Robert "Robin" Leigh-Pemberton, Baron Kingsdown (5 January 1927 – 24 November 2013) was a British peer and banker, who served as

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 1983 to 1993.

Education and career

Leigh-Pemberton was educated at St Peter's Court, then at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

. He attended

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, graduating in 1950. In 1954, he was called to the Bar, and he practised law for several years before returning to Kent to manage the family estate of Torry Hill. He served as a Justice of the Peace and as Leader of

Kent County Council Kent County Council is a county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Kent in England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county, which additionally includes the Unitary authorities of England, unitary auth ...

. He eventually became chairman of the

National Westminster Bank National Westminster Bank, trading as NatWest, is a major retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom based in London, England. It was established in 1968 by the merger of National Provincial Bank and Westminster Bank. In 2000, it becam ...

, then

from 1983 until 1993.

Honours

He was appointed to the Privy Council in 1987, and created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

on 14 July 1993, as Baron Kingsdown, of Pemberton in the County of Lancashire. He became a Knight Companion of the

Order of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. The most senior order of knighthood in the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British honours system, it is outranked in ...

in 1994, and was also the

Lord Lieutenant of Kent This is a list of people who have served as Lord-Lieutenant of Kent. Since 1746, all Lords Lieutenant have also been Custos Rotulorum of Kent. Lords Lieutenant of Kent * Sir Thomas Cheney 1551 – 1558 * William Brooke, 10th Baron Cobham 3 July ...

from 1982 to 2002. Between 1979 and 1992, he served as Honorary Colonel of the Kent and Sharpshooters Yeomanry and between 1977 and 1984 he served as Pro-chancellor of the

University of Kent The University of Kent (formerly the University of Kent at Canterbury, abbreviated as UKC) is a Collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom. The university was granted its roya ...

. He also served on the board of directors of the

Bank of International Settlements The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is an international financial institution which is owned by member central banks. Its primary goal is to foster international monetary and financial cooperation while serving as a bank for central bank ...

Personal life

His family has a long association with Kingsdown and Torry Hill, near Doddington, Kent, where he rebuilt the family mansion in the 1960s. It features a striking view north towards the

Isle of Sheppey The Isle of Sheppey is an island off the northern coast of Kent, England, neighbouring the Thames Estuary, centred from central London. It has an area of . The island forms part of the districts of England, local government district of Borough ...

the Swale The Swale is a tidal channel of the Thames estuary that separates the Isle of Sheppey from the rest of Kent. On its banks is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest which stretches from Sittingbourne to Whitstable in Kent. It is also ...

and the

Thames estuary The Thames Estuary is where the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea, in the south-east of Great Britain. Limits An estuary can be defined according to different criteria (e.g. tidal, geographical, navigational or in terms of salinit ...

. On the grounds of the estate, there is also what is believed to be the only Eton Fives court attached to a private dwelling; it was built in 1925. Lord Kingsdown's father also built a private miniature railway in the 1930s. This still runs for several miles on his estate. One of his sons, James Leigh-Pemberton, continues the family's association with the

Duchy of Cornwall A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a country, territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important difference between "sovereign ...

(beginning with its Chancellor, the 1st Baron Kingsdown) as Receiver-General. His brother Jeremy Leigh-Pemberton is a Deputy Lieutenant of Kent and is the parish chairman for the neighbouring parish of Wormshill. His younger brother is the opera singer Nigel Douglas.

Arms

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kingsdown, Robin Leigh-Pemberton, Baron 1927 births 2013 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford Crossbench life peers Fellows of Trinity College, Oxford Governors of the Bank of England Knights of the Garter Knights of the Order of St John Robin Lord-lieutenants of Kent Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Leigh-Pemberton, Robin People educated at Eton College People educated at St Peter's Court NatWest Group people People from Kingsdown, Swale 20th-century English businesspeople Life peers created by Elizabeth II

Education and career

Honours

Personal life

Arms

See also

References