Henry Hucks Gibbs (1819-1907)

Henry Hucks Gibbs was born in London in 1819, eldest son of George Henry Gibbs and Caroline Crawley. His father worked in the family business, Antony Gibbs & Sons of London, although the family originally came from Devon. Henry was educated at Redland, Bristol and at Rugby before going to Exeter College, Oxford to study classics, graduating in 1841. The following year his father died. Henry had the possibility of living as a gentleman on the income from the various properties and business interests that he had inherited, but in 1843 he decided to enter the family firm, which was headed by his father’s brother, William.

In the years that followed, the firm expanded and became extremely profitable because it held an exclusive concession on Peruvian guano. Over time, the merchant banking side of the business also became the more dominant aspect. From 1848, Henry was a partner in the firm and on his uncle’s retirement in 1858, he took effective control. In 1851, he became a director of the Bank of England and from 1875 to 1877 served as its Governor. Gibbs became a leading figure in the City of London and a vociferous proponent of bimetallism (using both silver and gold to define the value of a currency rather than gold alone). He was also a strong supporter of the Conservative Party and founded the St. James Gazette in 1880 as a mouthpiece for Tories in the City. He was elected MP for the City of London in a by-election in 1891 but stood down in the general election in 1892, when his son, Alban, was elected in his place. In 1896 he was elevated to the peerage with the title Baron Aldenham of Aldenham. Gibbs died in 1907.

In addition to business and politics, Gibbs had a wide range of other interests. As a landowner, he was fond of country pursuits – and survived the loss of his right hand in a shooting accident in 1864. He was a noted bibliophile with an excellent personal library. He edited texts for the Early English Text Society and the Roxburghe Club and was an active member of the Philological Society. He was a committed member of the Church of England and supported many High Church organisations and interests. He was a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and of the Society of Antiquaries.

In 1845 Gibbs married Louisa Anne Adams and they had seven children. Their eldest son, Alban was also a keen bibliophile and inherited his father's library - along with the title and the rest of the estate at Aldenham. However following Alban's death in 1936, the family library was sold at auction in 1937.