This first complete biography of Nicholas Barbon uses new material to analyse his speculative behaviour and its link to his creating the first fire insurance company, the second bank, becoming an MP, and his economic writings on matters such as free trade and recoinage.
Underpinning this was his vision of making London the centre of a great trading empire. He faced familiar issues. Is London too large, does it take too much of the country’s wealth, should it allow so much redevelopment, why is it so different from the rest of the country? His answers from the seventeenth century are still relevant today.
The book is for sale on the Lonodon Topographical website at
https://londontopsoc.org/product/nicholas-barbon-developing-london-1667-1698/