Robinson, Thomas, 1731-1817

Thomas Robinson was a Quaker minister from Newport, Rhode Island.

He was born in 1731 to William Robinson and Abigail Hazard Robinson. In 1753 Robinson became a commission merchant in Newport, where he had an interest in distilleries and a part in the slave trade. Distressed by what he saw in this venture, he became an ardent opponent of the slave trade and eventually promoted the idea of freedom for all enslaved people. In 1754 Robinson married Sarah Richardson (-1817). The couple had 6 sons and 3 daughters.

Together with his cousin Thomas Hazard, Robinson was one of the founders of a school in Warren, Rhode Island, out of which eventually grew Brown University. In 1761 Robinson changed his business interests to that of merchandizing sperm oil after the loss of several ships in which he had substantial interests. The ships had been seized in the West Indies in violation of a truce. During the Revolutionary War, Robinson was of Tory sympathies. He had French officers and staff quartered on his place when the French fleet came to Newport in 1780-1781. Robinson died at Newport in 1817 within a few months of his wife.