John Collier (2 March 1769 – 28 February 1849) was a British politician. Born in

Plymouth, Devon Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth' ...

, Collier followed his father in becoming a merchant. He was brought up in the

Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

, but was ejected while in his youth, for disobeying the group's rules. Despite this, he retained many Quaker beliefs, and refused to invest in

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

s. While young, he was said to be the first man in Plymouth to wear his hair short, which was generally thought to be a sign of sympathy for the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

. By the 1830s, Collier lived at Grimstone Hall in Devon. He was a shipowner, a Lloyd's agent, and also the vice-consul for Portugal at Plymouth. He strongly backed the

Reform Act 1832 The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the 1832 Reform Act, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an Act of Parliament, Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. IV c. 45) that introduced major chan ...

, organising large meetings in its support, and as a consequence, at the

1832 UK general election The 1832 United Kingdom general election, the first after the Reform Act 1832, Reform Act, saw the Whigs (British political party), Whigs win a large majority, with the Tories winning less than 30% of the vote. Political situation The Charles ...

, he was elected as a Whig for the constituency of

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

. In Parliament, he supported shorter Parliamentary terms, secret ballots, and the abolition of monopolies. He held his seat at the

1835 Events January–March * January 7 – anchors off the Chonos Archipelago on her second voyage, with Charles Darwin on board as naturalist. * January 8 – The United States public debt contracts to zero, for the only time in history. ...

and

1837 UK general election The 1837 United Kingdom general election was triggered by the death of King William IV and produced the first Parliament of the reign of his successor, Queen Victoria. It saw Robert Peel's Conservatives close further on the position of the Whi ...

s, then stood down in 1841. Collier also served as an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

in Plymouth for many years, up until his death in 1849. In his spare time, he enjoyed shooting and fishing.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collier, John 1769 births 1849 deaths Councillors in Devon Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Plymouth People from Plymouth, Devon UK MPs 1832–1835 UK MPs 1835–1837 UK MPs 1837–1841 Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies