Michael Godfrey (22 February 1658 – 1695) was an English merchant and financier, who was one of the founders and the first deputy governor 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 ...

Family

Godfrey was the eldest son of Michael Godfrey (1624–1689), merchant, of London and Woodford,

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, and his wife, Anne Mary Chamberlain. He was the nephew of Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey, a magistrate who was murdered in 1678 after receiving Titus Oates’s depositions concerning the Popish plot and foreman of the grand jury that found a true bill against Edward Fitzharris for high treason.

Career

Michael Godfrey and his brother Peter Godfrey were merchants, and their father predicted that their speculations would speedily ‘bring into hotchpott’ the whole of their ample fortunes. Godfrey supported William Paterson in the establishment of the Bank of England in 1694. He was rewarded by being elected as the first deputy governor of the bank. Soon afterwards, he published a pamphlet entitled 'A Short Account of the Bank of England'. On 15 August 1694, Godfrey was chosen as one of fifteen persons to prepare bylaws for the new bank.

Death

At a general court held on 16 May 1695, at which Peter Godfrey was elected a director, the bank resolved to establish a branch at Antwerp in order to coin money to pay the troops in Flanders. Deputy-governors Sir James Houblon,

Sir William Scawen Sir William Scawen (c. 1644 – 18 October 1722) was a British MP and Governor of the Bank of England. Early life Scawen was born in 1644. His father was Robert Scawen of Horton, Buckinghamshire. Career Scawen was knighted in 1692. After some ...

, and Michael Godfrey were therefore appointed to go thither ‘to methodise the same, his majesty and the elector of Bavaria having agreed there too’. Die Belagerung von Namur 1695

On their arrival at

Namur Namur (; ; ) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is the capital both of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration. Namur stands at the confl ...

, then besieged by

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

, the king invited them to dinner in his tent. They went out of curiosity into the trenches, where a cannon-ball from the works of the besieged killed Godfrey as he stood near the king on 17 July 1695. 'Being an eminent merchant,' writes Luttrell, 'he is much lamented; this news has abated the actions of the bank by 2 percent." Luttrell, Historical Relation of State Affairs, 1857, iii 503 He was unmarried and was buried near his father in the church of St. Swithin, Walbrook, where his mother erected a tablet to his memory.

Publications

*
A Short Account Of The Bank Of England by Michael Godfrey
' (1695)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Godfrey, Michael 1658 births 1695 deaths English bankers People associated with the Bank of England Deputy governors of the Bank of England 17th-century English merchants