22nd January 1719
Founder of the Bank of England dies
William Paterson was born in Dumfriesshire, and co-founded the Bank of England, three years after he had first suggested setting up such an institution.
He was also one of the primary promoters of the Darien scheme to establish a Scottish colony in Panama, which lost many a Scottish fortune and likely contributed to the union between England and Scotland. His story is an interesting counterpoint to that of John Law who founded France’s first central bank and bankrupted it through its involvement with the Mississippi bubble.
Other events that occured in January
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