Maurice Thomson (1601/04–1676), of St Andrew's parish,

Eastcheap Eastcheap is a street in central London that is a western continuation of Great Tower Street towards Monument junction. Its name derives from ''cheap'', the Old English word for market, with the prefix 'East' distinguishing it from Westcheap, an ...

, City of London and of

Haversham Haversham is a village in the City of Milton Keynes unitary authority area, in Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated to the north of (and separated by the River Great Ouse from) the Milton Keynes urban area, near Wolverton and about north of ...

in Buckinghamshire, was an English merchant, slave trader and

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...

, said to be "England's greatest colonial merchant of his day". He obtained a monopoly of the Virginia tobacco trade. He was the eldest son and heir of Robert Thomson of

Watton-at-Stone Watton-at-Stone is a village in the English county of Hertfordshire, situated midway between the towns of Stevenage and Hertford in the valley of the River Beane. The 2011 census showed a population of 2,272 living in 946 households. Watton-at-St ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

, by his wife Elizabeth Harsflet, daughter of John Harsflet (''alias'' Halfehead, Harsnett) of Watton-at-Stone. His sister Mary Thomson married William Tucker, a merchant and one of the first plantation owners in the

Colony of Virginia The Colony of Virginia, chartered in 1606 and settled in 1607, was the first enduring English colonial empire, English colony in North America, following failed attempts at settlement on Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey GilbertG ...

. His younger brothers included Col. George Thomson (c. 1607 – 1691), a merchant, Parliamentarian soldier and MP for Southwark; Robert Thomson, youngest brother, who was also a merchant; Paul Thomson and

Sir William Thomson William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, (26 June 182417 December 1907) was a British mathematician, mathematical physicist and engineer born in Belfast. Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Glasgow for 53 years, he did important ...

. In the early 1650s, Thomson and business associate Rowland Wilson had engaged James Pope to act as agent on their ship ''Friendship'', for a number of slaving voyages to Gambia. Dresser quotes them as instructing Pope to, along with loading the ship with African slaves for Barbados, "find 15 or 20 many lusty young Negers and bring them home with you for London". Thomson married Dorothy Vaux, daughter of John Vaux, of

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; cy, Sir Benfro ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the rest by sea. The count ...

, by whom he had children including

John Thompson, 1st Baron Haversham John Thompson, 1st Baron Haversham (c. 1648 – 1 November 1710), known as Sir John Thompson, Bt, between 1673 and 1696, was an English politician. Thompson was the son of Maurice Thomson (1601/4-1676), of St Andrew, Eastcheap, City of London a ...

(c. 1648 – 1710), eldest son and heir; and Mary Thomson, who became the wife of William Owfield (1623–1664), MP. He owned estates and property including Elsham, Lincolnshire, which manor he purchased in 1655, and Worcester House, Mile End Green, which he sold in 1675 to the Church. He died in 1676 and was buried in the chancel of Haversham Church.

References

Sources

*Brenner, Robert, ''Merchants and Revolution: Commercial Change, Political Conflict, and London's Overseas Traders, 1550-1653'', 2003; *McCartney, Martha W., ''Virginia Immigrants and Adventurers, 1607-1635: A Biographical Dictionary'' *Richard B. Sheridan, ''Sugar and Slavery: An Economic History of the British West Indies, 1623-1775'', pp. 88–9

*Biographical details: ancestry.co

*John Burke, Sir Bernard Burke, ''A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Extinct and Dormant Baronetcies'', p. 52

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, Maurice 1676 deaths English merchants People from Watton-at-Stone Year of birth uncertain English slave traders Ship owners