John Willett Adye (1745–1815), in later life John Willett Willett, was a British politician.
He was the second son of Stephen Adye of St Kitts and his wife Clara Payne, born 1 January 1745. He was adopted while still young by Ralph Willett, a first cousin of his mother. After education at Lincoln's Inn, he took to the gentlemanly life of a collector, following the example of his adoptive father Willett.[1]
Willett died in 1795. Adye was his principal heir, to plantations in St Kitts, and under a condition of the will took Willett as his surname. The following year he was elected as Member of Parliament for . A supporter of William Pitt the younger, he did not stand in the 1806 United Kingdom general election after Pitt's death.[1]
In later life Willett had financial troubles, and during 1813 sold collections from Merley House. He died on 26 September 1815.[1] He was a Fellow of the Royal Society and of the Society of Antiquaries of London. A monument to him was placed in the church of Canford Magna.[2]
Adye married:[1]
Sons of the first marriage included the eldest, John Willett Willett Jr., (1784–1839), declared a lunatic, and Henry Ralph Willett, a barrister, to whom the estate passed.[3] [4] [5]