Alderman John Atkins

London West India merchant and significant slave-owner in Jamaica, Lord Mayor of London 1818-1819, and MP for Arundel 1802-1806 and 1826-1832 and for London 1812-1818.

1. John Atkins of the Parish of Charlton, Kent, married Anna Maria Burnaby on 01/10/1803 at Greenwich St Alphege. Five children born between 1805 and 1813 and baptised at St Stephen's Walbrook, London. He was however also father of John Pelly Atkins (q.v.), born c. 1790, whose mother is shown as Sarah in his 1790 baptism record. John Atkins and Sarah Littell married 12/04/1779 at St Stephen's Walbrook; the first child of this marriage, Drury Hunt Atkins, was born and baptised in 1788 at St Michael Cornhill and died in 1789.

2. Listed as Alderman John Atkins at 68 Wimpole St and at Halstead-place, Richmore-hill, Kent in 1835 and John Atkins & Sons, merchants, at 7 Walbrook in 1836.

3. Lord Mayor of London, 1818-1819: "In 1818–19 Alderman John Atkins was host at the Mansion House. In early life he had been a Customs' tide-waiter, and was not remarkable for polished manners; but he was a shrewd and worthy man, filling the seat of justice with impartiality, and dispensing the hospitality of the City with an open hand."

4. Died at Halstead Place, Kent, aged 78, in 1838, leaving personalty of £90,000.

http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/atkins-john-1760-1838 and http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-1832/member/atkins-john-1754-1838 [both accessed 03/08/2016].

1. London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921; London, England Baptisms, Marriage and Burials, 1583-1812; London, England, Births and Baptisms, 1813-1906; Rubinstein 1872/1 John Pelly Atkins; Ancestry.com, London, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 [database online].

2. Boyle's Directory (1835); Post Office Directory (1836).

3. 'The Lord Mayors of London', Old and New London: Volume 1 (1878), pp. 396-416. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=45053&strquery=john+atkins [accessed 19/12/2011].

4. Times 29/10/1838 p. 7; http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-1832/member/atkins-john-1754-1838 [accessed 03/08/2016].

We are grateful to Keith Jeffery for his assistance with compiling this entry.