Jeremiah Meyer - Portrait of Sir Richard Neave 3159 z

Sir Richard Neave, 1st Baronet (22 November 1731 – 28 January 1814) was a British merchant and a

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 ...

Life

Neave was the son of James Neave and Susanna Trueman. He developed considerable interests in the West Indies and the Americas and was chairman at various times of the Ramsgate Harbour Trust, the Society of West Indian Merchants and the London Dock Company, as well as a director of the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

. Neave was a friend of

George Read George Read may refer to: Soldiers * George C. Read (1788–1862), United States Navy admiral * George E. Read (1838–1910), American sailor and Medal of Honor recipient * George Windle Read (1860–1934), United States Army major general * George ...

of Delaware who wrote to warn him in 1765 that the British government's attempts to tax the

colonies A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their '' metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often or ...

without giving them direct representation in Parliament would lead to independence. Neave lived in

Bower House The Bower House () is a Grade I listed Palladian mansion in Havering-atte-Bower, England. It was built in 1729 by Henry Flitcroft, and was his first commission. The stable block was built at the same time and is separately grade I listed. Land ...

Havering-atte-Bower Havering-atte-Bower ( ) is a village in Greater London, England, in the far north of the London Borough of Havering. The village lies northeast of Charing Cross. It was one of three former parishes whose area comprised the historic Royal Libe ...

but sought to elevate himself from merchant to country gentleman and purchased

Dagnam Park Dagnam Park is a public park located in Harold Hill in the London Borough of Havering The London Borough of Havering () in East London, England, forms part of Outer London. It has a population of 259,552 inhabitants; the principal town is R ...

in 1772. Neave had the original Dagnams demolished, probably between 1772 and 1776 and replaced by a red-brick Georgian house nine bays wide by four deep with a curved, central three-bay projection to the south front. He was 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 ...

for 48 years, made Deputy Governor in 1781 and

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

from 1783 to 1785. Neave's tenure as Governor occurred during the end of the Bengal bubble crash (1769–1784). In 1794, he was appointed

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

. He was a Fellow of the

Society of Antiquaries of London The Society of Antiquaries of London (SAL) is a learned society of historians and archaeologists in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1707, received its royal charter in 1751 and is a Charitable organization, registered charity. It is based ...

and, in 1785, was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

. He was created 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 13 May 1795.

Family

Neave married Frances Bristow, daughter of

John Bristow John Bristow (25 April 1701 – 14 November 1768), of Mark Lane, London, and Quidenham Hall, Quidenham, Norfolk, was an English merchant, financier and politician who sat in the British House of Commons, House of Commons from 1734 to 1768. ...

, MP and merchant, in 1761. He and his wife were painted, in a double portrait, by

Thomas Gainsborough Thomas Gainsborough (; 14 May 1727 (baptised) – 2 August 1788) was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. Along with his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds, he is considered one of the most important British artists o ...

around 1765 (private collection). Their daughter Frances married

Beeston Long; in 1806, both Neave and Long served as vice-presidents of the

London Institution The London Institution was an educational institution founded in London in 1806 (not to be confused with the British Institution for Promoting the Fine Arts in the United Kingdom founded the previous year, with which it shared some founders). It ...

. The second daughter Catherine Mary married the

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic si ...

Henry Howard. Their third daughter, Caroline Mary Neave, born 23 March 1781, never married but devoted her considerable energies and ability to the improving the treatment of women and children in prisons, refuges and convict ships. She died on 7 December 1861.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neave, Sir Richard, 1st Baronet 1731 births 1814 deaths Merchants from the British West Indies Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain Governors of the Bank of England High sheriffs of Essex Fellows of the Royal Society Deputy governors of the Bank of England Place of birth missing English slave owners