Thomas Guy (1644 – 27 December 1724) was a British bookseller, investor in the

South Sea Company The South Sea Company (officially The Governor and Company of the merchants of Great Britain, trading to the South Seas and other parts of America, and for the encouragement of the Fishery) was a British joint-stock company founded in Ja ...

, member of Parliament, and the founder of

Guy's Hospital Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. ...

, London.

Early life

Thomas Guy was born in

Horselydown Southwark St John Horsleydown was a small parish on the south bank of the River Thames in London, opposite the Tower of London. The name Horsleydown, apparently derived from the "horse lie-down" next to the river, is no longer used. The pari ...

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

, in south London, the eldest child of a lighterman and coalmonger. Thomas Guy the father was a citizen and Carpenter of the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

, and was an

Anabaptist Anabaptism (from New Latin language, Neo-Latin , from the Greek language, Greek : 're-' and 'baptism', german: Täufer, earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re- ...

dissenter A dissenter (from the Latin ''dissentire'', "to disagree") is one who dissents (disagrees) in matters of opinion, belief, etc. Usage in Christianity Dissent from the Anglican church In the social and religious history of England and Wales, and ...

. His mother, Anne, was the daughter of William Voughton, from a respectable family of the borough of Tamworth in Staffordshire. Thomas Guy (senior) died in 1652, whereupon his widow returned to Tamworth with her children, Thomas (junior), John and Anne, and it was probably in the free school there that the younger Thomas received his education.

London publisher

Thomas returned to London in 1660 and served for eight years as the apprentice of John Clarke the younger of Cheapside, a bookseller and bookbinder. His term of service therefore spanned the age of the Restoration (1660), the Plague year (1665) and the Great Fire (1666). In 1668, he was admitted into the

Stationers' Company The Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers (until 1937 the Worshipful Company of Stationers), usually known as the Stationers' Company, is one of the livery companies of the City of London. The Stationers' Company was formed in ...

and made a

freeman Freeman, free men, or variant, may refer to: * a member of the Third Estate in medieval society (commoners), see estates of the realm * Freeman, an apprentice who has been granted freedom of the company, was a rank within Livery companies * Free ...

of the City of London. In the same year he opened a bookstore at the corner of Lombard Street and the Cornhill. At first, Guy illegally imported bibles printed in the Netherlands, as they were of higher quality than those printed in England. His imprint appears in the fourth edition of James Howell's ''Epistolae Ho-Elianae, Familiar Letters, Domestic and Forren'' (1673), and the third edition of John Ogilby's translation of

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...

(1675) was published by him jointly with the London publisher Peter Parker, with whom he shared lists. Parker and Guy were the sellers for John Bond's edition of

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his ' ...

(1678), and were among the sellers of school-books printed at the Theatre in Oxford, editions of classical texts by Pliny, Homer,

Theocritus Theocritus (; grc-gre, Θεόκριτος, ''Theokritos''; born c. 300 BC, died after 260 BC) was a Greek poet from Sicily and the creator of Ancient Greek pastoral poetry. Life Little is known of Theocritus beyond what can be inferred from hi ...

Herodian Herodian or Herodianus ( el, Ἡρωδιανός) of Syria, sometimes referred to as "Herodian of Antioch" (c. 170 – c. 240), was a minor Roman civil servant who wrote a colourful history in Greek titled ''History of the Empire from the Death o ...

Cornelius Nepos Cornelius Nepos (; c. 110 BC – c. 25 BC) was a Roman biographer. He was born at Hostilia, a village in Cisalpine Gaul not far from Verona. Biography Nepos's Cisalpine birth is attested by Ausonius, and Pliny the Elder calls him ''Padi a ...

Sallust Gaius Sallustius Crispus, usually anglicised as Sallust (; 86 – ), was a Roman historian and politician from an Italian plebeian family. Probably born at Amiternum in the country of the Sabines, Sallust became during the 50s BC a partisan o ...

Quintilian Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (; 35 – 100 AD) was a Roman educator and rhetorician from Hispania, widely referred to in medieval schools of rhetoric and in Renaissance writing. In English translation, he is usually referred to as Quintilia ...

and

Maximus Tyrius Maximus of Tyre ( el, Μάξιμος Τύριος; fl. late 2nd century AD), also known as Cassius Maximus Tyrius, was a Greek rhetorician and philosopher who lived in the time of the Antonines and Commodus, and who belongs to the trend of the ...

, and also

Thomas Lydiat Thomas Lydiat (1572 – 3 April 1646) was a clergyman and mathematician in England. In his time he was noted as a chronologer and was an opponent in controversy of Joseph Justus Scaliger. He is now considered, albeit in a very different type of ...

's ''Canones Chronologici''. Books sold by them printed in London included

Elisha Coles Elisha Coles (c. 1640 – 1680) was a 17th-century English lexicographer and stenographer. Life He was son of John Coles, schoolmaster of Wolverhampton, and nephew of Elisha Coles the religious author. He became chorister of Magdalen Coll ...

's Latin and English Dictionaries, the ''Colloquia Familiaria'' of

Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' wa ...

, H. Robinson's ''Scholae Wintoniensis Phrases'',

Thomas Godwyn Thomas Godwyn D.D. (1587–20 March 1642) was an English headmaster and scholar. Biography He was the second son of Anthony Godwyn of Wookey, Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South ...

's ''Antiquities'',

Martial Marcus Valerius Martialis (known in English as Martial ; March, between 38 and 41 AD – between 102 and 104 AD) was a Roman poet from Hispania (modern Spain) best known for his twelve books of ''Epigrams'', published in Rome between AD 86 and ...

's ''Epigrams'', works of

Quintus Curtius Quintus Curtius Rufus () was a Roman historian, probably of the 1st century, author of his only known and only surviving work, ''Historiae Alexandri Magni'', "Histories of Alexander the Great", or more fully ''Historiarum Alexandri Magni Macedon ...

, Lucius Florus,

Valerius Maximus Valerius Maximus () was a 1st-century Latin writer and author of a collection of historical anecdotes: ''Factorum ac dictorum memorabilium libri IX'' ("Nine books of memorable deeds and sayings", also known as ''De factis dictisque memorabilibus'' ...

, Caesar, etc., and also Sir

Robert Stapylton Sir Robert Stapylton or Stapleton (died 1669) was an English courtier, dramatic poet and translator. Life Stapylton was the third son of Richard Stapleton of Carlton by Snaith, Yorkshire, by Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Henry Pierrepont of Ho ...

's translation of

Juvenal Decimus Junius Juvenalis (), known in English as Juvenal ( ), was a Roman poet active in the late first and early second century CE. He is the author of the collection of satirical poems known as the ''Satires''. The details of Juvenal's life ...

's ''Satires'' and

Thomas May Thomas May (1594/95 – 13 November 1650) was an English poet, dramatist and historian of the Renaissance era. Early life and career until 1630 May was born in Mayfield, Sussex, the son of Sir Thomas May, a minor courtier. He matriculated a ...

's translation of Lucan's ''

Pharsalia ''De Bello Civili'' (; ''On the Civil War''), more commonly referred to as the ''Pharsalia'', is a Roman epic poem written by the poet Lucan, detailing the civil war between Julius Caesar and the forces of the Roman Senate led by Pompey the Gre ...

'' (though these also appear under other imprints).Wilks and Bettany, Chapter II: 'Guy as a London Publisher', in ''A Biographical History of Guy's Hospital''
pp. 8-16
(Google). In most of these publications Guy's name is linked with that of Peter Parker, and in the 1677 edition of Coles's Dictionary John Guy, Thomas's brother, is shown in partnership with him. After the first English Bible to be printed at Oxford was issued in 1673-1675, in 1679 Thomas was contracted by the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

to produce bibles under their licence. With Parker and

Moses Pitt Moses Pitt (c. 1639–1697) was a bookseller and printer known for the production of his ''Atlas'' of the world, a project supported by the Royal Society, and in particular by Christopher Wren. He is also known as the author of ''The Cry of t ...

, he was licensed to sell the Oxford 1683 edition of the ''Book of Homilies'', and an Oxford Bible was published under his name in 1679, 1680, 1682, 1683, 1685-1686 and 1687-1688, in various formats. The Oxford prayer-book published by him in 1689 included the forms of prayer and collects for 5 November (for deliverance from the

Gunpowder Plot The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was a failed assassination attempt against King James I by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby who sought ...

, and also for the Happy Arrival of King William III), for 30 January (martyrdom of King

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

) and for 29 May (Thanksgiving for the end of the Great Rebellion and

Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

of King Charles II). His later publications include a

Theodore Beza Theodore Beza ( la, Theodorus Beza; french: Théodore de Bèze or ''de Besze''; June 24, 1519 – October 13, 1605) was a French Calvinist Protestant theologian, reformer and scholar who played an important role in the Protestant Reformatio ...

bible of 1705. A fuller account of his publications is given by Wilks and Bettany.

Tamworth benefactor and M.P.

A frugal bachelor, after nine years of business, in 1677, he paid for new facilities at the Tamworth free grammar school, where he had been educated before his apprenticeship. The next year, he built an almshouse in Tamworth. He was elected as MP for Tamworth in 1695 and commissioned a new

Tamworth Town Hall Tamworth Town Hall is a municipal building in Market Street, Tamworth, Staffordshire, Tamworth, Staffordshire, England. The town hall, which was the meeting place of Tamworth Borough Council is a Grade II* listed building. History The first tow ...

in 1701. However, when the voters of Tamworth rejected him in 1707, he angrily refused to help them any further.

Investment in the South Sea Company

By the late 1670s, Guy had begun purchasing seamen's pay-tickets at a large discount, as well as making large loans to landowners. In 1711, these tickets, part of the short-term "floating" national debt, were converted into shares of the

in a debt-for-equity swap. The South Sea Company was primarily set up as a government-debt holding company; although it later held a monopoly on British trade to Spanish America, this used less than 2% of the Company's capital. In 1720, before the South Sea Bubble burst, Guy sold 54,040 stock for £234,428, making a profit of about £175,000. He re-invested this money in £179,566 4% government annuities, £8,000 of 5% government annuities, and £1,500

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

shares.

Sponsor of hospitals

Northern Side of the Thomas Guy Statue at Guys Hospital

In 1704, Guy became a governor of St Thomas' Hospital, in London. He gave £1000 to the hospital in 1707 and further large sums later. In 1721, having quintupled his fortune the previous year, he decided to found a new hospital "for incurables". Work on what became

began in 1721. Thomas Guy died unmarried on 27 December 1724. Having already spent £19,000 on the hospital, his will endowed it with £219,499, the largest individual charitable donation of the early eighteenth century. He also gave an annuity of £400 to

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. The school was founded in 1552 and received its first royal charter in 1553 ...

as well as numerous and diverse other charitable donations. The rest of his estate, some £75,589, went to cousins, friends, and more distant relatives. On 24 March 1725,

George I George I or 1 may refer to: People * Patriarch George I of Alexandria (fl. 621–631) * George I of Constantinople (d. 686) * George I of Antioch (d. 790) * George I of Abkhazia (ruled 872/3–878/9) * George I of Georgia (d. 1027) * Yuri Dolgor ...

gave royal assent to a bill incorporating the executors of Guy's will and formally thanking Guy for helping "the Honour and Good of the publick". In 1995, 271 years after his death, a new dual carriageway by-passing Tamworth was named Thomas Guy Way in his honour.

Monuments

Parliament allowed Guy's Hospital to spend up to £2,000 to perpetuate Guy's "Generous and Charitable Intentions". In 1732, the administrators commissioned

Peter Scheemakers Peter Scheemakers or Pieter Scheemaeckers II or the Younger (10 January 1691 – 12 September 1781) was a Flemish sculptor who worked for most of his life in London. His public and church sculptures in a classicist style had an important influenc ...

, who created a striking brass and marble statue of Guy in the livery of the Stationers' Company, notably wearing no wig, an indication of Guy's lack of ostentation. The monument includes the motto ''Dare Quam Accipere'' ("to give than to receive"), a relief of Christ Healing the Sick Man, and another relief of the

Good Samaritan In most contexts, the concept of good denotes the conduct that should be preferred when posed with a choice between possible actions. Good is generally considered to be the opposite of evil and is of interest in the study of ethics, morality, ph ...

. It stands in the courtyard of the main forecourt of Guy's Hospital. In 1776, the hospital built a new west wing, including a chapel. The administrators commissioned John Bacon to sculpt a life-sized marble funerary monument inside it. Bacon's work portrays Guy as "a living Samaritan", helping a sick man. Roundels on the monument contain the figures of Industry, Prudence, Temperance, and Charity. As of June 2020, the future of these monuments is being reviewed by Guy's Hospital Trust, in connection with a commission set up by London mayor

Sadiq Khan Sadiq Aman Khan (; born 8 October 1970) is a British politician serving as Mayor of London since 2016. He was previously Member of Parliament (MP) for Tooting from 2005 until 2016. A member of the Labour Party, Khan is on the party's sof ...

to review statues and street names linked to slavery, due to controversy over Guy's holdings in the South Sea Company. On 11 June 2020, the Trust said they will remove them from public view.

Bibliography

* ''A True Copy of the Last Will and Testament of Thomas Guy, Esq.'' (London, 1725) *

John Noorthouck John Noorthouck (1732–1816) was an English author, best known as a topographer of London. Life Born in London, he was the son of Herman Noorthouck, a bookseller who had a shop, the Cicero's Head, Great Piazza, Covent Garden, and whose stock was ...

, 'Book 3, Ch. 1: Southwark', in ''A New History of London Including Westminster and Southwark'' (R. Baldwin, London 1773), pp. 678-690
at p. 684
(British History Online, accessed 31 May 2022). * John Nichols, ''Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century'', 6 vols (Nichols, Son, and Bentley, London 1812), III
p. 599
(Google). * Charles Knight, ''Shadows of the Old Booksellers'' (Bell and Daldy, London 1865)
pp. 3–23
(Google). * Samuel Wilks and G. T. Bettany, ''A Biographical History of Guy's Hospital'' (Ward, Lock, Bowden & Co., London/New York 1892); read a
Google
* ''Copy of the Last Will and Testament of Thomas Guy Esq. with an ACT for incorporating the Executors of the said Will'' (London, printed for the Governors of Guy's Hospital, 1815); read a
Hathi Trust
* Jane Bowden-Dan, 'Mr Guy's Hospital and the Caribbean', ''History Today'', Vol. 56 issue 6 (June 2006); read a
''History Today'' archive
(subscription required).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guy, Thomas English Christians English philanthropists 1644 births 1724 deaths English booksellers Bookshops in London 18th-century English businesspeople English MPs 1695–1698 English MPs 1698–1700 English MPs 1701 English MPs 1701–1702 English MPs 1702–1705 English MPs 1705–1707 British MPs 1707–1708 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies