Michael Godfrey (22 February 1658 – 1695) was an English merchant and financier, who was one of the founders and the first deputy governor 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 ...

. Godfrey was the eldest son of Michael Godfrey (1624–1689), merchant, of London, and Woodford, Essex, and his wife, Anne Mary Chamberlain. He was the nephew of

Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey (23 December 1621 – 12 October 1678) was an England, English magistrate whose mysterious death caused anti-Catholicism, anti-Catholic uproar in England. Contemporary documents also spell the name Edmundbury Godfrey. E ...

a magistrate who was murdered in 1678 after receiving Titus Oates’s depositions concerning the Popish plot and foreman of the grand jury who found a true bill against Edward Fitzharris for high treason. Michael Godfrey and his brother Peter Godfrey were merchants, and their father predicted that their speculations would speedily ‘bring into hotchpott’ the whole of their ample fortunes. Godfrey supported William Paterson in the establishment of the Bank of England in 1694. He was rewarded by being elected the first deputy-governor of the bank. Soon afterwards he published a pamphlet entitled, 'A Short Account of the Bank of England'. On 15 August 1694 Godfrey was chosen one of fifteen persons to prepare bylaws for the new bank. At a general court held on 16 May 1695, at which Peter Godfrey was elected a director, the bank resolved to establish a branch at Antwerp, in order to coin money to pay the troops in Flanders. Deputy-governors Sir James Houblon,

Sir William Scawen Sir William Scawen (c. 1644 – 18 October 1722) was a British MP and Governor of the Bank of England. Early life Scawen was born in 1644. His father was Robert Scawen of Horton, Buckinghamshire. Career Scawen was knighted in 1692. After some ...

, and Michael Godfrey were therefore appointed to go thither ‘to methodise the same, his majesty and the elector of Bavaria having agreed theretoo’. Die Belagerung von Namur 1695

On their arrival at

Namur Namur (; ; nl, Namen ; wa, Nameur) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration. Namu ...

, then besieged by William, the king invited them to dinner in his tent. They went out of curiosity into the trenches, where a cannon-ball from the works of the besieged killed Godfrey as he stood near the king on 17 July 1695. 'Being an eminent merchant,' writes Luttrell, 'he is much lamented; this news has abated the actions of the bank 2l. per cent.'.Luttrell, Historical Relation of State Affairs, 1857, iii 503
/ref> He was unmarried and was buried near his father in the church of St. Swithin, Walbrook, where his mother erected a tablet to his memory.

Publications

*
A Short Account Of The Bank Of England by Michael Godfrey
' (1695)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Godfrey, Michael 1658 births 1695 deaths English merchants English bankers People associated with the Bank of England Deputy Governors of the Bank of England