Sir John Houblon (13 March 1632 – 10 January 1712) was an English merchant and banker who served as the first

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 ...

from 1694 to 1697. He also served as the

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...

in 1695.

Early life

John Houblon was the third son of James Houblon, a

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 ...

merchant, and his wife, Mary Du Quesne, daughter of Jean Du Quesne, the younger. He had nine brothers and three sisters. The Houblon family were

Huguenots The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

from

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

and he later became an elder in the French Protestant Church of London in Threadneedle Street. His younger brother,

Abraham Houblon Abraham Houblon (23 January 1640 – 11 May 1722) was Governor of the Bank of England from 1703 to 1705. He had been Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, Deputy Governor from 1701 to 1703. He replaced John Ward (banker), John Ward and was succee ...

, was also Bank of England Governor, from 1703 to 1705. A daughter of Abraham Houblon, Anne, was married to Henry Temple, later Viscount Palmerston, in 1703. His older brother, James, an influential merchant and Member of Parliament for the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

, was also a director of the Bank of England. Four other of his brothers were prosperous merchants.

Career

He became Sheriff of the City of London in 1689, an

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

from 1689 to 1712, and Master of the Grocer's Company from 1690 to 1691. He was

Lord Mayor Lord mayor is a title of a mayor of what is usually a major city in a Commonwealth realm, with special recognition bestowed by the sovereign. However, the title or an equivalent is present in other countries, including forms such as "high mayor". A ...

in 1695. He was a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty from 1694 to 1699. It was during this time, from 1694 until 1697, that he served as inaugural governor of the Bank of England. He was again a Bank of England director from 1700, and a director of the New East India Company from 1700 to 1701. He stood as a Parliamentary candidate for the

in 1701, but was defeated. Some sources state incorrectly that he was Member of Parliament for

Bodmin Bodmin () is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated south-west of Bodmin Moor. The extent of the civil parish corresponds fairly closely to that of the town so is mostly urban in character. It is bordered ...

Appearance on banknotes

Houblon has been commemorated by his appearance on the reverse of Series E £50 notes issued by 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 ...

. The notes were issued in 1994, the year of the Bank's 300th anniversary. The design includes an image of Houblon's house in Threadneedle Street, the site of the present Bank of England building. A new £50 note was brought into circulation in 2011, featuring

James Watt James Watt (; 30 January 1736 (19 January 1736 OS) – 25 August 1819) was a Scottish inventor, mechanical engineer, and chemist who improved on Thomas Newcomen's 1712 Newcomen steam engine with his Watt steam engine in 1776, which was f ...

and

Matthew Boulton Matthew Boulton ( ; 3 September 172817 August 1809) was an English businessman, inventor, mechanical engineer, and silversmith. He was a business partner of the Scottish engineer James Watt. In the final quarter of the 18th century, the par ...

in place of Sir John Houblon. The Houblon note ceased to be legal tender on 30 April 2014.

Personal life

He married Mary Jurin in 1660, who came from a Flemish Protestant family and they had five sons and six daughters, but only two sons survived their father.Archer Houblon, Alice (1907)
The Houblon Family - Its Story and Times
', London: Constable, Volumes 1 & 2. They lived in a magnificent house just off Threadneedle Street on the site later occupied by the Bank of England and he also acquired a country house at High Ongar in Essex.

References

External links

Sir John Houblon 1632-1712
at the Bank of England website
''The Rulers of London 1660-1689''
J.R. Woodhead, o
British History Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Houblon, John 1632 births 1712 deaths English bankers English people of French descent Lords of the Admiralty Sheriffs of the City of London 17th-century lord mayors of London Governors of the Bank of England 17th-century English businesspeople Knights Bachelor