Sir Gilbert Heathcote, 1st Baronet

Sir Gilbert Heathcote, 1st Baronet (2 January 1652 – 25 January 1733) was a British merchant and Whig politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1701 and 1733. He also served as the governor of the Bank of England and was Lord Mayor of London in 1711.

Early life Heathcote was the eldest son of Gilbert Heathcote of Chesterfield, Derbyshire, and his wife, Anne Dickons, daughter of George Dickons of Chesterfield. He began his apprenticeship as a merchant overseas, and returned to England in 1680 to set himself up as a City trader. He became a Freeman of the Vintners' Company in 1681. On 30 May 1682, he married Hester Rayner, daughter of Christopher Rayner, merchant, of London. He was living in the parish of St Dunstan's-in-the-East in 1682 and established a business as a merchant in St Swithin's Lane trading in Spanish wines and other produce. He took his first step in Corporation government when elected Common Councilman for Walbrook ward in 1689. In 1690, he succeeded his father. At the 1698 English general election Heathcote stood for Parliament for the City of London, but was defeated. He became a member of the Russia Company in 1699. In 1700, he was master of the Vintners' Company. He was returned as Member of Parliament for City of London at the first general election of 1701 but was expelled on 20 March 1701 for his share in the circulation of some exchequer bills. He was however returned at the second general election of 1701.

Heathcote became an alderman for Walbrook on 30 June 1702, He was a manager of the united trade again from 1705 to 1709. At the 1705 English general election he was returned again as MP for the City of London. He was a trustee for receiving the loan to the Emperor in 1706.

He was vice-president of the HAC from 1711 to 1720 and resumed his command of the Blue Regiment in 1714 remaining as colonel for the rest of his life.

In 1725, he changed wards and became Alderman for Bridge Without ward, for the rest of his life. However, according to University College London's Legacies of British Slave-ownership, Heathcote never owned slaves in the British colony of Jamaica. In response to news of Heathcote's links to slavery, the Gilbert Heathcote School in Chesterfield renamed itself in 2021 as the "Whittington Moor Nursery and Infant Academy".

Descendants A descendant, Sir Gilbert John Heathcote, 5th Baronet (1795–1867), was created Baron Aveland in 1856; and his son Gilbert Henry, who in 1888 inherited from his mother the barony of Willoughby de Eresby, became 1st Earl of Ancaster in 1892.