![Edward Charles Blount](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Edward_Charles_Blount.jpg)
Sir Edward Charles Blount (16 March 1809 – 15 March 1905) was an English banker in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
and promoter of French
railways
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
.
Early life
Born into a Catholic family at Bellamour, near
Rugeley
Rugeley ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Cannock Chase District in Staffordshire, England. It lies on the north-eastern edge of Cannock Chase next to the River Trent; it is situated north of Lichfield, south-east of Stafford, nort ...
, Staffordshire, he was the second son of
Edward Blount
Edward Blount (or Blunt) (1562–1632) was a London publisher of the Elizabethan, Jacobean, and Caroline eras, noted for his publication, in conjunction with William and Isaac Jaggard, of the First Folio of Shakespeare's plays in 1623.
He ...
(1769–1843) and his wife, Frances (died 1859), daughter of Francis Wright of Fitzwalters, Essex. He had four brothers, none of whom married, the eldest being
Walter Blount the herald. He was sent young to
Rugeley Grammar School
Rugeley ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Cannock Chase District in Staffordshire, England. It lies on the north-eastern edge of Cannock Chase next to the River Trent; it is situated north of Lichfield, south-east of Stafford, nort ...
, where the local Anglican vicar was master, which at home he studied French with Father Malvoisin, an émigré Catholic priest. In 1819, he went to
St Mary's College, Oscott
St Mary's College in New Oscott, Birmingham, often called Oscott College, is the Roman Catholic seminary of the Archdiocese of Birmingham in England and one of the three seminaries of the Catholic Church in England and Wales.
Purpose
Oscott Co ...
, and stayed until 1827.
After a short time in the London office of the
Provincial Bank of Ireland
Allied Irish Banks, p.l.c. is one of the so-called Big Four commercial banks in Ireland. AIB offers a full range of personal, business and corporate banking services. The bank also offers a range of general insurance products such as home, trav ...
, he moved to the home office. Through his father he moved as a young man in Whig society, and sometimes attended breakfast parties at
Holland House
Holland House, originally known as Cope Castle, was an early Jacobean country house in Kensington, London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
. In the autumn of 1829,
Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Granville
Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Granville, (12 October 1773 – 8 January 1846), styled Lord Granville Leveson-Gower from 1786 to 1815 and The Viscount Granville from 1815 to 1833, was a British Whig statesman and diplomat from the Leveson-G ...
, British ambassador in Paris, appointed him attaché to the embassy; next year he was transferred to the consulate at Rome. At Rome he met
Cardinal Weld
Thomas Weld (22 January 1773 – 10 April 1837) was an English landowner who renounced his assets to enter the Roman Catholic priesthood. He was consecrated Roman Catholic bishop and cardinal.
Family
Weld was born in London on 22 January 1773 ...
and
Cardinal Wiseman
Nicholas Patrick Stephen Wiseman (3 August 1802 – 15 February 1865) was a Cardinal of the Catholic Church who became the first Archbishop of Westminster upon the re-establishment of the Catholic hierarchy in England and Wales in 1850.
Born ...
; and at the palace of
Queen Hortense
Hortense Eugénie Cécile Bonaparte (; , ; 10 April 1783 – 5 October 1837) was Queen consort of Kingdom of Holland, Holland. She was the stepdaughter of Emperor Napoléon I as the daughter of his first wife, Empress Joséphine, Joséphine de Be ...
he first met her son, the future
Napoleon III
Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...
. In 1831 he left Rome to join the Paris banking firm of Callaghan & Co. With his father's help, he soon started the bank of Edward Blount, Père et Fils, at No. 7
Rue Laffitte
Rue Laffitte is a street in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, located near the Metro stations Richelieu - Drouot and Notre-Dame-de-Lorette.
This street was created in 1771 between the Boulevard des Italiens and the Rue de Provence. Its original ...
. The business proved successful, and he afterwards joined Charles Laffitte, nephew of
Jacques Laffitte
Jacques Laffitte (24 October 1767 – 26 May 1844) was a leading French banker, governor of the Bank of France (1814–1820) and liberal member of the Chamber of Deputies during the Bourbon Restoration and July Monarchy. He was an important fi ...
, in forming Charles Laffitte, Blount & Co., Rue Basse du Rempart.
Financing French railways
Blount concentrated on the promotion of railway enterprises in France, where in 1836 there was just one short line, between
Strassburg
Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eur ...
and
Bâle
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS), Sa ...
. In 1838 a French government bill for the construction of seven major trunk-lines under the control of the state was defeated, and the way thrown open to private enterprise. Blount offered
Jules Armand Dufaure
Jules Armand Stanislas Dufaure (; 4 December 1798 – 28 June 1881) was a French statesman.
Biography
Dufaure was born at Saujon, Charente-Maritime, and began his career as an advocate at Bordeaux, where he won a great reputation by his oratoric ...
, then minister of public works, to construct a jointly-financed line from Paris to
Rouen
Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...
; the proposal was accepted, and a company, the
Chemin de fer de l'Ouest
The Compagnie des chemins de fer de l'Ouest (CF de l'Ouest), often referred to simply as ''L'Ouest'' or ''Ouest'', was an early French railway company which operated from the years 1855 through 1909.
History
Birth of the company
The Compa ...
, was formed by Blount, who became chairman. Backers included
James Rothschild
James Mayer de Rothschild, Baron de Rothschild (born Jakob Mayer Rothschild; 15 May 1792 – 15 November 1868) was a German- French banker and the founder of the French branch of the Rothschild family.
Early life
James de Rothschild was bor ...
and
Lord Overstone
Samuel Jones-Loyd, 1st Baron Overstone (25 September 1796 – 17 November 1883) was a British banker and politician.
Background and education
Loyd was the only son of the Rev. Lewis Loyd and Sarah, daughter of John Jones, a Manchester banker. H ...
, and the directors were half French and half English. The law authorising Blount's firm to construct the railway from Paris was signed by King
Louis Philippe
Louis Philippe (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850) was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, and the penultimate monarch of France.
As Louis Philippe, Duke of Chartres, he distinguished himself commanding troops during the Revolutionary War ...
on 15 July 1840, and the line, designed by
Joseph Locke
Joseph Locke FRSA (9 August 1805 – 18 September 1860) was a notable English civil engineer of the nineteenth century, particularly associated with railway projects. Locke ranked alongside Robert Stephenson and Isambard Kingdom Brunel as one ...
with
Thomas Brassey
Thomas Brassey (7 November 18058 December 1870) was an English civil engineering contractor and manufacturer of building materials who was responsible for building much of the world's railways in the 19th century. By 1847, he had built about o ...
as contractor, was opened on 9 May 1843.
William Barber Buddicom
William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conques ...
, the locomotive manager of the
London and North Western Railway
The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom.
In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...
at Liverpool, brought 50 English drivers to France, Blount himself learned engine-driving, and the line prospered from the first. Blount remained chairman for thirty years. With his partner, Laffitte, Blount next constructed in 1845 the line from
Amiens
Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...
to
Boulogne
Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the ...
by way of
Abbeville
Abbeville (, vls, Abbekerke, pcd, Advile) is a commune in the Somme department and in Hauts-de-France region in northern France.
It is the chef-lieu of one of the arrondissements of Somme. Located on the river Somme, it was the capital of ...
and
Neufchâtel-Hardelot
Neufchâtel-Hardelot (; vls, Nieuwkasteel-Hardelo) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France.
The commune houses a PGL hotel named Le Pré Catelan.
Geography
Neufchâtel-Hardelot is a farming and tou ...
. Subsequently (1852–53) he was administrator of the lines from
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...
to
Avignon
Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of So ...
, and between Lyon,
Mâcon
Mâcon (), historically anglicised as Mascon, is a city in east-central France. It is the prefecture of the department of Saône-et-Loire in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Mâcon is home to near 34,000 residents, who are referred to in French as Mà ...
and
Geneva
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
.
He invested also in other European railways and projects.
Third bank
Blount helped Louis Philippe's family escape the
French Revolution of 1848
The French Revolution of 1848 (french: Révolution française de 1848), also known as the February Revolution (), was a brief period of civil unrest in France, in February 1848, that led to the collapse of the July Monarchy and the foundation ...
. His bank failed, and while the creditors were eventually paid in full, he had to retire to
St. Germains
Saint-Germain-en-Laye () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the ÃŽle-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the centre of Paris.
Inhabitants are called ''Saint-Germanois'' or ''Saint-Ger ...
and retrench. With the aid of Brassey and other wealthy friends he started in the autumn of 1852 a third banking business, Edward Blount & Company at No. 7
Rue de la Paix
The rue de la Paix (English: Peace Street) () is a fashionable shopping street in the center of Paris. Located in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris, running north from Place Vendôme and ending at the Opéra Garnier, it is best known for its jewe ...
. The venture prospered. Blount acted as banker to the Papal government. After the
unification of Italy
The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century Political movement, political and social movement that resulted in the Merger (politics), consolidation of List of historic stat ...
of 1859, and the annexation of the
Papal States
The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...
to the new kingdom, he took on the transfer of the financial liabilities of the Papal States to the new Italian government, and the conversion of the papal debt.
On the outbreak of revolution in Paris on 4 September 1870, and the foundation of the
French Third Republic
The French Third Republic (french: Troisième République, sometimes written as ) was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 1940 ...
, Blount wound up the affairs of his bank and transferred the business to the
Société Générale
Société Générale S.A. (), colloquially known in English as SocGen (), is a French-based multinational financial services company founded in 1864, registered in downtown Paris and headquartered nearby in La Défense.
Société Générale ...
of Paris, of which he became president.
The siege of Paris
When the Prussian forces threatened Paris, Blount sent his wife and family to England, but remained with his son Aston through the
siege of Paris.
Richard Lyons, 1st Viscount Lyons
Richard Bickerton Pemell Lyons, 1st Earl Lyons (26 April 1817 – 5 December 1887) was a British diplomat, who was the favourite diplomat of Queen Victoria, during the four great crises of the second half of the 19th century: Italian unificat ...
the British ambassador, left for
Tours
Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 ...
on 17 November and Blount took charge of British interests, being formally appointed British consul on 24 January 1871. During the siege he with
Richard Wallace and Alan Herbert distributed relief aid from United Kingdom.
Blount dined with
Otto von Bismarck
Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of J ...
at
Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...
after the fall of the city, and left for London at the end of March 1871. Convinced that the British should have come to the rescue of France, he spoke his mind to
W. E. Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...
, the prime minister.
Later life
For his services, Blount was made
CB on 13 March 1871, becoming
KCB (civil) on 2 June 1878. He was also a commander of the
Légion d'Honneur
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...
.
In 1894 Blount resigned the chairmanship of the Chemin de fer de l'Ouest, at a time of xenophobia; his fellow directors elected him honorary president. He maintained a position in English and French society in Paris, and was for many years president of the British chamber of commerce there. His financial interests extended beyond France. He was a director among other ventures of the General Credit and Finance Company (afterwards the Union Discount Company of London) and of the London Joint Stock Bank.
Devoted to
horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...
, Blount followed the stable of the Comte de Lagrange, and was a member of the French Jockey Club. The Comte died in 1883, and he then kept a small stable of his own.
In June 1901 Blount retired from the presidency of his banking concern, the Société Générale of Paris; leaving France, he was made honorary president. He then settled at his Sussex home, Imberhorne,
East Grinstead
East Grinstead is a town in West Sussex, England, near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders, south of London, northeast of Brighton, and northeast of the county town of Chichester. Situated in the extreme northeast of the county, the civ ...
. He died at East Grinstead on 15 March 1905, aged 96, and was buried in the family vault at the cemetery of St. Francis,
Crawley, Sussex
Crawley () is a large town and borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a population of 106,597 at the time of th ...
. He built a Catholic school near
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
, and a church at East Grinstead.
Works
Blount dictated his memoirs to a neighbour, Stuart J. Reid, who published them in 1902.
Blount was a surrealist amateur photomontagist. He created an album with hundreds of photo-montages which might be very revealing to a psychoanalyst.
Family
On 18 November 1834, Blount married Gertrude Frances, third daughter of William Charles Jerningham. She died on 9 November 1907. Of their two sons and three daughters, he was survived only by his younger son, Henry Edmund Blount.
Notes
External links
''Sir Edward Blount (1809–1905): a British citizen at the head of Societe Generale''
;Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blount, Edward Charles
1809 births
1905 deaths
English bankers
Société Générale
Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath
People from Rugeley
19th-century English businesspeople
English expatriates in France