West India Dock Company

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The West India Dock Company was the company set up to build and then operate the West India Docks in London.

Robert Milligan (c. 1746-1809) was largely responsible for the construction of the West India Docks. Milligan was a wealthy West Indies merchant and shipowner, who returned to London having previously managed his family's Jamaica sugar plantations.

Outraged at losses due to theft and delay at London's riverside wharves, Milligan headed a group of powerful businessmen, including chairman of the West India Merchants of London George Hibbert, who promoted the creation of a wet dock circled by a high wall. The group planned and built West India Docks, lobbying parliament to allow the creation of a West India Dock Company. Milligan served as both Deputy Chairman and Chairman of the West India Dock Company.