Lucy Chester Parke

Lucy Chester Parke (January 1709 – November 1770) was a British colonial subject of Antigua who inherited the Gambles Plantation from her father. She gained note as an infant because of her illegitimacy, but was bequeathed an estate in Antigua, which she operated until her death. She spent over thirty years litigating his bequest with the American side of her father's family. Early life Lucy Chester was most likely born in January 1709, in St. John's on Antigua, as her father's will written on 29 January 1709, specified that she was an unchristened infant. She was the illegitimate daughter of Katharine (also known as Catharine) Chester, wife of Edward Chester, an influential businessman, who was the factor of the Royal African Company and a member of the Assembly of Antigua and her lover, Daniel Parke, governor of the British Leeward Islands. Katharine and Parke had been discovered, when Edward walked in on one of their lovemaking sessions. He attempted to sever ties with his wife and threw her out of the house, but was threatened at sword point by Parke. Forced to take his adulterous wife back and support her, Edward was further cuckolded, when Parke's will not only made Katharine's child his heir, but insisted that she bear the given name of his mother and take his surname to inherit. When Parke was murdered on 7 December 1710, the details of his will brought attention on the child. One of those who took note of Lucy Chester was Charles Dunbar, surveyor-general of the Leeward Islands royal customs service. Dunbar was an unsavory character, who manipulated others for his own financial gain. He came up with a scheme to marry his nephew, Thomas Dunbar, to Chester in the hopes that he could access her fortune. Chester's mother Katharine died in 1715, when Chester was around six years old and the child took the surname of Parke before her marriage. Within five years, Lucy Chester Parke married Thomas Dunbar on 10 December 1720, who changed his surname to Dunbar Parke. Inheritance and dispute Parke's will was proven on 15 May 1711, leaving all of his properties in the four Leeward islands to Lucy Chester, should she survive to her majority and take his surname, using his coat of arms. He bequeathed to his legitimate daughters, Frances Custis and Lucy Byrd all of his estates in Virginia and England, which were to pass to their children, provided that they also continue to use his surname.