Walter Cunliffe, 1st Baron Cunliffe, GBE (3 December 1855 – 6 January 1920) was a British banker who established the merchant banking business of Cunliffe Brothers (after 1920, Goschens and Cunliffe) in London, and who was

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 1913 to 1918, during the critical

World War I 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 ...

era. He was created 1st Baron Cunliffe in 1914. He chaired the Cunliffe Committee which reported in 1918 with a plan for the

monetary policy Monetary policy is the policy adopted by the monetary authority of a nation to control either the interest rate payable for very short-term borrowing (borrowing by banks from each other to meet their short-term needs) or the money supply, often a ...

of the

central bank A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the currency and monetary policy of a country or monetary union, and oversees their commercial banking system. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central ba ...

and government after the war, which helped to shape

fiscal policy In economics and political science, fiscal policy is the use of government revenue collection (taxes or tax cuts) and expenditure to influence a country's economy. The use of government revenue expenditures to influence macroeconomic variables ...

Early life and family

Cunliffe was born in

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1855, the second eldest of four brothers and two sisters. His father, Roger Cunliffe, helped to finance and negotiate the development of the North Eastern Railway and became a merchant banker in the 1860s. He was educated at

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

and at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

. His brother, Alan Percy Cunliffe (1864–1942), was a landowner and racehorse-owner who married film actress

Malvina Longfellow Malvina Virginia Longfellow (March 30, 1889 – November 2, 1962) was an American stage and silent movie actress of the early 20th century.''Sunday Magazine, Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, January 23, 1916, Page 34. Early life Born in the city of ...

in 1940.

Banker

He entered the banking industry in 1880. With two of his brothers, Arthur Robert and Leonard Daneham, he founded the merchant bank Cunliffe Brothers in 1890. On 1 January 1920, it merged with Fruhling and Goschen to become Goschens and Cunliffe, which failed in December 1939. Cunliffe became 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 ...

in 1895 and its

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

in 1913, working under

Chancellors of the Exchequer Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for leading the United Kingdom during t ...

Reginald McKenna Reginald McKenna (6 July 1863 – 6 September 1943) was a British banker and Liberal politician. His first Cabinet post under Henry Campbell-Bannerman was as President of the Board of Education, after which he served as First Lord of the Admir ...

, and

Bonar Law Andrew Bonar Law ( ; 16 September 1858 – 30 October 1923) was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1922 to May 1923. Law was born in the British colony of New Brunswick (now a ...

. Shortly after the outbreak of 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 ...

, he calmed the money markets by preventing both the suspension of payments in gold and the removal of foreign securities. He was created Baron Cunliffe, of

Headley Headley may refer to: Places * Headley, Basingstoke and Deane in the civil parish of Ashford Hill with Headley * Headley, East Hampshire ** Headley Grange, Hampshire * Headley, Surrey Other uses * Headley (surname) * Baron Headley, a title in t ...

in the County of

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, in December 1914. In April–May 1917, he was a member of the Balfour Mission to promote co-operation with the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

during the war. Cunliffe was appointed a Knight Grand Cross 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 ...

in June 1917; he disagreed with Bonar Law later that year by feeling that the Treasury was taking too much of a role in maintaining the

pound sterling Sterling (abbreviation: stg; Other spelling styles, such as STG and Stg, are also seen. ISO code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound ( sign: £) is the main unit of sterling, and t ...

exchange rate In finance, an exchange rate is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another currency. Currencies are most commonly national currencies, but may be sub-national as in the case of Hong Kong or supra-national as in the case of ...

. By November, Cunliffe had been forced to announce his imminent retirement, which occurred in March 1918. At the Bank of England, Cunliffe personally wrote one of the first office

dress codes A dress code is a set of rules, often written, with regard to what clothing groups of people must wear. Dress codes are created out of social perceptions and norms, and vary based on purpose, circumstances, and occasions. Different societies an ...

for women and noted that he was "pained by some of the costumes he encountered" in the hallways. His policy was conservative: "During the summer, white blouses are allowed but they must be absolutely white without coloured pattern or design upon them". He was appointed a director of North Eastern Railway in 1905 and of P. & O. Line in November 1919. He also received foreign decorations, including the Commander of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

(

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

), the Grand Cordon of the

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight ...

(

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

), and the

Order of St. Anna The Imperial Order of Saint Anna (russian: Орден Святой Анны; also "Order of Saint Anne" or "Order of Saint Ann") was a Holstein ducal and then Russian imperial order of chivalry. It was established by Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holst ...

(first class,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

). Something of his style is conveyed by the following anecdote from

Geoffrey Madan Geoffrey Spencer Madan (6 February 1895 – 6 July 1947) was an English belletrist, and a collector and creator of aphorisms, many of which are recorded in his ''Notebooks''. Biography Geoffrey Spencer Madan was born on 6 February 1895, in Oxford ...

's ''Notebooks'':

Lord Cunliffe, giving evidence before a Royal Commission, at the special request of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, would only say that the Bank of England reserves were "very, very considerable". When pressed to give even an approximate figure, he replied that he would be "very, very reluctant" to add to what he had said.

Throughout his tenure, as both a Director and a

, he had a reputation not just for abrasiveness, but as a bully. Cunliffe's manner was so arrogant and abrasive that, whilst Governor of the

, he had a strained relationship with two of the three Chancellors of the Exchequer with whom he worked (

and

). Cunliffe's arrogance did not only create tensions between the

and the

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or i ...

, but also created animosity within the Bank of England itself. In the autumn of 1916, his colleagues within the Court of Directors were surreptitiously planning to force him out of the Bank's Governorship, but all the talk did not translate into effective action. The following November, however, the directors were organised effectively enough to ensure the election of Brien Cokayne as Governor and

Montagu Norman Montagu Collet Norman, 1st Baron Norman DSO PC (6 September 1871 – 4 February 1950) was an English banker, best known for his role as the Governor of the Bank of England from 1920 to 1944. Norman led the bank during the toughest period in m ...

as Deputy Governor. His dismissal "was a decision that Cunliffe found impossible to accept, mounting a vain campaign over the rest of 1917 to persuade bankers, press and senior figures at the

to try to get

to apply pressure on the Court to reverse its vote". This futile last stand achieved nothing beyond Cunliffe's own humiliation.

Cunliffe Committee

As Governor of the Bank of England, Cunliffe chaired the Cunliffe Committee to recommend on the postwar transition of the British economy. The committee reported in 1918 that "it is imperative that after the war, the conditions necessary for the maintenance of an effective

gold standard A gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from the 1870s to the early 1920s, and from the la ...

should be restored without delay". Prior to the committee's creation, Cunliffe had criticised the young

John Maynard Keynes John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes, ( ; 5 June 1883 – 21 April 1946), was an English economist whose ideas fundamentally changed the theory and practice of macroeconomics and the economic policies of governments. Originally trained in ...

: "Mr. Keynes, in commercial circles, is not considered to have any knowledge or experience in practical exchange or business problems".

Personal life

In 1880, he was given the original farmhouse estate of Headley Court, formerly the main manor of the village, and its remaining , by his father, on the condition that he would make a career in banking, rather than become a farmer. He redeveloped it in 1898. The family fortune had been made by his grandfather, James Cunliffe, with his development of the

North Eastern Railway (UK) The North Eastern Railway (NER) was an English railway company. It was incorporated in 1854 by the combination of several existing railway companies. Later, it was amalgamated with other railways to form the London and North Eastern Railway ...

. He had the new house built in 1898 by

Edward Prioleau Warren Edward Prioleau Warren (30 October 1856 – 23 November 1937) was a British architect and archaeologist. Life He was born at Cotham, Bristol, the fifth son of Algernon William Warren, JP. Sir Thomas Herbert Warren was his elder brother. He was e ...

. He employed Lawrence Turner for the ceilings and plasterwork.Headley Court - Cunliffe married, firstly, Mary Agnes (died 1893) in 1890, younger daughter of Robert Henderson. He married secondly to Edith Cunningham, fifth daughter of Colonel Robert Tod Boothby, in 1896. They had three sons and three daughters. His son, Geoffrey, married actress Barbara Waring. Walter Cunliffe died at his home, Headley Court, 6 January 1920 (aged 64), from

septicaemia Sepsis, formerly known as septicemia (septicaemia in British English) or blood poisoning, is a life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage is follo ...

. His son Rolf succeeded to his title.

Arms

Footnotes

References

* *
"Interim Report of the Cunliffe Committee, 1918"

World Gold Council
', Accessed on 6 March 2006.

Tyrrells Wood Golf Club website
', Accessed 8 March 2006.
Cunliffe, Walter Cunliffe, 1st Baron.
(2006). ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...

''. Accessed 8 March 2006. *Bodenstein, Julia
office / politics / women in the workplace 1860-2004

London Metropolitan University website
', Accessed 8 March 2006. *Peden, George
"The Treasury and the City, 1901-c.1960"

University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charte ...

website'', Accessed 8 March 2006. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cunliffe, Walter Cunliffe, 1st Baron 1855 births 1920 deaths People educated at Harrow School Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge English bankers Governors of the Bank of England Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur Deaths from sepsis High Sheriffs of the County of London Deputy Governors of the Bank of England Barons created by George V