George Hayley

George Hayley (1722-1781) was a British merchant, shipowner, whaler and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1774 to 1781.

Life and career

Hayley was the eldest son of George Hayley and his wife Hannah Hopkins. His initial career was that of cordwainer.[1] By 1767 he was an agent importing whale oil from America. He owned three or four South Sea whaling vessels between 1775 and 1781.[2]

He married Mary Storke, who was sister of John Wilkes and widow of Samuel Storke Jr., a merchant of London.[3][Notes 1]

Hayley was elected Member of Parliament for City of London at the 1774 general election. He also became an alderman in 1774 and was a sheriff of London in 1775–6. He was also President of Lloyd’s of London.[8] He was returned as MP for the City at the 1780 general election. He was a poor speaker and his main concern was on behalf of merchants trading with America.[3]

Hayley died on 30 August 1781.[3]

Notes

1. The History of Parliament gives the name of Wilkes' first husband erroneously as Alexander Stock.[3] The business relationships of Storke/Hayley[3] and Storke/Hayley/Champion[4][5] indicate that the entry in History of Parliament is incorrect, as do various biographical accounts of John Wilkes, which identify Mary's first husband as Storke or Stork.[6][7]

References

1. Jane M. Clayton & Charles A. Clayton, Shipowners investing in the South Sea Whale Fishery from Britain: 1775 to 1815, Hassobury, 2016, p.75.
2. Clayton & Clayton, p.75.
3. "HAYLEY, George (d.1781), of London". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
4. "(untitled)". The Public Advertiser. London, England. 8 August 1786. p. 3. Retrieved 6 May 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
5. Clayton, Jane M. (2014). Ships employed in the South Sea Whale Fishery from Britain: 1775-1815: An alphabetical list of ships. Hastings, East Sussex, England: Berforts Information Press. p. 17. ISBN 978-1-908616-52-4.
6. Bleackley, Horace (1917). Life of John Wilkes. London, England: John Lane. p. 21. OCLC 557289029.
7. Fitzgerald, Percy Hetherington (1888). The life and times of John Wilkes, M. P., Lord Mayor of London, and Chamberlain. London, England: Ward and Downey. p. 306. OCLC 834184408.
8. Clayton & Clayton, p.76.

Further reading

• Cash, Arthur H. (2006). John Wilkes: The scandalous father of civil liberty. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-10871-2.
• Chyet, Stanley F (1970). Lopez of Newport: Colonial American merchant prince. Detroit, Michigan: Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-1407-4.
• Ford, Worthington Chauncey, ed. (1915). Commerce of Rhode Island 1726–1800. Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Seventh Series volume X. II: 1775–1800. Norwood, Massachusetts: The Plimpton Press for the Massachusetts Historical Society.
• Urban, Sylvanus (September 1781). "(untitled)". The Gentleman's Magazine. Vol. 51. London, England: J. Nichols. OCLC 64190840.