Raj Kumar Bagri, Baron Bagri, (24 August 1930 – 26 April 2017) was an Indian-born British businessman and a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

from 1997 to 2010. He was made 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. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

in 1997 under the title Baron Bagri, of Regent's Park in the City of Westminster.

Early life

Raj Kumar Bagri was born on 24 August 1930 in Calcutta (now Kolkata) into a middle-class family. His father died when he was three, and age 15, his mother sent him to work as a clerk at for a metal distributor, part of the Binani family's industrial empire.

Career

A businessman, Bagri was chairman of the

London Metal Exchange The London Metal Exchange (LME) is a futures and forwards exchange in London, United Kingdom with the world's largest market in standardised forward contracts, futures contracts and options on base metals. The exchange also offers contracts on ...

until 2002. Bagri was a member of the advisory committee of

The Prince's Trust The King's Trust (formerly the Prince's Trust) is a United Kingdom-based charity founded in 1976 by Charles III, King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) to help vulnerable young people get their lives on track. It supports 11-to-30-year-olds w ...

and chairman of the Bagri Foundation. He was a governor of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

School of Oriental and African Studies The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury area ...

(SOAS). In 2012, Bagri sold

Hanover Lodge Hanover Lodge is a Grade II* listed house at 150 Park Road, London NW1, overlooking Regent's Park. It was designed by the architect John Nash, and built for General Sir Robert Arbuthnot. Since then, it has been home to several notable peopl ...

, "the UK’s most expensive home", to Andrey Goncharenko a Russian

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least 1,000,000,000, one billion units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. It is a sub-category of the concept of the ultr ...

, for £120 million.

Personal life

He was born in a

Maheshwari Maheshwari, also spelled Maheshvari, is a Hindu caste of India, originally from what is now the state of Rajasthan. Their traditional occupation is that of commerce and as such they form part of the wider Bania occupation-based community th ...

Banias (traders) caste in Bagri tribe of India. He married Usha Maheshwary in 1954 and they had son Apurv, who took over the running of Metdist, and daughter

Amita Birla Amita is a female given name of Indian, Hebrew and Italian origin. The name means "infinite, boundless" in Sanskrit, and "truth" in Hebrew. List of people with the given name Amita * Amita, mother of Yasodharā * Amita Aggarwal (born 1960), India ...

. Bagri died in London on 26 April 2017.

Honours and arms

Honours

He was to the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

as a Commander (CBE) in the

1995 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1995 were appointments by most of the sixteen Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other c ...

. The

1997 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1997 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countrie ...

list announced that Bagri was to be raised to the peerage, and in February he was gazetted a

as Baron Bagri, ''of

Regent's Park Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the London Borough of Camden, Borough of Camden (and historical ...

in the

City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a London borough with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in Greater London, England. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It contains a large par ...

''. In 2010, following the enactment of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act, Bagri gave up his seat in the House of Lords in order to maintain his non-domiciled status for United Kingdom tax purposes.

Coat of arms

Notes

1930 births 2017 deaths Rajasthani people Conservative Party (UK) life peers Indian peers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Bagrei, Rja British businesspeople of Indian descent People with non-domiciled status in the United Kingdom Businesspeople from Kolkata Life peers created by Elizabeth II Peers retired from the House of Lords {{Life-peer-stub