William Clayton (after 1650 – 7 July 1715) was an English merchant and politician from

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 popul ...

. He was the son of Robert Clayton of Fulwood, near

Preston, Lancashire Preston () is a city on the north bank of the River Ribble in Lancashire, England. The city is the administrative centre of the county of Lancashire and the wider City of Preston local government district. Preston and its surrounding distri ...

and followed his uncle Thomas Clayton to Liverpool, where he became a successful tobacco and sugar merchant. After serving as a common councillor from 1685 he was elected

Mayor of Liverpool The mayor of Liverpool is the executive mayor of the city of Liverpool in England. The incumbent mayor is Joanne Anderson, who was elected in May 2021. The mayor of Liverpool was previously branded 'the most powerful politician in England outs ...

for 1689–90, and then became 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 ...

of the city. In the

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised t ...

, he served as a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for

from 1698 to 1708. In 1701 he changed his allegiance from the Whigs to the Tories. After the

Union with Scotland The Acts of Union ( gd, Achd an Aonaidh) were two Acts of Parliament: the Union with Scotland Act 1706 passed by the Parliament of England, and the Union with England Act 1707 passed by the Parliament of Scotland. They put into effect the te ...

, he was elected as a Liverpool MP to the new

House of Commons of Great Britain The House of Commons of Great Britain was the lower house of the Parliament of Great Britain between 1707 and 1801. In 1707, as a result of the Acts of Union of that year, it replaced the House of Commons of England and the third estate of th ...

from 1713 to 1715. He married, in 1690, Elizabeth, the daughter of George Leigh of Oughtrington, Cheshire and left a son and 3 daughters. The vessel ''Liverpool Merchant'', that he jointly owned with John Earle, bound Liverpool's fortunes to the triangular trade. Sailing on the 16 October 1699, under Captain William Webster, for Africa, bartering for 275 slaves, and offloading 220 survivors in

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

, on 18 September 1700, before sailing for Liverpool, with a cargo of tobacco and sugar, on 24 October 1700, as the first known ship of Liverpool to enter the Atlantic trade.

References

1650s births Year of birth uncertain 1715 deaths Politicians from Preston, Lancashire Businesspeople from Liverpool Mayors of Liverpool English MPs 1698–1700 English MPs 1701 English MPs 1701–1702 English MPs 1702–1705 English MPs 1705–1707 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Liverpool British MPs 1713–1715 Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Liverpool category:Slave traders

slave 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 ...

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