| The Right Honourable The Lord Norman DSO PC |
|
|---|---|
| Norman on the cover of Time, 1929 | |
| Governor of the Bank of England | |
| In office 1920–1944 |
|
| Preceded by | Sir Brien Cokayne |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Catto |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Montagu Collet Norman 6 September 1871 Kensington, London, England |
| Died | 4 February 1950 (aged 78) Campden Hill, London, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Profession | Banker |
Montagu Collet Norman, 1st Baron Norman DSO PC (6 September 1871 – 4 February 1950) was an English banker, best known for his role as the Governor of the Bank of England from 1920 to 1944. Norman, who led the Bank during the harshest period in British economic history, was noted for his somewhat raffish and arty appearance.
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Norman was the elder son of Frederick Henry Norman and Lina Susan Penelope Collet, a daughter of Sir Mark Wilks Collet, 1st Baronet, himself a Bank of England Governor. The Norman family were well-known in banking. His brother Ronald Collet Norman and his nephew Mark Norman became leading bankers. His great-nephew David Norman has also led a successful City career and is a noted benefactor of the arts. He was educated at Eton and spent one year at King's College, Cambridge.[1] He also joined the 4th Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire militia in 1894 and served in the Second Boer War. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order in 1901.[2]
After spending time in Europe, he joined Martin's Bank, where his father was a partner, in 1892, Brown, Shipley & Co., where his maternal grandfather was a partner, in 1894, and Brown Bros. & Co. of New York, in 1895. He became a partner in Brown Shipley in 1900 before leaving for South Africa, and retired from them in 1915.
He became a director of the Bank of England in 1907 and during World War I he was a financial advisor to government departments. He was appointed Deputy Governor in 1917 and he became Governor in 1920. Under Norman's Governorship, the bank underwent significant change. In 1931 the United Kingdom permanently abandoned the gold standard, at which point the bank's foreign exchange and gold reserves were transferred to the British Treasury. He was a close friend of the German Central Bank president Hjalmar Schacht and the godfather to one of Schacht's grandchildren.[3] Both were members of the Anglo-German Fellowship and the Bank for International Settlements. Norman's exact role and responsibility as director of the BIS during the time when ₤6,000,000 of Czechoslovak gold held in the Bank of England was transferred to the German Reichsbank in 1939, is yet to be determined.[4] He retired from the bank in 1944.
Following his retirement, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Norman, of St Clere in the County of Kent, on 13 October 1944.[5] In addition to receiving the Distinguished Service Order, Norman was sworn of the Privy Council in 1923[6] and was created a Grand Officer of the Order of the Crown.[7]
On 2 November 1933, Lord Norman married Priscilla Cecilia Maria Reyntiens, London councillor and granddaughter of the Montagu Bertie, 7th Earl of Abingdon. He gained two stepsons from this marriage; Sir Simon Towneley and Sir Peregrine Worsthorne. Lord Norman died at his home in Campden Hill, London, in 1950 following a stroke. Norman had no children himself and his barony became extinct on his death.
| Government offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sir Brien Cokayne |
Governor of the Bank of England 1920–1944 |
Succeeded by The Lord Catto |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Baron Norman 1944–1950 |
Extinct |