William Bulkeley (merchant)

Last updated

William Bulkeley
Occupationmerchant

William Bulkeley was a Liverpool merchant, son of Thomas Bulkeley of Anglesey, [1] who financed voyages for slave-trading, privateering, and the Greenland whale fishery. He was apprenticed to Foster Cunliffe, a merchant of Liverpool, in 1731. By 1750 he was prosperous enough to be one of the first pew-holders of St Thomas's Church, Liverpool. [2]

Bulkeley was part of a consortium of Liverpool merchants who in 1744 invested in Old Noll which they put to work as a privateer.during the War of the Austrian Succession. [3]

Between 1747 and 1756 he was part-owner of eleven slaving voyages. [4] He also co-owned many other ventures, including from 1749 the ship Golden Lion, captured from the French on the last day of 1744, by HMS Port Mahon, (Hy. Aylmer Smith, commander), which was then used as a privateer. [5] Bulkeley and his partner bought her in 1749, and fitted her out for a new career as a Greenland whaler, the first such ship from Liverpool. Under Captain Metcalf she made at least two successful voyages to Greenland. [5] Bulkeley had other interests; he also bought and sold large amounts of tobacco. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Jones (mathematician)</span> Welsh mathematician (1675–1749)

William Jones, FRS was a Welsh mathematician best known for his use of the symbol π to represent the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. He was a close friend of Sir Isaac Newton and Sir Edmund Halley. In November 1711, Jones became a fellow of the Royal Society, and later served as the Royal Society's vice-president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Liverpool</span>

The history of Liverpool can be traced back to 1190 when the place was known as 'Liuerpul', possibly meaning a pool or creek with muddy water, though other origins of the name have been suggested. The borough was founded by royal charter in 1207 by King John, made up of only seven streets in the shape of the letter 'H'. Liverpool remained a small settlement until its trade with Ireland and coastal parts of England and Wales was overtaken by trade with Africa and the West Indies, which included the slave trade. The world's first commercial wet dock was opened in 1715 and Liverpool's expansion to become a major city continued over the next two centuries.

Othello, was launched at Liverpool in 1769, possibly under the name Preston. Under the command of Captain James Johnson Othello made two voyages in the African slave trade in 1781 and 1782. She was lost at Tortola in 1783, during the second voyage.

John Dukinfield was a Bristol merchant and slave trader. Born 12 August 1677 in Bristol, he died in 1745. He had two brothers, Robert and William. A member of the family holding the Dukinfield baronetcy, he was a member of the Society of Merchant Venturers.

Michael Becher was a Bristol-born English slave trader and merchant. Becher was from an established Bristol commercial family, and he took over his father's slave trading firm

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Goore</span> English politician and slave trader (1701–1783)

Charles Goore was an English merchant, and politician, who twice held the office of Mayor of Liverpool.

Barton, Irlam and Higginson, earlier Barton & Co, was a noted Liverpool firm of shipowners specializing in the trade with Barbados in the first half of the 19th century. The three partners were William Barton, George Irlam, and John Higginson. The firm made a practice of naming several of its vessels after the partners.

Fortunatus Wright (c.1712–1757) was a British merchant and privateer, notable for his activities in the Mediterranean Sea during the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War.

William Boats (1716-1794) was a Liverpool slave trader. Boats was responsible for 157 slave voyages, over half of his slaves were sent from the Bight of Biafra to Jamaica.

William Davenport was a British slave trader who was, by the number of ships disembarked, the single most prolific slave trader from the Port of Liverpool. He took part in 163 slaving voyages and his slave ships carried almost 40,000 enslaved Africans.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Leyland</span> English slave trader and politician (1752–1827)

Thomas Leyland was an English slave trader. In 1776, he won a lottery and with his share of the winnings, he set himself up in the slave trade. Leyland bought at least 22,365 enslaved Africans and took them on his slave ships to the Americas.

Francis Ingram (1739–1815) was an English slave trader and privateer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Earle (slave trader)</span> English slave trader (1721–1788)

William Earle (1721–1788) was an English slave trader. In a career lasting 40 years he was responsible for at least 117 slave voyages and by the number of slave voyages he was the sixth most active slave trader in the period 1740–1790 from the Port of Liverpool.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liverpool slave trade</span> Involvement of Liverpool in the Transalantic Slave Trade

Liverpool, a port city in north-west England, was involved in the transatlantic slave trade. The trade developed in the eighteenth century, as Liverpool slave traders were able to supply fabric from Manchester to the Caribbean islands at very competitive prices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sir John Tobin</span>

Sir John Tobin (1763–1851) was a Manx merchant based in Liverpool. He was a merchant seaman who became a sea captain, making voyages both as a slave trader and as a privateer against French shipping. He was Mayor of Liverpool in 1819–1820. In later life he was involved in canal and railway development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Foxcroft (slave trader)</span> English slave trader (1733–1809)

Thomas Foxcroft (1733–1809) was an English slave trader. He was responsible for at least 91 slave voyages in the years between 1759 and 1792. A contemporary set of financial accounts for one slave voyage by his slave-ship Bloom has been preserved. Captain Robert Bostock, Bloom's master, bought 349 enslaved people in Africa; 42 captives died and 307 captives were sold in the West Indies for £9858. The net profit on the voyage to the owners amounted to £8,123 7s 2d, or £26 9s 2d per captive sold.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Whaley</span> English slave trader

William Whaley was an English slave trader. He was involved in at least 22 slave voyages from the Port of Liverpool, and was one of the biggest slave traders in British America. He employed two of the biggest slave traders, William Davenport and William Earle, before they became slave traders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Parr</span> English slave trader

Edward Parr was an English slave trader, apothecary and merchant of Liverpool. He was involved in 51 slave voyages, operating out of the Port of Liverpool between 1750 and 1768. Parr owned a slave ship called Briton, whose captain employed an African pirate called Captain Lemma Lemma to capture and enslave people with his war canoes. Parr was a member of the African Company of Merchants.

References

  1. Liverpool Apprenticeship Book, September 1731, William Bulkeley, son of Thomas Bulkeley, of Anglesey, in North Wales, Gent., apprenticed to Foster Cunliffe, Esq., merchant of Liverpool; International Genealogy Index, The Liverpool Memorandum Book of 1753; TSTD.
  2. SOME GLIMPSES OF LIVERPOOL DURING THE FIRST HALF OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. By Arthur C. Wardle, M.I.Ex. Read 18 November 1944
  3. Wardle, Arthur C. (1941). "The Early Liverpool privateers" (PDF). Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire & Cheshire. 93.
  4. "Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade - Database". www.slavevoyages.org.
  5. 1 2 History of the Liverpool Privateers and Letters of Marque, with an account of the Liverpool Slave Trade, 1744-1812. pp. 80-83. Gomer Williams. Reprint of the 1897 edition (William Heinemann (London) and Edward Howell (Liverpool), McGill University, Canada, 2004 ISBN   0-7735-2746-X
  6. Walsh, Lorena S. (1 December 2012). Motives of Honor, Pleasure, and Profit: Plantation Management in the Colonial Chesapeake, 1607-1763. UNC Press Books. ISBN   9780807895924 via Google Books.