Sir Thomas Gresham (c. 1519 – 21 November 1579) was an English merchant and financier who worked for King Edward VI of England and for Edward's half-sister Queen Elizabeth I of England. Events 164 BC - Judas Maccabaeus, son of Mattathias of the Hasmonean family restores the Temple in Jerusalem. Merchants function as professionals who deal with Trade, dealing in commodities that they do not produce themselves in order to produce Profit. Financier (fɨˈnænsiɚ or finãˈsje in French is a term for a person who handles large sums of Money, usually involving money lending, financing Edward VI (12 October 1537 &ndash 6 July 1553 became King of England and Ireland on 28 January 1547 and was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine
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Family and Childhood
Born in London and descended from an old Norfolk family, Gresham was one of two sons and two daughters of Sir Richard Gresham, a leading London merchant, who for some time held the office of Lord Mayor, and who for his services as agent of Henry VIII in negotiating loans with foreign merchants received the honour of knighthood. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Norfolk (ˈnɔrfək is a low-lying county in East Anglia, England, United Kingdom. Sir Richard Gresham (1494 &ndash 1549 was an English Merchant, Lord Mayor of London, and Member of parliament. The Lord Mayor is the title of the Mayor of a major city with special recognition Henry VIII (28 June 1491 &ndash 28 January 1547 was King of England and Lord of Ireland, later King of Ireland and claimant to the Kingdom of Knight is the English term for a social position originating in the Middle Ages. Though his father intended him to follow his own profession, he nevertheless sent him for some time to Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, but no information survives as to the duration of his residence. Gonville and Caius College Cambridge is a constituent College of Cambridge University, one of the world's most academically respected institutions Either before or after this he became apprentice to his uncle Sir John Gresham, also a merchant, who founded Gresham's School in Holt, Norfolk in 1555: we have his own testimony that he served an apprenticeship of eight years. Sir John Gresham ( 1495 - 23 October, 1556) was an English Merchant, Courtier and Financier who worked for King Henry Gresham’s School is an independent Holt is a Market town and Parish in the English county of Norfolk.
Agent in the Low Countries
In 1543 the Mercers Company admitted the 24-year-old Gresham as a liveryman, and in the same year he went to the Low Countries, where, either on his own account or on that of his father or uncle, he both carried on business as a merchant and acted in various matters as an agent for King Henry VIII. The Worshipful Company of Mercers is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. In Livery Companies within the City of London, a liveryman is a full member of the Company The Low Countries, the historical region of de Nederlanden, are the countries on low-lying land around the delta of the Rhine, Scheldt In 1544 he married Anne Fernley, the widow of William Read, a London merchant, but he still continued to reside principally in the Low Countries, having his headquarters at Antwerp in present-day Belgium, where he played the market skilfully. ||-||-||-||} Antwerp ( Dutch:, French: Anvers) is a City and Municipality in Belgium and the capital of the The Kingdom of Belgium is a Country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters as well as those
Financial Wizard
Rescue of the pound
When in 1551 the mismanagement of Sir William Dansell, king's merchant in the Low Countries, had brought the English government into great financial embarrassment, the authorities called in Gresham to give his advice, and then chose him to carry out his own proposals. He called for the adoption of various methods — highly ingenious, but quite arbitrary and unfair — for raising the value of the pound sterling on the bourse of Antwerp, and this proved so successful that in a few years King Edward VI discharged almost all of his debts. The Pound Sterling ( symbol £; ISO code: GBP) subdivided into 100 pence (singular penny) is the Currency Edward VI (12 October 1537 &ndash 6 July 1553 became King of England and Ireland on 28 January 1547 and was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine The government sought Gresham's advice in all their money difficulties, and also frequently employed him in various diplomatic missions. He had no stated salary, but in reward of his services received from King Edward various grants of lands, the annual value of which at that time amounted ultimately to about 400 pounds a year. The Pound Sterling ( symbol £; ISO code: GBP) subdivided into 100 pence (singular penny) is the Currency
Indispensable services to the crown
On the accession of Queen Mary in 1553 Gresham went out of favour for a short time, and Alderman William Dauntsey displaced him in his post. Mary I (18 February 1516 &ndash 17 November 1558 was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from 19 July 1553 until her death But Dauntsey's financial operations proved not very successful and Gresham was soon re-instated; and as he professed his zealous desire to serve the Queen, and manifested great adroitness both in negotiating loans and in smuggling money, arms and foreign goods, not only were his services retained throughout her reign (1553 - 1558), but besides his salary of twenty shillings per diem he received grants of church lands to the yearly value of 200 pounds. Under Queen Elizabeth (reigned 1558 - 1603), besides continuing in his post as financial agent of the crown, Gresham acted temporarily as ambassador at the court of the duchess of Parma, receiving a knighthood in 1559 prior to his departure. Parma is a City in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna near Modena famous for its Architecture and the fine countryside around it The unsettled times preceding the Dutch Revolt compelled him to leave Antwerp on 10 March 1567; but, though he spent the remainder of his life in London, he continued his business as merchant and financial agent of the government in much the same way as formerly. The Dutch Revolt, Eighty Years' War or the Revolt of the Netherlands (1568—1648 was the revolt of the Seventeen Provinces in the Low Countries Events 241 BC - First Punic War: Battle of the Aegates Islands - The Romans sink the Carthaginian fleet bringing Overall he made himself one of the richest men in England.
Queen Elizabeth also found Gresham useful in a great variety of other ways, including acting as jailer to Lady Mary Grey (sister of Lady Jane Grey), who, as a punishment for marrying Thomas Keys the sergeant porter, remained a prisoner in his house from June 1569 to the end of 1572. Lady Mary Grey (1545&ndash April 20, 1578) sometimes spelled Marie was the third and last daughter of Henry Grey 1st Duke of Suffolk and Lady Frances Lady Jane Grey (1536/1537&ndash 12 February 1554) also referred to as Queen Jane, a greatniece of Henry VIII of England, was a claimant
He served as her Royal Factor.
Foundation of the Royal Exchange
In 1565 Gresham made a proposal to the court of aldermen of London to build at his own expense a bourse or exchange — what became the Royal Exchange, modelled on the Antwerp bourse — on condition that they purchased for this purpose a piece of suitable ground. Lombard Street is a street in the City of London. It runs north-west from the corner of the Bank of England, where it meets a major intersection including The Royal Exchange in the City of London was founded in 1565 by Sir Thomas Gresham to act as a centre of Commerce for the city In this proposal he seems to have had an eye to his own interest as well as to the general good of the merchants, for by a yearly rental of 700 obtained for the shops in the upper part of the building he received a sufficient return for his trouble and expense.
The foundation of the Royal Exchange is the background of Thomas Heywood's play: If You Know Not Me, You Know Nobody part 2, in which a Lord extols the quality of the building when asked if he has ever seen "a goodlier frame":
"Not in my life; yet I have been in Venice, In the Rialto there, called Saint Mark's; 'Tis but a bauble, if compared to this. Thomas Heywood (early 1570s&mdash 16 August[[ 641]] was a prominent English playwright actor and miscellaneous author whose peak period of activity falls between If You Know Not Me You Know Nobody is a two-part play by Thomas Heywood, depicting the life and reign of Elizabeth I of England, written very soon after The nearest, that which most resembles this, Is the great Burse in Antwerp, yet no comparable Either in height or wildeness, the fair cellarage, Or goodly shops above. Oh my Lord Mayor, This Gresham hath much graced your city, London; His fame will long outlive him. [1]
Death
Gresham died suddenly, apparently of apoplexy, on 21 November 1579. Events 164 BC - Judas Maccabaeus, son of Mattathias of the Hasmonean family restores the Temple in Jerusalem. His only son predeceased him, and his illegitimate daughter Anne, whom he married to Sir Nathaniel Bacon, brother of Francis Bacon. Sir Nathaniel Bacon (c 1640-1676 was a wealthy landowner from Suffolk, England Francis Bacon 1st Viscount St Alban KC QC (22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626 was an English Philosopher, Statesman, and author
Bequest for the foundation of Gresham College
Apart from some small sums to various charities, Gresham bequeathed the bulk of his property (consisting of estates in London and around England giving an income of more than 2,300 pounds a year) to his widow and her heirs, with the stipulation that after her death his own house in Bishopsgate Street and the rents from the Royal Exchange should be vested in the Corporation of London and the Mercers Company, for the purpose of instituting a college in which seven professors should read lectures, one each day of the week, in astronomy, geometry, physic, law, divinity, rhetoric and music. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The Royal Exchange in the City of London was founded in 1565 by Sir Thomas Gresham to act as a centre of Commerce for the city The City of London Corporation (formerly known as the Corporation of London)is the municipal governing body of the City of London. The Worshipful Company of Mercers is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. College ( Latin collegium) is a term most often used today to denote an Educational Institution. Astronomy (from the Greek words astron (ἄστρον "star" and nomos (νόμος "law" is the scientific study Geometry ( Greek γεωμετρία; geo = earth metria = measure is a part of Mathematics concerned with questions of size shape and relative position Medicine is the art and science of healing It encompasses a range of Health care practices evolved to maintain and restore Human Health by the Law is a system of rules enforced through a set of Institutions used as an instrument to underpin civil obedience politics economics and society Divinity and divine (sometimes 'the Divinity' or 'the Divine' are broadly applied but loosely defined terms used variously within different faiths and belief systems — Rhetoric has had many definitions no simple definition can do it justice Thus, Gresham College, the first institution of higher learning in London, came to be established in 1597. Gresham College is an unusual institution of higher learning off Holborn in central London.
Further reading
Notices of Gresham appear in Thomas Fuller's Worthies of England (1662) and Ward's Gresham Professors; but a full account of him, as well as of the history of the Exchange and of Gresham College appears in J. Thomas Fuller (1608 &ndash August 16, 1661) was an English churchman and historian M. Burgoir's Life and Times of Sir Thomas Gresham (2 vols. , 1839). See also a Brief Memoir of Sir Thomas Gresham (1833); and The Life of Sir Thomas Gresham, Founder of the Royal Exchange (1845).
Gresham's Law
Gresham's law takes its name from him (although others, including the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, had recognized the concept for years) because he urged Queen Elizabeth to restore the debased currency of England. Gresham's law is commonly stated "Bad money drives out good
The Gresham Grasshopper
The grasshopper is the crest above Gresham's coat of arms. It is used by Gresham College, which he founded, and can also be seen as the weathervane on the Royal Exchange in the City of London, which he also founded in 1565. Gresham College is an unusual institution of higher learning off Holborn in central London. A weather vane, also called a wind vane, is a movable device attached to an elevated object such as a roof for showing the direction of the wind The Royal Exchange in the City of London was founded in 1565 by Sir Thomas Gresham to act as a centre of Commerce for the city For London as a whole see the main article London. The City of London is a geographically The famous Faneuil Hall in Boston, Massachusetts, later borrowed the device. Faneuil Hall (ˈfænl̩ previously /ˈfʌnl̩/ located near the waterfront and today's Government Center, in Boston, Massachusetts, has been a marketplace The Commonwealth of Massachusetts ( is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States.
According to an ancient legend of the Greshams, the founder of the family, Roger de Gresham, was a foundling abandoned as a new-born baby in long grass in North Norfolk in the 13th century and found there by a woman whose attention was drawn to the child by a grasshopper. North Norfolk is a local government district in Norfolk, United Kingdom. A beautiful story, it is more likely that the grasshopper is simply an heraldic rebus on the name Gresham, with gres being a Middle English form of grass (Old English grœs). Heraldry in its most general sense encompasses all matters relating to the duties and responsibilities of officers of arms. A rebus ( Latin: "by things" is a kind of word puzzle which uses pictures to represent words or parts of words for example H + =
Legacy
- Gresham's law
- The Royal Exchange, which he founded in 1565 and was opened in 1571. Gresham's law is commonly stated "Bad money drives out good The Royal Exchange in the City of London was founded in 1565 by Sir Thomas Gresham to act as a centre of Commerce for the city
- Gresham College, which he founded by his Will of 1571, was opened in 1597. Gresham College is an unusual institution of higher learning off Holborn in central London.
- Gresham Street in the City of London running east from St Martin's Le Grand near St Paul's Cathedral, past the Guildhall and the Bank of England is named after him. Gresham Street, in the City of London, is named after Thomas Gresham and runs from St For London as a whole see the main article London. The City of London is a geographically St Paul's Cathedral, is the Anglican Cathedral on Ludgate Hill, in the City of London, and the seat of the Bishop of London. The Guildhall is a building in the City of London, off Cheapside and Basinghall Street, in the wards of Bassishaw and Cheap. The Bank of England (formally the Governor and Company of the Bank of England) is a state-owned institution and the Central bank of the United Kingdom Its eastern end is close to Gresham's house in Bishopsgate, now the site of Tower 42. See Bishopsgate Insurance for the Australian insurance company bankrupted in 1982 Tower 42 is the tallest Skyscraper in the City of London and the fifth tallest in London as a whole
- The Gresham Palace in Budapest is named after him. Gresham Palace or Gresham palota, located in Budapest, Hungary, is an example of Art Nouveau architecture in Central Europe. Budapest ( also /ˈbʊ-/) is the capital city of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary it serves as the country's principal Political,
- London's Gresham Club was also named in his honour. The Gresham Club was a City of London Gentlemen's club, founded in 1843 and dissolved in 1991
In fiction
- Gresham appears as a background figure in a series of fictional mystery novels by the British author Valerie Anand writing under the pen-name of Fiona Buckley. Valerie Anand (1937-) is a British author of historical fiction A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a Pseudonym adopted by an Author or their publishers to conceal their identity The fictional heroine of the stories, Ursula Blanchard, lived in Antwerp with her first husband while he worked as one of Gresham's agents. ||-||-||-||} Antwerp ( Dutch:, French: Anvers) is a City and Municipality in Belgium and the capital of the
- Gresham also features as the central character of Herbert Strang's book On London River: A Story of the Days of Queen Elizabeth (Oxford University Press, 1936). Herbert Strang was the pseudonym of two English authors George Herbert Ely (1866-1958 and Charles James L'Estrange (1867-1947
Notes
- ^ Heywood, Thomas, The Dramatic Works of Thomas Heywood, 6 volumes, ed. J. Payne Collier, London: The Shakespeare Society, 1851.
References
- Life and Times of Sir Thomas Gresham by J. W. Burgon (London, 1839, new edition 1968)
- Sir Thomas Gresham (1518-1579) by F. R. Salter (Parsons, London, 1925)
- Dictionary of National Biography (various editions)
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition article "Sir Thomas Gresham", a publication now in the public domain. The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911 is a 29-volume reference work that marked the beginning of the Encyclopædia Britannica The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone