Saturday, 11th February, 2012

Sir John Houblon

Sir John Who-blon?

Sir John Houblon. You must have heard of him: first governor of the Bank of England. He was such an important and influential chap that they chose to depict him on the back of the £50 note.

What? On the highest denomination note of the realm?

That's right. In 1994, the Bank of England celebrated its 300th anniversary by depicting Sir John on the new £50 note.

How come they chose him then?

Well, I have it on very good authority that people depicted on Bank of England notes must have a well-established record of excellence in their field of endeavour, and their achievements have to merit such commemoration; so I guess Sir John must be somewhat more deserving than it would appear to the likes of you and me. Strange how I couldn't find his name in an Encyclopædia Britannica CD-ROM search.

Sounds like jobs for the boys to me

I couldn't possibly comment.

Comments:
Chanazz

Why has noone realy heard of him ????

06-Jan-2007 15:41
Richard Carter, FCD
Unbelievable, isn't it?
06-Jan-2007 15:57
Amaaaaay

I personally think that the reason no one has ever really heard of him is because he wasn't as influential as people like, say, Darwin for example, or Edward Jenner. i'm not sure if this is true, but that is just my personal opinion on it. 

28-Jan-2011 19:57
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