George Colebrooke

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(b. June 14, 1729, Chilham, Kent – d. Aug. 5, 1809, Batheaston, Somerset )

Gender: M

Sir George Colebrooke (1729-1809) was a merchant banker and speculator. He inherited the family bank and bought up the pocket borough of Arundel in Sussex, for which he was then MP from 1754-1774. He and his brother were rewarded with a baronetcy in return for their support of the Duke of Newcastle’ administration. He acquired lucrative government contracts but lost them on Newcastle’s fall from power. He speculated in land, buying large estates in Lanarkshire and plantations in the Caribbean Islands. Colebrooke was a director of the East India Company from 1767 to 1773, and was elected Chairman three times. In 1772 he was accused of speculating in its stock and was left heavily in debt; he lost larger amounts during a wider market collapse by speculating on the price of raw materials such as hemp, flax and alum. He was made bankrupt in 1777 and retired to France, but eventually managed to pay his creditors through the sale of his assets.

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