Sir Richard Saltonstall (c. 1521 – 17 March 1601) was an English merchant and politician who served as the Lord Mayor of London in 1599.
Contents
Early life
Saltonstall was born in Yorkshire, England in 1521. He was the second son of Agnes and Gilbert Saltonstall, a cloth merchant of Halifax, Yorkshire who owned lands in Hipperholme.
He was descended from Robert de Saltonstall who held lands in Warley, near Halifax, in 1274. Saltonstall was the uncle of New England colonist Sir Richard Saltonstall.
Career
For a time, Saltonstall lived in the Netherlands, where he was a member of the Company of Merchant Adventurers of London; by 1585, he had become the director of the company. He was also affiliated with the Muscovy Company, the Levant Company, and the English East India Company.
He also had a long political career serving the city of London. He was a member of the city council by 1583, a Member of Parliament in 1586, and an alderman by 1588. He served as Sheriff of the City of London for 1589 and was elected Lord Mayor of London for 1597. He served as master of the Skinners Company in 1589, 1593, from 1595 to 1596, and from 1599 to 1600. He was knighted in 1598.