Peter Gaussen Explained

Peter Gaussen (1723–1788)^[1] was Governor of the Bank of England from 1777 to 1779.

He was born Jean-Pierre Gaussen in Geneva, the son of Paul Gaussen, a French Huguenot, and moved to London in 1739.^[2]

He was Deputy Governor of the Bank of England from 1776 to 1777. He replaced Samuel Beachcroft as governor in 1777 (in doing so he became the first foreign-born governor of the Bank of England)^[3] and was succeeded in turn by Daniel Booth in 1779.^[4] Gaussen's tenure as Governor occurred during the Bengal bubble crash (1769–1784).

On 16 February 1755 he had married his second cousin Anna Bosanquet, the daughter of Samuel Bosanquet.^{[2] [5]} Their first son, also Peter, was born on 19 January 1756, their daughter Jane on 24 February 1757, and their son Samuel Robert on 27 February 1759.^[6] The eldest son, Peter, was buried in the North choir of St Helen's Church, Bishopsgate on 3 November 1781.^[7] Peter himself died on 20 November 1788 and was buried in the chancel of the same church on 28 November.^{[8] [9]} A funerary monument depicts a woman, probably Charity, holding a medallion portrait of Peter Gaussen, and with three children below.^{[10] [11]}

Their third-born son, Samuel Robert Gaussen (1759–1812) was MP for Warwick (1796–1802)^[3] and a collector of the works of prominent landscape painter Paul Sandby.^[12] Peter bought Brookmans Manor in Hertfordshire as a gift for Samuel in 1786.^[1]

See also

• Chief Cashier of the Bank of England

Notes and References

1. Book: Finn . Margot and Kate Smith eds . The East India Company at Home, 1757-1857 . 2018 . UCL Press . London . 978-1-78735-028-1 . 264.
2. Book: Higonnet, Patrice. Favourites of Fortune. 258.
3. Web site: GAUSSEN, Samuel Robert (1759-1812), of 3 Mansfield Street, Mdx. and Brookmans Park, North Mimms, Herts. History of Parliament Online. www.historyofparliamentonline.org. 2018-02-23.
4. http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/about/pdfs/governors.pdf Governors of the Bank of England.
5. The registers of St. Helen's Bishopgate, London, ed. W. Bruce Bannerman (London, 1904), p.192. https://archive.org/details/registersofsthel31sthe/page/192/mode/2up
6. The registers of St. Helen's Bishopgate, London, ed. W. Bruce Bannerman (London, 1904), p.85, 86, 87. https://archive.org/details/registersofsthel31sthe/page/84/mode/2up
7. The registers of St. Helen's Bishopgate, London, ed. W. Bruce Bannerman (London, 1904), p.393. https://archive.org/details/registersofsthel31sthe/page/392/mode/2up
8. Minnie Reddan and Alfred W Clapham, St. Helen's Bishopsgate: Monuments within the church, in Survey of London, Volume 9, the Parish of St Helen, Bishopsgate, Part I (London, 1924), pp. 52-79. British History Online
9. The registers of St. Helen's Bishopgate, London, ed. W. Bruce Bannerman (London, 1904), p.395. https://archive.org/details/registersofsthel31sthe/page/394/mode/2up
10. Minnie Reddan and Alfred W Clapham, 'Plate 71: St Helen's, Bishopsgate, monuments', in Survey of London, Volume 9, the Parish of St Helen, Bishopsgate, Part I (London, 1924), p. 71. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol9/pt1/plate-71.
11. Minnie Reddan and Alfred W Clapham, St. Helen's Bishopsgate: Monuments within the church, in Survey of London, Volume 9, the Parish of St Helen, Bishopsgate, Part I (London, 1924), pp. 52-79. British History Online
12. Web site: HG :: Hamilton Art Gallery. www.hamiltongallery.org. en. 2018-02-23.