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 ...
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Aldersey, Thomas (1521/2–1598), merchant
R. C. D. Baldwin
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Bamber [née Balmuth], Helen Rae (1925–2014), human rights advocate and psychotherapist
Tarnjit Birdi
Bamber [née Balmuth], Helen Rae (1925–2014), human rights advocate and psychotherapist, was born at Westminster Hospital, London, on 1 May 1925, the only child of Louis Balmuth (1887–1961), accountant, and his wife Marie, née Bader (1895–1969), a singer. At the time of her birth registration her parents, both of Polish-Jewish descent, lived at ...
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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, ...
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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 ...
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Barnato, Barnett Isaacs [Barney] (1852–1897), diamond merchant and financier
Colin Newbury
Barnato, Barnett Isaacs [Barney] (1852–1897), diamond merchant and financier, born on 5 July 1852 at Aldgate, London, was the second son of the five children of Isaac Isaacs, shopkeeper, and Leah Isaacs (said to be related to the master of the rolls, Sir George Jessel...
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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, ...
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Bates, Joshua (1788–1864), merchant and banker
John Orbell
Bates, Joshua (1788–1864), merchant and banker, was born on 10 October 1788 at Weymouth, Massachusetts, United States, the youngest of three children and only son of Colonel Joshua Bates (d. 1804), a leading local businessman, and his wife, Tirzah, née Pratt. He was educated at public schools and by the ...
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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...
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Belcher, Jonathan (1682–1757), merchant and colonial governor
Michael C. Batinski
Belcher, Jonathan (1682–1757), merchant and colonial governor, was born on 8 January 1682 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the fifth of seven children of Andrew Belcher (1648–1717), merchant and politician, and his wife, Sarah (1651–1689), the daughter of Jonathan Gilbert, Connecticut merchant and politician.
Following his father's example ...
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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...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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Britton, Thomas (1644–1714), concert promoter, book collector, and coal merchant
Douglas A. Reid
Britton, Thomas (1644–1714), concert promoter, book collector, and coal merchant, was born on 14 January 1644 at Rushden near Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire. He migrated to London where he apprenticed himself to a ‘small-coal’ (slack-coal, or charcoal) merchant near St John the Baptist's Street...
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Brown, Sir William, first baronet (1784–1864), merchant and politician
J. R. Killick
Brown, Sir William, first baronet (1784–1864), merchant and politician, was born on 30 May 1784 at Ballymena, co. Antrim, the eldest son of seven children of Alexander Brown (1764–1834), merchant, and Grace, daughter of John Davison of Drumnasole.
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Burnham, Frederick Russell (1861–1947), scout and prospector
Ian Phimister
Burnham, Frederick Russell (1861–1947), scout and prospector, was born on 11 May 1861 in Tivoli, Minnesota, the elder son of Edwin Otway Burnham (d. 1873), Congregational minister and missionary, and his wife, Rebecca, née Russell, both of English descent. The family moved to ...
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Cadell, Francis (1822–1879), riverine explorer and trader in Australia
G. R. Henning
Cadell, Francis (1822–1879), riverine explorer and trader in Australia, was born on 9 February 1822 at Cockenzie, near Prestonpans, East Lothian, Scotland, the second son of Hew Francis Cadell, a mine owner and shipbuilder. After education in Edinburgh and at Cuxhaven in Germany...
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Catto, Thomas Sivewright, first Baron Catto (1879–1959), merchant and banker
E. H. H. Green
Catto, Thomas Sivewright, first Baron Catto (1879–1959), merchant and banker, was born at Newcastle upon Tyne on 15 March 1879, the fifth son and seventh child of William Catto (1835–1885), shipwright, of Peterhead, and his wife, Isabella, daughter of William Yule, sea captain. His father had moved to ...
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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...
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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...
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Clough, Richard (d. 1570), merchant
Ian Blanchard
Clough, Richard (d. 1570), merchant, was the fifth and youngest son of Richard Clough, a Denbigh glover, who by two advantageous marriages, first to the daughter of Humphrey Holland and then to a Whittington of Chester, rose in fame and fortune. Of the younger ...