Frederic Seebohm, Baron Seebohm, TD (18 January 1909 – 15 December 1990), was a British banker, soldier and social work innovator.

Early life and background

Lord Seebohm's father was Hugh Exton Seebohm and grandfather was the historian Frederic Seebohm. His mother was Lesley Gribble of

Henlow Grange Henlow Grange is an English country house in Henlow, Bedfordshire. It is now operated as a spa hotel. Family home The house chiefly dates from the early 18th century. For generations it was the family seat of the Edwards. By 1869 the manor w ...

. His maternal grandparents were George Gribble, sometime

High Sheriffs of Bedfordshire High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift ...

and Norah Royds, a

Slade Slade are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Wolverhampton in 1966. They rose to prominence during the glam rock era in the early 1970s, achieving 17 consecutive top 20 hits and six number ones on the UK Singles Chart. The ''British H ...

-trained artist who filled Lesley's childhood home with artistic and cultural figures. Frederic's maternal aunts and uncles included Phyllis Fordham of Ashwell Bury;

Vivien Gribble Vivien Massie Gribble Doyle-Jones (1888 – 6 February 1932) was an English wood engraver who was active at the beginning of the 20th century. She was a pupil of Noel Rooke at the Central School of Arts and Crafts and exhibited regularly with the ...

, the engraver and illustrator; Major Philip Gribble, a writer and adventurer who married the daughter of

Ronald McNeill, 1st Baron Cushendun Ronald John McNeill, 1st Baron Cushendun, PC (30 April 1861 – 12 October 1934), was a British Conservative politician. Background and education McNeill was born in Ulster. He was the son of Edmund McNeill, DL, JP, and Sheriff of County Ant ...

and financed

Anna Wolkoff Anna Nikolayevna Wolkova (1902 – 2 August 1973), sometimes known as Anna de Wolkoff, was a White Russian émigrée, and secretary of The Right Club, which was opposed to Britain's involvement in World War II. Early life She was the eldes ...

; and Julian Royds Gribble, who won a VC at the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

and died of

influenza Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptom ...

in a German prison of war camp. He was born in

Hitchin Hitchin () is a market town and unparished area in the North Hertfordshire district in Hertfordshire, England, with an estimated population of 35,842. History Hitchin is first noted as the central place of the Hicce people, a tribe holding 300 ...

in Hertfordshire. He was educated at

Leighton Park School Leighton Park School is a co-educational independent school for both day and boarding pupils in Reading in South East England. The school's ethos is closely tied to the Quaker values, having been founded as a Quaker School in 1890. The school's e ...

and

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

Career

After university he joined the

Barclays Bank Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...

, which had taken over the Hitchin Bank founded by his family. Seebohm served in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

, reaching the rank of

lieutenant-colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

. He was

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

and was decorated with the

Territorial Decoration __NOTOC__ The Territorial Decoration (TD) was a military medal of the United Kingdom awarded for long service in the Territorial Force and its successor, the Territorial Army. This award superseded the Volunteer Officer's Decoration when the T ...

. Having been local director of the bank's branch office in

Luton Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable a ...

and

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

, Seebohm became director of the main board after the war. In 1951, he was made a member of the bank's overseas board and in 1965 chairman of the renamed Barclays Bank International. He retired seven years later. In December 1965 Seebohm was appointed, by Douglas Houghton MP, to chair the Committee on Local Authority Personal Social Services. The Committee published its findings in 1968. Amongst other things, the report recommended the establishment of a unified social service within each major local authority. Seebohm was also chairman of the

Overseas Development Institute ODI (formerly the 'Overseas Development Institute') is a global affairs think tank, founded in 1960. Its mission is "to inspire people to act on injustice and inequality through collaborative research and ideas that matter for people and the ...

Awards

Seebohm received a

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in 1970, and on 28 April 1972, he was 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 ...

as Baron Seebohm, of

Hertford Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census. The town grew around a ford on the River Lea ...

in the

County of Hertford Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

. Between 1970 and 1971, he was

High Sheriff of Hertfordshire The High Sheriff of Hertfordshire was an ancient Sheriff title originating in the time of the Angles, not long after the foundation of the Kingdom of England, which was in existence for around a thousand years. On 1 April 1974, under the provis ...

, as his grandfather had been. He was further president of the National Institute for Social Work, of the

Royal African Society The Royal African Society (RAS) of the United Kingdom was founded in 1901 to promote relations between the United Kingdom and countries in Africa. The RAS is a not-for-profit membership organisation based in London. In addition to producing its jo ...

and of the

Age Concern Age Concern is the banner title used by a number of charitable organizations (NGOs) specifically concerned with the needs and interests of all older people (defined as those over the age of 50) based chiefly in the four countries of the United King ...

. He was further chairman of the Joseph Rowntree Memorial Trust (now the

Joseph Rowntree Foundation The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) is a charity that conducts and funds research aimed at solving poverty in the UK. JRF's stated aim is to "inspire action and change that will create a prosperous UK without poverty." Originally called the ...

) for 15 years and one of the founders of the York Council of Voluntary Service. For the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 mill ...

and the

Haileybury and Imperial Service College Haileybury is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) near Hertford in England. It is a member of the Rugby Group and, though originally a major boys' public school in the Victorian era, it is now co-educational, enr ...

, he was governor and chairman of 3i .

Later life and family

In 1932, he married Evangeline Hurst, daughter of Sir

Gerald Berkeley Hurst Sir Gerald Berkeley Hurst QC (4 December 1877 – 27 October 1957) was a British Conservative Party politician. Gerald Berkeley Hertz was born in Bradford to Fanny Mary and William Martin Hertz, a wool merchant. His Jewish grandparents on bot ...

. They had one son and two daughters, including the writer Victoria Glendinning. Seebohm died in a road accident in 1990, his wife a short time after.

Arms

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Seebohm, Frederic 1909 births 1990 deaths Military personnel from Hertfordshire Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Royal Artillery officers British Army personnel of World War II English bankers Crossbench life peers Knights Bachelor People educated at Leighton Park School People associated with the London School of Economics 3i Group people Road incident deaths in England 20th-century English businesspeople Social care in England and Wales Life peers created by Elizabeth II