Colonel Christopher Codrington (c. 1640 – c. 1698) was an English planter and colonial administrator who served as the governor of the Leeward Islands from 1689 to 1699.
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Early life
Born about 1640 on Barbados, Codrington was the son of another Christopher Codrington and probably the grandson of Robert Codrington, a landed gentleman with an estate at Dodington, Gloucestershire. His father was a royalist who had arrived in Barbados around 1640, married a sister of James Drax, a leading plantation owner, and acquired an estate in the parish of Saint John. He made a small fortune there, most of which he left to his son when he died in 1656.
Career
In 1663, Codrington and other men of Barbados bought the island of Saint Lucia from native chiefs there. While still in his twenties, he was appointed to the council of Barbados, and then as deputy governor, entrusted with day-to-day administration in the absence of the Governor. In that capacity, he set about building schools and hospitals, suppressing smuggling, and controlling excessive drinking. Codrington was married to a woman named Gertrude. His elder son, another Christopher, was born on Barbados in 1668, and then a younger son called John, who was an "imbecile." In 1669, Codrington was accused of murdering Henry Willoughby, a son of the Governor, Lord Willoughby, in the course of a dispute about Codrington's acquisition of a desirable estate on Barbados called Consetts. Willoughby died suddenly with a "violent burning of the stomach", a few hours after eating a meal with Codrington, and although no wrongdoing was ever proved, Codrington never entirely recovered his good name on the island. He began to trade outside the law and to move his investments away from Barbados.