William Baker (British politician)

Sir William Baker (5 November 1705 – 23 January 1770) was an English merchant and politician, a Member of the Parliament of Great Britain and Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company.^[1]

William Baker
Born	5 November 1705
Died	23 January 1770
Occupation(s)	merchant and politician

Bayfordbury House

He was the son of John Baker, a London draper. He became an Alderman of London in 1739 and a director of the East India Company in 1741–5, 1746–50 and 1751–53. He was also deputy chairman (1749, 1751–52), chairman (1749–50, 1752–53), Deputy Governor (1750-60) and the 11th Governor (1760–70) of the Hudson's Bay Company. He was knighted in 1760.

He was MP for Plympton Erle from 1747 to 1768. In 1759 he built a country house in an estate at Bayfordbury in Hertfordshire.^[2]

He died in 1770. He had married Mary, the daughter of Jacob Tonson, publisher, and with her had 6 sons and a daughter. His eldest son, also William Baker, who inherited and improved Bayfordbury, was also an MP.

The community Baker Lake in Nunavut, Canada was named after him.^[3][4][5]