John Lewis Ricardo (1812 – 2 August 1862) was a British businessman and politician.

Early life

Ricardo was born in London in 1812. He was the eldest son of financier Jacob Ricardo and nephew of the economist

David Ricardo David Ricardo (18 April 1772 – 11 September 1823) was a British political economist, politician, and member of Parliament. He is recognized as one of the most influential classical economists, alongside figures such as Thomas Malthus, Ada ...

Career

Following the death of his father in 1834, Ricardo abandoned his plans for a career in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

and, instead, took over his father's financial firm, in partnership with his uncle, Samson Ricardo. Ricardo was Chairman of the

North Staffordshire Railway The North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) was a Great Britain, British railway company formed in 1845 to promote a number of lines in the Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire Potteries and surrounding areas in Staffordshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire and Shro ...

from 1846 until his death. In 1846, he and

William Fothergill Cooke Sir William Fothergill Cooke (4 May 1806 – 25 June 1879) was an English inventor. He was, with Charles Wheatstone, the co-inventor of the Cooke-Wheatstone electrical telegraph, which was patented in May 1837. Together with John Ricardo he fo ...

founded the Electric Telegraph Company, the world's first public

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...

company, and Ricardo served as chairman until its merger with the International Telegraph Company in 1856. He was also a director of London and Westminster Bank. Ricardo was a leader of a group of businessmen who, in 1845, purchased the patents for the electric telegraph designed by Cooke and Wheatstone. Ricardo was Electric Telegraph's largest shareholder, and its executive chairman, for its first 12 years.Mather, Francis C. "The railways, the electric telegraph and public order during the Chartist period, 1837–48." ''History'' 38.132 (1953): 40–53. His goal was to build a network that would distribute breaking financial news to his own newsrooms adjacent to all British stock exchanges—an information monopoly that would be valuable to speculators and investors. However, when the established telegraph companies formed monopolistic cartels and raised prices to newspapers, Ricardo secretly switched sides and campaigned for their nationalization.

Political career

In 1841 he was elected Member of Parliament for

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England. It has an estimated population of 259,965 as of 2022, making it the largest settlement in Staffordshire ...

as a Liberal, serving until his death. In the House, he was an advocate for free trade and was active in the repeal of the

Navigation Acts The Navigation Acts, or more broadly the Acts of Trade and Navigation, were a series of English laws that developed, promoted, and regulated English ships, shipping, trade, and commerce with other countries and with its own colonies. The laws al ...

in 1849.Fetter, Frank Whitson. "The Influence of Economists in Parliament on British Legislation from Ricardo to John Stuart Mill", ''The Journal of Political Economy'', 83 no.5 (1975) 1051–1064.

Personal life

In 1841, he married Catherine Duff (–1869), the daughter of General Sir Alexander Duff and sister of

James Duff, 5th Earl Fife James Duff, 5th Earl Fife, (6 July 1814 – 7 August 1879) was a Scottish nobleman and politician. Early life Duff was the son of Sir Alexander Duff, younger brother of James Duff, 4th Earl Fife, and Anne Stein, the daughter of James Stein o ...

. Together, they had one son: * Alexander Ricardo (1843–1871), who married Florence Campbell, the eldest daughter of Robert Campbell. Ricardo died in

West Brompton West Brompton is an area of west London, England, that straddles the boundary between the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham and Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The centuries-old boundary traced by Counter's Creek, probably marke ...

on 2 August 1862.Obituary,

The Gentleman's Magazine ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1907, ceasing publication altogether in 1922. It was the first to use the term ''m ...

(Oct. 1862) pp. 496–97.

Publications

* ''The anatomy of the Navigation Acts'', Charles Gilpin, London (1847)

References

External links

*
John Lewis Ricardo
at ThePotteries.org
The Ricardo Album
at RicardoPhotoAlbum.com 1812 births 1862 deaths

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American civil rights activist and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...

Politicians from Staffordshire Jewish British politicians Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1841–1847 UK MPs 1847–1852 UK MPs 1857–1859 UK MPs 1859–1865 {{England-Liberal-UK-MP-stub