Sir Richard Neave, 1st Baronet

Sir Richard Neave, 1st Baronet (22 November 1731 – 28 January 1814) was a British merchant and a Governor of the Bank of England.

Portrait of Sir Richard Neave, by Jeremiah Meyer

Life

Neave was the son of James Neave and Susanna Trueman.[1] 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. Neave was a friend of George Read of Delaware who wrote to warn him in 1765 that the British government's attempts to tax the colonies without giving them direct representation in Parliament would lead to independence.[2]

Neave lived in Bower House in Havering-atte-Bower but sought to elevate himself from merchant to country gentleman and purchased Dagnam Park 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.[3] He was a director of the Bank of England for 48 years, made Deputy Governor in 1781 and Governor 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. He was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London and in 1785 elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.[4] He was created a baronet on May 13, 1795.

Family

Neave married Frances Bristow, daughter of John Bristow, MP and merchant, in 1761. He and his wife were painted, in a double portrait, by Thomas Gainsborough around 1765 (private collection). Their daughter Frances married Governor of the Bank of England Beeston Long; in 1806, both Neave and Long served as Vice-presidents of the London Institution.

The second daughter Catherine Mary married Henry Howard.[5]

Coat of arms of Sir Richard Neave, 1st Baronet
Crest
Out of a ducal coronet Gold a lily stalked and leaved Vert flowered and seeded Or.
Escutcheon
Argent on a cross Sable five fleurs-de-lis Or.
Motto
Sola Proba Quae Honesta [6]

Their third daughter, Caroline Mary Neave, born 23.3.1781, 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 7.12.1861.

gollark: You're right.
gollark: Really? Huh.
gollark: I don't want a plus model, 5" is big enough for my hand.
gollark: "The" battery case? I'm fairly sure they're all unofficial ones.
gollark: Also, they cost more.

References
  1. The Peerage.com
  2. DSDI Descendants of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence
  3. England's Lost Houses Archived 2009-03-27 at the Wayback Machine
  4. "Library and Archive Catalogue". Royal Society. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  5. Lee, Sidney, ed. (1891). "Howard, Henry (1757-1842)" . Dictionary of National Biography. 28. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  6. Burke's Peerage. 1949.
Government offices
Preceded by
William Ewer		 Governor of the Bank of England
1783 – 1785		 Succeeded by
George Peters
Baronetage of Great Britain
New title Baronet
(of Dagnam Park)
1795–1814		 Succeeded by
Thomas Neave
Honorary titles
Preceded by
 High Sheriff of Essex
1794–1795		 Succeeded by
John Hanson
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