George William Alexander
George William Alexander | |
---|---|
British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society.[1] | |
Predecessor | New position |
Spouses |
|
Children | Three daughters and two sons |
Parent(s) | William and Ann Alexander |
George William Alexander (1802–1890) was an English financier and
Biography
Alexander was born in London. He was the eldest of nine children in an upwardly mobile Quaker family. When he was aged fourteen his father died, and Alexander had to work hard to continue his education and assist his mother, Ann Alexander, who had taken on the leadership of the bill-broking company, Alexander and Co. She ran the company and changed its name to A. M. Alexander.[3] In 1823, when George became an adult, he became a partner in his mother's business and the name became A. and G. W. Alexander. He was still a minority shareholder and it was only in 1828 that he and his mother divided the profits equally. This continued until 1831 when his mother's share reduced as new partners were brought into the business.[3]
The
There nevertheless remained a need for a society that could continue to campaign for anti-slavery worldwide, and the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society was accordingly founded in 1839. One of its first significant deeds was to organise the World Anti-Slavery Convention in 1840:
"The Convention assembled in London at the
Alexander reported on his visits in 1839, with James Whitehorn, to
Alexander lived in the Quaker community in Stoke Newington Church Street, in a very well regarded group of houses known as Paradise Row. Here he was visited in 1850 by Alphonse de Lamartine, and in 1853 by Harriet Beecher Stowe.[7] His and the society's interests were no longer confined to the British empire and as treasurer he appears to have given freely of his own money. The American freed slave and later abolitionist and statesman, Frederick Douglass, wrote in 1855 after hearing Alexander give a speech in Britain, "George William Alexander ... has spent more than an American fortune in promoting the anti-slavery cause in different sections of the world."[2] The Society's balance sheet in 1854 showed that Alexander was still treasurer and that income was £766 whilst expenditure was £856, with £321 "due to the treasurer".[6]
He travelled on behalf of the society in an effort to encourage other countries to abolish slavery, visiting Spain, France, the Netherlands and Denmark.[8] In 1846, Alexander attended another World convention in London. This time the subject was temperance.[9]
His growing wealth enabled him to have his house rebuilt by 1870; the building later became known as Kennaway House.[7]
Alexander's company is the longest surviving discount house in the UK and was still extant in 1995, as Alexanders Discount plc.[10]
References
- ^ a b c d e National Portrait Gallery
- ^ a b My Bondage and Freedom Archived 9 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine by Frederick Douglass; 1855, accessed 10 July 2008.
- ^ doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/53243. Retrieved 14 October 2020. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ODNB, accessed 10 July 2008.
- ^ a b The Dublin Magazine, 1840 accessed 13 July 2008.
- ^ a b c > The Baptist Magazine, 786, 1854, accessed 10 July 2008.
- ^ a b 'Stoke Newington: Growth: Church Street', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 8: Islington and Stoke Newington parishes (1985), pp. 163-168. URL. Date accessed: 10 July 2008.
- ISBN 0-8369-8654-7accessed 12 July 2008.
- ^ Thomas Beggs (ed.) (1846). The proceedings of the World's Temperance Convention. London. pp. 48–49.
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has generic name (help) - ODNBaccessed 12 July 2008.
Sources
- Letters on the Slave-Trade, Slavery and Emancipation, originally published in 1842, but republished in 1969. ISBN 0-8371-1730-5
- Sixty Years Against Slavery, published in 1900 by the Anti-Slavery Society, but credited to Alexander
- He is mentioned by name in Thackeray's novel Vanity Fair