Thomson Hankey (15 June 1805''London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538–1812'' – 13 January 1893) was a British merchant, a banker and a

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

politician. Hankey was the son of Thomson Hankey from Portland Place in London, and his wife Martha, the daughter of Benjamin Harrison from

Clapham Common Clapham Common is a large triangular urban park in Clapham, south London, England. Originally common land for the parishes of Battersea and Clapham, it was converted to parkland under the terms of the Metropolitan Commons Act 1878. It is of g ...

. He became a merchant in 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 f ...

and a director the Bank of England, serving first as its Deputy Governor and then as its

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

from 1851 to 1853. In June 2020 the Bank of England issued a public apology for the involvement of Hankey, amongst other employees, in the

slave trade Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

following the investigation by the

Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slave-ownership The Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery, formerly the Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slave-ownership, is a research centre of University College, London (UCL) which focuses on revealing the impact of Britis ...

at UCL. At the 1852 general election, Hankey unsuccessfully contested the

borough of Boston The Borough of Boston is a local government district with borough status in Lincolnshire, England. Its council is based in the town of Boston. The borough covers a wider area that includes villages such as Wyberton, Butterwick, Kirton-in-Holl ...

in Lincolnshire. He then contested the by-election in June 1853 for the City of Peterborough, where he lost by a margin of 21 votes (out of a total 451) to the Liberal

George Hammond Whalley George Hammond Whalley (22 January 1813 – 8 October 1878) was a British lawyer and Liberal Party politician. He was the eldest son of James Whalley, a merchant and banker from Gloucester, and a direct descendant of Edward Whalley, the regicid ...

.Craig, pages 237–238 Whalley had been returned for Peterborough at a by-election in December 1852, but an

election petition An election petition refers to the procedure for challenging the result of a Parliamentary election. Outcomes When a petition is lodged against an election return, there are 4 possible outcomes: # The election is declared void. The result is q ...

was lodged and his election was subsequently declared void on 8 June 1853 on the grounds that Whalley had been complicit in the "treating" of voters. After his second by-election win, a further petition was lodged, and a committee of the House of Commons found that Whalley's election was invalid, because he had been disqualified as a result of the previous void election. The seat was therefore awarded to Hankey, who was declared duly elected on 14 August 1853. Hankey was re-elected in 1857,

1859 Events January–March * January 21 – José Mariano Salas (1797–1867) becomes Conservative interim President of Mexico. * January 24 ( O. S.) – Wallachia and Moldavia are united under Alexandru Ioan Cuza (Romania since 1866, final ...

and 1865, but was defeated at the 1868 general election by the Liberal William Wells. He was re-elected in 1874, but was defeated in

1880 Events January–March * January 22 – Toowong State School is founded in Queensland, Australia. * January – The international White slave trade affair scandal in Brussels is exposed and attracts international infamy. * February � ...

. His name was discussed in early 1882 as a possible candidate for any future vacancy in Peterborough, but when Hampden Whalley resigned in June 1883, Hankey did not contest the resulting by-election, and did not stand again thereafter. He was also a Justice of the Peace (JP) for

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

, Kent and the

, and a member of Commission of lieutenancy for the City of London. He died on 13 January 1893, aged 88. In his later years, his advanced age prevented him from taking any active part in public life.

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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hankey, Thomson 1805 births 1893 deaths Governors of the Bank of England Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1852–1857 UK MPs 1857–1859 UK MPs 1859–1865 UK MPs 1865–1868 UK MPs 1874–1880 Politics of Peterborough Deputy Governors of the Bank of England British slave owners 19th-century English businesspeople