Frederic Seebohm, Baron Seebohm

Frederic Seebohm, Baron Seebohm (born January 18, 1909 at Preston , Hertfordshire , † December 15, 1990 at Sutton Scotney , Hampshire ) was a British bank manager and life peer .

Among other things, he held leading positions at the Barclays banking group and was involved in various social issues, both of which were related to the family traditions of the Quaker Seebohms. The Seebohm Report from 1968, named after him, had a major influence on a reorganization of the social system in British municipalities from 1970.

Life

Family background

Frederic Seebohm was a son of Hugh Exton Seebohm, a banker, and his wife Leslie Grace, nee Gribble. He and his dizygoti twin brother George were born on the Poynders End country estate near the small town of Preston in Hertfordshire , which Hugh Seebohm had acquired in 1903 and attached a so-called "Hobby Farm". Frederic and George Seebohm had an older brother and a younger sister, Fidelity, who in 1932 married John David Gathorne-Hardy, 4th Earl of Cranbrook . The Dorset native died of ectopia when Frederic was four years old. Family relationships formed the two main interests of his life at an early stage: finance and involvement in social issues.

The Seebohms were a family of Quakers originally from Germany . Great-grandfather Benjamin, a wool merchant, moved from the Quaker colony of Friedensthal near Bad Pyrmont to England in 1814 at the age of 16 and settled in Bradford in Yorkshire . His older son Henry Seebohm (1832–1895) became a steel manufacturer and explorer; his younger son Frederic Seebohm (1833-1912) made a name for himself as a self-taught historian and at the same time founded the banking tradition of the Seebohms when he became a partner in the Bank Sharples & Co. founded by his father-in-law in 1859 in Hitchin , Hertfordshire. The bank merged in 1896 with several other financial institutions to form Barclay & Company Limited (from 1917: Barclays Bank Limited) and the older Frederic Seebohm was given a seat on the board of the new bank. His son Hugh later rose to the board of Barclays and was even temporarily deputy chairman.

About the daughter of a brother of Benjamin Seebohm, who had married Joseph Rowntree (1836-1925) in 1867 , the Seebohms were also related to one of the most famous Quaker families in Great Britain. Under Joseph Rowntree as co-owner and from 1883 sole owner, the Rowntree’s company , founded by his brother Henry Isaac (1837–1883), rose to become one of Great Britain 's leading confectionery manufacturers . Joseph and his son, the sociologist Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree (1871-1954), later transferred part of the family assets to several foundations named after Joseph, one of which was the Joseph Rowntree Memorial Trust (now: Joseph Rowntree Foundation ), which undertook the research and development of social policy measures.

Early years

Frederic Seebohm, named after his paternal grandfather, attended the Dragon School in Oxford and, together with his twin brother, Leighton Park School, a Quaker boarding school in Reading , Berkshire , before enrolling at Trinity College at the University of Cambridge . There he studied economics , education but dropped out after the first part of Tripos from which he had concluded with poor grades ( "third class"), and entered in 1929 at Barclays in Cambridge one. For the next 28 years he served primarily as a director of Barclays bank branches, initially in Sheffield , where he had been transferred in 1932. Sheffield confronted him with the consequences of the Great Depression and he decided to devote some of his time to social issues. The first function he fulfilled in this context was that of treasurer of the Sheffield Council of Social Service. He joined the Freemasons but withdrew when he saw applicants for positions in his bank starting to greet him with Masonic signs.

In 1938, Seebohm joined the Territorial Army , the British Army's volunteer association , and was placed in the service of the Royal Artillery after the outbreak of World War II . His twin brother George also served in the armed forces. This was a break with the pacifist traditions of the Quakers, which the relatives accepted. After attending Staff College in Camberley in 1944, he was posted to the Allied Forces headquarters in London with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel as General Staff Officer Grade 1 (GSO1) . In this role he was involved in the implementation of Operation Overcast , an attempt to recruit German scientists such as Wernher von Braun for Allied purposes after their capture. For his military service Seebohm received the Territorial Decoration , which was awarded for longer service in the Territorial Army, and in 1945 the Bronze Star of the US Armed Forces .

Banker and social commitment

After the end of the war Seebohm ran a Barclays branch in York . He continued his social engagement and became treasurer of the local Family Service Unit , as privately organized charities in Great Britain were called in the post-war period. During this time he also joined the Joseph Rowntree Memorial Trust, which was based in York. In 1947 he became a member of the Board of Directors of Barclays Bank Limited and in 1950 took over the management of the Barclays branch in Nottingham . From 1951 he was also a member of the Board of Directors of Barclays Bank (Dominion Colonial and Overseas - DCO), a legally independent amalgamation of various retail banks from former British colonies, and from 1952 the Board of Directors of Friends' Provident Life Office , a Quaker related organization that offered life insurance . In 1957 Seebohm moved to London, where he now held a full-time management position at Barclays Bank DCO. In 1959 he was promoted to deputy chief executive officer and in 1965 to chief executive officer of the association. Under his leadership, Barclays Bank DCO developed into a major global bank by 1972 . During this time, he repeatedly had to struggle to rescue assets in independent states in which the banks had been nationalized. From 1968 Seebohm was also Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Barclays Bank Limited. He also served as chief executive officer of Friends' Provident Life Office from 1962 to 1968, president of the Institute of Bankers from 1966 to 1968, and president of the Export Guarantees Advisory Council from 1967 to 1972, a body that governs the United Kingdom's government Advised on the issue of export credits .

In spite of his diverse business commitments, which were connected with trips all over the world, but especially in Africa and the Caribbean , Seebohm took the time to become increasingly active in the social field and with civic engagement. From 1965 to 1968 he headed a committee that examined the performance of social services in the municipal sector on behalf of the government ( Committee on Local Authority and Allied Personal Social Services ). This resulted in the Seebohm Report published in 1968 , which clearly bore his signature and in which proposals for far-reaching reforms were submitted. The core recommendation referred to the establishment of own departments for social service ( social service departments ) in the municipalities, with which tasks previously distributed to different authorities should be bundled and coordinated. This and other suggestions were reflected in the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970, passed by the UK Parliament two years later . From 1966 he served as chairman of the Joseph Rowntree Memorial Trust and held that position until 1981. He was also temporarily president of Age Concern , an elderly welfare organization, and the National Institute for Social Work.

In 1970 Seebohm was the knighthood and in 1972 as Baron Seebohm of Hertford in the County of Hertfordshire raised to life peer. In the House of Lords he was not a member of any group and spoke mainly on subjects that touched his two main interests, finance and social policy. In 1970 Seebohm also received an honorary doctorate from the University of Nottingham , which was followed in 1976 by an honorary doctorate from Aston University .

Seebohm resigned in 1972 as CEO of Barclays Bank International (as Barclays Bank DCO was called since the takeover by Barclays Bank Limited the previous year), but remained deputy chief executive officer of Barclays Bank Limited until 1974 and was on the board of directors of the banking group until 1979. From 1974 to 1979 he was also Chairman of Finance for Industry , a company founded in 1945 Association of British banks for investment of venture capital in companies in order to promote the domestic industry.

He was also involved in education. From 1970 to 1983 he was chairman of London House , a foundation that provides postgraduate housing and grants in London. From 1972 he was also on the advisory boards of the London School of Economics and the Haileybury and Imperial Service College . Baron Seebohm set a new focus in his diverse social activities with development policy during his time as Chairman of the Overseas Development Institute (from 1972 to 1976) and as President of the Royal African Society (from 1973 to 1984).

Lord Seebohm chaired two other committees on behalf of the government, one examining the welfare of the Royal Navy (1974) and the other examining the work of the British Council (1980). He remained active in the House of Lords until shortly before his death and campaigned - in vain - for changes to the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990.

Private and death

Frederic Seebohm was married to Evangeline, nee Hurst, from 1932 until his death, the daughter of Gerald Hurst , a Crown Attorney and a member of the House of Commons . The two had a son and two daughters, one of whom was the writer Victoria Glendinning .

Seebohm, who had turned away from Quakerism, re-established the connection to the Society of Friends in later years, although, according to his son's interpretation, the principles of his actions led him to believe, not the other way around. In his spare time he preferred to play tennis , gardening and painting watercolors (he was an honorary member of the Royal Society of Painters in Water Colors ).

Federic Seebohm, Baron Seebohm died on December 15, 1990, at the age of 81, in a car accident near Sutton Scotney , Hampshire . His wife Evangeline succumbed two weeks later from injuries sustained in the accident. On March 13, 1991, a memorial service for the two was held at St Margaret's Church in London.

Functions and titles (selection)

Professional

• Director, Barclays Bank Limited (1947–1979)
• Director, Barclays Bank DOC / Barclays Bank International (1951–1972)
• Director, Friends' Provident Life Office (1952–1979)
• Vice Chairman, Barclays Bank DOC (1955–1959)
• Deputy Chairman, Barclays Bank DOC (1959-1965)
• Chairman, Friends' Provident Life Office (1962–1968)
• Chairman, Barclays Bank DOC / Barclays Bank International (1965–1972)
• President, Institute of Bankers (1966–1968)

Honorary positions

• Chairman, Committee on Local Authority and Allied Personal Social Services (1965–1968)
• Chairman, Joseph Rowntree Memorial Trust (1966–1981)
• President, Export Guarantees Advisory Council (1967–1972)
• Chairman, London House (1970–1983)
• Governor, London School of Economics (from 1972)
• Governor, Haileybury and Imperial Service College (from 1972)
• President, Age Concern
• President, National Institute for Social Work
• Chairman, Overseas Development Institute (1972–1976)
• President, Royal African Society (1973–1984)
• Chairman, Finance for Industry (1974–1979)

Honors

• Territorial decoration
• Bronze Star (1945)
• Knight Bachelor (1970)
• Honorary Doctorate, University of Nottingham (1970)
• High Sheriff of Hertfordshire (1970-1971)
• Life Peer as Baron Seebohm (1972)
• Honorary Doctorate, Aston University (1976)

Publications

• Implications of the Seebohm report for voluntary organizations . London Council of Social Services, London 1969.
• Seebohm twenty years on. Three stages in the development of the personal social services . Policy Studies Institute, London 1989, ISBN 0853744599 .

literature

• Peter Leslie: Seebohm, Frederic, Baron Seebohm (1909–1990) . In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p} Richard Seebohm: Five Generations of Quaker Seebohms: 1790–1990 . (PDF; 70 kB) Written version of a lecture given by Frederic Seebohm's son to the Hitchin Historical Society on February 24, 1994. At: http://www.prestonherts.co.uk/ . Accessed April 22, 2013. Fidelity Seebohm . Entry on the website The Peerage . Accessed April 22, 2013. The Seebohms of Poynders End . On the A History of Preston in Hertfordshire website . Accessed April 23, 2013.
2. ^ Robert Fitzgerald, Rowntree, Joseph (1836–1925) . In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004.
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q} Peter Leslie: Seebohm, Frederic, Baron Seebohm (1909–1990) . In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004.
4. ↑ Frederic Seebohm, Baron Seebohm on thepeerage.com , accessed on September 12, 2016.
5. ↑ ^{a b} Sir Frederick Seebohm, Baron Seebohm . In: William D. Rubinstein: The Harvester Biographical Dictionary of Life Peers . Harvester Wheatsheaf, New York et al. a. 1991, ISBN 0-7108-1218-3 .
6. ^ Report of the Committee on Local Authority and Allied Personal Services . HMSO, London 1968.
7. ↑ David Billi: Reforming Welfare bureaucracies. The Seebohm Report Outcome . In: Policy Studies Journal . Vol. 9, Issue 8, 1981, ISSN  0190-292X , pp. 1250-1261.
8. ^ Overseas Development Institute. Annual Report 1971 . (PDF; 1.3 MB) Overseas Development Institute, London 1971, p. 11. Accessed April 23, 2013. Overseas Development Institute. Annual Report 1976 . (PDF; 1.6 MB) Overseas Development Institute, London 1976, p. 9. Accessed April 23, 2013.
9. ↑ Lord Seebohm. In: African Affairs . Vol. 83, No. 330, 1984, ISSN  0001-9909 , p. 113.