title: Richard Slater Milnes
text: # Richard Slater Milnes
  
  Richard Slater Milnes (December 1759 – 2 June 1804) was an English heir, landowner and politician. The heir to a cloth fortune, he served in the British Parliament, where he championed the abolitionist cause.
  
  ## Early life
  
  Richard Slater Milnes was born in December 1759 to Robert Milnes, a Presbyterian cloth merchant, who he succeeded in 1771. His mother, Joyce, was the daughter of Adam Slater. Milnes graduated from the University of Glasgow in Scotland in 1775.
  
  ## Career
  
  Milnes was a country gentleman at his Fryston Hall estate in Yorkshire. He served as a Member of Parliament for the City of York in the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1784 to 1790. During his tenure, he gave a speech in favour of the abolition of the slave trade and was a supporter of William Pitt the Younger.
  
  ## Personal life
  
  Milnes married Rachel, the daughter of Hans Busk, and had 2 sons and 7 daughters. They resided at Fryston Hall.
  
  ## Death
  
  Milnes died on 2 June 1804. He was succeeded by his eldest son Robert Pemberton Milnes who also became an MP.
  
  