Jump to content

John Lewis Ricardo

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Bgwhite (talk | contribs) at 19:40, 10 August 2016 (fix section header using AWB). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

John Lewis Ricardo
Born1812
England
Died2 August 1862 (aged 49–50)
England
Occupation(s)Businessman, politician

John Lewis Ricardo (1812 – 2 August 1862) was a British businessman and politician.

He was the son of Jacob Ricardo and nephew of the economist David Ricardo. In 1841 he married Catherine Duff (c.1820 – 1869), the daughter of General Sir Alexander Duff and sister of James Duff, 5th Earl Fife. They had one son, Alexander Louis (1843–1871), the first husband of Florence Bravo.

In 1841 he was elected Member of Parliament for Stoke-on-Trent as a Liberal, serving until his death. He was active in the repeal of the Navigation Acts in 1849.

Businessman

He was Chairman of the North Staffordshire Railway from 1846 until his death. In 1846 he founded the Electric Telegraph Company, the world's first public telegraph company together with William Fothergill Cooke and served as Chairman until its merger with the International Telegraph Company in 1856. He was also a director of London and Westminster Bank.[1]

Ricardo was a leader of a group of businessmen who in 1845. Purchase the patents for the electric telegraph designed by Cooke and Wheatstone British patents. He was staying largest shareholder and executive Chairman of the Electric Telegraph Company for its first 12 years. His goal was to build a national network in Britain, that would distribute fresh financial news items to his own network of newsrooms to be located adjacent to all the British stock exchanges. The goal was a monopoly over instant information that was financially valuable to speculators and investors. However, when the established telegraph companies formed monopolistic cartels and raised prices to newspapers, Ricardo secretly switched sides and campaigned for their nationalization.[2]

Publications

References

  1. ^ Appletons' annual cyclopaedia and register of important events of the year: 1862. New York: D. Appleton & Company. 1863. p. 690.
  2. ^ Roger Neil Barton, "The birth of telegraphic news in Britain," Media History (2010) 16#4, pp 379-406

Further reading

  • Barton, Roger Neil. "The birth of telegraphic news in Britain," Media History (2010) 16#4, pp 379–406
  • Fetter, Frank Whitson. "The Influence of Economists in Parliament on British Legislation from Ricardo to John Stuart Mill", The Journal of Political Economy, 83 no.5 (1975) 1051–1064.
  • Mather, Francis C. "The railways, the electric telegraph and public order during the Chartist period, 1837–48." History 38.132 (1953): 40-53.
  • Obituary, The Gentleman's Magazine (Oct. 1862) p. 496–97.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Stoke-upon-Trent
1841–1862
With: William Taylor Copeland 1841–1852
Hon. Frederick Leveson-Gower 1852–1857
William Taylor Copeland 1857–1862 		Succeeded by


Stub icon

This industry-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Stub icon 1 Stub icon 2

This article about a Liberal Member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Lewis_Ricardo&oldid=733891688"