John Okill (c.1687 – 20 August 1773) was a pioneering and successful 18th century shipbuilder from

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. 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 Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in goods produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated i ...

and

shipbuilder Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other Watercraft, floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation th ...

. His yard was on the south of the Salthouse Dock, Liverpool, and over the years he would build many coasting

brigantine A brigantine is a two-masted sailing vessel with a fully square-rigged foremast and at least two sails on the main mast: a square topsail and a gaff sail mainsail (behind the mast). The main mast is the second and taller of the two masts. Ol ...

s and sloops in alliance with William Marsh. By 1739 his reputation an accomplished ship builder got him the first of many commissions by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

to build ships of the line. The first was the "Hastings", a ship of 44 guns and weighing 682 tons. He would build another eight ships between 1740 and 1758 for the navy. His shipbuilding company saw several other partners over the years: by 1758 the firm was "Okill and Rigg", and in 1768 it became "Okill & Sutton". John Okill was also a Liverpool member of the Company of Merchants trading to Africa, formed in 1750. The other merchants traded in African slaves; Gomer states that Okill's firm was "the only African Merchants not engaged in the slave trade". However, he was personally involved in five slave-trading partnerships in the last 1740s, carrying over 1,500 slaves to the West Indies. Instead he "traded in wood and teeth (the

ivory trade The ivory trade is the commercial, often illegal trade in the ivory tusks of the hippopotamus, walrus, narwhal, black and white rhinos, mammoth, and most commonly, African elephant, African and Asian elephants. Ivory has been traded for hundred ...

)". (The ivory was heavy, and the trade depended on freshly-captured

slaves Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

who were compelled to carry the

tusk Tusks are elongated, continuously growing front teeth that protrude well beyond the mouth of certain mammal species. They are most commonly canine tooth, canine teeth, as with Narwhal, narwhals, chevrotains, musk deer, water deer, muntjac, pigs, ...

s to the ports where both the tusks and their carriers were sold.) In 1747 Okill was the donor of the lease for the site upon which the origina
St Thomas's Church, Liverpool St. Thomas's Church
was built. In 1773 he started work on a manor home in

Woolton Woolton (; ) is a suburb of Liverpool, in Merseyside, England. It is an area located southeast of the city and bordered by Allerton, Gateacre, Halewood, and Hunt's Cross. At the 2011 Census, the population was 12,921. Overview Originally a ...

called Lee Hall. He died later that same year, with work on the building completed by his inheriting nephew, James Okill. There were problems associated with the disposal of John Okill's estates, requiring an Act of Parliament in 1784, (24 Geo. 18III, c. 1)The

Chronological Tables of the Private and Personal Acts The Chronological Table of Private and Personal Acts is a list of private acts and (public) personal acts passed by the Parliament of England, the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 1539. The table was produc ...

br>Part 20 (1783-1794), Acts of the Parliaments of Great Britain
, accessed 11 September 2007 to enable the trustees to dispose of certain of them. James and his inheritors, the Dutton family, helped to plan and layout what would become

Gateacre Gateacre (; ) is a suburb of Liverpool, England, located approximately south of the city centre. It is bordered by the suburbs of Belle Vale, Childwall, and Woolton. The area is noted for its Tudor Revival architecture and contains over 100 l ...

. There was a monumental inscription to him at the original

St Peter's Church, Liverpool St Peter's Church was the Anglican pro-cathedral and parish church of Liverpool. It was erected in 1700, consecrated on 29 June 1704, and demolished in 1922. It was located on Church Street. Its location is now marked by a bronze Maltese cross ...

, demolished 1922. Lee Hall was torn down sometime after 1971. His commercial

Day Book Day Book may refer to: * ''The Day Book'', a newspaper in Chicago 1911–1917 * ''Weekly Day Book'', a newspaper which primarily existed to propagate white supremacist ideas, 1848–1879 * General journal, or day book **a day book in bookkeeping ...

for 1752 – 1753, listing the daily transactions relating to his shipbuilding business can be found at the Liverpool Record Office and Local History Service.

References

External links

The National Archives - Details of entry GB/NNAF/B19708 (Okill's Day Book), accessed 11 September 2007

References

External links

Further reading