John Collier (2 March 1769 – 28 February 1849) was a British politician. Born in

Plymouth, Devon Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

, Collier followed his father in becoming a merchant. He was brought up in the

Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

, but was ejected while in his youth, for disobeying the group's rules. Despite this, he retained many Quaker beliefs, and refused to invest in

privateer A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...

s. While young, he was said to be the first man in Plymouth to wear his hair short, which was generally thought to be a sign of sympathy for the French Revolution. By the 1830s, Collier lived at Grimstone Hall in Devon. He was a shipowner, a Lloyd's agent, and also the vice-consul for Portugal at Plymouth. He strongly backed the

Reform Act 1832 The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the Reform Act 1832, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. 4. c. 45), enacted by the Whig government of Pri ...

, organising large meetings in its support, and as a consequence, at the 1832 UK general election, he was elected as a Whig for the constituency of

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

. In Parliament, he supported shorter Parliamentary terms, secret ballots, and the abolition of monopolies. He held his seat at the

1835 Events January–March * January 7 – anchors off the Chonos Archipelago on her second voyage, with Charles Darwin on board as naturalist. * January 8 – The United States public debt contracts to zero, for the only time in history. ...

and 1837 UK general elections, then stood down in 1841. Collier also 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 ...

in Plymouth for many years, up until his death in 1849. In his spare time, he enjoyed shooting and fishing.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collier, John 1769 births 1849 deaths Councillors in Devon Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Plymouth People from Plymouth, Devon UK MPs 1832–1835 UK MPs 1835–1837 UK MPs 1837–1841 Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies