Sir Theodore Janssen of Wimbledon, 1st Baronet (1650s,

Angoulême Angoulême (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Engoulaeme''; ) is a small city in the southwestern French Departments of France, department of Charente, of which it is the Prefectures of France, prefecture. Located on a plateau overlooking a meander of ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

– 22 September 1748,

Wimbledon, London Wimbledon () is a suburb of southwest London, England, southwest of Charing Cross; it is the main commercial centre of the London Borough of Merton. Wimbledon had a population of 68,189 in 2011 which includes the electoral wards of Abbey, Wimb ...

) was a French-born English financier and member of parliament who, after a long and successful career in commerce, was ruined and disgraced by his part in the

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Life

Janssen was born in

, son of the paper maker Abraham Janssen and Henriette Manigault. His grandfather, Theodore Janssen de Heez, had taken refuge in France from the Duke of Alba's persecution in the

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. Janssen moved to England in 1680, making his home at

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

, where he bought Wimbledon manor. He was naturalised as an English subject in 1685, and later knighted by King William III on 26 February 1698. In 1694 he was a founder-member 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 ...

, investing £10,000 and becoming a director. In 1697 he published a pamphlet ''A Discourse concerning Banks'', and in 1713 his treatise ''General Maxims of Trade''. At the particular request of the

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, he was created a baronet on 11 March 1715, shortly after the accession of George I. He entered Parliament in 1717 at a by-election, as member for Yarmouth (Isle of Wight). By 1720, Janssen had accumulated a fortune of almost quarter of a million pounds. However, among his business interests had been the

South Sea Company The South Sea Company (officially: The Governor and Company of the merchants of Great Britain, trading to the South Seas and other parts of America and for the encouragement of the Fishery) was a British joint-stock company founded in Ja ...

, of which he was a director. On the collapse of the company he, together with the other directors, was arrested and summoned before the House of Commons to account for himself. After he and Jacob Sawbridge, the first two directors to be summoned, had been heard, a motion was proposed and passed unanimously that both "were guilty of a notorious Breach of Trust, as Directors of the SouthSea Company, and thereby occasion'd very great Loss to great Numbers of his Majesty's Subjects, and had highly prejudic'd the publick Credit". They were statutorily disqualified from sitting in Parliament or holding public office and their assets confiscated to make reparations to the investors ruined in the crash. Janssen was allowed to keep £50,000, a much-higher proportion than most of the other directors.

Family

He married Williamza or Williamsa Henley (died 2 September 1731) on 26 January 1698 at Christ Church Greyfriars, London, and had issue, including

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, and

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. He died in 1748. He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his eldest son, Abraham, who had also been a member of parliament at the time of his father's disgrace, but never sat again after the end of that Parliament. Each of the three brothers inherited the baronetcy in turn, as none had any sons; the elder two died unmarried, in 1765 and 1766 respectively. His daughter Barbara married Governor Thomas Bladen. His daughter Mary married Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore. Williamsa Janssen, a granddaughter, married politician Lionel Damer in 1778.

Final Years and Death

Sir Theodore continued to live quietly in Wimbledon after he was stripped of the manor in 1721, next to the present day Wimbledon Village High St. He died in 1748 and is buried in the churchyard of St Mary's Church, Wimbledon.

Portrayal in fiction

Janssen is a central character in Robert Goddard's historical novel ''Sea Change''.

References

Robert Beatson Robert Beatson, LL.D. FRSE FSA (1741–1818) was a Scottish compiler and miscellaneous writer. Life He was born on 25 June 1741 at Dysart in Fife, Scotland, the son of David Beatson of Vicarsgrange. He was educated for the military profession, ...

, ''A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament'' (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807

House of Commons Journal, 1721
* ''Concise Dictionary of National Biography'' * George Cokayne, Cokayne, George Edward (1906)
Complete Baronetage
'. Volume V. Exeter: W. Pollard & Co. . pp. 26–27 {{DEFAULTSORT:Janssen, Theodore 1650s births 1748 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain British MPs 1715–1722 English people of Dutch descent French emigrants Immigrants to the Kingdom of England Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies People from Angoulême French people of Dutch descent Knights Bachelor Expelled members of the Parliament of Great Britain Burials at St Mary's Church, Wimbledon