Sir Mark Wilks Collet, 1st Baronet (September 1816 – 25 April 1905) was an English merchant and banker. He served as

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 choosing and mentoring a successor. The governor ...

between 1887 and 1889 and was made a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

on 12 June 1888 in connection with his services in converting the

National Debt A country's gross government debt (also called public debt or sovereign debt) is the financial liabilities of the government sector. Changes in government debt over time reflect primarily borrowing due to past government deficits. A deficit occ ...

(retirement of

Consols Consols (originally short for consolidated annuities, but subsequently taken to mean consolidated stock) were government bond, government debt issues in the form of perpetual bonds, redeemable at the option of the government. The first British co ...

). He was also a Lieutenant for the City of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Banking career

He opened the London branch of a

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

bank, Brown, Shipley & Co., (later Brown Brothers & Harriman, one of the most powerful banks in modern American history), in 1864 and died as senior partner of that bank. In 1866, he 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 Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...

, then its Deputy Governor and finally its Governor, remaining a director until his death in 1905. His grandson,

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 ...

, would also serve as Bank of England Governor between 1920 and 1944.

Family

Mark Wilks Collet was one of the three sons of James Collet (27 July 1784 – ) and his wife Wendelina Elizabeth, daughter of Abraham Van Brienen, whom he married in 1812 at Archangel,

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. James Collet was the son of Capt. John Corlett or Collet (1751–1814), a sea captain born in Douglas,

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

, who settled in

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, PA, and his wife Ann Wilks (1758–1840) Collet married firstly Susannah (or Susan) Gertrude Eyre (d. 22 July 1851, Liverpool, aged 29), the youngest daughter of the Rev. James Eyre, by whom he had a daughter, Lina Susan Penelope Collet. She married, on 15 November 1870,

Frederick Henry Norman Frederick Henry Norman (23 January 1839 – 6 October 1916) was an England, English merchant banker and a director of the merchant bank Brown, Shipley & Co. He was also a first-class cricket, first-class cricketer, appearing for Kent County Cric ...

(1839–1916), himself the son of a prominent British banker. Her eldest son became the Right Hon. Montagu Collet Norman, later Lord Norman, Privy Councillor, and Governor of the Bank of England from 1920 to 1944. Another son was

Ronald Collet Norman Ronald Collet Norman JP (15 November 1873 – 5 December 1963) was a banker, administrator and politician. He was chairman of the Board of Governors of the BBC from 1935 to 1939 and of the London County Council from 1918 to 1919. Biography ...

.JMM vol 2 p1139/140 - Manx Coinage, 1733
/ref> By a second marriage to Antonia Edlmann, he had a son, Sir Mark Edlmann Collet (1864–1944). In 1878, he bought and renovated the country house of St. Clere, in

Kemsing Kemsing is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Sevenoaks (district), Sevenoaks district of Kent, England. The parish lies on the scarp face of the North Downs, 20 miles south east of Central London and north east of ...

, Kent.

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Banking career

Family

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References

Further reading