Sir Francis Baring, 1st Baronet

Sir Francis Baring, 1st Baronet (18 April 1740 – 12 September 1810) was an English merchant banker, later becoming the first of the Baring Baronets. He was born at Larkbeare House near Exeter, son of John Baring (1697–1748) and his wife, Elizabeth Baring née Vowler (1702–1766), daughter of a prosperous Exeter dry goods wholesaler (at that time called a grocer). in 1762 Francis Baring, in partnership with his brother John, established the London merchant house of John and Francis Baring Company, which by 1807 had evolved into Baring Brothers & Co.. Despite being partially deaf from an early age, Francis did very well and, by the mid-1790s, had the full confidence of the British Parliament.

Early life

Baring's father emigrated from Bremen, Germany in 1717 and settled at Exeter, where he became a leading wool manufacturer and textile merchant. His premature death in 1748 resulted in Francis, aged eight, being brought up and strongly influenced by his mother, Elizabeth. Her sound business head nearly doubled the family's worth by the time of her death in 1766.

In the early 1750s, Francis was sent to London for education at Mr Fargue's French school at Hoxton and then at Mr Fuller's academy in Lothbury. Samuel Touchet, one of the leading Manchester and West Indian merchants in...
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