Gerard Lee Bevan
Gerard Lee Bevan (9 November 1869 – 24 April 1936) was a British financier, the man "most responsible for the entire City Equitable debacle", and "a daring and unprincipled scoundrel". In December 1922 he was convicted at the Old Bailey of fifteen charges of fraud and sentenced to seven years' penal servitude.[1]
Gerard Lee Bevan | |
|---|---|
| Born | 9 November 1869 |
| Died | 24 April 1936 (aged 66) |
| Education | Eton College |
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Cambridge |
| Occupation | Banker |
| Spouse | 2, including Sophie Kenrick |
| Parent | Francis Bevan |
| Relatives | Silvanus Bevan (paternal great-great-grandfather) David Bevan (paternal great-grandfather) Robert Cooper Lee Bevan (paternal grandfather) |
Early life
Gerard Lee Bevan was born on 9 November 1869.[2] He was the fourth son of Francis Bevan, chairman of Barclays Bank from 1896 to 1916.
He was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge.[3][2]
Career
Bevan had "magnetic charm" and became a stockbroker with Ellis & Co, an old-established and reputable City firm. He was very successful and highly respected until his "crash" in the 1920s.[4]
He was chairman of the City Equitable Fire Insurance Co. In a major 1925 court case, Re City Equitable Fire Insurance Co, the company lost £1,200,000 (equivalent to £72,810,000 in 2021) in failure of investments and the large scale fraud of the chairman, ‘a daring and unprincipled scoundrel’. The liquidator sued the other directors for negligence. The auditors were sued too, but the Court of Appeal held they were honest and exonerated by provisions in the company’s articles.
The story has been written up in Martin Vander Weyer's 'Fortune's Spear: The Story of the Blue-Blooded Rogue Behind the Most Notorious City Scandal of the 1920s'. 2012. Elliott & Thompson.
Personal life
He married Sophie Kenrick, also from a wealthy family, Midlands industrialists related to the Chamberlains. They bought a house in Upper Grosvenor Street, and Bevan collected Chinese porcelain. He was also a "serial adulterer, treating glamorous mistresses ostentatiously".[4]
He married twice, had issue and died in Havana, Cuba on 24 April 1936.[2]
References
- The Pall Mall Gazette, 5 December 1922, pp.1-2
- John Venn (15 September 2011). Alumni Cantabrigienses: A Biographical List of All Known Students, Graduates and Holders of Office at the University of Cambridge, from the Earliest Times to 1900. Cambridge University Press. p. 253. ISBN 978-1-108-03611-5. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
- Matthew Hollow (28 November 2014). Rogue Banking: A History of Financial Fraud in Interwar Britain. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 56–59. ISBN 978-1-137-36055-7. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
- Jacomb, Martin (19 November 2011). "High-class fraud". The Spectator. Retrieved 5 August 2015.