William Joseph Denison

London banker and MP, son of Joseph Denison (c. 1726-1806) banker and merchant who had been in partnership with the Heywoods of Liverpool. Both men have entries in the ODNB.

1. William Joseph Denison's bank acted as agent at the National Debt Office for T & W Earle and Joseph Brooks Yates (both of Liverpool) in the compensation process. To date no mortgages or slave-ownership have been discovered for the firm. Joseph Denison had acted as insurance broker for the Davenports for the latter's slave-trading voyages from Liverpool.

2. William Joseph Denison became (1806) senior partner in his father's banking business, Denison, Heywood, and Kennard of Lombard Street. At his death, 'Denison was probably among the eight or ten wealthiest British businessmen at the time of his death', leaving an estimated £2.3m (Rubinstein)

"One of the very richest men in England, although little known, and certainly one of the four or five richest bankers of the nineteenth century. He was known for his 'strict parsimony' in his private life. His sister, Elizabeth, Marchioness of Conyngham, was a mistress of George IV." (Rubinstein, wealthholders files, 1849, IV, 1849/31.)

Unmarried, Denison left the whole of his wealth to his nephew, Lord Albert Conyngham (1805–1860) (first Baron Londesborough). In 1883, his son, the second Baron Londesborough, 'owned nearly 53,000 acres in Yorkshire, worth £68,000 per annum in rental income, one of the very greatest examples of the use of business wealth to purchase land on a grand scale in modern British history'. (Rubinstein).

Wilson, R. G. "Denison, Joseph (c. 1726–1806), banker." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 23 Sep. 2004; Accessed 22 Jan. 2020. https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-49178; J. Inikori, Africans and the Industrial Revolution (CUP, 2002) p. 337 and Appendix 7.1 shows the intertwining of the accounts of Arthur Heywood & Sons and Joseph Denison & Co. and the importance of bill discounting to the combined firms, many of the bills deriving from the slave-trade. Joseph Denison was partner in the Liverpool bank of Arthur Heywood, Son & Co. until late 1797, London Gazette 14087 30 January 1798 p. 104.

1. See Draper, Price of Emancipation, Appendix 1 and Appendix 16; Inikori, Africans and The Industrial Revolution (CUP, 2002) p. 359 (the extent of this business is not shown by Inikori).

2. See W. D. Rubinstein's entry in the Oxford DNB for further details, Rubinstein, W. D. "Denison, William Joseph (1770–1849), banker and politician." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 23 Sep. 2004; Accessed 22 Jan. 2020. https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-7491. See also William D. Rubinstein, Who were the rich? A biographical dictionary of British wealth-holders Volume Two 1840-1859 MS, reference 1849/31.