The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-01-21
THE HOUSE on Barring.

/ The humorous spirits who used to
preside at the College of AIRS We're fond
of heraldic jokes, They wanted John
| Rid, it will be remembered, to take as
| his motto, "Ridd reads riddles" much
| to the amazement Of that unlearned In
dividual, 1t was natural that they
should select two bears as the Sup
portera'' of the arms Of the family of
Barring; and when we consider the con-
nection of the house with stocks and
markets, 1t is impossible to resist the
idea that the Herald's college may have
intended a further allusion to the slang
of finance. Like so many of our leading
financial families, the Barings are of
German origin. Franz Barring, the orig
inal ancestor, was the minister of Lu-
theran church at Bremen. His son
Francis emigrated to England, and set
tied at Larkbeeh, near Exeter. in I'LL.
He entered into the wool trade with all
the energy and acuteness of his race,
made money, was naturalized as an
Englishman, and married an English
woman. His eldest son represented the
borough of Exeter for nearly quarter
Of a century. The third son, Francis,
pushed the fortunes Of the trading
house, Established a London branch, be-
came director and eventually chairman
of the East Indit company, sat in Par
lament for some twenty-five years.
and was made a baronet for his SER
vices to his country. 1t Is interesting to
note that he presided over the fortunes
Of the East India company in 1892 -93.
That is at the period when Tippoo, Sui
tan Of Mysore, was learning for the
first time, as others have done since,
that the English were dour and diff
cult people to deal with when once
their patience had been pushed too far.
The real founder of the family for
tunes however, was Alexander, the Sc
ond son of Sir Francis Barring. He was
the first Englishman who married an
American heiress. This he did in 1898,
and brought her back and million of
money with her to the family concern in
Bishopgato street. He carried on the
business of the house on such a large
scale that Barring Brothers reached in
ternational Importance, and he was
known by the nickname of Alexander
the Great. He also plunged into politi-
cal life, and for his services was re-
warded in 1885 with a peerage. AS it
happened, an aunt of his had married
the celebrated Dunning, who was made
Lord Ashburton. The peerage had died
out in the person of Richard Dunning,
the son, and so Alexander Barring the
cousin obtained permission to revive 1t
in his own person, becoming the first
Lord Ashburton of Che second line. His
greatest coup was the loan of a million
to the French government for the war
payments at the time when France was
occupied by the Allied armies; and with
reference to this enterprise one of Ma
poleons marshals Is said to have re-
marked that there were six great pow
ers in Europe-England, France, Rus
STA, Austria, Prussia and Barring Broth
ers. From this period the struggle for
the financial headship of the world was
fought out between Rothschild's and
Barings bank until it ended in the
complete triumph of the former when
the financial world was shaken by the
catastrophe which is colloquially known
as the Barring smash" Alexander the |
Great had two brothers. One. the elder.
was the ancestor of the Earl of North
brook; the other, Henry, the younger.
can reckon among his descendants Lord |
and Lord Cromer.
Evelyn Barring IS the younger son of |
the late Henry Barring, M. p, aforesaid. |
He was born In 1841, and began life in
the Royal artillery as so many Of our
prominent men have done. The turn
ing point in his career arrived when his
cousin Lord Northbrook invited him to /
go out to India with him in the caraci- t
ty of private secretary to the governor
general in 1872 Lord Northbrook Is a
man whom we should be tempted to
describe as more safe than strong, and,
as the Sirdar feicitously expressed it to
The city magnates, Lord Cromer is a
man of master mind. "--Public Opin-
on.