William Swymmer

William Swymmer (birth and death dates unknown) was a Bristol sugar merchant, involved in the slave trade. In 1667, he became a member of the Society of Merchant Venturers.^[1] He was an alderman in Bristol, and then Sheriff in 1679.^[2] Swymmer may have inherited a share in a sugar plantation in Barbados from his father. His brother and his wife were also involved in the slave trade.^[2]^[3] Records survive of the1684 correspondence from William Swymmer and William Hayman, to , the Somerset owner of a Jamaica plantation, explaining why they were unable to provide the ten slaves they had contracted to supply. The deal was illegal, as the Royal African Company had a monopoly on the British slave trade at this point.^[2]^[3]

In 1681, Swymmer built two warehouses in Bristol, probably for the storage of sugar, and in 1692 Swymmer loaned the Society of Merchant Venturers £600 for building a new quay and cranes in Bristol docks.^[2]

In 1686 Swymmer writes to William Helyar to explain a delay in a separate consignment of slaves that had been agreed between Elizabeth Swymmer and Helyar's son. Historian Madge Dresser reports this as the only case she has found of a Bristol woman involved in her husband's slave-factoring or slave trading business.^[2]

Swymmer's daughter Elizabeth married Thomas Fane, 8th Earl of Westmorland.

References[]

^ McGrath, Patrick. Records relating to the Society of Merchant Venturers of the City of Bristol in the Seventeenth Century (PDF). Bristol Records Society.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Dresser, Madge, author. Slavery obscured : the social history of the slave trade in an English provincial port. ISBN 978-1-4742-9171-2. OCLC 1089438580.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "The Swymmer brothers | Personal stories: Traders and Merchants | Traders, Merchants and Planters | The People Involved | Bristol and Transatlantic Slavery | PortCities Bristol". www.discoveringbristol.org.uk. Retrieved 29 June 2020.

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[1] McGrath, Patrick. Records relating to the Society of Merchant Venturers of the City of Bristol in the Seventeenth Century (PDF). Bristol Records Society.

[:0-2] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Dresser, Madge, author. Slavery obscured : the social history of the slave trade in an English provincial port. ISBN 978-1-4742-9171-2. OCLC 1089438580.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[:1-3] Jump up to: ^a ^b "The Swymmer brothers | Personal stories: Traders and Merchants | Traders, Merchants and Planters | The People Involved | Bristol and Transatlantic Slavery | PortCities Bristol". www.discoveringbristol.org.uk. Retrieved 29 June 2020.

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