Dalby Thomas


Dalby Thomas was an English businessman and writer.

Slave Trade

He wrote Historical Account of the Rise and Growth of the West-India Colonies and of the Great Advantages They Are to England, in Respect to Trade which was published in London in 1690. Here he advocated revoking the monopoly on trading in enslaved Africans, which at the time was enjoyed by the Royal African Company, arguing that free trade would lead to a reduction in the price of chattel slaves. Thomas called for the establishment of a great council of trade representing every "every Plantation, Marritime, City, Company, Constitution and Trade, which would desire to send Members to it", which would draw up advisory documents for both Houses of Parliament.