Thomas Staniforth (1735-1803) was an English slave-trader, merchant and politician originally from Sheffield, but spent most of his life in Liverpool.Staniforth was the son of Samuel Staniforth and Alethea Macro of Darnall Hall. The family was a prominent family from Darnall, Sheffield but Thomas lived for most of his life in Liverpool, where he took part in the slave trade along with his son Samuel. He was Mayor of Liverpool from 1797-1798.Records show that both he and his son Samuel Staniforth, a man who would follow in his father's footsteps and become Mayor of Liverpool from 1812-1813, took part in the sale of many African slaves between Europe and the United States. Wikipedia