January 13, 1757 - George Hibbert
His prominence rested on commerce built on enslaved labor, and the infrastructure he helped create — the West India Docks — was designed specifically to service that trade at scale. As a leading figure in the West India interest, Hibbert wielded political and economic influence to defend and entrench the slave economy at a moment when abolitionist pressure was mounting.
From Wikipedia
George Hibbert (13 January 1757 – 8 October 1837) was an English merchant, politician and ship-owner. Alongside fellow slaver Robert Milligan, he was also one of the principals of the West India Dock Company which instigated the construction of the West India Docks on London's Isle of Dogs in 1800. An amateur botanist and book-collector, he also helped found the Royal National Lifeboat Institution in 1824.
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