Sir John Banks

Sir John Banks was an English merchant and banker, who rose from relatively humble beginnings to be one of the wealthiest merchants in London and owner of several properties.

Banks was born in London as the son of a prosperous woolen draper, landowner and official. After he finished education at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, he worked with his father for a while. However, in 1652 he became engaged in supplying food to the British navy, at the time the largest industry in England.

The beginning of his independent career coincided with the turbulent political period in history of England. It was a time of Oliver Cromwell and restoration of the Stuarts. By carefully balancing his political engagement, Banks succeeded to obtain favorable conditions and the government contracts necessary for running a business. On the other side, the king and government depended on the services of successful merchants as he was. In 1661 he was made a baron by the king Charles II, a hereditary honor which was generally conferred to businessmen who contributed to state’s colonial expansion. Eventually he became a government creditor, and through government finance and other affairs he amassed a substantial capital.

In the late 1650’s he expanded his business interest on the Levant Company, which exported cloth, lead, and tin to the eastern Mediterranean and imported commodities such as oil, silk and dyes. For a time he served as its director. He also had interests in the British East India Company, and acted first as its stockholder and later as director (between 1669 and 1685). He was also active in the work of the Royal African Company involved in the African slave trade and served as its director from 1674 until 1676. Profits generated in trade, Banks wisely invested in land property, a more secure means of income and source of prestige in society.

At the time of death, his fortune was worth £180,000, what made him one of the richest men in England.