Sir Edward Robert Peacock,

GCVO The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, or ...

(1871–1962) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

-born

merchant bank A merchant bank is historically a bank dealing in commercial loans and investment. In modern British usage it is the same as an investment bank. Merchant banks were the first modern banks and evolved from medieval merchants who traded in commodi ...

er. He is perhaps best known as a director of the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...

, or for his role as

receiver general A receiver general (or receiver-general) is an officer responsible for accepting payments on behalf of a government, and for making payments to a government on behalf of other parties. See also * Treasurer * Receiver General for Canada * Recei ...

to the

Duchy of Cornwall The Duchy of Cornwall ( kw, Duketh Kernow) is one of two royal duchies in England, the other being the Duchy of Lancaster. The eldest son of the reigning British monarch obtains possession of the duchy and the title of 'Duke of Cornwall' at ...

, which provides a source of independent income to the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

Early life

Peacock was born at St Elmo in Glengarry County, Ontario. His father was a Congregationalist minister who died when Peacock was 12. His mother moved to

Almonte, Ontario Almonte ( ; ) is a former mill town in Lanark County, in the eastern portion of Ontario, Canada. Formerly a separate municipality, Almonte is a ward of the town of Mississippi Mills, which was created on January 1, 1998, by the merging of Almont ...

, where he received his schooling. He later attended Queen's University in Kingston and, under the tutelage of

Adam Shortt Adam Shortt (1859–1931) was an economic historian in Ontario. He was the first full-time employed academic in the field at a Canadian university ( Queen's University). Biography Shortt was born in Kilworth, Ontario, on 24 November 1859 to Ge ...

, studied

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

and

political economy Political economy is the study of how Macroeconomics, economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and Economy, national economies) and Politics, political systems (e.g. law, Institution, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied ph ...

, graduating in 1894 with a gold and silver medal.

Career

Peacock began his career as a teacher at

Upper Canada College Upper Canada College (UCC) is an elite, all-boys, private school in Toronto, Ontario, operating under the International Baccalaureate program. The college is widely described as the country's most prestigious preparatory school, and has produce ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. In 1902, he left the teaching profession to work for the investment company

Dominion Securities RBC Dominion Securities was the brand used by Royal Bank of Canada for full service brokerage services, primarily in Canada, and formed part of RBC's Wealth Management and Capital Markets divisions. Today, RBC Dominion Securities is known as RBC Ca ...

(established a year earlier by

George Albertus Cox George Albertus Cox (May 7, 1840 – January 16, 1914) was a very prominent Canadian businessman and a member of the Senate of Canada. Life and career He was born in Colborne, Upper Canada, in 1840. He began work as a telegrapher for the Mont ...

), moving to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1907. He caught the attention of

Montagu Norman Montagu Collet Norman, 1st Baron Norman DSO PC (6 September 1871 – 4 February 1950) was an English banker, best known for his role as the Governor of the Bank of England from 1920 to 1944. Norman led the bank during the toughest period in m ...

, who made him a director of the Bank of England in 1921. Peacock later resigned from the Bank of England to become a partner of

Barings Bank Barings Bank was a British merchant bank based in London, and one of England's List of oldest banks in continuous operation, oldest merchant banks after Berenberg Bank, Barings' close collaborator and German representative. It was founded in 1762 ...

, although he returned following the 1929 death of the chief officer of Barings, Lord Revelstoke. During this time, he was made a director of the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...

, as well as the

Rhodes Trust Rhodes House is a building part of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on South Parks Road in central Oxford, and was built in memory of Cecil Rhodes, an alumnus of the university and a major benefactor. It is listed Grade II* ...

. In 1929, he was made receiver general to the Duchy of Cornwall, which entailed dealing with the Royal finances. For these services, he was knighted by

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. Born duri ...

in 1934. He was receiver general until the death of

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952. ...

in 1952. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Peacock was in

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

as a liaison between the

United States government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fede ...

and the Bank of England. Just before the war, he and Montagu Norman were asked by Admiral

John Henry Godfrey Admiral John Henry Godfrey CB (10 July 1888 – 29 August 1970) was an officer of the Royal Navy and Royal Indian Navy, specialising in navigation. Ian Fleming is said to have based James Bond's boss, " M", on Godfrey. Life and career God ...

of British Naval Intelligence to find a personal assistant for the admiral. Peacock found and recruited

Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer who is best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., a ...

, who later wrote the

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

novels.

Personal life

In 1912, Peacock married Katherine Coates. Her father was John Coates, an engineer and founder of Turner & Coates Limited on Cannon Street in London (now in Salford, Greater Manchester) and with interests in Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Peacock was subsequently made chairman of the new John Coates and Company Limited. They had no children of their own, but they adopted two daughters. After a distinguished career, Peacock retired to his estate near Ascot and died of natural causes in 1962, leaving a large amount of money to Queen's University in Canada. Queen's honoured him by instituting the Sir Edward Peacock Professorships. David Haglund is the current Sir Edward Peacock Professor of Political Studies,

James G. MacKinnon James Gordon MacKinnon (born January 4, 1951) is currently the Sir Edward Robert Peacock, Edward Peacock Professor of Econometrics in the Department of Economics at Queen's University at Kingston, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Kingston ...

is the current Sir Edward Peacock Professor of Econometrics, and

Robin Boadway Robin William Boadway, (born June 10, 1943) is a Canadian economist. He held the David Smith Chair at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. Earlier he was Sir Edward Peacock Professor of Economic Theory at Queen's University. He has taught ...

is the Sir Edward Peacock Professor of Economic Theory. Peacock's birthplace at St Elmo, Ontario, is marked by a plaque erected by the Glengarry Historical Society, which maintains a scholarship fund endowed by the Peacock family in his memory.

References

Queen's University biography of Sir Edward Peacock

External links

*
Edward Peacock portrait courtesy of the Baring Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peacock, Edward Robert 1871 births 1962 deaths Canadian bankers Canadian philanthropists Canadian Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order English bankers Queen's University at Kingston alumni