Samuel Gregson

Apparently unsuccessful counterclaimant with others for the compensation for 106 enslaved people probably on Tortola in the Virgin Islands, which was paid into a Chancery suit of Salisbury v Taylor.

This is probably Samuel Gregson (1762-1846), but could conceivably be his son, also Samuel Gregson (1793-1865), an East India merchant. The former was more closely associated with Lancaster in the period of compensation.

There is a nexus of Lancaster merchants in this award, which was originally claimed by R. King of St George Tortola as receiver in Chancery of Geo. Hannah deceased owner-in-fee. Thomas Giles of Lancaster (q.v.) counterclaimed with Thomas Walling Salisbury and Thomas Lamb of Hay Carr near Lancaster (q.v.) as mortgagees under an assignment from Richard Hetherington (q.v.); there was also a separate counterclaim from Thomas Giles and Samuel Gregson 'of Lancaster, merchants'.   

1. Samuel Gregson (1762-1846), 'Manager of the Lancaster Canal Company, of Caton near Lancaster' was the father of Samuel Gregson (1793-1865), an East Indian merchant of Austin Friars in the City of London, based there from c.1825. The latter was Liberal MP for Lancaster 1847-8, 1852-death, left £250,000, and is in the ODNB as 'merchant and politician'.

T71/883 Virgin Islands no. 29.

1. William D. Rubinstein, Who were the rich? 1860- (Volumes 3 and 4, manuscripts in preparation), reference 1865/43 Samuel Gregson (1793-1865); Philip K. Law, ‘Gregson, Samuel (1793–1865)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/53152, accessed 21 Oct 2014].