John Baring (born Johann Baring; 15 November 1697 – ) was a German-born British merchant. Born in the Duchies of Bremen and Verden, he subsequently emigrated to the

Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain, also known as the Kingdom of Great Britain, was a sovereign state in Western Europe from 1707 to the end of 1800. The state was created by the 1706 Treaty of Union and ratified by the Acts of Union 1707, which united the Kingd ...

in 1717 as the apprentice of a wool merchant. His decision to settle permanently in England started the

Baring family The Baring family is a German and British family of merchants and bankers. In Germany, the family belongs to the '' Bildungsbürgertum'', and in England, it belongs to the aristocracy. History The family's earliest known ancestor is Peter Bari ...

on the road to becoming one of the leading banking families in the world.

Early life

Johann Baring was born in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

, one of the old

Hanseatic The Hanseatic League was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive network of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Growing from a few Northern Germany, North German towns in the ...

cities of northern Germany. He was the posthumous son of Franz Baring (1657–1697), a professor of theology in Bremen, who died aged forty only a few weeks before Johann was born, by his wife Rebecca Vogds, the daughter of one of Bremen's leading wool merchants. Following the early death of Johann's father, he was brought up by the Vogds family.

Move to England

At the age of twenty Johann was sent to England to learn the wool trade in

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

, Devon. Originally having planned to return to Bremen after his apprenticeship, he decided to stay in England, where he obtained citizenship in 1723 and Anglicised his first name from Johann to John.

Marriage and progeny

John married Elizabeth Vowler (1702–1766), the daughter of a prosperous Exeter

grocer A grocery store (American English, AE), grocery shop or grocer's shop (British English, BE) or simply grocery is a retail store that primarily retails a general range of food Product (business), products, which may be Fresh food, fresh or Food p ...

, who brought with her a large

dowry A dowry is a payment such as land, property, money, livestock, or a commercial asset that is paid by the bride's (woman's) family to the groom (man) or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price ...

of £20,000 and business sense to match that of her new husband. By Elizabeth he had the following progeny, 4 sons and 1 daughter: * John Baring (1730–1816), who in partnership with his younger brother Francis, established the London merchant house of ''John and Francis Baring Company'', which eventually became

Barings Bank Barings Bank was a British merchant bank based in London. It was one of England's oldest merchant banks after Berenberg Bank, Barings' close collaborator and German representative. It was founded in 1762 by Francis Baring, a British-born member ...

*Thomas Baring (1733–1758) * Sir Francis Baring, 1st Baronet (1740–1810), who in partnership with his elder brother John, established the London merchant house of ''John and Francis Baring Company'', which eventually became

*Charles Baring (1742–1829), 4th son, of Courtland,

Exmouth Exmouth is a harbor, port town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and seaside resort situated on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe, southeast of Exeter. In 2011 it had a population of 34,432, making Exmouth the List of settl ...

, Devon, who married Margaret Gould (1743–1803), daughter and eventual heiress in her issue of William Drake Gould (1719–1767) of Lew Trenchard. Her monument survives in Lympstone Church, Devon. The Gould family was descended from a certain John Gold, a crusader present at the siege of

Damietta Damietta ( ' ) is a harbor, port city and the capital of the Damietta Governorate in Egypt. It is located at the Damietta branch, an eastern distributary of the Nile Delta, from the Mediterranean Sea, and about north of Cairo. It was a Cath ...

in 1217 who for his valour was granted in 1220 by Ralph de Vallibus an estate at Seaborough in Somerset. His son William Baring (d. 1846), JP, DL, in 1795 assumed by royal licence the additional surname and arms of Gould, in accordance with the terms of his inheritance of the manor of Lew Trenchard. William's grandson was the author Rev.

Sabine Baring-Gould Sabine Baring-Gould (; 28 January 1834 – 2 January 1924) of Lew Trenchard in Devon, England, was an Anglican priest, hagiographer, antiquarian, novelist, folk song collector and eclectic scholar. His bibliography consists of more than 1,240 pu ...

(1834–1924) of Lew Trenchard. *Elizabeth Baring (1744–1809) who in 1780 married John Dunning (1731–1783) of Ashburton, Devon, MP for Calne, who in 1782 was created Baron Ashburton.

Residences

By 1737 the Barings moved from the City of Exeter and purchased as their country residence Larkbeare House, (a substantial 16th century house a fragment of which survives at no. 38 Holloway Street, Exeter, having been largely demolished by 19th century road-widening) and thirty seven acres of land, then just outside the city. Adjacent to Larkbeare was the estate of Mount Radford, which was later the family's residence. Shortly before his death John purchased Lindridge House, Bishopsteignton, near Exeter.

Death

By the time of John's death aged fifty-one, the Barings were one of the wealthiest families in the

West Country The West Country is a loosely defined area within southwest England, usually taken to include the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Bristol, with some considering it to extend to all or parts of Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and ...

. Baring Crescent, Exeter, developed with Regency villas 1818–1828, was named after the family.

Family tree

References

External links

Portrait of John Baring by William Hoare, courtesy of the Baring archive

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baring, John 1697 births 1748 deaths

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

Businesspeople from Bremen (city) Emigrants from the Holy Roman Empire to the Kingdom of Great Britain Businesspeople from Exeter 18th-century British merchants