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Entry TypePerson
SurnameGladstone
ForenamesJohn
Pre TitleSir
Epithetbaronet; merchant and slave-owner, politician
Dates1764-1851
Gender IdentityMale
Cultural HeritageWhite Scottish
BiographySir John Gladstone, 1st baronet, was a slave-owner who possessed plantations in Demerara (later part of Guyana). At the time slavery was abolished in 1833 he was had the largest number of enslaved persons working on his estates, and received the largest compensation payment. After abolition he expelled most of the African workers from his estate and employed indentured workers from India.

He criticised Robert John Wilmot-Horton's publication "The West India Question Practically Considered" saying that it “neither went to the root or met the difficulties with which the question is surrounded”. He went on to write a critique in the Liverpool Courier under his pseudonym, Mercator.
Family TreeFather of William Ewart Gladstone, who served as Prime Minister four time between 1868 and 1894.
Authorised Form of NameGladstone; Sir; John (1764-1851); baronet; merchant and slave-owner, politician

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