Background
Abraham Rawlinson was the son of Thomas Hutton Rawlinson (1712-1769), a West Indies merchant, and his wife Mary (née Dilworth). He took over his father"s business in 1756, creating a new company Abraham Rawlinson Junr.
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Abraham Rawlinson
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Career
He came from a prominent Quaker family which traded out of the port of Lancaster. & Company Rawlinson was involved in the importation of mahogany, and in the slave trade. Rawlinson was painted by George Romney.
The portrait was done in the 1760s before Rawlinson became an, and shows the subject holding a telescope to indicate his mercantile interests: it is currently on display in the Judges" Lodgings Museum, Lancaster.
The museum also has a silver cup presented to him in 1790 in gratitude for his parliamentary service. Rawlinson died 24 May 1803.
As an, he consistently opposed the campaign for the abolition of the slave trade. The Slave Trade Acting 1788 regulated the trade for the first time and in 1799 an Acting of Parliament decreed slaving ships could only sail from Liverpool, London and Bristol, but the slave trade was not abolished until after Rawlinson"s death.
Membership
15th Parliament of Great Britain. 16th Parliament of Great Britain]
Rawlinson served as one of two Members of Parliament for Lancaster from 1780 to 1790.
