William Ancrum

William Ancrum was a wealthy American merchant and indigo planter from Charleston, South Carolina.

He was born in in 1722 in Northumberland County, England. his early education was received in the Northumbrian village of Wooler, after which he went to London for a short period before leaving for South Carolina. On 8 May 1753 Ancrum was admitted as a member of the South Carolina Society in Charleston.

By 1756 Ancrum was in partnership with Charlestonians Lambert Lance and Aaron Loocock, operating under the name of Ancrum, Lance, & Loocock. The firm became successful over the next decade and had participated in the slave trade from 1758 through 1765, and again in 1769, and were active in the fur trade between 1756 and 1766.

Besides his mercantile pursuits Ancrum also engaged rather extensively in planting. He received nearly 3,650 acres in land grants between 1763 and 1775, while his two primary plantations were Red Bank and Hopewell, located adjacent to one another on the Wateree River about 7 miles south of present-day Camden, South Carolina. The main crop was indigo, but during the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) it was supplemented by cotton and food crops in order to provide clothes and food for Ancrum’s slave workforce.

William Ancrum left behind his collection of letters and account book which is known as the William Ancrum Papers, 1757-1789. It provides insight into the economic developments of the period and especially on the economic impact of the American Revolution on Charleston planters and merchants, from the prices of slaves to restrictions on imports and exports.