Lancaster (,) is a city and the county town of Lancashire, England. It stands on the River Lune and has a population of 52,234. The wider City of Lancaster local government district has a population of 138,375. The House of Lancaster was a branch of the English royal family, whilst the Duchy of Lancaster holds large estates on behalf of Elizabeth II, who is also the Duke of Lancaster. As an ancient settlement, it is marked by Lancaster Castle, Lancaster Priory Church, Lancaster Cathedral and the Ashton Memorial. It is home to Lancaster University and has a campus of the University of Cumbria.
Joseph Hewes was a native of Princeton, New Jersey, where he was born in 1730. Hewes's parents were members of the Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers. On his mother's side, Joseph Hewes was a 3rd generation resident of New Jersey. He was the 4th generation of the Hewes family to live in New Jersey. Hewes attended Princeton but there is no evidence that he actually graduated. What is known is that he became an apprentice of a merchant and in fact became a very successful merchant. After finishing his apprenticeship he earned himself a good name and a strong reputation, which would serve him well in becoming one of the most famous signers of the Declaration of Independence for North Carolina, along with William Hooper and John Penn. Hewes moved to Edenton, North Carolina at the age of 30 and won over the people of the colony with his charm and honorable businesslike character. Hewes was elected to the North Carolina legislature in 1763, only three years after he moved to the colony. After being re-elected numerous times in the legislature, Hewes was now focused on a new and more ambitious job as a continental congressman.
Myles Birket Foster was a British illustrator, watercolourist and engraver in the Victorian period. His name is also to be found as Myles Birkett Foster.
The Old Dock, originally known as Thomas Steers' dock, was the world's first commercial wet dock. The 3+1⁄2 acres (1.4 ha) dock was built on the River Mersey in Liverpool, England, starting in 1710 and completed in 1716. A natural tidal pool off the river Mersey, which probably gave its name to Liverpool centuries earlier, was partially filled and locked in from the river with quay walls erected.
Robert Gillow (1704–1772) was an English furniture manufacturer, who founded Gillow & Co.
John Okill was a pioneering and successful 18th century shipbuilder from Liverpool, England. Not much is known about his early life, though by the time he was 50 years old, he was a leading citizen of the town, having undertaken the roles of timber merchant and shipbuilder.
William Digby, 5th Baron Digby was a British peer and Member of Parliament.
Bristol, a port city in south-west England, was involved in the transatlantic slave trade. Bristol's part in the trade was prominent in the 17th and 18th centuries as the city's merchants used their position to gain involvement. It is estimated that over 500,000 enslaved African people were traded by Bristol merchants.
The Judges' Lodgings, formerly a town house and now a museum, is located between Church Street and Castle Hill, Lancaster, Lancashire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building. The building is the oldest existing town house in Lancaster, and was also the first house in Lancaster to have shutters. It was used by judges when they attended the sessions of the Assize Court.
The Custom House, Lancaster is a grade II* listed building located on St Georges Quay, Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The architect was Richard Gillow of the Gillow furniture making family. Designed in 1764 for the Port Commissioners, it was used for its original purpose until 1882 when the Customs were transferred to Barrow-in-Furness.
William Walton (1706—1768) was the son of Captain William and Mary (Santford) Walton. He followed his father into the shipping and mercantile business and became a prominent figure in the colony of New York, serving as a member of the New York General Assembly (1751–58) and of the Governor's Council (1758–68). He was one of the founders and a trustee of the New York Society Library and a member of the Board of Trade from 1758 until his death in 1768.
Abraham Rawlinson was an English politician and merchant. He came from a prominent Quaker family which traded out of the port of Lancaster. Rawlinson served as one of two Members of Parliament for Lancaster from 1780 to 1790. Abraham Rawlinson was the son of Thomas Hutton Rawlinson (1712–69), a slave trader, and his wife Mary. He took over his father's business in 1756, creating a new company Abraham Rawlinson Junr. & Co. Rawlinson was involved in the importation of mahogany, and in the slave trade.
Gillows of Lancaster and London, also known as Gillow & Co., was an English furniture making firm based in Lancaster, Lancashire, and in London. It was founded around in Lancaster in about 1730 by Robert Gillow (1704–1772).
The Lady's workbox in the Judges' Lodgings Museum, Lancaster, was made in 1808 in Lancaster by Gillows.
Richard Gillow (1733–1811) was an English architect and businessman from Lancaster. He was the son of the carpenter Robert Gillow, the founder of Gillows of Lancaster and London, a successful cabinet-making firm.
Thomas Sturge the Elder (1749–1825) was a London tallow chandler, oil merchant, spermaceti processor and philanthropist. He was a Quaker.
Peter Fenger was a Danish merchant and slave trader. He participated in the triangular trade.
William Atherton, was a merchant and wealthy landowner from Lancashire, England, who operated and co-owned sugar plantations in the former Colony of Jamaica. He was a slave owner, as well as an importer of slaves from Africa.
William Atherton, of Greenbank and Pendleton Hall, was a Preston Guild merchant and landowner. He was twice elected as Mayor of Preston; once in 1732, and again in 1738. A silk mercer by trade, he became a successful Lancashire guild merchant, woollen draper, and was an influential figure in Preston's business community, which was focused on textile manufacturing and commerce.
Lancaster Port Commission is the Statutory Harbour Authority for the Port of Lancaster. It is now based at Glasson Dock. It was set up by act of parliament to facilitate the role that the port could play in international trade, particularly the Atlantic slave trade. Many of the early commissioners were active slave traders.
