Richard Gildart (1673– 25 January 1770) was an English merchant from Liverpool who was engaged in the slave trade. He was Mayor of Liverpool three times, 1714, 1731, 1736 and Member of Parliament for Liverpool from 1734 to 1754.[1]

Richard Gildart by Joseph Wright of Derby

Richard was the son of James Geldart and Elizabeth Sweeting of Middleham, Yorkshire. He moved to Liverpool in the 1690s, becoming a freeman of Liverpool Corporation on November 2, 1697. About 1707 he married Ann Johnson, daughter of Thomas Johnson (1664-1729), a prominent Liverpool businessman involved in the tobacco trade.[2]

He was a founding member of the African Company of Merchants in 1752, and also was elected to their executive committee in 1758.[3]

References

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  1. ^ "Richard Gildart, 1768". www.histopic.co.uk. Histopic. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  2. ^ Gildart, Charles R. The Gildart-Geldart Families (PDF). Seeking my Roots: Charles Gildart.
  3. ^ "The Political State of Europe etc". The Universal Magazine of Knowledge and Pleasure. Published ... according to Act of Parliament, for John Hinton. 1758.
Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Liverpool
1734–1754
With: Thomas Salusbury (1734-1754)
Succeeded by