George Harnage

Sir George Harnage, 1st Baronet was an English businessman and a director of the Bank of England. He was born George Blackman and changed his name in 1821 so that he could inherit the ancestral home of his wife, Mary.

Career

For many years he was a director of the Bank of England and a West India merchant. Following his bankruptcy on 15November 1823, his sudden appearance in The London Gazette "was like a thunderbolt to the mercantile world, where his credit had so long stood unimpeached."
His place of business in Chatham Place, Blackfriars, London and his "elegant residence" in Harley Street, which contained one of the first libraries in London, were both sold. He also lost his plantation, Boarded Hall, on Barbados. There is a painting of Harnage by John Hoppner in the Bank of England Museum, London.

Family

Harnage was the son of John Lucie Blackman a plantation owner in the West Indies and Mary Harnage. Her father, Henry Harnage of Belswardyne in Shropshire had served as major of the 62nd Foot Regiment, under General John Burgoyne and was severely wounded at the Battle of Freeman's Farm on 19September 1777 during the American Revolutionary War.

Issue

His son, John Lucie Blackman, was killed at the Battle of Waterloo on 18June 1815 while his eldest son Sir George Harnage, [2nd Baronet|George] became a commander in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars and inherited his father's title. The third son, Henry took holy orders while a fourth, Edward, was born on 18October 1798.