P_10433_2447 – Vincent John Biscoe
London West India merchant, of St Andrews Holborn, partner with Marmaduke Hilton and then under his own name. Owner of a voyage from Bristol in 1744 to Gambia and Kingston Jamaica, and of a second voyage from London to the Windward Coast and again Kingston Jamaica in 1755 (for both of which he is given as Briscoe in TASTDB): he was probably also the co-owner of two voyages by the Othello in 1759 and 1761 and one by the Scipio in 1757. Vincent Biscoe was a member of the Committee of the Company of Merchants trading to Africa 06/08/1750. He married into the English aristocracy: his wife Lady Mary Seymour was the only daughter of Edward, Duke of Somerset. His firm of Turner, Hilton and Biscoe acted as guarantor for slave-factors such as DeGoy [sic], Boscawen of Guadeloupe, and exemplified the evolution of London within the slave-trade from a port of origin to the heart of the financial system sustaining the expanded British trade in captive African people.
Title: /
First name: Vincent John
Middle name: /
Last name: Biscoe
Aliases: Briscoe, Vincent
Primary cohort: London
Sex: Male
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Relations
Lady Mary Seymour
Spouse (married 1759)
Lady Mary Seymour was the only daughter of Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset.
Political Offices Held
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Bankruptcies
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Geographic experiences
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Internal migrant: Don't know
Foreign born: Don't know
Supplier to slave trade voyages: Don't know
Creditor to slave trade voyages: Don't know
Philanthropy: Don't know
Plantation owner: Don't know
Sources: J. J. Crooks, Records Relating to the Gold Coast Settlements from 1750 to 1874 (2013) pp. 11, 12; Benedict G. Fer, 'Parliament's Interest in West Africa, 1713-1785', MA thesis, University of Ottawa (1967) pp. 122-137.PROB 11/957/261 Voyage Nos 77703 and 77750 for the Othello carry no ownership information. The ship was owned by Hilton, Biscoe in 1758, HCA 26/9/173 Description: Commander: John Cappes. Ship: Othello. Burden: 180 tons. Crew: 50. Owners: Messrs. Hylton Biscoe and Company of London, merchants. 19/07/1758. Voyage No. 77678 of the Scipio in 1757 shows the owner as John Cappes in TASTDB, whereas the ship was owned in 1756 by Hilton and Biscoe, HCA 26/6/9 Description: Commander: John Cappes. Ship: Scipio. Burden: 250 tons. Crew: 35; Owners: Hilton Briscoe [sic] and Company of London, merchants. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/2146663855 Vincent Biscoe was named in the will of Alexander Forbes, gentleman of Kingston, Jamaica (written in 1769 and proved in 1771) and charged with managing sufficient funds to provide for annuities for Forbes' mother and sister, PROB 11/973/276. Brian W. Refford, The Bonds of the Trade: commerce and community the Liverpool slave trade 1695-1775 (2008) pp. 81 and 131, which sows correspondence of William Earle of Liverpool with the form, given as Turner, Hilton and Briscoe.
Other Individuals
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Organisations
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Crossings (1)
77653 - Friendship (1754 - 1755)
Role: Owner
Birth
Date: 1721
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Death
Date: 29/04/1770
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Burial
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Residencies
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Schools
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Universities
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Inns of Court
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Military training
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Imperial positions
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Apprenticeships
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Livery company affiliations
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Other business activities
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Was slave trading profitable: Don't know
Will
Value of Total Personalty: /
Value of Known Legacies (where material to total estate): /
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Courts: PCC
Will of Vincent John Biscoe merchant of [Bedford Row] St Andrews Holborn 14/05/1770. In the will he left £5000 to his daughter Mary and divided his extensive real estate in England between his sons Joseph Seymour Biscoe and Vincent Hilton Biscoe. In a codicil of 1768 he diverted his property in Mincing Lane and Tower Street in the City of London to his son Edmund Hammond Biscoe instead of Vincent Hilton Biscoe. He authorised his executors to make whatever arrangement was sensible with John Purrier if the latter wanted to continue the business of Vincent John Biscoe in which he [Purrier] was clerk. He left 20 guineas each to his 'worthy friends' Thomas Hibbert senior, Thomas Hibbert junior and Samuel Jackson of Kingston, and £25 p.a. to Miss Hannah Shelley, natural daughter of his late correspondent Danl. Monro of Jamaica, provided she did not inherit the contingent remainder of the fortune Monro left to his niece Fanny Jenkins. His will was otherwise silent on Jamaica and on 'slave-property' although he said he had 'very considerable' personalty including debts receivable by him.
Legacies
Physical Imprints
Building Category: Urban
Type: Built
Town/City: London (Middlesex)
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Year: 1766-1768
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Vincent John Biscoe was the mortgage lender for the development of a stretch of Brompton Road (formerly Brompton Row), of which his brother Elisha was freeholder. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol41/pp33-49
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