Samuel Birch (Lord Mayor of London) advocacy of the Protestant ascendency in Ireland. In 1811, he was appointed one of the sheriffs of London, and on 9 November 1814 Birch entered on his duties as lord mayor. Tory though he was, he opposed the Corn Bill of 1815, and presided at a meeting of the livery in common hall on 23 February 1815, when he made a vigorous attack upon the intended prohibition of the free importation of foreign corn. The course he took on this occasion is commemorated by a medal struck in his honour on the obverse side of which is the bust of
William Bolton (Lord Mayor) However he was unable to account for £1,800 of the collections made for those who suffered in the Great Fire of London and was accused of cheating the poor of the City. As a result, he was barred from attending the Court of Aldermen while an inquiry took place and eventually had to resign his seat. He became very poor and on 19 March 1677 the Court of Common Council voted him a pension of £3 per week. William Bolton (Lord Mayor) Sir William Bolton (died 1680) was an English merchant who was Lord Mayor of London in 1666. Bolton