Maurice Thomson

Maurice Thomson (1601/4-1676), of St Andrew's parish, Eastcheap, City of London and of Haversham in Buckinghamshire, was an English merchant and Puritan, said to be "England's greatest colonial merchant of his day". He obtained a monopoly of the Virginia tobacco trade.

Origins

He was the eldest son and heir of Robert Thomson of Watton-at-Stone, Hertfordshire, by his wife Elizabeth Harsflet, daughter of John Harsflet (alias Halfehead, Harsnett) of Watton-at-Stone. His sister Mary Thomson married William Tucker, a merchant and one of the first plantation owners in Virginia. His younger brothers included:

• Col. George Thomson(c.1607–1691), a merchant, Parliamentarian soldier and MP for Southwark.
• Robert Thomson, youngest brother, a merchant.
• Paul Thomson
• Sir William Thomson

Marriage & progeny

He married Dorothy Vaux, daughter of John Vaux, of Pembrokeshire, by whom he had progeny including:

• John Thompson, 1st Baron Haversham (c.1648-1710), eldest son and heir.
• Mary Thomson, wife of William Owfield (1623-1664), MP

Landholdings

He owned estates and property including:

• Elsham, Lincolnshire, which manor he purchased in 1655.
• Worcester House, Mile End Green, which he sold in 1675 to the Church.

Death & burial

He died in 1676 and was buried in the chancel of Haversham Church.

Sources

• Brenner, Robert, Merchants and Revolution: Commercial Change, Political Conflict, and London's Overseas Traders, 1550-1653, 2003;
• McCartney, Martha W., Virginia Immigrants and Adventurers, 1607-1635: A Biographical Dictionary
• Richard B. Sheridan, Sugar and Slavery: An Economic History of the British West Indies, 1623-1775, pp.88-90[1]
• Biographical details: ancestry.com[2]
• John Burke, Sir Bernard Burke, A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Extinct and Dormant Baronetcies, p.523[3]