Sir John Woolmore KCH FRS (1755 – 2 December 1837) was an English mariner. He served as chairman of the East India Docks Company, and was deputy master of

Trinity House The Corporation of Trinity House of Deptford Strond, also known as Trinity House (and formally as The Master, Wardens and Assistants of the Guild Fraternity or Brotherhood of the most glorious and undivided Trinity and of St Clement in the ...

. He was also (briefly) a Member of Parliament.

Mariner

Woolmore was born in

Whitechapel Whitechapel () is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. It is the location of Tower Hamlets Town Hall and therefore the borough tow ...

. Little is known of his life before he went to India in 1768, aged 12, aboard the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

ship, the ''Granby'', returning to England in 1770. He joined the Marine Service of the East India Company, and was a midshipman on the Company's ships ''Duke of Richmond'' and ''Stormont'', and then

second mate A second mate (2nd mate) or second officer (2/O) is a licensed member of the deck department of a merchant ship holding a Second Mates Certificate of Competence, by an authorised governing state of the International Maritime Organization (IMO). ...

on ''Earl of Chesterfield''. He served as second mate on ''Harcourt'', trading to America from 1774 to 1777, with a brother as

third mate A third mate (3/M) or third officer is a licensed member of the deck department of a merchant ship. The third mate is a watchstander and customarily the ship's safety officer and fourth-in-command (fifth on some ocean liners). The position i ...

. He married his first wife, Margaret Wickham , in December 1778. He was third mate on the East India Company ship from 1779 to 1781, and was then second mate on ''Earl of Chesterfield'' from 1781.

Shipowner

Woolmore remained in India in 1782 to become the captain of a " country ship", a privately owned merchant vessel, and then became part-owner and commander of a ship trading between India, Malaya, and China. He made two voyages between England and China as captain of ''Earl Talbot'' from 1788 to 1791. His first wife died in December 1788, and Woolmore married his second wife in January 1790. Harriet Turner was the daughter of John Turner, and sister of Charles Hampden Turner. Woolmore went on to own or part-own seven merchant vessels trading in the East Indies – ''Earl of Wycombe'', ''Earl Howe'', ''Admiral Gardner'', ''Lord Duncan'', , ''Harriett'' and ''Huddart''. He was a partner of

Sir Robert Wigram, 1st Baronet Sir Robert Wigram, 1st Baronet (30 January 1744 – 6 November 1830) was a British merchant shipbuilder and Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons of Great Britain and of the United Kingdom between 1802 and 1807. Background Wigram was ...

. He also became a partner with his brother-in-law Charles Hampden-Turner and

Joseph Huddart Joseph Huddart FRS (1741–1816) was a British hydrographer, engineer and inventor. He surveyed harbours and coasts but made a fortune from improving the design and manufacture of rope. He was highly regarded in his time, and his likeness feat ...

in a business producing rope and cordage. He had given up his commercial interests in East India shipping and his stock in the East India Company before 1813.

East India Docks Company and Trinity House

Woolmore was deputy chairman of the East India Docks Company from 1803 to 1819, 1822 to 1824, and 1827 to 1892, and acting chairman in 1826–7, 1830–1 and 1834–5. Roads near the docks are named after individuals connected with the company, and Woolmore Street in Poplar is named after him. He became an elder of

in 1803, and was deputy master of Trinity House from 1825 to 1834. He was a director 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 ...

from 1811, and became 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 ...

in 1830.

MP

With William Jacob, he served as one of two Members of Parliament for Westbury, Wiltshire, from 1806 to 1807, having purchased the seat from the trustees of

Montagu Bertie, 5th Earl of Abingdon Montagu Bertie, 5th Earl of Abingdon (30 April 1784 – 16 October 1854), styled Lord Norreys until 1799, was an English peer. Background Bertie was the third son of Willoughby Bertie, 4th Earl of Abingdon, and Charlotte Warren, a daughter of Pe ...

. He stood unsuccessfully for St Ives in the 1807 general election.

Later life

He was a friend of

William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded hi ...

, and became a

knight bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

in March 1834 and a Knight Commander of the

Royal Guelphic Order The Royal Guelphic Order (), sometimes referred to as the Hanoverian Guelphic Order, is a Kingdom of Hanover, Hanoverian order of chivalry instituted on 28 April 1815 by the Prince Regent (later King George IV). It takes its name from the House ...

(KCH) later in 1834. He died in London on 2 December 1837 and was buried at St. George the Martyr Cemetery,

Brunswick Square Brunswick Square is a public garden and ancillary streets along two of its sides in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden. It is overlooked by the School of Pharmacy and the Foundling Museum to the north; the Brunswick Centre to the we ...

, renamed

St George's Gardens St George's Gardens is a public park in the King's Cross area of the former parish and borough of St Pancras, in the London Borough of Camden. History Its land was originally bought in 1713 to provide a joint burial ground for St George's Blo ...

.The Monumental Inscriptions of Middlesex Vol II - Cansick 1872. He left most of his property to his wife Harriet (1762 - 1845) and her brother. No children are known. He is said to have been one of the last men in London society to wear a

pigtail A woman with long pigtails and braids. In the context of hairstyles, the usage of the term pigtail (or twin tail or twintail) shows considerable variation. The term may refer to a single braid, but is more frequently used in the plural ("pi ...

References

Biography
The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1790–1820, ed. R. Thorne, 1986

Royal Museums Greenwich

Mariners-l.co.uk

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Woolmore, John 1755 births 1837 deaths Members of Trinity House British East India Company people Fellows of the Royal Society Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1806–1807