Thomas Staniforth

For the English clergyman, see Thomas Staniforth (priest). For the British hymn writer, see Thomas Worsley Staniforth.

Thomas Staniforth
Thomas Staniforth of Darnall, painted in 1769 by Joseph Wright of Derby
Born	1735 Darnall, Sheffield, England
Died	15 December 1803 (aged 68) Ranelagh Street, Liverpool, England
Resting place	St. Thomas, Liverpool
Occupation	Politician
Known for	Lord Mayor of Liverpool
Children	Samuel Staniforth, inter alia
Parents	Samuel Staniforth Esq. Alethea Macro

Thomas Staniforth (1735–1803) was an English slave-trader, merchant and politician. He was originally from Sheffield, but spent most of his life in Liverpool.

Staniforth was the son of Samuel Staniforth Esq. and Alethea Macro of Darnall Hall. The family was a prominent family from Darnall, Sheffield but Thomas lived for most of his life in Liverpool, where he took part in the slave trade along with his son Samuel. He was Mayor of Liverpool for 1797–1798.[1]

Records show that both he and his son Samuel Staniforth, a man who would follow in his father's footsteps and become Mayor of Liverpool for 1812–1813, took part in the sale of many African slaves between Europe and the United States.[2]

Thomas married Elizabeth Goore, daughter of Lord Mayor of Liverpool Charles Goore. He was also the grandfather of Anglican priest Thomas Staniforth, the great-grandfather of politician John Greenwood and so the ancestor of English national cricket captain R. T. Stanyforth.

References

1. Aronson, Julie; Wieseman, Marjorie E.; Art, Columbia Museum of (2006). Perfect Likeness: European and American Portrait Miniatures from the Cincinnati Art Museum. Cincinnati Art Museum. ISBN 0300115806.
2. "Summary of Individual | Legacies of British Slave-ownership".