George Heathcote (7 December 1700 – 7 June 1768) was an English merchant and philanthropist and Tory politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

from 1727 to 1747. He was

sheriff of the City of London Two Sheriffs of the City of London are elected annually by the members of the City livery companies. Today's Sheriffs have only ceremonial duties, but the historical officeholders held important judicial responsibilities. They have attended the ...

in 1739 and

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...

in 1742.

Early life

He was born in Jamaica, the son of Josiah Heathcote, a West India Merchant of London, and his wife, Catherine, widow of Thomas Barrett of Jamaica. He was a nephew of

Sir Gilbert Heathcote, 1st Baronet Sir Gilbert Heathcote, 1st Baronet (2 January 1652 – 25 January 1733) was an English merchant and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician who sat in the English House of Commons, English and House of Commons of Great Britain, Bri ...

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 ...

and

Caleb Heathcote Caleb Heathcote (March 6, 1665 – February 28, 1721) served as the 31st Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is ...

, who served as

Mayor of New York City The mayor of New York City, officially mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The Mayoralty in the United States, mayor's office administers all ...

. He was educated at

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the Unive ...

and the Middle Temple (which he entered in 1720).

Merchant career

From 1730 to 1733 he was a director of the

South Sea Company The South Sea Company (officially: The Governor and Company of the merchants of Great Britain, trading to the South Seas and other parts of America and for the encouragement of the Fishery) was a British joint-stock company founded in Ja ...

and the Master of the Salters' Company in 1737. In 1729 he was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

Political career

From 1727 to 1734 he was Member of Parliament for

Hindon, Wiltshire Hindon is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about west of Salisbury and south of Warminster. It is in the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Hindon was a market town but is now a vi ...

and from 1734 to 1741 the MP for

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

. He served as an

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

for the Walbrook ward of the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

from 1739 to 1749, was elected a

Sheriff of the City of London Two Sheriffs of the City of London are elected annually by the members of the City livery companies. Today's Sheriffs have only ceremonial duties, but the historical officeholders held important judicial responsibilities. They have attended the ...

for 1740, and elected Lord Mayor of London in 1742. He also served in Parliament from 1741 to 1747 as the representative for the

. He was an opponent of

Robert Walpole Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford (; 26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745), known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British Whigs (British political party), Whig statesman who is generally regarded as the ''de facto'' first Prim ...

's government ministry and a follower of William Wyndham's opposition

Tory party The Tories were a loosely organised political faction and later a political party, in the Parliaments of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom. They first emerged during the 1679 Exclusion Crisis, when they opposed ...

. He was also a Jacobite, a supporter of the exiled

House of Stuart The House of Stuart, originally spelled Stewart, also known as the Stuart dynasty, was a dynasty, royal house of Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland and later Kingdom of Great Britain, Great ...

and was actively involved in the 1752 Elibank Plot to restore of the Stuart dynasty.

Philanthropic Work

Heathcote was a member of the Associates of the Late Dr.

Thomas Bray Thomas Bray (1656 or 165815 February 1730) was an English clergyman and abolitionist who helped formally establish the Church of England in Maryland, as well as the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge and USPG, Society for the Pr ...

, a philanthropic organization. After the death of Dr. Bray in 1730, the Associates petitioned to create a new colony for relief of debtors, among other purposes. In 1732, the Associates were granted a royal charter founding the

Trustees for the Establishment of the Colony of Georgia in America The Trustees for the Establishment of the Colony of Georgia in America, or simply the Georgia Trustees, was a body organized by James Oglethorpe, James Edward Oglethorpe and associates following parliamentary investigations into prison conditions in ...

. Heathcote was active in planning the colony with

James Oglethorpe Lieutenant-General James Edward Oglethorpe (22 December 1696 – 30 June 1785) was a British Army officer, Tory politician and colonial administrator best known for founding the Province of Georgia in British North America. As a social refo ...

(see

Oglethorpe Plan The Oglethorpe Plan is an urban planning idea that was most notably used in Savannah, Georgia, one of the Thirteen Colonies, in the 18th century. The plan uses a distinctive street network with repeating squares of residential blocks, commercia ...

), and he served as treasurer for the Trustees. Heathcote was a member of the Masonic Lodge at the Rummer Tavern,

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Since the early 19th century, Charing Cross has been the notional "centre of London" and became the point from which distances from London are measured. ...

and was known as the wealthiest commoner in England when he died in 1768 aged 67. He had married Maria, the daughter of John Eyles, MP, of Wiltshire; they had two sons and two daughters.

References

*Baine, Rodney M. ''Creating Georgia: Minutes of the Bray Associates, 1730-1732''. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1995. Page xvii. *Church, Leslie F. ''Oglethorpe: A Study of Philanthropy in England & Georgia''. London: The Epworth Press, 1732. Page 60. *Monod, Paul. ''Jacobitism and the English People, 1688-1788''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989. Page 229. *The Library and Museum of Freemasonry, London {{DEFAULTSORT:Heathcote, George 1700 births 1768 deaths 18th-century English merchants Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Sheriffs of the City of London 18th-century lord mayors of London English Jacobites Fellows of the Royal Society British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741