John Swanwick Bradbury, 1st Baron Bradbury (23 September 1872 – 3 May 1950) was a British economist and public servant. Bradbury was born in Crook Lane,

Winsford Winsford is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is on the River Weaver, south of Northwich and west of Middlewich. It grew around the salt mining indus ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, the son of John Bradbury and Sarah Cross. He was educated at

Manchester Grammar School The Manchester Grammar School (MGS) is a highly Selective school, selective Private_schools_in_the_United_Kingdom, private day school for boys aged 7-18 in Manchester, England, which was founded in 1515 by Hugh Oldham (then Bishop of Exeter). ...

, The King's School, Chester and

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The l ...

, and joined the Civil Service in 1896. He served as Private Secretary to the

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and the head of HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, t ...

H. H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928) was a British statesman and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916. He was the last ...

from 1905 to 1908, as Principal Clerk in the Treasury and First Treasury Officer of Accounts from 1908 to 1911, as Joint Permanent Secretary to the Treasury from 1913 to 1919 and as the Principal British Delegate to the Reparations Commission in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

from 1919 to 1925. During the First World War he was the government's chief economic adviser. He was appointed Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

(CB) in 1909, Knight Commander of the

(KCB) in 1913, and

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior military officers or senior civil servants, and the monarch awards it on the advice of His ...

(GCB) for his services as Principal Reparations Commissioner in the 1920 New Year Honours. In the 1925 New Year Honours, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Bradbury, of Winsford in the County of Chester. Lord Bradbury married Hilda Maude Kirby, daughter of William Arthur Kirby, in 1911. He died in May 1950, aged 77, and was succeeded in the barony by his eldest son

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

. Treasury notes signed with Bradbury's name have been known as "Bradburys" (e.g., as early as 1921 in PG Wodehouse's updated edition of ''Love Among the Chickens'') or "Bradbury Pound". The Bradbury pound was introduced in 1914 at the outbreak of the First World War. The Government at the time needed to preserve its stock of bullion so asked the Bank of England to cease paying out gold for its notes. Instead the Treasury printed and issued 10 shilling and £1 notes (so called Bradbury pounds). The gold standard was then partially restored in 1925 and the Bank of England was again obliged to exchange its notes for gold, but only in multiples of 400 ounces or more. Britain left the gold standard in 1931 and the note issue became entirely fiduciary, that is wholly backed by securities instead of gol

Arms

Footnotes

References

* Biography, ''

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

'' * Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990. * 1872 births 1950 deaths People from Winsford Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford Permanent Secretaries of HM Treasury Private secretaries in the British Civil Service 1 Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath People educated at Manchester Grammar School People educated at The King's School, Chester Barons created by George V {{UK-baron-stub