Sir John Houblon

Sir John Houblon

• 13 March 1632 - 10 January 1712
• one of seven brothers of Huguenot descent
• first governor of the Bank of England from 1694-1697, to celebrate their 300th anniversary they depicted Sir John on the £50 note
• For a picture of the notes see banknotes. His home in Threadneedle Street is shown on the back of the note
• During the first half of the seventeenth century, banking in England was mainly in the hands of the goldsmiths who in the course of business made extensive loans to the Crown. But in 1672 the suspension of payments by Charles II brought about a wave of bankruptcies and the call for a public bank. It was the young Scottish financier William Paterson who, backed by a powerful City group, proposed the loan of over one million pounds to a Government which by then had become increasingly desperate for funds to continue the costly war against France. In return the subscribers would be incorporated as the Governor and Company of the Bank of England. It was a venture supported by William III and the money was raised in less than two weeks. The charter was sealed on 27th July 1694 at Powis House, Lincoln's Inn Fields. The Bank opened for business a few days later in temporary accommodation at the Mercer's Hall in Cheapside and the first notes to bear the name Bank of England appeared shortly afterwards. Later that same year the Bank moved to Grocer's Hall in Old Jewry. Not until June 1734 were new offices built in Threadneedle Street on an estate formerly the home of Sir John Houblon, a prominent City merchant of Huguenot origin and the Bank's first Governor.

• On the 3rd of August, 1732, the Governors and Directors laid the first stone of their new building in Threadneedle Street, on the site of the house and garden formerly belonging to Sir John Houblon, the first Governor of the Bank: it was from the design of Mr. George Sampson, and was opened for business on the 5th of June, 1734.

• Most famous of these flibustiers however does not seem to have had before West-Indian experience. It is about Henry Every, whose history fed a number of legends. Its saga starts in 1693. This year a group of businessmen English, whose main thing is to sir John Houblon, obtained from king d' Espagne the right to trade with the Spanish colonies in America and to fish out the treasures of the wrecks of galions shipwrecked men in the Caribbean Sea. In February 1694, the squadron armed for this purpose with Bristol, strong from four vessels and ordered to sir Arturo O' Byrne, came to wet in Coruña, in Spain. But the Spanish authorities were long in giving the permission to leave to forwarding. Because of this time but especially because of the delay of the payment of their pledges, 85 sailors revolted at the end of four months under the control of the foreman of the one of the vessels, Henry Every. The mutineers made themselves main of the flagship of the forwarding with which they installed for Western Africa. Gulf of Guinea where they plundered some ships English and Danish, Every and its people passed to Madagascar.

• The bank was founded by William Paterson in 1694 to act as the Government's banker. He proposed a loan of £1.2m to the Government; in return the subscribers would be incorporated as the Governor and Company of the Bank of England with banking privileges including the issue of notes. The Royal Charter was granted on 27 July 1694. The first governor was Sir John Houblon, who is depicted in the £50 note issued 1994. The charter was renewed in in 1742, 1764, and 1781. In 1734 the Bank moved to its current location on Threadneedle Street, slowly acquiring the land to create the edifice seen today.

• Sir John was the third son of James Houblon, a London merchant, and his wife, Mary De Quesne. He became Sheriff of the City of London in 1689, an Alderman from 1689 to 1712, and Master of the Grocer's Company from 1690 to 1691. He was Lord Mayor in 1695. He was member of parliament for Bodmin_(UK_Parliament_constituency) in three Parliaments, and was a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty from 1694 to 1699. It was during this time, from 1694 until 1697, that he served as inaugural governor of the Bank of England. He was again a Bank of England director from 1700, and a director of the New East India Company from 1700 to 1701. His brother, Abraham, was also Bank of England Governor, from 1703 to 1705. A daughter of Abraham Houblon, Anne, was married to Henry Temple, later Viscount Palmerston, in 1703.

• Samuel Pepys met Sir John and 4 brothers at St Giles' Church This is recounted in the his last recorded visit to Ashtead 14th July 1667
• When the Bank of England was created Sir John became the first Governor; his brother Sir James Houblon (born c1651) and brother [Thomas Goddard] Abraham Houblon were elected as Directors. Two other members of the Houblon family were some of the first subscribers Both Sir John and Thomas Goddard Abraham Houblon, along with the King William III and Queen Mary II, contributed permitted maximum amount of £10,000. (Mary was to die of smallpox later the same year)
  See also The Charter and By-laws of the Bank of England
• Sir John was a member of the The Worshipful Company of Grocers'
• Sir John was Lord Mayor of London 1695
• Sir John was Commissioner of the Admiralty
• Along with Peter and James, Sir John was a Commissioner of the Lieutenancy for the City of London 9 March 1690
• Along with Peter, Sir James and Issac, Sir John was a Commissioner of the Lieutenancy for the City of London 6 February 1694

• Sir James Houblon (c. 1629-1700), kt. 1691.
  • A Huguenot refugee whose Fathers had fled out of Flanders upon the persecution of the Duke of Alva
  • One of the greatest merchants of his day
  • A banker.
  • He was one of Samuel Pepys's best friends.
  • John Evelyn first met him on 15 January 1679.

• His father Mr. James Houblon was an eminent London merchant. His funeral was on June 28 1682 and he was buried at St Mary Wolnoth Church in Lombard Street, London

In-Print books are available, as they say, 'from all good book sellers', including

Just click on the books below or their links to go to Amazon's relevant pages.

		The Houblon Family - It's Story and Times Alice Archer Houblon: Published 1907 by Constable, Volume 1: 382 pages, 28 illustrations. Volume 2: 332 pages, 38 illustrations, hardback
		The New £50 Note and Sir John Houblon Roger Withington: Published by Loughton: Debden Security Printing Ltd, paperback

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