Sir Percy Wilson Newson, 1st Baronet (4 April 1874 – 17 May 1950) was a British
banker
A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...
and
jute
Jute ( ) is a long, rough, shiny bast fibre that can be Spinning (textiles), spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from flowering plants in the genus ''Corchorus'', of the mallow family Malvaceae. The primary source of the fiber is ...
merchant in
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
.
Newson was born in
Suffolk
Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...
, the son of Georgina Martha and William Henry Newson. He was senior partner with
Jardine, Skinner & Co in
Calcutta
Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...
and also became president of the
Bank of Bengal
The Bank of Calcutta (a precursor to the present State Bank of India) was founded on 2 June 1806, mainly to fund General Arthur Wellesley's wars against Tipu Sultan and the Marathas. It was the tenth oldest bank in India and was renamed Ban ...
in 1920 and Governor of the
Imperial Bank of India
The Imperial Bank of India (IBI) was one of the oldest and the largest commercial banks in India, and was subsequently renamed and nationalised as the State Bank of India in 1955. Initially, as per its royal charter, it acted as the central ba ...
in 1921. He was
knighted
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity.
The concept of a knighthood ...
in the 1920 New Year Honours and created a
baronet
A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...
in the
1921 Birthday Honours. He served as
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
Member of Parliament for
Tamworth from 1922 to 1923.
He was the maternal grandfather of English explorer
Ranulph Fiennes
Sir Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, 3rd Baronet (born 7 March 1944), commonly known as Sir Ranulph Fiennes () and sometimes as Ran Fiennes, is a British explorer, writer and poet, who holds several endurance records.
Fiennes served in the ...
.
References
External links
*
1874 births
1950 deaths
Businesspeople from Suffolk
British bankers
Indian bankers
Businesspeople from Kolkata
Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom
Knights Bachelor
UK MPs 1922–1923
Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
{{UK-business-bio-1870s-stub