member of Parliament for Wareham and Lyme Regis, Dorset, from 1718 to 1755. He married his first cousin, Elizabeth Ernle, daughter of Sir Edward Ernle of Charborough House, Dorset, and heiress of both the Erle and Ernle families.