William Camden

William Camden (1730s – 1796) was an English merchant who was a partner in the slave-trading partnership of Camden, Calvert and King. He was also in partnership with his brother, John Camden, in the family sugar-refining business, and had business connections with prominent German and Huguenot families in east London.

Early life and family William Camden was born in the 1730s, the son of John Camden, a sugar refiner. He had a brother, also John. The family were landowners in Oxfordshire. and did work for the British government.

From the 1760s, Camden was the owner with Anthony Calvert of ships involved in the slave trade between West Africa and the Caribbean.

Ships of the firm transported thousands of enslaved persons from West Africa, mostly to the Caribbean, in the late 18th century. In the 1780s they began to transport criminals from Britain to Australia.

Camden retired in 1783 and the business was transferred from 12 Red Lion Street, Wapping, to Calvert's residence at 3 The Crescent, Minories, Tower Hill.

Death William Camden died in 1796 but the firm continued under the same name until Anthony Calvert died in 1809. Camden left legacies totalling around £6,000 and the majority of the rest of his estate to Mary Anne Camden.