Thomas Staniforth (1735–1803) was an English slave-trader, merchant and politician. He was originally from

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

, but spent most of his life in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. Staniforth was the son of Samuel Staniforth Esq. and Alethea Macro of Darnall Hall. The family was a prominent family from

Darnall Darnall is a suburb of eastern Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Darnall is approximately east-north-east of Sheffield city centre. History Darnall was initially a small hamlet usually included with Attercliffe. William Walker, a residen ...

but Thomas lived for most of his life in Liverpool, where he took part in the slave trade along with his son Samuel. He was

Mayor of Liverpool From 2012 to 2023, the mayor of Liverpool was the executive mayor of the city of Liverpool in England. The office was abolished in 2023 and its functions were replaced with the leader of Liverpool City Council. The mayor of Liverpool was previ ...

for 1797–1798. Records show that both he and his son

Samuel Staniforth Samuel Staniforth (26 February 1769 – 5 April 1851) was an English slave-trader, merchant and politician originally from Liverpool. Staniforth was the son of Thomas Staniforth and Elizabeth Goore. The family was a prominent family from Darnal ...

, a man who would follow in his father's footsteps and become Mayor of Liverpool for 1812–1813, took part in the sale of many African slaves between Europe and the United States. Thomas married Elizabeth Goore, daughter of Lord Mayor of Liverpool Charles Goore. He was also the grandfather of Anglican priest Thomas Staniforth, the great-grandfather of politician John Greenwood and so the ancestor of English national

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

captain R. T. Stanyforth.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Staniforth, Thomas 1730s births People from Darnall Mayors of Liverpool 1803 deaths 18th-century English slave traders