Thomas Rogers (MP)
Thomas Rogers | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1735 Amblecote, Staffordshire, England |
| Died | 1793 |
| Occupation(s) | Merchant, banker, politician |
| Years active | 1760s–1793 |
| Known for | Merchant and banker; briefly MP for Coventry (1780–1781) |
Thomas Rogers (1735–1793) was an English merchant and banker who briefly represented Coventry as a Member of Parliament from late 1780 until early 1781.
Early life
Born to Thomas Rogers of Amblecote, Staffordshire, and Martha Knight—daughter of the ironmaster Richard Knight of Downton Hall—Rogers began his commercial career in London under Daniel Radford, whose warehouse was partly owned by his father.
At the time, Amblecote, near Stourbridge, was a small settlement where Rogers’ father resided at "The Hill," a large brick house. The elder Rogers was engaged in glass manufacturing, continuing a family legacy rooted in the Stourbridge glass trade spanning several generations. He bequeathed property in Kingswinford to his son.
By 1765 or 1766, Rogers had entered into partnership with George and Thomas Welch, bankers based in Cornhill, establishing the firm Welch & Rogers. This banking house evolved into Welch, Rogers, Olding & Rogers by 1785, incorporating principal clerk Olding as a partner along with Rogers’ sons, Thomas Jr. and Samuel, from 1784 onward. George Welch, who passed away in 1796, was known as a nonconformist activist with commercial connections to Poole and Newfoundland’s Harbour Grace.
Through his marriage, Rogers adopted Presbyterianism and became treasurer of the Newington Green meeting-house in 1767, where he was a neighbor to minister Richard Price. Together with Price, he formed an intellectual circle that included James Burgh and Ralph Thoresby the younger. Rogers lived at No. 52 Newington Green adjacent to Price’s residence at No. 54; he later expanded his home by merging it with No. 55 next door.
1780 election
Rogers was critical of British policies during the American Revolutionary War. In April 1780, he collaborated with Price to establish the Society for Constitutional Information. While Rogers and his associates advocated for parliamentary reform and opposed aristocratic dominance, they did not endorse contemporary democratic ideals. Price allied himself with John Horne Tooke, whom Rogers regarded with suspicion.
During the 1780 general election, Rogers stood for Parliament alongside Sir Thomas Hallifax as candidates for Coventry’s two-member seat. Their challengers, Edward Roe Yeo and John Baker Holroyd, supported the North administration. Hallifax and Rogers were backed by Coventry’s corporation; Hallifax had ties to Coventry through the bank Vere, Glyn & Hallifax, co-founded with Sir Richard Glyn—a former Coventry MP who had previously opposed the corporation. Opponents derisively labeled Rogers the "Dismal Squire" and Hallifax the "Dumb Knight." The initial polling was disrupted by riots and halted after eight days. A subsequent poll lasting 24 days concluded on 29 December with Hallifax and Rogers narrowly victorious; however, Parliament overturned these results on 27 February 1781.
Later life
In 1786, Rogers served on the founding committee of the New College at Hackney. The following year, an anonymous pamphlet titled Salutary Admonitions criticized the college and was addressed to Rogers; modern scholarship attributes its authorship to David Williams. By 1791, Rogers chaired the college committee which included ten members affiliated with the Revolution Society and organized a dinner honoring radical thinker Tom Paine.
Rogers played a role in arranging a dinner at the Crown and Anchor, Strand in 1790 commemorating the first anniversary of Bastille Day, attended by roughly 600 individuals adorned with cockades. In 1792, he endorsed a resolution from the Society of the Friends of the People calling for political reform.
Family
In 1760, Rogers wed Mary Radford, the daughter of Daniel Radford. Together, they had eight children, seven of whom outlived him. Among their offspring was the poet Samuel Rogers, their third son.
- Daniel Rogers (died 1829) resided first at "The Hill," Amblecote, and later at Wassell Grove, Hagley. He studied at Queens' College, Cambridge and Lincoln's Inn, married Martha Bowles, and fathered six sons and four daughters.
- Thomas Rogers (1761–1788).
- Samuel Rogers inherited a portion of the family banking enterprise along with an annual income of £5,000; he sold the family residence on Newington Green in 1797 and entrusted the bank's management to his brother Henry in 1802.
- Henry Rogers (died 1833), remained unmarried.
- Martha Rogers (died 1835), became the wife of banker John Towgood in 1792.
- Maria Rogers married brewer Sutton Sharpe in 1795; she was mother to banker Samuel Sharpe (scholar) and passed away during childbirth in 1806.
- Sarah Rogers (died 1855), never married.
Additionally, a son named Paul died in infancy in 1768.
Bank merger
In 1811, the Towgood family banking firm was integrated into the Rogers bank, restoring the name Langston, Towgood & Amory. This institution was originally established in 1777 by James Haughton Langston, a wine merchant and father of John Langston.
Matthew Towgood III, father of John Towgood, initially served as a Presbyterian minister before transitioning into London banking and becoming a trustee of Hackney New College. His wife, Mary Mills, was sister to banker John Mills (d. 1759). John Towgood had financial involvement in a mortgage concerning a St Kitts plantation and received compensation linked to enslaved individuals there. Matthew Towgood IV (1761–1830) entered into partnership with Bloxham & Fourdrinier and eventually acquired their paper mill located at St Neots. According to scholar D. C. Coleman, Towgood's partnership around 1808 may have been funded through a loan from Langston, Towgood & Co.