Beeston Long (4 February 1757 – 1820), of Combe House,

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, was an English businessman.

Life

He was the son of Beeston Long, a West India Merchant and deputy Governor of the

Royal Exchange Assurance Corporation The Royal Exchange Assurance, founded in 1720, was a British insurance company. It took its name from the location of its offices at the Royal Exchange, London. Origins The Royal Exchange Assurance emerged from a joint stock insurance enterpri ...

, and brother of

Charles Long, 1st Baron Farnborough Charles Long, 1st Baron Farnborough, (2 January 1760 – 17 January 1838) was an English politician and connoisseur of the arts. Early life Born in London, he was the fourth surviving son of West Indies merchant Beeston Long and his wife Sar ...

and Samuel Long. Long was a senior partner of the firm of West India merchants (largely trading with

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

), Long, Drake & Co, based in Leadenhall Street. He succeeded his father-in-law as Chairman of the West India Merchants. He was a vice-president of the

London Institution The London Institution was an educational institution founded in London in 1806 (not to be confused with the British Institution for Promoting the Fine Arts in the United Kingdom founded the previous year, with which it shared some founders). It ...

and leader of a group of merchants and speculators who, in a private venture, undertook the construction of the docks at

Wapping Wapping () is an area in the borough of Tower Hamlets in London, England. It is in East London and part of the East End. Wapping is on the north bank of the River Thames between Tower Bridge to the west, and Shadwell to the east. This posit ...

. The London Docks Company had a 21-year monopoly to unload all vessels entering the port with tobacco, rice, wine and brandy (except from the East and West Indies). Long and the other directors sat in the London Dock House, in New Bank Buildings, from where they oversaw their involvement in the

transatlantic slave trade The Atlantic slave trade or transatlantic slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of Slavery in Africa, enslaved African people to the Americas. European slave ships regularly used the triangular trade route and its Middle Pass ...

. He was

Governor of the Bank of England The governor of the Bank of England is the most senior position in the Bank of England. It is nominally a civil service post, but the appointment tends to be from within the bank, with the incumbent choosing and mentoring a successor. The governor ...

, a position he held from 1806 to 1808, having served previously as its Deputy Governor. In June 2020 the Bank of England issued a public apology for the involvement of Long, amongst other employees, in the

slave trade Slave trade may refer to: * History of slavery - overview of slavery It may also refer to slave trades in specific countries, areas: * Al-Andalus slave trade * Atlantic slave trade ** Brazilian slave trade ** Bristol slave trade ** Danish sl ...

following the investigation by the

Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slave-ownership The Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery, formerly the Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slave-ownership, is a research centre of University College, London (UCL) that focuses on revealing the impact of Slavery ...

at UCL. Long died in 1820, survived by his wife and two children.

Family

Long married in 1786 Frances Louisa, eldest daughter of

Sir Richard Neave, 1st Baronet Sir Richard Neave, 1st Baronet (22 November 1731 – 28 January 1814) was a British merchant and a Governor of the Bank of England. Life Neave was the son of James Neave and Susanna Trueman. He developed considerable interests in the West Indies ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Long, Beeston 1757 births 1820 deaths English bankers Governors of the Bank of England Merchants from the British West Indies Beeston Deputy governors of the Bank of England

Life

Family

Further reading

Notes