Sir Richard Neave, 1st Baronet (22 November 1731 – 28 January 1814) was a British merchant and aGovernor of the Bank of England.
Neave was the son of James Neave and Susanna Trueman. He developed considerable interests in the West Indies and the Americas and was 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 theHudson's Bay Company. Neave was a friend ofGeorge Read of Delaware who wrote to warn him in 1765 that the British government's attempts to tax thecolonies without giving them direct representation in Parliament would lead to independence.[1]
Neave lived inBower House inHavering-atte-Bower but sought to elevate himself from merchant to country gentleman and purchasedDagnam Park in 1772. Neave had the original Dagnams demolished, probably between 1772 and 1776 and replaced by a red-brickGeorgian house nine bays wide by four deep with a curved, central three-bay projection to the south front.[2]
He was a director of theBank of England for 48 years, madeDeputy Governor in 1781 andGovernor from 1783 to 1785. Neave's tenure as Governor occurred during the end of theBengal bubble crash (1769–1784). In 1794, he was appointedHigh Sheriff of Essex. He was a Fellow of theSociety of Antiquaries of London and, in 1785, was elected aFellow of the Royal Society.[3] He was created abaronet on 13 May 1795.
Neave married Frances Bristow, daughter ofJohn Bristow, MP and merchant, in 1761. He and his wife were painted, in a double portrait, byThomas Gainsborough around 1765 (private collection). Their daughter Frances marriedGovernor of the Bank of EnglandBeeston Long; in 1806, both Neave and Long served as vice-presidents of theLondon Institution.
The second daughter Catherine Mary married theantiquarianHenry Howard.[4]
Their third daughter, Caroline Mary Neave, born 23 March 1781, never married but devoted her considerable energies and ability to the improving the treatment of women and children in prisons, refuges and convict ships. She died on 7 December 1861.
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| Government offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Governor of the Bank of England 1783–1785 | Succeeded by |
| Baronetage of Great Britain | ||
| New title | Baronet (of Dagnam Park) 1795–1814 | Succeeded by Thomas Neave |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Preceded by | High Sheriff of Essex 1794–1795 | Succeeded by John Hanson |