Leslie O'Brien, Baron O'Brien of Lothbury

Who was Leslie O'Brien, Baron O'Brien of Lothbury?

Leslie Kenneth O'Brien, Baron O'Brien of Lothbury, GBE, PC, was Governor of the Bank of England.

After attending Wandsworth School in London, he joined the Bank of England in 1927 and rose through the ranks, becoming Chief Cashier in 1955, Deputy Governor in 1966, before serving as Governor from 1966 until 1973.

As Governor, O'Brien presided over the devaluation of the pound in 1967.

He became a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire in 1967 and was appointed to the Privy Council in 1970. Following his retirement as Governor in 1973 he was created a life peer as Baron O'Brien of Lothbury, of the City of London.

He married firstly Isabelle Pickett in 1932, and secondly Marjorie Taylor in 1989. He died in Tandridge, Surrey, in 1995.