Thomas King (slave trader)
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Thomas King (c. 1740 – c. 1824) was a British slave-trader and partner in the firm of Camden, Calvert and King. His early career was at sea in a variety of vessels involved in the slave trade in the Caribbean and West Africa in the 1760s. He probably met his future business partners Anthony Calvert (1735–1809) and William Camden at this time when he was master on ships owned by them. He first partnered with them as Camden, Calvert and King for the voyage of the Three Good Friends to St Vincent in 1773 and the firm subsequently made many slaving and trading voyages in which they transported at least 22,000 enslaved persons, mostly from West Africa to the Caribbean.
Thomas King | |
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Born | c. 1740 |
Died | c. 1824 (aged 83–84) |
Nationality | British |
Occupation(s) | Slave trader and merchant |
Board member of | Camden, Calvert and King |
Spouse | Sarah |
Children | 6 |
Parent | Newark King |
In 1776 he was tried for murder at the Old Bailey in London but acquitted. He was a governor of the Foundling Hospital in London, elected to the Elder Brethren of Trinity House, and one of the founder subscribers of Lloyd's of London. King acquired significant wealth and owned a number of estates in British Guiana (now Guyana). He left an estate of £120,000 in 1824.