Thomas King

Thomas King was a British merchant and privateer who acquired wealth through trade and privateering.

King was the grandson of John King, a merchant and a former mayor of Bristol. He began work as a trainee under a timber merchant but did not find the job interesting. When war broke out between France and England, King took interest in fighting. At the age of nineteen, he joined a crew of privateers on Lyon, a frigate owned by Sydenham Teast.

King held interests in the ships: John Cabot (along with his sons), Neptune (built in 1811), , Colin, and London (built in 1788).