Thomas Baring (7 September 1799 – 18 November 1873) was a British banker and

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician.

Background and education

Baring was the second son of

Sir Thomas Baring, 2nd Baronet Sir Thomas Baring, 2nd Baronet (12 June 1772 – 3 April 1848), was a British banker and Member of Parliament. Early life Baring was born on 12 June 1772. A member of the Baring family, he was the eldest son of Harriet (née Herring) Baring and ...

, and Mary Ursula, daughter of Charles Sealy.

Francis Baring, 1st Baron Northbrook Francis Thornhill Baring, 1st Baron Northbrook, (20 April 1796 – 6 September 1866), known as Sir Francis Baring, 3rd Baronet, from 1848 to 1866, was a British Whig politician who served in the governments of Lord Melbourne and Lord John Russ ...

, was his elder brother, and the Right Reverend

Charles Baring Charles Thomas Baring (11 January 1807 – 14 September 1879) was an English bishop, noted as an Evangelical. Early life, family and education Baring was born into the Baring banking family on 11 January 1807, the fourth son of Sir Thomas Bari ...

one of his younger brothers. He was educated at

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

Business career

As a second son, Thomas was destined for a career in the "counting house". Beginning at Hope & Co., he did well in Amsterdam, becoming a partner in 1824. Despite the lobbying of Sir Thomas, the opposition of his uncle

Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

kept Thomas from a partnership in Baring Brothers & Co. until 1828. Once installed in London, Thomas sought, during the 1830s and 40s, to use knowledge and connections gained at Hopes to increase the firm's visibility in Europe. Except in Russia, Barings was mostly frustrated in these efforts by more established continental houses like

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and Hottinguer's. During these same years Thomas, along with younger brother

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, spent much time promoting Barings in North America, especially the United States. He made his first trip to the US in 1829 and many more thereafter. Following the death of all three senior Barings in 1848, Thomas and American Joshua Bates became the leading partners in the 1850s. The European troubles of 1848 also contributed to the shift of Barings' attention to the Americas. During this period, Barings was the financial agent for the governments of the US and (along with Glyn, Mills & Co.) Canada. Entering the 1860s, with the ageing Bates becoming progressively less active, and with new young partner Edward 'Ned' Baring not ready for leadership, Thomas and

Russell Sturgis Russell Sturgis (; October 16, 1836 – February 11, 1909) was an American architect and art critic of the 19th and early 20th centuries. He was one of the founders of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1870. Sturgis was born in Baltimore Count ...

(a second American) assumed command. Feeling the need for new blood at Barings, Thomas in 1867 completed a merger with London rival Finlay Hodgson and Co. Senior partner Kirkham Hodgson, a past

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 ...

, became a Barings partner. In the same year, Thomas' nephew Thomas Charles Baring also joined the partnership. While always resistant to heavy involvement in public life, Thomas found time for other finance-related positions, including Chairman of

Lloyd's Lloyd's of London, generally known simply as Lloyd's, is an insurance and reinsurance market located in London, England. Unlike most of its competitors in the industry, it is not an insurance company; rather, Lloyd's is a corporate body gov ...

and 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 ...

. Like his father, he was President of the

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and s

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Political career

Baring entered Parliament for

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...

in 1835, a seat he held until 1837, and later represented

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between 1844 and 1873. He was a close associate of

Benjamin Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a central role in the creation o ...

but declined every ministerial post offered to him.

Personal life

Baring died in November 1873, aged 74. He was buried in the St. Mary the Virgin Churchyard in

Micheldever Micheldever is a village in Hampshire, England, situated north of Winchester. It lies upon the River Dever . The river, and village, formerly part of Stratton Park, lie on a Hampshire grass downland, underlain with chalk and flint. Parts of th ...

City of Winchester The City of Winchester () is a local government district in Hampshire, England, with a city status. The district covers the ancient settlement of the city of Winchester itself, but also covers a large area of central Hampshire including Bis ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

References

* *
Biography at The Baring Archive
*

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baring, Thomas 1799 births 1873 deaths People educated at Winchester College Younger sons of baronets

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies British bankers UK MPs 1835–1837 UK MPs 1841–1847 UK MPs 1847–1852 UK MPs 1852–1857 UK MPs 1857–1859 UK MPs 1859–1865 UK MPs 1865–1868 UK MPs 1868–1874 Politics of the Borough of Great Yarmouth Fellows of the Royal Society Morden College 19th-century British businesspeople