JOHNSON, Sir Thomas (1664-1728), of Castle St., Liverpool.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1715-1754, ed. R. Sedgwick, 1970
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

1701 - 2 Feb. 1723

Family and Education

bap. 27 Oct. 1664, s. of Thomas Johnson of Bedford Leigh, Lancs., mayor of Liverpool 1670, by his w. Elizabeth (née Sweeting). m. (1) Lidia Holt (bur. 9 Sept. 1696), 1da. who m. Richard Gildart; (2) 7 Apr. 1697, Elizabeth Barrow. suc. fa. 1700. Kntd. 20 Mar. 1708.

Offices Held

Mayor, Liverpool 1695; collector of customs on Rappahannock River, Virginia 1723-5.

Biography

Thomas Johnson was one of the leading citizens of Liverpool, which he represented as a Whig for over 20 years, the last ten without opposition. A shipper and tobacco merchant, he was also a pioneer of the new rock salt industry, acting as its mouthpiece in Parliament. In 1711 he introduced a bill for making the river Weaver navigable from the Mersey to the rock salt works in Cheshire, which was rejected owing to the opposition of the brine salt and other interests but ultimately passed in 1721. He was largely responsible for providing Liverpool with a floating dock, engaging Thomas Steers to draw up plans and introducing a bill for the construction of the dock, which received the royal assent in 1710.1 Other municipal improvements and developments to which he contributed were the constitution of Liverpool as a separate parish, distinct from Walton; the building of St. Peter’s and St. George’s churches; and the establishment of the market in Derby Street. He was knighted in 1708, when he presented a loyal address from Liverpool on a threatened Jacobite invasion.2

After the accession of George I, Johnson supported the Government. In 1716, when some of the Jacobite prisoners taken at Preston pleaded guilty and begged for transportation, he submitted proposals to the Treasury for transporting them at 40s. per head, the prisoners to serve Johnson or his assigns for seven years. The offer was accepted, and in March the Treasury paid Johnson £1,000 in part payment of his contract. When some of the better class prisoners argued that they had pleaded for simple transportation and would not ‘consent to be slaves’, Johnson had them ‘turned into a dungeon ... and fed only with bread and water’. In the end, all the prisoners, numbering 639, were transported by Johnson. In 1717 he made an unsuccessful bid of £61,000 for the whole of the French part of St. Kitts in the West Indies, which had been advertised for sale by the commissioners for trade and plantations.3

Johnson was frequently in financial difficulties over the redemption of the bonds which tobacco importers were allowed to deposit as security for the duty payable on tobacco stored in customs warehouses if not re-exported. In 1717 he and his partner and son-in-law, Richard Gildart, were in debt to the Crown in respect of unpaid duty on tobacco to the extent of £7,825 3s. 1d. On 18 Jan. 1719 the collector of the customs at Liverpool reported to the commissioners of customs at London:

Sir Thomas Johnson and Mr. Richard Gildart are both in London raising money to pay off their debts to the Crown. But neither has yet paid any of the old bonds for long due but have sent ships and effects to London to raise money there for there is a great scarcity of it here and trading almost at a stand.

At the general election of 1722, his property qualification was called into question by his opponent. In 1723 he resigned his seat to take up the post of collector of customs in Virginia, leaving Gildart to cope with his debts. He seems to have remained in Virginia until 1725, when he was given a pension of £350 p.a. in lieu of his office. He died in London ‘at his lodgings in Charing Cross’ on 28 Dec. 1728.4

Ref Volumes: 1715-1754

Author: Eveline Cruickshanks

Notes

  • 1. Hist. Soc. Lancs. and Cheshire, lxxxii. 167-9, 234; E. Hughes, Studies in Admin. and Finance, 233, 255, 395; T. S. Willan, Navigation of River Weaver (Chetham Soc. ser. 3, iii), 1-21.
  • 2. J. Picton, Liverpool Municipal Recs. ii. 12; Norris Pprs. (Chetham Soc. old ser. ix), 170-1.
  • 3. Cal. Treas. Bks. and Pprs. 1714-19, pp. 196, 200, 327; A. C. Wardle, 'Sir Thomas Johnson and the Jacobite Rebels', Hist. Soc. Lancs. and Cheshire, xci. 125-43; Oliver, Antigua, i. p. xc.
  • 4. Norris Pprs. 90, 96, 99-100, 110, 149, 161, 163; A. C. Wardle, Hist. Soc. Lancs. and Cheshire, xc. 181-97.