John Gladstone

Born to Thomas and Nelly Gladstones in Leith, Gladstone entered the field of merchantry at a young age. Apprenticed from the age of thirteen, he worked in various companies locally until he moved to Liverpool in 1786 to work for Edgar Corrie. This partnership turned into a long term one, and it is here he became involved in the Virginian tobacco trade. His partnership with Corrie ended on bad terms 14 years later. He began trading in sugar and cotton from the West Indies soon after, first purchasing the Belmont estate in Demerara and soon many more. He never visted the West Indies nor any of his plantations. The Demarara rebellion of 1823 was started at one of Gladstone’s plantations, named Success plantation. Gladstone believed in the amelioration of slavery to make it more “humane”, an idea that abolitionists gravitated towards as step in the right direction. However, his support of amelioration did not mean Gladstone also supported abolition; in fact, his opinions of slavery were quite the opposite. He defended the interests of planters against abolitionists in print and politics. Coming from a strict religious tradition, he took an interest in building churches such as the Scottish church and school in Oldham Street, Liverpool; St Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Renshaw Street, Liverpool; St Thomas’, Seaforth; and St Thomas’s Church, Toxteth. He founded the Liverpool Collegiate Institution and Trinity College, Glenalmond, an Anglican boarding-school, as well as donating to King’s College London in its establishment. He largely supported George Canning’s toryism and managed a number of his political campaigns, and held the seat for Lancaster and then Woodstock. In the Slave Compensation Act, he recieved the largest compensation payments. Afterwards, he sought indentured labour from India and also moved into Bengal sugar. His son, William Gladstone, would go on to become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.