Antonio Rodriques da Robles

Antonio Rodriques da Robles was an English Marrano merchant and shipper born at Fundăo in Portugal, about 1620. By the mid 17th century he settled in London as a merchant, and was especially connected with the West-Indies trade.

His family had suffered by the hands of the Inquisition in Portugal and in the mid 17th century he settled in London. Antonio had his interests in West-Indies trade that became endangered during the war between England and Spain (1654 - 1660). In 1656, two of his ships, “The Two Brothers” and “The Tobias,” were seized and he himself was arrested on the ground that he was a Spaniard. However, he had successfully claimed indemnity on the plea that he was not Spanish but Portuguese “of the Hebrew nation,” and that he had come to England to shelter himself from the tyranny of Spain. The successful outcome of his case established the right of professing Jews to live in England without interference.