Sir George Lewis French Bolton (16 October 19002 September 1982) was a British banker who was noted for his expertise in the

foreign exchange market The foreign exchange market (Forex, FX, or currency market) is a global decentralized or over-the-counter (OTC) market for the trading of currencies. This market determines foreign exchange rates for every currency. It includes all aspec ...

and as a leading influence on the rebirth of London after the

Second World War 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 ...

. He served as 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 ...

, chairman for the

Bank of London and South America The Bank of London and South America Limited (BOLSA; es, Banco de Londres y América del Sur, also known simply as ''Banco de Londres'') was a British bank, which operated in South America between 1923 and 1971. Origins The bank's predecessor w ...

and executive director of the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...

. He twice served as

High Sheriff of the County of London Below is a list of sheriffs of the County of London, from the creation of the county in 1889 to its abolition in 1965: *1889–1890: Alfred de Rothschild, of Senmore Place *1890–1891: Sir James Whitehead, Bart, of Highlield House, Cat ...

Early life

Bolton was born in

Lower Clapton Clapton is a district of East London, England, in the London Borough of Hackney. Clapton is divided into Upper Clapton, in the north, and Lower Clapton to the south. Clapton railway station lies north-east of Charing Cross. Geography and origin ...

, Hackney, London in 1900, the son of William Bolton, a shipping clerk, and Beatrice (''née'' French). He went to school at Leyton County High school in

Waltham Forest The London Borough of Waltham Forest () is a London borough in north-east London, England. Its population is estimated to be 276,983 in 2019. It borders five other London boroughs: Enfield to the north-west, Haringey to the west, Hackney to t ...

Banking career

At age 16, he joined the London branch of the Société Générale de Paris to be trained as an exchange dealer. In 1920, he joined the merchant banking firm of Helbert, Wagg & Co., and learned the trade in London and Paris. At Helbert, Wegg, & Co., Bolton started and managed a successful foreign exchange dealing department. After the

had abandoned the

gold standard A gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from the 1870s to the early 1920s, and from the la ...

in 1931, the bank sought out Bolton for his expertise in this industry. In 1933, Bolton joined the Bank of England, where he was largely responsible for the market management of sterling exchange rate, using the resources of the

Exchange Equalisation Account The Exchange Equalisation Account (EEA) is a fund of His Majesty's Treasury in the United Kingdom. It holds the country's the special drawing rights (SDR) held at the International Monetary Fund as well as reserves of foreign currencies and gold. I ...

created by

Neville Chamberlain Arthur Neville Chamberlain (; 18 March 18699 November 1940) was a British politician of the Conservative Party who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. He is best known for his foreign policy of appeasemen ...

the previous year. During the late 1930s, Bolton was involved with classified preparations for a structure of wartime exchange control plans, which were implemented when the war broke out in 1939. From 1941 to 1948, Bolton served as an adviser to the Bank of England's Board of Governors on policies of development of the sterling area, in addition to the technical apparatus of foreign exchange control. In 1948, he was named Executive Director of the Bank of England. From 1946 to 1952, Bolton was the UK's executive director of the

and Alternate Governor from 1952 to 1957. He also served as director of the

Bank for International Settlements The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is an international financial institution owned by central banks that "fosters international monetary and financial cooperation and serves as a bank for central banks". The BIS carries out its work thr ...

. In 1957, he became chairman of the

(BOLSA), staying in that role until he retired in 1970. In 1962 Bolton played a key role in the envisioning and establishment of the London eurobond market, a major subsequent source of income for the City of London. After his retirement, he remained a director of BOLSA, and subsequently of

Lloyds Bank International Lloyds Bank International is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets in the United Kingdom, which is in turn part of Lloyds Banking Group, one of the largest banking groups in Europe. Lloyds Bank's overseas expansion began in ...

, after their merger in 1974.

Other roles

Bolton also served in various other positions and sat on the boards of many companies, including the

Canadian Pacific Railway Company Canadian Pacific Limited was created in 1971 to own properties formerly owned by Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), a transportation and mining giant in Canada. In October 2001, CPR completed the corporate spin-offs of each of the remaining business ...

and the Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada. He was deputy chairman of

Bank of London and Montreal The Bank of London and Montreal Limited was a joint venture between Bank of London and South America (BOLSA), a subsidiary of Lloyds Bank, and Bank of Montreal. It was established in 1958 and headquartered in Nassau, Bahamas. History *1958 Bank ...

and chairman of the Commonwealth Development Finance Corporation. He was

in 1952–52 and 1961–62, and governor of the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

Book

After his retirement in 1970, a collection of his speeches and writings on London was published as a book, ''Banker's World: The Revival of the City 1957–1970'', edited by Richard Fry, former financial editor of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', with a preface by Sir Frank Lee, Permanent Secretary of the Treasury.

Honours

Bolton was knighted as a Commander of the

Order of Saint Michael and Saint George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in honour ...

in the 1950 New Year Honours. In 1960, he was appointed a ''Gran Oficial'' of the

Order of May The Order of May (in Spanish: ''Orden de Mayo'') is an order of merit and one of the highest decorations in Argentina. The order is named after the May Revolution which led to the birth of the Republic of Argentina. It was founded as the Order ...

by the Argentine government, and in 1965 was awarded the

Order of Merit The Order of Merit (french: link=no, Ordre du Mérite) is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by K ...

from Chile. * * *

Personal life

In 1928, Bolton married May Howcroft. They had one son, Nicholas George, and two daughters, Sheila and Gillian. He died in London in 1981. Nicholas married the Hon. Lavinia Valerie Woodhouse, daughter of

David Woodhouse, 4th Baron Terrington Major James Allen David Woodhouse, 4th Baron Terrington (30 December 1915 – 6 May 1998) was a Baron in the Peerage of the United Kingdom and Deputy Chairman of Committees in the House of Lords. He was a member of the London Stock Exchange and a ...

, and their daughter Carina married Alexander Burton Conyngham, Earl of Mount Charles, heir to the Marquessate of Conyngham.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bolton, George 1900 births 1982 deaths Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Bankers from London People from the London Borough of Hackney People associated with the Bank of England International Monetary Fund people High Sheriffs of the County of London British officials of the United Nations 20th-century English businesspeople