Charles Hambro
Encyclopedia
Charles Eric Alexander Hambro, Baron Hambro (1930 – 7 November 2002) was a banker and politician
in the United Kingdom
.
, the merchant bank founded by Carl Joachim Hambro
. He also applied his financial acumen and connections in the cause of the Conservative Party
, as its treasurer in the difficult years between 1993 and 1997. Charles Hambro was a great-great-grandson of Carl Joachim Hambro
, who had moved from Copenhagen
to found the London
branch of the family bank in 1839. The Scandinavia
n connection was lucrative for many years, although by the time he joined the bank, in 1952, it had become a pillar of the City
establishment, with a similar range of interests and influence as the great names of Rothschild
and Baring
.
while out riding, and his father remarried Marcus Wallenbergs widow. His stepmother's family connections to the Wallenberg family
enabled him to be evacuated to Sweden
during the Second World War. He spent the middle war years in the United States
, staying with the great Morgan
banking family, before returning to England
in 1943 to complete his education - and consolidate an invaluable banker's network - at Eton
. This classic City training continued with two years' national service in the Coldstream Guards
.
to launch the financial lifeboat which dealt with the collapse of the Slater Walker
empire and saved the financial system from collapse.
As part of its modernisation during the 1980s, Hambros moved from its historic location in the heart of the City
to modern premises near the Tower of London
. It was symbolic of the changing times, but the changes were often not to the chairman's liking. "Sometimes I wonder whether we have been so clever at all", he once mused.
, which made him a rather uneasy bedfellow of many of those who took over the party in the aftermath of Margaret Thatcher
's resignation. But his role was financial, not political; as the Treasurer of the Conservative Party
, he was charged with rescuing the party from the £19 m overdraft run up in John Major
's desperate, but successful, bid to fend off the Labour Party
in 1992, for a fourth successive Tory election win. His efforts were rewarded with a life peerage
, taking the title Baron Hambro, of Dixton and Dumbleton in the County of Gloucestershire
after his Gloucestershire Estate. The task meshed perfectly with Hambro's City job. From 1987, he also served for 12 years on the board of the shipping and distribution group P&O
, led by his longstanding friend and business associate Lord Sterling
, who had been a confidant of Mrs Thatcher.
. While the name lives on as SG Hambros Bank and Trust, that part of the business is now part of the private banking arm of the French
group Société Générale
, SG Private Banking.
from 1984 to 1994.
All his friends knew him as "Charlie". His style was low-key and affable and, while he inevitably regretted the passing of the family bank and the old City, he continued to enjoy life, particularly on his Gloucestershire estate, which was renowned for pheasant shooting. He listed his interests as shooting, farming and forestry and believed that "a gentleman should never be seen to try hard".
Hambro married his first wife, Rose, in 1954, and they had a daughter Clare Evelyn and two sons, Charles Edward and Alexander Robert. They were divorced in 1976, after which he married his second wife, Cherry, a divorcee with one daughter, Miranda. He had nine Grandchildren: Christiana, Tatiana, Charles, Edward, Alexander, Ben, Marina, Jemima and Sam.
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
Background
Hambro was the last family chairman of the Hambros BankHambros Bank
Hambros Bank was a British bank based in London. The Hambros bank was a specialist in Anglo-Scandinavian business with expertise in trade finance and investment banking, and was the sole banker to the Scandinavian kingdoms for many years...
, the merchant bank founded by Carl Joachim Hambro
Carl Joachim Hambro (banker)
Baron Carl Joachim Hambro was the founder of Hambros Bank, one of the United Kingdom's largest investment banks.-Personal life:He was born in Copenhagen as a son of Joseph Hambro . The family lineage can be traced to Rendsburg, Schleswig-Holstein in the 1720s...
. He also applied his financial acumen and connections in the cause of the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
, as its treasurer in the difficult years between 1993 and 1997. Charles Hambro was a great-great-grandson of Carl Joachim Hambro
Carl Joachim Hambro (banker)
Baron Carl Joachim Hambro was the founder of Hambros Bank, one of the United Kingdom's largest investment banks.-Personal life:He was born in Copenhagen as a son of Joseph Hambro . The family lineage can be traced to Rendsburg, Schleswig-Holstein in the 1720s...
, who had moved from Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
to found the London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
branch of the family bank in 1839. The Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n connection was lucrative for many years, although by the time he joined the bank, in 1952, it had become a pillar of the City
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
establishment, with a similar range of interests and influence as the great names of Rothschild
N M Rothschild & Sons
N M Rothschild & Sons is a private investment banking company, belonging to the Rothschild family...
and Baring
Barings Bank
Barings Bank was the oldest merchant bank in London until its collapse in 1995 after one of the bank's employees, Nick Leeson, lost £827 million due to speculative investing, primarily in futures contracts, at the bank's Singapore office.-History:-1762–1890:Barings Bank was founded in 1762 as the...
.
Early years
Before he was two years old, Charles's mother died after catching pneumoniaPneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
while out riding, and his father remarried Marcus Wallenbergs widow. His stepmother's family connections to the Wallenberg family
Wallenberg family
The Wallenberg family is a prominent Swedish banking family, renowned as bankers, industrialists, politicians, diplomats and philanthropists. The most famous of the Wallenbergs, Raoul Wallenberg, a diplomat, worked in Budapest, Hungary, during World War II to rescue Jews from the Holocaust...
enabled him to be evacuated to Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
during the Second World War. He spent the middle war years in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, staying with the great Morgan
Morgan
-Places:Australia*Morgan, South AustraliaCanada*Morgan, OntarioUnited States*Morgan, California*Morgan, Georgia*Morgan, Minnesota*Morgan, Texas*Morgan, Utah*Morgan, Vermont*Morgan, Wisconsin, a town...
banking family, before returning to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in 1943 to complete his education - and consolidate an invaluable banker's network - at Eton
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
. This classic City training continued with two years' national service in the Coldstream Guards
Coldstream Guards
Her Majesty's Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards, also known officially as the Coldstream Guards , is a regiment of the British Army, part of the Guards Division or Household Division....
.
Hambros Bank
After only five years at the bank, Hambro was appointed as a managing director, and became deputy chairman in 1965, at the age of 35. Seven years later, he took over the chair, relinquishing it only in 1997 as the bank's independence began to evaporate. He was in charge through interesting but turbulent times, beginning with the stock market and property crash of 1973-74. Hambros was one of the leading banks called in by the Bank of EnglandBank of England
The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694, it is the second oldest central bank in the world...
to launch the financial lifeboat which dealt with the collapse of the Slater Walker
Slater Walker
Slater Walker was a British bank that were in financial difficulties in the 1970s and shook the British banking system at the time.-History:The Company was founded by Jim Slater and Peter Walker, a Tory MP, in 1964 as an authorized bank...
empire and saved the financial system from collapse.
As part of its modernisation during the 1980s, Hambros moved from its historic location in the heart of the City
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
to modern premises near the Tower of London
Tower of London
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
. It was symbolic of the changing times, but the changes were often not to the chairman's liking. "Sometimes I wonder whether we have been so clever at all", he once mused.
The Conservative Party
As one of the last old-style merchant bankers, Hambro was a natural ToryTory
Toryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...
, which made him a rather uneasy bedfellow of many of those who took over the party in the aftermath of Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
's resignation. But his role was financial, not political; as the Treasurer of the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
, he was charged with rescuing the party from the £19 m overdraft run up in John Major
John Major
Sir John Major, is a British Conservative politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990–1997...
's desperate, but successful, bid to fend off the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
in 1992, for a fourth successive Tory election win. His efforts were rewarded with a life peerage
Peerage
The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...
, taking the title Baron Hambro, of Dixton and Dumbleton in the County of Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
after his Gloucestershire Estate. The task meshed perfectly with Hambro's City job. From 1987, he also served for 12 years on the board of the shipping and distribution group P&O
Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company
The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, which is usually known as P&O, is a British shipping and logistics company which dated from the early 19th century. Following its sale in March 2006 to Dubai Ports World for £3.9 billion, it became a subsidiary of DP World; however, the P&O...
, led by his longstanding friend and business associate Lord Sterling
Jeffrey Sterling, Baron Sterling of Plaistow
Jeffrey Sterling, Baron Sterling of Plaistow, GCVO, CBE , is a British businessman. He was executive chairman of the shipping line P&O from 1983 to 2005, having joined the board as a non-executive Director on 6 February 1980...
, who had been a confidant of Mrs Thatcher.
Sale of Hambros Bank
Hambros was unable to deal with the onward march of its big American and continental rivals. By the mid-1990s, its most successful operations were the estate agency Hambro Countrywide and the insurance company Hambro Life AssuranceAllied Dunbar
Allied Dunbar was a large British assurance group. In its early years as Hambro Life Assurance it was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index...
. While the name lives on as SG Hambros Bank and Trust, that part of the business is now part of the private banking arm of the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
group Société Générale
Société Générale
Société Générale S.A. is a large European Bank and a major Financial Services company that has a substantial global presence. Its registered office is on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, while its head office is in the Tours Société Générale in the business district of La...
, SG Private Banking.
Family and friends
In keeping with his background and traditions, Hambro himself was a gentleman banker who maintained other interests and a relaxed outlook. He spread himself thinly, preferring to maintain a few lengthy commitments. He was a trustee of the Royal National Pension Fund for Nurses from 1968, and a trustee of the British MuseumBritish Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
from 1984 to 1994.
All his friends knew him as "Charlie". His style was low-key and affable and, while he inevitably regretted the passing of the family bank and the old City, he continued to enjoy life, particularly on his Gloucestershire estate, which was renowned for pheasant shooting. He listed his interests as shooting, farming and forestry and believed that "a gentleman should never be seen to try hard".
Hambro married his first wife, Rose, in 1954, and they had a daughter Clare Evelyn and two sons, Charles Edward and Alexander Robert. They were divorced in 1976, after which he married his second wife, Cherry, a divorcee with one daughter, Miranda. He had nine Grandchildren: Christiana, Tatiana, Charles, Edward, Alexander, Ben, Marina, Jemima and Sam.