- Thomas Guy
Thomas Guy (1644-1724) was a British bookseller, speculator and de facto founder of
Guy's Hospital , LondonEarly life
Thomas Guy was born a son of a , wharf owner and coal-dealer at
Southwark . In 1668, after eight years as anapprentice of abookseller , he began his own bookstore inLombard Street . At first he soldBible s that were poorly printed in England so he imported them from the Netherlands. Eventually he gained a privilege of printing them from the University of Oxford and became book publisher.Guy had a reputation as a miser, mainly because a rival bookseller John Dunton accused him of paying low wages and refusing to help the charities. In fact, Guy was a stock speculator. He invested in government
securities and bought shares to the value of £42,000 in Britain's official slave-trading organisation, theSouth Sea Company . In 1720 he successfully sold his stock of the company with the prize ranging £300-600 per share and amassed a large fortune. During the British wars against theLouis XIV of France , Guy successfully speculated in seamen's pay tickets.ponsor of hospitals
Despite his reputation, Guy did provide for charities. In 1678 he gave money to almshouses at
Tamworth , his mother's birthplace, and also represented that town in parliament from 1695 to 1707.In 1704 Guy became a governor of St Thomas' Hospital. In 1707 he had built three wards and supported the hospital afterwards. In 1725 Guy opened the Guy's Hospital opposite to Thomas' Hospital at a cost of £18,793, 16 shillings.
Thomas Guy died unmarried on
December 17 1724 . His will left £219,499 to the Guy's Hospital. He also gaveChrist's Hospital an annuity of £400. The rest of his estate, about £80,000, went to distant relatives.In 1995, 271 years after his death, a new dual carriageway by-passing
Tamworth was named Thomas Guy Way in his honour.Bibliography
*"A True Copy of the Last Will and Testament of Thomas Guy, Esq." (London, 1725)
*J. Noorthouck, "A New Hist, of London," vol. iii. ch. i. p. 684 (1773)
*Nichols, "Literary Anecdotes," iii. 599 (1812)
*Charles Knight, "Shadows of the Old Booksellers," pp. 3-23 (1865)
*S. Wilkes and G. T. Bettany "A Biographical History of Guy's Hospital," (1892).References
*
* Jane Bowden-Dan - "Mr Guy's Hospital and the Caribbean" ("History Today" June 2006)
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