Николас Барбон: Англиялық экономист, дәрігер және қаржы спекулянты

English economist, physician, property developer and financial speculator

Nicholas Barbon ( 1640 – 1698) was an English economist, physician, and financial speculator. Historians of mercantilism consider him to be one of the first proponents of the free market. In the aftermath of the Great Fire of London, he became an active London property developer and helped to pioneer fire insurance and mortgages as a means of financing such developments.

Nicholas Barbon was born in London in either 1637 He was the eldest son of Praise God Barebone (or Barbon), the namesake of Barebone's Parliament of 1653, the predecessor of Oliver Cromwell's Protectorate. Praise God Barebone was a Fifth Monarchist who purportedly gave Nicholas the baptismal name "If Jesus Christ had not died for thee thou hadst been damned," an example of a hortatory name, a type of virtue name that was common among some Dissenting families in 17th century England. Conflicting sources claim the name "Unless Jesus Christ Had Died For Thee Thou Hadst Been Damned" was given to Nicholas' father and Nicholas' hortatory name was supposedly a variant on this name. Barbon became a religious separatist with Millenarianist beliefs, including fervent advocacy of infant baptism in particular. He studied medicine at the Universities of Leiden and Utrecht in the Netherlands, and received his Doctor of Medicine qualification from the latter in 1661. Three years later, he became an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in London. Barbon did this despite long established restrictions on new buildings associated with various Acts of Parliament and royal declarations in the late 16th century: he often simply disregarded legal and local objections, demolished existing buildings without permission and rebuilt speculatively in search of a quick profit. the redevelopment of Red Lion Square, and environs in Holborn without being authorised to do so. The Gray's Inn lawyers, Inns of Court adjacent saw their rural outlooks jeopardised, and started physical fist fights with Barbon's workmen, but the developer and his men fought back. The lawyers subsequently obtained warrants for his arrest but Barbon had these set aside and the development scheme was completed.

Barbon Close, opposite Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital in central London, is named after him, as is Barbon Alley off Devonshire Square.