Person Heathcote; George (1700 - 1768) Heathcote George 1700 - 1768 British Male Jamaica, West Indies 07 December 1700 07 June 1768

Merchant Education: Middle Temple (admitted 1720) Career: MP for Hindon (1727-1734); MP for Southwark (1734-1741); MP for London (1741-1747); Director of the South Sea Company (1730-1733); Alderman of Walbrook Ward (1739-1749); Sheriff of London (1739-1740); Lord Mayor of London (1742); a strong opponent of the Hanoverian court, he supported the Young Pretender (1745) and was 'a principal manager' in a plot to restore the Stuarts with Prussian help (1752) Memberships: Salters' Company (Master 1737) Son of Josiah Heathcote, West India Merchant, of St Swithin's Lane, London, and his wife, Catherine, widow of Thomas Barrett, Merchant, of Jamaica; married Maria, daughter of John Eyles, MP, of South Broom House, Wiltshire; nephew of Sir Gilbert Heathcote (FRS 1705); first cousin of Henry Heathcote (FRS 1720) The South Sea Company (officially The Governor and Company of the merchants of Great Britain, trading to the South Seas and other parts of America, and for the encouragement of the Fishery) was a British joint-stock company founded in 1711, created as a public-private partnership to consolidate and reduce the cost of the national debt. To generate income, in 1713 the company was granted a monopoly (the Asiento) to supply enslaved Africans to the islands in the 'South Seas' and South America. Company stock rose greatly in value as it expanded its operations dealing in government debt, and peaked in 1720 before suddenly collapsing to little above its original flotation price. The notorious economic bubble thus created, which ruined thousands of investors, became known as the South Sea Bubble. Fellow 16/01/1729 Sources: Bulloch's Roll; MT; GEC Baronetage Notes: Proposed by James Douglas; Sir Hans Sloane; William Sloane. Last on PL for 1768. International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) - Ottawa 1996 ISBN 0-9696035-3-3 National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997 NA7330 21/11/2001 Andyg Pmab 28/03/2023 RS_NET\JonathanB yes 495af242-c49f-4f67-bd71-7bdda6a75fe2