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

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

businessman, stockbroker, merchant banker, and public servant who organised the

National Savings In economics, a country's national saving is the sum of private and public saving. It equals a nation's income minus consumption and the government spending. Economic model Closed economy with public deficit or surplus possible In this ...

movement.

Background

Kindersley was born in Wanstead,

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

, son of Edward Nassau Molesworth Kindersley, of Sherborne, Dorset, and Ada Good, daughter of John Murray. His father was an

Old Etonian 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, ...

and Oxford graduate from a wealthy family who had been a captain in the

Green Howards The Green Howards (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment), frequently known as the Yorkshire Regiment until the 1920s, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, in the King's Division. Raised in 1688, it served under vario ...

and the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

, but had fallen on hard times since resigning his commission and becoming a

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe t ...

, working for Scott & Co. Chemical Works at

Bow, London Bow () is an area of East London within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is primarily a built-up and mostly residential area and is east of Charing Cross. It was in the traditional county of Middlesex but became part of the County o ...

; he was also a director of the Anglo American Leather Cloth Company. Kindersley was educated at

Repton School Repton School is a 13–18 co-educational, independent, day and boarding school in the English public school tradition, in Repton, Derbyshire, England. Sir John Port of Etwall, on his death in 1557, left funds to create a grammar school whi ...

, 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 Nathaniel Edward Kindersley (2 February 1763 – 16 February 1831) was an English civil service officer to the British East India Company. He is known for being the first translator of the Tirukkural into English in 1794. Family Nathaniel Edwar ...

, 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 Octobe ...

(née Wickstead), was a travel writer.

Banking career

He then became a clerk in several

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

firms before joining the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St P ...

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 The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business di ...

, North America's oldest company (established by

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but s ...

in 1670). He served as a director of the Bank of England 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 The Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) was a historic Canadian transcontinental railway. At its 1923 merger into the Canadian National Railway , the CNoR owned a main line between Quebec City and Vancouver via Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Edmonton. Man ...

, later amalgamated into Canadian National Railways, and the town of

Kindersley, Saskatchewan Kindersley is a town surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Kindersley No. 290 in west-central Saskatchewan, Canada. It is located along Highway 7, a primary highway linking Calgary, Alberta and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. At a population of 4,59 ...

, 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 Oonagh Guinness (22 February 1910 – 2 August 1995) was an Anglo-Irish socialite, society hostess and art collector, and the second wife of Dominick Browne, 4th Baron Oranmore and Browne. Early life She was born on 22 February 1910, the y ...

and Valerie Violet French) and Elizabeth. Lord Kindersley was succeeded in the Barony by his second son Hugh, his eldest son Lionel having been killed in action in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Honours and arms

Kindersley was knighted as Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in 1917 and raised to Knight Grand Cross (GBE) in the 1920 civilian war honours for his chairmanship of the

National Savings Committee The National Savings Movement was a British mass savings movement that operated between 1916 and 1978 and was used to finance the deficit of government spending over tax revenues. The movement was instrumental during World War II in raising f ...

. He served as

High Sheriff of Sussex The office of Sheriff of Sussex was established before the Norman Conquest. The Office of sheriff remained first in precedence in the counties until the reign of Edward VII when an Order in Council in 1908 gave the Lord-Lieutenant the prime office ...

for 1928 and in 1941 was raised to the peerage as Baron Kindersley, of

West Hoathly West Hoathly is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England, located south west of East Grinstead. In the 2001 census 2,121 people, of whom 1,150 were economically active, lived in 813 households. At the 201 ...

in the County of

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ...

References

*Biography, ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'' *

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 The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

Barons created by George VI {{UK-business-bio-stub