Robert "Robin" Leigh-Pemberton, Baron Kingsdown, (5 January 1927 – 24 November 2013) was a British Peer and banker, who served as

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 ...

from 1983 to 1993.

Education and career

Leigh-Pemberton was educated at

St Peter's Court St Peter's Court was a prep school for boys at Broadstairs in Kent, U.K. In 1969 it merged with the nearby Wellesley House School and its site was redeveloped for housing. History The school was established during the 19th century and came to p ...

, then 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 Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, graduating in 1950. In 1954, he was called to the Bar, and he practised law for several years before returning to Kent to manage the family estate of

Torry Hill Torry Hill, in Kent, England, is the family estate of the Leigh-Pemberton (formerly Pemberton Leigh) line. It is on the boundary of Frinsted and Milstead, approximately 3 km due southwest of Kingsdown hamlet. The estate typifies a style of ...

. He served as a Justice of the Peace and as Leader of

Kent County Council Kent County Council is a county council that governs most of the county of Kent in England. It is the upper tier of elected local government, below which are 12 district councils, and around 300 town and parish councils. The county council h ...

. He eventually became chairman of the

National Westminster Bank National Westminster Bank, commonly known as NatWest, is a major retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom based in London, England. It was established in 1968 by the merger of National Provincial Bank and Westminster Bank. In 2000, it ...

, then

from 1983 until 1993.

Honours

He was appointed to 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 ...

in 1987, and 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 ...

on 14 July 1993, as Baron Kingsdown, of Pemberton in the County of Lancashire. He became a Knight 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 ...

in 1994, and was also the

Lord Lieutenant of Kent This is a list of people who have served as Lord-Lieutenant of Kent. Since 1746, all Lords Lieutenant have also been Custos Rotulorum of Kent. Lords Lieutenant of Kent * Sir Thomas Cheney 1551–? *William Brooke, 10th Baron Cobham 3 July 1585 – ...

. Between 1979 and 1992, he served as Honorary Colonel of the

Kent and Sharpshooters Yeomanry The Kent and Sharpshooters Yeomanry was a unit of the Territorial Army ('TA') that was formed in 1961 as the Kent and County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters) by the amalgamation of 297 (Kent Yeomanry) Regiment, Royal Artillery and 3rd/4th Cou ...

and between 1977 and 1984 he served as Pro Chancellor of the

University of Kent , motto_lang = , mottoeng = Literal translation: 'Whom to serve is to reign'(Book of Common Prayer translation: 'whose service is perfect freedom')Graham Martin, ''From Vision to Reality: the Making of the University of Kent at Canterbury'' ...

. He also served on the board of directors of the

Bank of International Settlements The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is an international financial institution owned by central banks that "fosters international monetary and financial cooperation and serves as a bank for central banks". The BIS carries out its work thr ...

Personal life

His family has a long association with Kingsdown and Torry Hill, near Doddington, Kent, where he rebuilt the family mansion in the 1960s. It features a striking view north towards the

Isle of Sheppey The Isle of Sheppey is an island off the northern coast of Kent, England, neighbouring the Thames Estuary, centred from central London. It has an area of . The island forms part of the local government district of Swale. ''Sheppey'' is derived ...

the Swale The Swale is a tidal channel of the Thames estuary that separates the Isle of Sheppey from the rest of Kent. On its banks is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest which stretches from Sittingbourne to Whitstable in Kent. It is also ...

and the

Thames estuary The Thames Estuary is where the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea, in the south-east of Great Britain. Limits An estuary can be defined according to different criteria (e.g. tidal, geographical, navigational or in terms of salini ...

. On the grounds of the estate, there is also what is believed to be the only

Eton Fives Eton fives, a derivative of the British game of fives, is a handball game, similar to Rugby fives, played as doubles in a three-sided court. The object is to force the other team to fail to hit the ball 'up' off the front wall, using any varie ...

court attached to a private dwelling; it was built in 1925. Lord Kingsdown's father also built a private miniature railway in the 1930s. This still runs for several miles on his estate. One of his sons,

James Leigh-Pemberton Sir James Henry Leigh-Pemberton (born 10 December 1956) is a British banker and the incumbent Receiver-General for the Duchy of Cornwall. He served as the executive chairman of UK Financial Investments until 2018 when the government owned comp ...

, continues the family's association with the

Duchy of Cornwall The Duchy of Cornwall ( kw, Duketh Kernow) is one of two royal duchies in England, the other being the Duchy of Lancaster. The eldest son of the reigning British monarch obtains possession of the duchy and the title of 'Duke of Cornwall' at ...

(beginning with its Chancellor, the 1st Baron Kingsdown) as Receiver-General. His brother, Jeremy Leigh-Pemberton is a Deputy Lieutenant of Kent and is the parish chairman for the neighbouring parish of

Wormshill Wormshill ( ), historically Wormsell, is a small village and civil parish within the Borough of Maidstone, Kent, England. The parish is approximately south of the Swale and east of Maidstone. The village of Frinsted lies to the east and Bi ...

. His younger brother is the opera singer Nigel Douglas.

Arms

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kingsdown, Robin Leigh-Pemberton, Baron 1927 births 2013 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford Crossbench life peers Fellows of Trinity College, Oxford Governors of the Bank of England Knights of the Garter Knights of the Order of St John Lord-Lieutenants of Kent Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Leigh-Pemberton, Robin People educated at Eton College People educated at St Peter's Court NatWest Group people People from Kingsdown, Swale 20th-century English businesspeople

Education and career

Honours

Personal life

Arms

See also

References