Gordon William Humphreys Richardson, Baron Richardson of Duntisbourne (25 November 1915 – 22 January 2010) was a British banker, former lawyer, and former

Governor of the Bank of England The governor of the Bank of England is the most senior position in the Bank of England. It is nominally a civil service post, but the appointment tends to be from within the bank, with the incumbent grooming their successor. The governor of the Ba ...

Biography

Richardson was born to John Robert and Nellie Richardson, and was educated at

Nottingham High School , motto_translation = Praise to the end , address = Waverley Mount , city = Nottingham , county = Nottinghamshire , postcode = NG7 4ED , country = England , coordinates = , type = Independent day school , established = , closed = , religious ...

and

Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of th ...

. He served 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 ...

and became a Member of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

, Military Division, in 1944. He was called to the bar at

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

in 1946, becoming a member of the Bar Council between 1951 and 1955, but abandoned law for a career in the

City A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

. He became a director of J. Henry Schroder & Co in 1957, and was later chairman between 1962 and 1973. He was appointed Governor of the Bank of England in 1973, and remained in that position until 1983. November 1973 saw a run on London and County Securities, marking the start of the secondary banking crisis. While serving as governor, Richardson joined the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

(1976) and was awarded the

Territorial Decoration __NOTOC__ The Territorial Decoration (TD) was a military medal of the United Kingdom awarded for long service in the Territorial Force and its successor, the Territorial Army. This award superseded the Volunteer Officer's Decoration when the Te ...

(1979). He was created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

as Baron Richardson of Duntisbourne, of Duntisbourne in the County of

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, and a Knight Companion of the

Order of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. It is the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, outranked in precedence only by the Victoria Cross and the George C ...

, both in 1983. In February 1978, Richardson delivered the inaugural Mais Lecture, entitled "Reflections on the Conduct of Monetary Policy". Since then, the annual lecture has come to be regarded as leading event in the banking and financial community of the City of London, hosting each of the subsequent

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 ...

Governors, as well as

Prime Ministers A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Chancellors of the Exchequer Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

, and European Central Bankers. Richardson was a member of the

Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment management and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in more than 41 countries and more than 75,000 employees, the fir ...

advisory board from 1984. Between 1985 and 1991, he was a member of the

Group of Thirty The Group of Thirty, often abbreviated to G30, is an international body of financiers and academics which aims to deepen understanding of economic and financial issues and to examine consequences of decisions made in the public and private sect ...

, and thereafter remained as their Honorary Chair. He was chairman of the

Pilgrim Trust The Pilgrim Trust is a national grant-making trust in the United Kingdom. It is based in London and is a registered charity under English law. It was founded in 1930 with a two million pound grant by Edward Harkness, an American philanthropist. T ...

from 1984 to 1989. On the evening of 22 January 2010, the Bank of England released a statement announcing Richardson's death.

Arms

Footnotes

References

External links

Lord Richardson of Duntisbourne
– Daily Telegraph obituary {{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson of Duntisbourne, Gordon Richardson, Baron 1915 births 2010 deaths Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge British bankers Crossbench life peers Deputy Lieutenants of Gloucestershire Knights of the Garter Members of the Order of the British Empire Members of Gray's Inn Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Governors of the Bank of England British Army personnel of World War II Royal Artillery officers People educated at Nottingham High School Schroders people 20th-century English businesspeople