Major Jocelyn Olaf Hambro MC (7 March 1919 – 19 June 1994) was a British merchant banker, horsebreeder and philanthropist. He was the chairman of

Hambros Bank Hambros Bank was a British bank based in London. The Hambros bank was a specialist in Anglo-Scandinavian business with expertise in trade finance and investment banking, and was the sole banker to the Scandinavian kingdoms for many years. The Bank ...

from 1965 to 1972.

Early life

Jocelyn Olaf Hambro was born on 7 March 1919 on

Upper Brook Street Brook Street is an axial street in the exclusive central London district of Mayfair. Most of it is leasehold, paying ground rent to and seeking lease renewals from the reversioner, that since before 1800, has been the Grosvenor Estate. Named a ...

Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...

, London, the son of Winifred Emily Ridley-Smith and Olaf Hambro.Andrew St George
Obituary: Jocelyn Hambro
''The Independent'', 24 June 1994 Charles Mosley (ed.), ''Burke's Peerage and Baronetage'', Crans, Switzerland:

Burke's Peerage Burke's Peerage Limited is a British genealogical publisher founded in 1826, when the Irish genealogist John Burke began releasing books devoted to the ancestry and heraldry of the peerage, baronetage, knightage and landed gentry of Great Br ...

, 1999, vol. 1, p. 1278 His paternal great-grandfather, Carl Joachim Hambro, was a Danish-born immigrant to England who founded Hambros Bank in 1839. His father served as the Chairman of Hambros Bank from 1932 to 1960. His mother was Winifred Martin-Smith. He grew up at Kidbrooke Park, Sussex, and Glendoe,

Loch Ness Loch Ness (; gd, Loch Nis ) is a large freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands extending for approximately southwest of Inverness. It takes its name from the River Ness, which flows from the northern end. Loch Ness is best known for clai ...

, Scotland. His mother drowned in Loch Ness in 1932. As a child, he summered in

Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; Basque also ; oc, Biàrritz ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. ...

, France. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

. He attended

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

. During World War II, he served as a Major in the

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the monarchy; due to this, it often participates in state ceremonia ...

. He was awarded an MC in 1944 for service with the

Guards Armoured Division The Guards Armoured Division was an armoured division of the British Army during the Second World War. The division was created in the United Kingdom on 17 June 1941 during the Second World War from elements of the Guards units, the Grenadier G ...

in Normandy, but lost his left leg in August 1944.

Career

Hambro started his career for the family business, Hambros Bank, in 1945, when he established an export trading company in the United States. He also established franchises of

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

and

British Motor Corporation The British Motor Corporation Limited (BMC) was a UK-based vehicle manufacturer, formed in early 1952 to give effect to an agreed merger of the Morris and Austin businesses.Morris-Austin Merger Company Named. ''The Times'', Friday, 29 February ...

cars. He served as the managing director of Hambros Bank, from 1947 to 1972, and as its chairman from 1965 to 1972. He introduced

Eurodollar Eurodollars are U.S. dollars held in time deposit accounts in banks outside the United States, which thus are not subject to the legal jurisdiction of the U.S. Federal Reserve. Consequently, such deposits are subject to much less regulation than ...

s in January 1963. He also set up the Hambros Bank in

Guernsey Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...

in 1967.Société Générale Private Banking: SG Hambros Bank (Channel Islands) Limited Guernsey
/ref> He served as the Chairman of Hambros, Ltd from 1970 to 1983, and its President from 1983 to 1986. He sold Hambros Bank 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 ...

in 1986. He invested in "diamond broking, bullion dealing, mining and insurance." Specifically, he was an investor in the

Union Corporation Union Corporation Limited was a South African mining house. It was founded as the A Goerz & Co Ltd in the late 1890's as a gold mining company. After World War One, it was renamed the Union Corporation. In 1980 it was merged into the General Mining ...

, a South African mining company, the

Società Generale Immobiliare Società Generale Immobiliare (SGI; en, The Society General fReal Estate) was once the largest real estate and construction company in Italy. It was founded in Turin in 1862 but then relocated to Rome in 1870 with the unification of Italy. After ...

, an Italian real estate and construction company, and

Taylor Woodrow Taylor Woodrow was one of the largest housebuilding and general construction companies in Britain. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index until its merger with rival George Wimpey to create Tayl ...

, a British construction company.Second banking dynasty with clout here
''The Gazette'' (Montreal), 11 December 1976 He was a co-founder of Hambro Life, an insurance company later known as

Allied Dunbar Allied Dunbar was a large British life assurance group. In its early years it was known as Hambro Life Assurance and was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. However it was acquired by BAT Indust ...

, providing the seed money to start the firm. He served as the Chairman of Phoenix Assurance Co from 1979 to 1985. Additionally, he served as the Chairman of

Charter Consolidated Charter International plc was a large British engineering business based in London. It was acquired by Colfax Corporation in January 2012. History The British South Africa Company was founded in 1889 by Royal Charter. In 1986, he co-founded

J.O. Hambro Capital Management Jo, jo, JO, or J.O. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Jo'' (film), a 1972 French comedy * ''Jo'' (TV series), a French TV series *"Jo", a song by Goldfrapp from ''Tales of Us'' *"Jo", a song by Mr. Oizo from ''Lambs Anger'' * Jo a fictio ...

, a

mergers and acquisitions Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...

financial firm, with his three sons. He served as its chairman from 1986 to 1994. He was the namesake of J. O. Hambro Investment Management, a financial firm founded by his son Richard in 1986 and renamed

Waverton Investment Management Waverton Investment Management is an investment management firm headquartered in Westminster, London, United Kingdom. History The firm was established as J. O. Hambro Investment Management in 1986.Tanzeel AkhtarJO Hambro rebrands as Waverton In ...

in 2014.Emiliya Mychasuk, Emiko Terazono
Hambro era shift
''Financial Times'', 28 May 2009James Phillipps
JO Hambro Investment Management rebrands as Waverton
''Citywire'', 13 January 2014

Equestrianism

Hambro was a member of the

Jockey Club The Jockey Club is the largest commercial horse racing organisation in the United Kingdom. It owns 15 of Britain's famous racecourses, including Aintree, Cheltenham, Epsom Downs and both the Rowley Mile and July Course in Newmarket, amo ...

. He bred

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

s at Waverton, his farm in

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 attended races at the

Newmarket Racecourse Newmarket Racecourse is a British Thoroughbred horse racing venue in Newmarket, Suffolk, Newmarket, Suffolk, comprising two individual racecourses: the Rowley Mile and the July Course. Newmarket is often referred to as the headquarters of ...

Philanthropy

Hambro served as the chairman and trustee of the Henry Smith Charity. He served on the Board of Governors of the

Peabody Trust The Peabody Trust was founded in 1862 as the Peabody Donation Fund and now brands itself simply as Peabody.

, a non-profit organisation which offers affordable housing to the disadvantaged. He also served as the chairman and treasurer of

Blesma, The Limbless Veterans Blesma, The Limbless Veterans (formerly known as the British Limbless Ex-Servicemen's Association) is a British charity that helps all serving and ex-Service men and women who have lost limbs, or lost the use of limbs or eyes, to rebuild their ...

. He endowed the Joint British Cancer Charities J. O. Hambro Award for the Businessman of the Year, which raises funds for

Cancer Research UK Cancer Research UK (CRUK) is the world's largest independent cancer research organization. It is registered as a charity in the United Kingdom and Isle of Man, and was formed on 4 February 2002 by the merger of The Cancer Research Campaign and t ...

, Imperial Cancer Research, the

Marie Curie Cancer Care Marie Curie is a registered charitable organisation in the United Kingdom which provides care and support to people living with a terminal illness and those close to them, and campaigns for better support for dying people. It was established in 19 ...

and the Cancer Relief Macmillan Fund.

Personal life

He married Ann Silvia Muir. They had three sons: *

Rupert Hambro Rupert Nicholas Hambro CBE (27 June 1943 – 19 February 2021) was a British banker and businessman. Early life Rupert Hambro was born on 27 June 1943.

Richard Hambro Richard Alexander Hambro (1 October 1946 – 25 April 2009) was a British heir, investment banker, horse breeder and philanthropist. Early life Richard Hambro was born on 1 October 1946.

* James Hambro. He married two more times: first to Margaret Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe in 1976, secondly to Margaret, Countess Fortescue (née Elisabeth Margaret Stratton, formerly married to Richard Fortescue, 7th Earl Fortescue) in 1988. He enjoyed

grouse shooting Driven grouse shooting is the hunting of the red grouse, a field sport of the United Kingdom. The grouse-shooting season extends from 12 August, often called the "Glorious Twelfth", to 10 December each year. Large numbers of grouse are driven to ...

in Scotland in August.

Death

He died on 19 June 1994 in Oxford.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hambro, Jocelyn 1919 births 1994 deaths People from Mayfair People from Moreton-in-Marsh People educated at Eton College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Coldstream Guards officers Bankers from London Philanthropists from London English racehorse owners and breeders British people of Danish descent British people of German-Jewish descent Barons of Denmark

Jocelyn Jocelyn is a surname and first name. It is a unisex (male/female) name. Variants include Jocelin, Jocelyne, Jocelynn, Jocelynne, Joscelin, Josceline, Joscelyn, Joscelynn, Joscelynne, Joseline, Joselyn, Joselyne, Joslin, Joslyn, Josselin, Josselyn, ...

British amputees 20th-century British philanthropists 20th-century English businesspeople