William Swymmer

William Swymmer (birth and death dates unknown) was a Bristol sugar merchant, involved in the slave trade. In 1667, he became a member of the Society of Merchant Venturers.[1] He was an alderman in Bristol, and then Sheriff in 1679.[2] Swymmer may have inherited a share in a sugar plantation in Barbados from his father. His brother Anthony Swymmer and his wife Elizabeth Swymmer were also involved in the slave trade.[2][3] Records survive of the1684 correspondence from William Swymmer and William Hayman, to William Helyar, the Somerset owner of a Jamaica plantation, explaining why they were unable to provide the ten slaves they had contracted to supply. The deal was illegal, as the Royal African Company had a monopoly on the British slave trade at this point.[2][3]

In 1681, Swymmer built two warehouses in Bristol, probably for the storage of sugar, and in 1692 Swymmer loaned the Society of Merchant Venturers £600 for building a new quay and cranes in Bristol docks.[2]

In 1686 Swymmer writes to William Helyar to explain a delay in a separate consignment of slaves that had been agreed between Elizabeth Swymmer and Helyar's son. Historian Madge Dresser reports this as the only case she has found of a Bristol woman involved in her husband's slave-factoring or slave trading business.[2]

Swymmer's daughter Elizabeth married Thomas Fane, 8th Earl of Westmorland.