Aldersey, Thomas (1521/2–1598), merchant, was born at Bunbury, near Spurstow in Cheshire, the second of five sons of John Aldersey (c.1494–1554), landowner, and Anne Bird of Colton near Chester. After an education in Bunbury, probably at Chantry House, Aldersey's apprenticeship began in ...
Article
Aldersey, Thomas (1521/2–1598), merchant
R. C. D. Baldwin
Article
Baring, Alexander, first Baron Ashburton (1773–1848), merchant and banker
John Orbell
Baring, Alexander, first Baron Ashburton (1773–1848), merchant and banker, was born on 27 October 1773 (the frequently cited date of 1784 is incorrect) in Mincing Lane, London, the second child of the six sons and six daughters of Sir Francis Baring (1740–1810), merchant and banker, and his wife, ...
Article
Baring, Sir Francis, first baronet (1740–1810), merchant and merchant banker
John Orbell
Baring, Sir Francis, first baronet (1740–1810), merchant and merchant banker, was born at Larkbear, Exeter, on 18 April 1740, third of the four surviving sons and one daughter of John Baring (1697–1748) and his wife, Elizabeth Baring (1702–1766), daughter of John Vowler, a prosperous ...
Article
Barwell, Richard (1741–1804), East India Company servant
T. H. Bowyer
Barwell, Richard (1741–1804), East India Company servant, was born in Calcutta on 8 October 1741, the second of the four sons of William Barwell (1705–1769), governor of Fort William, Bengal (1748–9), afterwards a director of the East India Company, and his third wife, ...
Article
Bates, Sir Percy Elly, fourth baronet (1879–1946), merchant and shipowner
Alan G. Jamieson
Bates, Sir Percy Elly, fourth baronet (1879–1946), merchant and shipowner, was born at Beechenhurst, Wavertree, Liverpool, on 12 May 1879, the second of seven sons of Edward Percy Bates (1845–1899), who became second baronet, and his wife, Constance Elisabeth, daughter of Samuel Robert Graves...
Article
Bethel, Slingsby (bap. 1617, d. 1697), merchant and political economist
Gary S. De Krey
Bethel, Slingsby (bap. 1617, d. 1697), merchant and political economist, was baptized in Alne, in the North Riding of Yorkshire, on 27 February 1617, a younger son of Sir Walter Bethel (d. 1622), gentleman, and Mary Slingsby (1582–1662), daughter of Sir Henry Slingsby...
Article
Blackett, Sir William, first baronet (1621–1680), merchant and mine owner
Mark Blackett-Ord
Blackett, Sir William, first baronet (1621–1680), merchant and mine owner, was born on 1 May 1621 and baptized at Gateshead although his family was based at Hamsterley, 6 miles west of Bishop Auckland in the county palatine of Durham. He was the third son of ...
Article
Bowdoin, James (1726–1790), merchant and revolutionary politician in America
Eric v. d. Luft
Bowdoin, James (1726–1790), merchant and revolutionary politician in America, was born on 7 August 1726 in Boston, Massachusetts, the youngest child of James Bowdoin (1676–1747), a prosperous merchant and landowner, and his second wife, Hannah Portage (d. 1734). Known in his youth as ...
Article
Child, Sir Josiah, first baronet (bap. 1631, d. 1699), economic writer and merchant
Richard Grassby
Child, Sir Josiah, first baronet (bap. 1631, d. 1699), economic writer and merchant, was baptized at St Bartholomew-by-the-Exchange, London, on 27 February 1631, the second son of Richard Child (buried 1638 at Hackney), a merchant of Fleet Street, and his wife, Elizabeth Roycroft...
Article
Clitherow, Sir Christopher (1577/8–1641), merchant and politician
Andrew Thrush
Clitherow, Sir Christopher (1577/8–1641), merchant and politician, was the only son of Henry Clitherow (d. 1608), a merchant, of the parish of St Andrew Undershaft, London, and his first wife, Bridget, the daughter of Thomas Hewett. He was presumably descended from Richard...
Article
Cranfield, Lionel, first earl of Middlesex (1575–1645), merchant, financier, and government minister
Michael J. Braddick
Cranfield, Lionel, first earl of Middlesex (1575–1645), merchant, financier, and government minister, was born in London, the second son of Thomas Cranfield (d. 1595), a London mercer and Eastland Company merchant, and his wife, Martha (d. 1609), daughter of Thomas's master, ...
Article
Crawshay, Richard (1739–1810), ironmaster and merchant
Chris Evans
Crawshay, Richard (1739–1810), ironmaster and merchant, was born in Normanton, Yorkshire, the first child of William Crawshay (1713–1766), a farmer, and his wife, Elizabeth (1714–1774), née Nicholson. He had three sisters. According to family tradition a bitter quarrel with his father led to the sixteen-year-old ...
Article
Crisp, Sir Nicholas, first baronet (c. 1599–1666), merchant and royalist
Robert Ashton
Crisp, Sir Nicholas, first baronet (c. 1599–1666), merchant and royalist, was the son of Ellis Crisp (d. 1625) of Hammersmith (but descended from a Gloucestershire landed family), a prominent merchant, alderman, and sheriff of London in 1625, and his wife, Hester. Crisp...
Article
Cutler, Sir John (1607/8–1693), merchant and financier
D. W. Hayton
Cutler, Sir John (1607/8–1693), merchant and financier, was the son of Thomas Cutler, a member of the Grocers' Company. Early in his career he abandoned commerce for finance and specialized in lending money to impoverished landowners on the security of their estates. In this way he made a fortune and amassed considerable landed property during the interregnum, while discreetly avoiding any serious involvement in politics. In 1657 he acquired the ...
Article
Garrard, Sir Samuel, fourth baronet (1651–1725), politician and merchant
David C. Elliot
Garrard, Sir Samuel, fourth baronet (1651–1725), politician and merchant, was the sixth child and fourth son of Sir John Garrard, second baronet (d. 1686), of Lamer, landowner, and his wife, Jane (1617–1692), daughter of Sir Moulton Lambard of Westcombe, Kent, and his wife, ...
Article
Geffery [Geffrey, Geffrye], Sir Robert (d. 1704), merchant
Richard Grassby
Geffery [Geffrey, Geffrye], Sir Robert (d. 1704), merchant, came from Cornwall, but his precise ancestry is uncertain. A Robert Geffery, the son of Robert of Tredennach, was baptized at Landrake on 24 May 1613, but this may have been another member of the ...
Article
Gibbs, Henry Hucks, first Baron Aldenham (1819–1907), merchant and merchant banker
Martin Daunton
Gibbs, Henry Hucks, first Baron Aldenham (1819–1907), merchant and merchant banker, was born at Powis Place, Queen Square, Bloomsbury, London on 31 August 1819, the eldest son of the fourteen children of George Henry Gibbs (1785–1842) of Aldenham, Hertfordshire, and Clifton Hampden, Oxfordshire...
Article
Gladstone [Gladstones], Sir John, first baronet (1764–1851), merchant and politician
H. C. G. Matthew
Gladstone [Gladstones], Sir John, first baronet (1764–1851), merchant and politician, was born John Gladstones on 11 December 1764 in Leith, the eldest son of the sixteen children (four dying in infancy) of Thomas Gladstones (1732–1809), a merchant in Leith, and his wife, Nelly (1739–1806)...
Article
Hanway, Jonas (bap. 1712, d. 1786), merchant and philanthropist
James Stephen Taylor
Hanway, Jonas (bap. 1712, d. 1786), merchant and philanthropist, was baptized on 2 August 1712 at the parish church of St Thomas, Portsmouth, the second of four children of Thomas Hanway (bap. 1671, d. 1714), the navy's agent victualler in Portsmouth, and his wife, ...
Article
Hawkins, Sir John (1532–1595), merchant and naval commander
Basil Morgan
Hawkins, Sir John (1532–1595), merchant and naval commander, was born in Plymouth, the second son of William Hawkins (b. before 1490, d. 1554/5), merchant, sea captain, and shipowner, and his wife, Joan, only child of Roger Trelawny of Brightor, Cornwall.
