John Holt (31 October 1841 – 22 June 1915) was an English merchant, who founded a shipping line operating between

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 populat ...

and

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, M ...

, and a number of businesses in

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, which are now incorporated in

John Holt plc John Holt plc is a Nigerian conglomerate that participates in many areas of the economy. The Nigerian company is a subsidiary of John Holt & Co. (Liverpool) Ltd, a British company. A minority of the shares are traded on the Nigerian Stock Exchang ...

. Started apprenticeship in 1857.

Life

Holt was born in Garthorpe,

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

in 1841 to the family of Thomas Godfrey Holt. In 1857, he began an apprenticeship with the firm of William and Hamilton Laird, a family business that was engaged in trade with West Africa through their agency with the African Steam Ship Company, founded by Macgregor Laird. During his time with the firm, Alfred Jones who later managed a shipping business with trade routes to West Africa was also working there. Holt's work with the Laird brothers introduced him to opportunities in West Africa that had arisen in the aftermath of the abolition of slavery. In 1862, with £27 in his pocket, he sailed from

to take up an appointment as a shop assistant in a

grocery store A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday U.S. usage, however, "grocery store" is a synonym for supermarket, a ...

in Fernando Pó (now part of Equatorial Guinea) owned by the former British Consul on the Island, James Lynslager and formerly of John Beecroft, who had previously been a governor under the Spanish authorities. On Fernando Pó, Holt studied the produce and consumer trade business between England and West Africa. After saving most of his wages, he bought out the company after the death of his employer in 1864. Initially, Holt stayed in West Africa and appointed an agent in Liverpool to sell produce and purchase consumer goods. He was joined by his brother Jonathan, and the two expanded their business interests in West Africa. In 1868, Holt's business expanded with the purchase of Maria, a sailing vessel built in 1852. The brothers very quickly came to dominate commercial trade in

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the nort ...

and the Spanish possessions on the mainland as well as Fernando Pó where he had begun his career.Fegley, Randall (1989). ''Equatorial Guinea: An African Tragedy'', p. 10. Peter Lang, New York. The company was organised as a partnership, John Holt and Company in 1884, and then later reorganised once more as a limited company John Holt & Co. (Liverpool) Ltd, in 1897. In 1874, Holt returned to England and took over the Liverpool operations of the firm while his brother stayed in West Africa. He was co-founder of the

Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) is a higher education institution with degree awarding powers and registered charity located in Liverpool, United Kingdom. Established in 1898, it was the first institution in the world dedicated ...

and in 1903, The Mary Kingsley Medal was instituted by Holt. It is awarded for outstanding contributions in the field of tropical medicine and is named in honour of

Mary Kingsley Mary Henrietta Kingsley (13 October 1862 – 3 June 1900) was an English ethnographer, scientific writer, and explorer whose travels throughout West Africa and resulting work helped shape European perceptions of both African cultures and ...

. A resident of Birkenhead (then part of the County of Cheshire) ever since he arrived there as an apprentice in his late teens, he was still living there with his family in the affluent suburb of Oxton in 1911. He shortly thereafter retired, following a severe stroke, to his home at Broughton Grange, Lincolnshire, where he died in 1915.

References

Bodleian Library: Papers of John Holt & Co (Liverpool) Ltd
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holt, John English businesspeople in shipping 1841 births 1915 deaths People from the Borough of North Lincolnshire History of Lagos English merchants 19th-century English businesspeople