Thomas Daniel (merchant)

Thomas Daniel (16 September 1762 – 6 April 1854) was a shipping magnate, financier and sugar merchant in Bristol and London. He was part of the third generation of a merchant dynasty originating from Barbados, which rose to become one of Bristol's wealthiest and most politically influential families. Daniel's extensive influence earned him the titles "King of Bristol" and later, "The Father of Bristol", reflecting his significant role in corporate and political affairs spanning over five decades.

Across the Americas he owned plantations. He was a partner in many Bristol businesses (see list) and owned 25 ships transporting goods from the West Indies.

The extent of his family's company Thomas Daniel & Sons in Bristol and Thomas Daniel & Co. in London, founded by his father in the mid-eighteenth century, was such that when slavery was abolished in 1834 the British Government awarded it one of the largest compensation awards in the UK for 4,424 African and Caribbean people.

Thos. Daniel & Sons and Thos. Daniel & Co. provided mortgages for plantation owners. Between 1823 and 1843 he and his brother headed the list of British merchants who were the major creditors for estates that passed through the chancery courts in Barbados. During that time they extended £62,694 in credit (the total amount of mortgages extended during this period in Barbados was valued at £256,981).

The vast extent of this mortgage lending has been attributed to the amount of compensation the company received being so high – the company becoming shareholders in failing plantations they provided mortgages to, and subsequently in the enslaved individuals. For decades he was a key member of organisations in Bristol such as the Society of Merchant Venturers and the West India Association which lobbied against the abolition of slavery.

He was a leading Tory in Bristol and a member of the Council continuously for more than 56 years.

Despite his influence on Bristol when alive, very few people today have heard of Daniel because, unlike other West India merchants connected to the City such as Edward Colston, he did not leave any testementary legacies to the city Although he was worth the equivalent of £26.2m when he died.