18 Facts About Nicholas Barbon

Nicholas Barbon was born in London in either 1637 or 1640.

Nicholas Barbon was the eldest son of Praise-God Barebone, the namesake of Barebone's Parliament of 1653, the predecessor of Oliver Cromwell's Protectorate.

Nicholas Barbon became a religious separatist with Millenarianist beliefs, including fervent advocacy of infant baptism in particular.

Nicholas Barbon studied medicine at the Universities of Leiden and Utrecht in the Netherlands, and received his Doctor of Medicine qualification from the latter in 1661.

Nicholas Barbon soon turned from the medical profession to the building trade, which suddenly became important in 1666 when the Great Fire of London devastated most of the City of London which at the time was separated from Westminster, the seat of Britain's government, by two miles of countryside, dotted with grand mansions.

Nicholas Barbon built houses streets at a time, often around squares, and his developments were mostly to the west of the City of London, where land was plentiful.

Nicholas Barbon was responsible for joining the city to the seat of government at Westminster for the first time as a result of developments along the Strand, Bloomsbury, St Giles and Holborn.

Nicholas 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.

Nicholas Barbon started his largest project yet, the redevelopment of Red Lion Square, and environs in Holborn without being authorised to do so.

The lawyers subsequently obtained warrants for his arrest but Nicholas Barbon had these set aside and the development scheme was completed.

Nicholas Barbon patented a design in 1694, and tried to sell pumping rights alongside fire insurance contracts.

Nicholas Barbon was one of several late 17th-century economic, social and political theorists with a medical education background; contemporaries included Benjamin Worsley, Hugh Chamberlen, William Petty and John Locke.

Nicholas Barbon observed the power of fashion and luxury goods to enhance trade.

Nicholas Barbon was one of the earliest writers to draw this distinction between the moral and economic aspects of purchasing.

Nicholas Barbon was influenced by populationism; he identified a country's wealth with its population.

Nicholas Barbon advocated the use of paper and credit money, and postulated the reduction of interest rates, which he thought impeded the growth in manufacturing and trade.

Nicholas Barbon discussed these issues in his 1696 pamphlet, which considered the effects of the Recoinage of that year, in which the Royal Mint recalled large quantities of silver coins, melted them down and reminted them, resulting in a temporary fall in the supply of money.

Nicholas Barbon built a house for himself and his business interests in Crane Court, off Fleet Street, but later moved to Osterley House, a large 16th-century mansion west of London.