Sir Richard Neave

Sir Richard Neave was a British merchant and a Governor of the Bank of England who made his fortune in trade with the West Indies.

Neave had a prominent role in the mercantile transactions with the West Indies and the Americas of that period. He was a chairman at various times of the Ramsgate Harbour Trust, the Society of West Indian Merchants and the London Dock Company, as well as a director of the Hudson’s Bay Company.

Neave also held the position of a director of the Bank of England for 48 years. He was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London and in 1785 elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. In 1794 he was appointed High Sheriff of Essex.

In a hope to elevate himself from merchant to country gentlemen, Neave bought Dagnam Park in 1772. Three years later his ambitions were fulfilled and he was created baronet.