Thomas Hughan ( – 29 October 1811) was a Scottish slave trader, merchant and politician affiliated with the

West India Dock Company The West India Docks are a series of three docks, quaysides, and warehouses built to import goods from, and export goods and occasionally passengers to, the British West Indies. Located on the Isle of Dogs in London, the first dock opened in 1802 ...

Early life

Hughan was born in Burns,

Kirkmabreck Kirkmabreck is a civil parish in the historic county of Kirkcudbrightshire in the Dumfries and Galloway council area, Scotland. Situated in the historic Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, and centred on the small town of Creetown on the east bank of ...

Kirkcudbright Kirkcudbright ( ; ) is a town at the mouth of the River Dee, Galloway, River Dee in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, southwest of Castle Douglas and Dalbeattie. A former royal burgh, it is the traditional county town of Kirkcudbrightshire. His ...

. He was the eldest son of Margaret ( Gerran) Hughan and Alexander Hughan, a merchant from

Creetown Creetown (, ) is a small seaside town in the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, in Galloway in the Dumfries and Galloway council area in south-west Scotland. Its population is about 750 people. It is situated near the head of Wigtown Bay, west of C ...

. He had one brother, Alexander Hughan, who died 30 March 1810. His sister, Jane Hughan, married James Dalzell of

Armagh Armagh ( ; , , " Macha's height") is a city and the county town of County Armagh, in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Primates of All ...

Career

During the late 18th century, Hughan spent 12 years in

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 ...

working for the slave-trading

, returning to London around 1797. He continued working for the Company and was promoted to Director in 1803, and to Deputy Chairman in 1805. He also served as founding member and Director of the Imperial Fire Insurance Company. Hughan served as a Member of Parliament twice, for the constituency of

East Retford East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sunrise, Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact ...

from 1806 to 1807, and for

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

from 25 July 1808 to 29 October 1811. On 27 February 1807, he used his maiden speech 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 ...

to protest against the proposed abolition of the slave trade, stating that the bill was ''"fraught with ruin to the colonies and to the Empire"'', and that ''"there did not exist a more happy race than the slaves in our colonies"''. He voted against the bill twice but failed to defeat it, the bill passing into law as the

Slave Trade Act 1807 The Slave Trade Act 1807 ( 47 Geo. 3 Sess. 1. c. 36), or the Abolition of Slave Trade Act 1807, was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom prohibiting the Atlantic slave trade in the British Empire. Although it did not automatica ...

, which formally prohibited the slave trade in the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

. (Slavery itself was not abolished until the

Slavery Abolition Act 1833 The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 ( 3 & 4 Will. 4. c. 73) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which abolished slavery in the British Empire by way of compensated emancipation. The act was legislated by Whig Prime Minister Charl ...

). In 1810, Hughan was called before the

Bullion Committee The Bullion Committee was a British government committee set up in 1819 in order to research the possibility of putting Britain back onto the gold standard and how to carry it out. Sir Robert Peel was the chairman of the committee. He managed ...

to answer questions regarding the

bullion Bullion is non-ferrous metal that has been refined to a high standard of elemental purity. The term is ordinarily applied to bulk metal used in the production of coins and especially to precious metals such as gold and silver. It comes from ...

supply in Jamaica and the excessive dividend payments of the West India Dock Company.

Personal life

While residing in London, he lived at 8 Billiter Square and 12

Devonshire Place Devonshire Place is a street in the City of Westminster, London, that runs from Marylebone Road in the north to Devonshire Street in the south. A number of literary and society figures have lived in the street. At the north of the street is Th ...

. His Scottish address was The Hill, Luetown, Galloway. On 1 February 1810, he married Jean Milligan, eldest daughter of Robert Milligan, the slave-owner and dock promoter in part responsible for the construction of the

West India Docks The West India Docks are a series of three docks, quaysides, and warehouses built to import goods from, and export goods and occasionally passengers to, the British West Indies. Located on the Isle of Dogs in London, the first dock opened in 18 ...

. He had two illegitimate daughters and one son: * Thomas Hughan (1811–1879), who married Lady Louisa Georgiana Beauclerk, younger daughter of

William Beauclerk, 8th Duke of St Albans William Beauclerk, 8th Duke of St Albans (18 December 1766 – 17 July 1825) was an English aristocrat. Early life and career William was born on 18 December 1766. He was the second son of Lady Catharine Ponsonby and Aubrey Beauclerk, 5th Duk ...

and his second wife,

Maria Beauclerk, Duchess of St Albans Maria Janetta Beauclerk, Duchess of St Albans (c. 1779 – 17 January 1822), formerly Maria Janetta Nelthorpe, was the second wife of William Beauclerk, 8th Duke of St Albans, and the mother of the 9th Duke. Early life Maria was the only dau ...

.Mosley, Charles, editor. ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes.''

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

, U.S.A.:

Burke's Peerage Burke's Peerage Limited is a British genealogical publisher, considered an authority on the order of precedence of noble families and information on the lesser nobility of the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1826, when the Anglo-Irish genea ...

(Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003, volume 2, page 1869. Hughan died following a short illness at

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...

, London, on 29 October 1811, two days before his son was born. Neither of his two illegitimate daughters, Jane Hughan and Margaret Hughan, had reached the age of twenty-one by the time of his death, so they were likely born in the West Indies. Margaret married James Spence, Esq. of Broughton Place, Edinburgh, in 1818.

Descendants

Through his son and heir Thomas of Airds House, Parton,

Galloway Galloway ( ; ; ) is a region in southwestern Scotland comprising the counties of Scotland, historic counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. It is administered as part of the council areas of Scotland, council area of Dumfries and Gallow ...

, he was a grandfather of Janetta Hughan, who married

John Manners, 7th Duke of Rutland John James Robert Manners, 7th Duke of Rutland, (13 December 18184 August 1906), known as Lord John Manners before 1888, was a British statesman. Youth and poetry Rutland was born at Belvoir Castle, the younger son of John Manners, 5th Du ...

; and Louisa Hughan, who married Sir Brydges Henniker, 4th Baronet (parents of Sir Arthur Henniker-Hughan, 6th Baronet, MP for

).Obituary, ''The Times'' (London), 6 October 1925

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hughan, Thomas 1760s births 1811 deaths 19th century in London 18th-century Scottish slave traders