The African Company of Merchants was established by Act of Parliament as a successor organisation to the Royal African Company in 1752. Provision was made for interested citizens to join the corporation in three cities: at foundation there were 135 members in London,157 in Bristol and 101 in Liverpool, which nevertheless had the most extensive participation in slave trade.
Liverpool members
Founding members
The following list of 101 names was published on 24 June 1752. Several were MPs for Liverpool at some stage in their lives.
John Armitage
John Atherton
John Ashton
John Backhouse
Thomas Ball
William Benson
Joseph Bird
John Blackburn
Bryan Blundell
Jonathan Blundell
Richard Blundell
William Blundell
John Bostock
George Bradley
Edward Bridge
George Brooks
Joseph Brooks
Jonathan Brooks
William Bulkeley
George Campbell
Thomas Chalmer
Robert Clay
John Clayton
George Clews
Charles Craven
John Crompton
James Crosbie
Thomas Crowder
Ellis Cunliffe
Foster Cunliffe (1682–1758) Robert Cunliffe Joseph Davis Edward Dean
William Dobb
Thomas Dunbar
Ralph Earl
David Eddie
Elliott Ellams
Joseph Farmer
Edward Forbes
Richard Ford
Potter Fletcher
James Gildart
Richard Gildart (MP for Liverpool,1734-1754) John Goodwin William Goodwin Charles Goore James Gordon John Gorrell Robert Hallhead John Hardman (MP for Liverpool,1754-1756) Henry Hardwar Arthur Heywood Benjamin Heywood Robert Hesketh William Higginson Captain John Hughes Richard Hughes Thomas Kendall John Knight George Laidler Thomas Leatherbarrow Pierce Lee Charles Lowndes Edward Lowndes Thomas Mears Joseph Manesty
Richard Nicholas
John Nicholson
Edmund Ogden
Samuel Ogden
Isaac Oldham
John Okill
James Pardoe
John Parker
Edward Parr
John Parr
William Penket
William Pole
Owen Pritchard
Samuel Reed
William Rowe
Richard Savage
Robert Seel
Thomas Seel
Samuel Shaw
Robert Smith, (Broad Street, London) Samuel Smith John Strong Matthew Strong John Tarleton Henry Townsend Richard Townsend Edward Trafford Levinus Unsworth Christo Whytell William Whalley Henry Lane White John Williamson William Williamson