Sir Thomas Johnson (27 October 1664 – 28 December 1728) was an English merchant and politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons from 1701 to 1723. Johnson was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

in 1664. Left a considerable fortune by his father, he traded as a merchant with the British colonies in North America; he was particularly involved in the

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

, tobacco and sugar trades. He is recognised as one of the earliest recorded slave traders in Liverpool. In 1715, he transported 130

Jacobite Jacobite means follower of Jacob or James. Jacobite may refer to: Religion * Jacobites, followers of Saint Jacob Baradaeus (died 578). Churches in the Jacobite tradition and sometimes called Jacobite include: ** Syriac Orthodox Church, sometimes ...

prisoners to plantations in the Americas. He also played an important role in the emergence of the rock salt industry in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's coun ...

. Johnson succeeded his father in 1689 as bailiff of Liverpool and in 1695 as

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...

. He effected the separation of Liverpool from the parish of Walton-on-the-Hill in 1699 and obtained from

the Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has differen ...

a grant to the Corporation of the site of the old

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

, where he planned the town market. He was the chief promoter of the construction of the world's first commercial wet Old dock 1708 and steered a bill through Parliament to authorise it. In addition, the building of St Peter's and St George's churches (both now demolished) were due in great measure to his efforts. From 1701 to 1723 he was

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

for

, sitting as a Whig. He was knighted by Queen Anne in 1708. In 1723, having lost in speculation the fortune which he had inherited from his father, he retired from Parliament and was appointed collector of customs on the

Rappahannock River The Rappahannock River is a river in eastern Virginia, in the United States, approximately in length.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 It traverses the entir ...

in Virginia. Many sources suggest that he went out to Virginia himself, and died in

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispan ...

in 1729, but Hayton et al.'s recently published volume in the authoritative ''History of Parliament'' series contradicts this, stating that he either never took up the post or exercised it through a deputy, and that he died in lodgings at

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Clockwise from north these are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City; ...

on 28 December 1728. A Liverpool street is named Sir Thomas Street after him.

References

* Concise Dictionary of National Biography (1930) * David Hayton, Eveline Cruickshanks and Stuart Handley, ''The House of Commons 1690–1715'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002) * J Holladay Philbin, ''Parliamentary Representation 1832 – England and Wales'' (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965) * *

External links

Biography by Miss E.M. Platt, 1900
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Thomas, Sir 1664 births 1728 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Liverpool English MPs 1701–1702 English MPs 1702–1705 English MPs 1705–1707 British MPs 1707–1708 British MPs 1708–1710 British MPs 1710–1713 British MPs 1713–1715 British MPs 1715–1722 British MPs 1722–1727 Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Liverpool English slave traders