![Emma Durning Holt and Anne Holt by Philip Westcott](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Emma_Durning_Holt_and_Anne_Holt_by_Philip_Westcott.jpg)
George Holt (24 June 1790 – 16 February 1861) was a cotton-broker, merchant and philanthropist of
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
, England.
Early life
George Holt's father, Oliver, had moved from
Halifax after impressing the owner of Town Mill in
Rochdale
Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...
with his work ethic and skills as a woollen dyer. The ethic, derived from a
nonconformist
Nonconformity or nonconformism may refer to:
Culture and society
* Insubordination, the act of willfully disobeying an order of one's superior
*Dissent, a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or entity
** ...
, principally
Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...
, milieu helped him rise to become a partner in the business before establishing his own mill and dye-works in the town. Born on 24 June 1790, George left Rochdale for Liverpool in 1807 to work as an apprentice to Samuel Hope, who was a cotton broker. In 1812, having demonstrated similar qualities to those of his father, he became a partner in Hope's business, which in time also involved banking.
The prosperity that Holt enjoyed caused him for a while to enjoy the company of men who favoured sporting pastimes. However, his nonconformist background came to the fore again when he became friendly with William Durning around 1817, having rented a cottage from another member of the Durning family. On 1 September 1820 he married William's daughter, Emma. Durning was a wealthy Liverpool wine and spirit merchant, and through the marriage George Holt became part of a group of influential
Unitarian business people. Holt himself became a convert to Unitarianism due to the influence of his wife.
Holt and his family worshipped at
Renshaw Street Unitarian Chapel
Renshaw Street Unitarian Chapel was a Unitarian place of worship in Mount Pleasant, Liverpool, England. It operated from 1811 until the 1890s and was particularly well frequented by ship-owning and mercantile families, who formed a close networ ...
, which has been described as "the meeting house for a tightly-knit network of Unitarian ship owners and merchants who frequently formed alliances by marriage, met socially, invested in one another's ventures, shared or exchanged practical skills, embarked on philanthropic (especially educational) schemes, and engaged fully in the politics of reform".
Career
Holt became a successful cotton broker in his own right after ending his partnership with Hope on 30 June 1823. His firm, George Holt & Co., was based first next to that of Hope on Water Street and then on Chapel Street. It returned to Water Street in 1834, occupying newly built premises that he had financed and which he named
India Building to celebrate the end of the
East India Company's monopoly on trade in the
Far East
The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.
The ter ...
.
By 1837, he had capital of £76,000, including £26,000 in his business, £28,000 in India Building, and £7,800 in railway investments.
Water Street was also the location of the head office of
Bank of Liverpool
The Bank of Liverpool was a financial institution founded in 1831 in Liverpool, England.
In 1918, it acquired Martins Bank, and the name of the merged bank became the Bank of Liverpool and Martins Ltd. The name was shortened to Martins Bank Ltd i ...
, which Holt founded with others in 1831. He was also involved in founding a company in 1836 that was intended to provide cheaper insurance for the handling and storage of merchants' goods.
Holt also founded
Blackburne House
Blackburne House is an 18th-century Grade II listed building located on the east side of Hope Street, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It was built in 1788 and remodelled in from 1874 to 1876. Originally a private house, it became a girls' schoo ...
in the city, as a school for girls, in 1844. In addition, he had a long-term involvement with the city's docks and water committees and was president of the newly formed
Liverpool Cotton Brokers' Association in 1842.
Death and legacy
George Holt died on 16 February 1861; his wife, who was born on 20 February 1802, died on 7 July 1871.
Three of Holt's six sons became noted shipowners and merchants:
Alfred Holt
Alfred Holt (13 June 1829 – 28 November 1911) was a British engineer, ship owner and merchant. He lived at Crofton Estate, Crofton, Aigburth in Liverpool, England. Holt is credited with establishing the long distance steamship by develo ...
,
Philip Henry Holt
Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...
and
George Holt Jr. The youngest son,
Robert Durning Holt
Robert Durning Holt (11 October 1832 in Liverpool – 10 December 1908) was an English cotton-broker and local politician. He was Mayor of Liverpool and the first Lord Mayor of Liverpool (1892–1893).
Holt was the youngest of five sons o ...
, worked in his father's cotton-broking business and became
Mayor of Liverpool
The mayor of Liverpool is the executive mayor of the city of Liverpool in England. The incumbent mayor is Joanne Anderson, who was elected in May 2021.
The mayor of Liverpool was previously branded 'the most powerful politician in England outs ...
, while another, Oliver, died in childhood. There were also two daughters, Anne (1821–1885) and Emma Jane, who died in childhood in 1842.
Holt wrote a memoir titled ''A brief memoir of George Holt, esquire of Liverpool '' that was edited and privately published by Anne in 1861. It was reprinted at Cambridge in 1995.
See also
*
John Benjamin Smith
John Benjamin Smith (7 February 1794 – 15 September 1879) was an English Liberal Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1847 to 1874.
Life
Smith was the son of Benjamin Smith, a merchant of Manchester. He was himself a merchant ...
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
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Further reading
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Holt, George
1790 births
1861 deaths
People from Rochdale
English merchants
English philanthropists
George
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* George (surname)
* George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George
* George Washington, First President of the United States
* George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...
Businesspeople from Liverpool
English Unitarians
English bankers
Politicians from Liverpool
19th-century British philanthropists
19th-century English businesspeople