John Holt (businessman)
| John Holt | |
|---|---|
 An oil painting of John Holt by John A. A. Berrie | |
| Born |
31 October 1841 Garthorpe, Lincolnshire, England |
| Died | 22 June 1915 (Age 73) |
| Residence | Garthorpe, Lincolnshire & Birkenhead, Cheshire |
| Occupation | Merchant |
| Known for | Founder of shipping company John Holt plc |
| Spouse(s) | Eliza |
| Children | Jonathan Cockin Holt, Rosa Dorothy Holt, Eliza Winfred Holt, Constance Holt, John Holt, Godfrey Holt, Nucell Holt, William G Holt, et al |
John Holt (31 October 1841 – 22 June 1915) was an English merchant, who founded a shipping line operating between Liverpool and West Africa, and a number of businesses in Nigeria, which are now incorporated in John Holt plc.
Holt was born in Garthorpe, Lincolnshire in 1841.
In 1862, with £27 in his pocket, he sailed from Liverpool to take up an appointment as a shop assistant in a grocery store in Fernando Po (now Equatorial Guinea). Five years later, he bought out his employer, and he was joined by his brother Jonathan, and the two brothers expanded their business interests in West Africa, forming a partnership, John Holt and Company, in 1884, and a company, John Holt & Co. (Liverpool) Ltd, in 1897.
John Holt was also the co-founder of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and in 1903, The Mary Kingsley Medal was instituted by Holt. It is awarded for outstanding contributions in the field of tropical medicine and is named in honour of Mary Kingsley.
A resident of Birkenhead (then part of the County of Cheshire) ever since he arrived there as an apprentice in his late teens, he was still living there with his family in the affluent suburb of Oxton in 1911. He shortly thereafter retired, following a severe stroke, to his home at Broughton Grange, Lincolnshire, where he died in 1915.
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