the world of private banking
the world of private banking
the world of private banking
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248<br />
THE WORLD OF PRIVAtE BANKING<br />
between four and seven per cent given by those (few) landed aristocrats whose<br />
charitable expenditure has been studied. <br />
The Role <strong>of</strong> King Edward VII<br />
Victoria and Albert encouraged <strong>the</strong>ir children as well as <strong>the</strong>ir subjects to be<br />
actively involved in philanthropy. From <strong>the</strong> early 1870s, this became an important<br />
preoccupation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Prince <strong>of</strong> Wales, <strong>the</strong> future King Edward VII. Like his fa<strong>the</strong>r,<br />
this middle-aged man needed a role and preferably one acceptable to his mo<strong>the</strong>r<br />
and to <strong>the</strong> Prime Minister, William Gladstone. He was also aware <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> need for<br />
<strong>the</strong> monarchy to hold its popularity with <strong>the</strong> people, not only in Britain but in <strong>the</strong><br />
Empire. This awareness grew in <strong>the</strong> later years <strong>of</strong> his mo<strong>the</strong>r’s reign and throughout<br />
his own (until his sudden death in 1910), as an emerging labour political and tradeunion<br />
movement seemed to some to threaten <strong>the</strong> social order, and <strong>the</strong>re were signs<br />
<strong>of</strong> dissidence within <strong>the</strong> Empire. Edward believed strongly that voluntarism was<br />
one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> bonds which held society toge<strong>the</strong>r, and he resisted <strong>the</strong> emergence <strong>of</strong><br />
State welfare that was visible in <strong>the</strong> last years <strong>of</strong> his reign. He visited charitable<br />
institutions during his visit to India in 1875–6 and became patron <strong>of</strong> and donor to<br />
a host <strong>of</strong> imperial charities . In his case as in his mo<strong>the</strong>r’s <strong>the</strong> patronage was worth<br />
more to <strong>the</strong> charities than <strong>the</strong> donations, since o<strong>the</strong>r donors scurried to give where<br />
royalty had bestowed patronage.<br />
Political calculation and self-preservation apart, <strong>the</strong>re is every sign that Edward<br />
became seriously interested in social questions and <strong>the</strong> promotion <strong>of</strong> philanthropy.<br />
This was one thing he had in common with his wife, <strong>the</strong> future Queen Alexandra,<br />
who was also an active patron <strong>of</strong> charities; though his mistress, Frances, Countess<br />
<strong>of</strong> Warwick, a future socialist, also encouraged him to join her charitable ventures. <br />
During his reign, despite his debts, Edward VII was patron <strong>of</strong> about 250 charities<br />
and gave away about £9,000 per year, about ten per cent <strong>of</strong> his Privy Purse income,<br />
to charities in Britain and <strong>the</strong> Empire and also in o<strong>the</strong>r European countries. Queen<br />
Alexandra also gave lavishly to a variety <strong>of</strong> charities.<br />
In his turn, Edward drew his associates into his favoured philanthropic<br />
activities. His close contacts with City men <strong>of</strong> widely varying reputation are well<br />
known. He met <strong>the</strong>m not only at <strong>the</strong> race-course, <strong>the</strong> gambling table and <strong>the</strong> dining<br />
room, but in <strong>the</strong> committee rooms <strong>of</strong> hospital and o<strong>the</strong>r charities. Their motives for<br />
involvement in philanthropy were, <strong>of</strong> course, mixed. Association with Edward’s<br />
favoured charities helped fur<strong>the</strong>r to secure his favour and was also a passport to<br />
social respectability for those members <strong>of</strong> his circles who knew <strong>the</strong>ir status to be<br />
insecure among <strong>the</strong> established elite because <strong>the</strong>y were social arrivistes, or Jews,<br />
<br />
F.M.L. Thompson, English Landed Society in <strong>the</strong> 19th Century (London, 1971), p. 210.<br />
<br />
Prochaska, Royal Bounty, pp. 119ff.<br />
<br />
Thompson, English Landed Society, p. 123.