Robert Molesworth Kindersley, 1st Baron Kindersley (21 November 1871 – 20 July 1954) was an English businessman,

stockbroker A stockbroker is a regulated broker, broker-dealer, or registered investment adviser (in the United States) who may provide financial advisory and investment management services and execute transactions such as the purchase or sale of stocks an ...

merchant bank A merchant bank is historically a bank dealing in commercial loans and investment. In modern British usage it is the same as an investment bank. Merchant banks were the first modern banks and evolved from medieval merchants who traded in commodi ...

er, and public servant who organised the National Savings movement.

Background

Kindersley was born in

Wanstead Wanstead () is a town in East London, England, in the London Borough of Redbridge. It borders South Woodford to the north, Redbridge, London, Redbridge to the east and Forest Gate to the south, with Leytonstone and Walthamstow to the west. It is ...

, Essex, son of Edward Nassau Molesworth Kindersley, of Sherborne, Dorset, and Ada Good, daughter of John Murray. His father was an Old Etonian and Oxford graduate from a wealthy family who had been a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in the Green Howards and the Indian Army, but had fallen on hard times since resigning his commission and becoming a chemist, working for Scott & Co. Chemical Works at Bow, London; he was also a director of the Anglo American Leather Cloth Company. Kindersley was educated at Repton School, but was forced to leave in 1887 when his father could no longer afford the fees. Kindersley was great-grandson of the civil servant and translator Nathaniel Edward Kindersley, whose mother,

Jemima Kindersley Jemima Kindersley née Wickstead (1741–1809) was an English travel writer, noted for her ''Letters from the Island of Teneriffe, Brazil, the Cape of Good Hope and the East Indies'' (1777). Life Jemima Wickstead was born in Norwich on 2 Octob ...

(née Wickstead), was a travel writer.

Banking career

He then became a clerk in several London firms before joining the London Stock Exchange in 1901, becoming a partner in David A. Bevan & Co in 1902 and the merchant bank Lazard Brothers & Co in 1905, a firm with which he was connected for the rest of his life and of which he became chairman in 1919.

Public service

From 1915 to 1925, Kindersley was Governor (Company Chairman) of the Hudson's Bay Company, North America's oldest company (established by English royal charter in 1670). He served as a 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 ...

from 1914 to 1946. In 1924 he was the senior British representative on the Dawes Committee. Kindersley is chiefly recognised for his work as chairman of the National Savings Committee from 1916 to 1920; he was then its president until 1946. He was also a major shareholder in the Canadian Northern Railway, later amalgamated into

Canadian National Railways The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I railroad, Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern United States, M ...

, and the town of Kindersley, Saskatchewan, was named after him.

Personal life

He married Gladys Margaret Beadle, daughter of Maj-Gen James Prinsep Beadle, of Worton Grange, co. Wiltshire, on 3 November 1896 and had six children, Lionel, Hugh, Margaret, Richard, Philip (who married Oonagh Guinness and

Valerie Violet French Violet Valerie French Brougham Kindersley (13 February 1909 – 18 July 1997) was a Natal-born English socialite. She and her sister Essex Leila Hilary French were known as the "French sisters" and included in ''The Book of Beauty'' by Cecil Bea ...

) and Elizabeth. Lord Kindersley was succeeded in the Barony by his second son

Hugh Hugh may refer to: *Hugh (given name) Noblemen and clergy French * Hugh the Great (died 956), Duke of the Franks * Hugh Magnus of France (1007–1025), co-King of France under his father, Robert II * Hugh, Duke of Alsace (died 895), modern-day ...

, his eldest son Lionel having been killed in action in the First World War.

Honours and arms

Kindersley was knighted as

Knight Commander 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 ...

(KBE) in 1917 and raised to Knight Grand Cross (GBE) in the

1920 civilian war honours The New Year Honours 1920 were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by members of the British Empire. They were published on 1 January 1920 and 30 March 1920 (referred to as the 1920 civ ...

for his chairmanship of the National Savings Committee. He served as High Sheriff of Sussex for 1928 and in 1941 was raised to the peerage as Baron Kindersley, of West Hoathly in the County of West Sussex.

References

*Biography, '' Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' *

External links

* 1871 births 1954 deaths English stockbrokers People from Wanstead People educated at Repton School English businesspeople English bankers Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Governors of the Hudson's Bay Company High Sheriffs of Sussex Robert Barons created by George VI {{UK-business-bio-stub