Robert Milligan (merchant)

Robert Milligan
a Portrait of Milligan by Lemuel Francis Abbott
Born	19 August 1746 Dumfries, Scotland
Died	21 May 1809 Hampstead, Middlesex, England
Nationality	Scottish
Occupation(s)	Slave factor, plantation co-owner, landmark London docks construction committee
Years active	1768-death
Known for	Having built the West India Docks
Notable work	West India Docks, Poplar, Middlesex
Spouse	Jean Dunbar
Children	8

Robert Milligan (19 August 1746 – 21 May 1809) was a Scottish merchant, ship-owner and slave trader who was the driving force behind the construction and initial statutory sectoral monopoly of the West India Docks in London. From 1768 to 1779 Milligan was a merchant in Kingston, Jamaica. He left Jamaica in 1779 to establish himself in London, where he got married and had a family of eight children. He moved to Hampstead shortly before he died in 1809. By the time of his death, one of Milligan's partnerships had interests in estates in Jamaica which owned 526 slaves in their sugar plantations.