Houblon.” The site on which his residence stood is now occupied by the Bank of England, “the noblest monument he could have” (says Pennant).
Peter Houblon, the eldest of the sons, was less eminent than Pepys’ “five brothers.” It is known of him that he married Elizabeth Dingley, who was buried in St. Antholin’s Church on the 25th November 1697, and where, on the following 26th December, he himself was laid. They had a daughter, Sara, who had been buried on 21st May 1673, and apparently were survived by a son, Peter — the “Mr Peter Houblon” whose burial was registered on 7th September 1714.
The second son of James was Sir James Houblon, M.P. for London from 1698 till his death. He was an intimate friend of Samuel Pepys, the diarist, who has recorded that “James Houblon told me I was the only happy man of the Navy, of whom (he says) during all this freedom the people hath taken to speaking treason, he hath not heard one bad word of me.” He wrote a letter in behalf of his friend (dated London, August 8th, 1683): “Mr Richard Gough. This goes by my deare friend, Mr Pepys, who is embarqued on board the Grafton Man-of-warr commanded by our Lord Dartmouth who is Admiral of the King’s fleet for this expedition . . . If his occasions require any money, you will furnish him what he desires, placing it to my account. I am your loving friend, James Houblon.” His eldest brother did not come forward as a public man; it is to this second James (afterwards Sir James) that Evelyn alludes when after 1682 he speaks of “Mr. Houblon.” He says in 1683, 16th March, “I dined at Mr Houblon’s, a rich and genteel French merchant, who was building a house in the Forest, [i.e., Epping Forest], near Sir J. Child’s, in a place where the late Earl of Norwich dwelt some time, and which came from his lady the widow of Mr. Baker. It will be a pretty villa, about 5 miles from Whitechapel.” On 3d October 1685, Pepys invited Evelyn to dinner in order to show him the papers which King James II. had written, which were said to make manifest that his royal brother and predecessor had died a Papist. The two diarists had a private interview for the purpose after dinner, and the only other confidant was “Mr. Houblon, a rich and considerable merchant [whose ancestor] had fled out of Flanders on the persecution of the Duke of Alva.” On 29th September 1692, Mr. James Houblon was sworn into London civic office as alderman of Aldersgate Ward. The following 29th of October was Lord Mayor’s day; King William and Queen Mary dined at Guildhall, and Mr. Houblon received the honour of knighthood along with seven others. The first board of directors of the “new bank” (Bank of England) was chosen by the subscribers on 12th July 1694, and at the top of the list was Sir James Houblon. Lady Houblon’s maiden name was Sarah Wynne; she was a daughter of Charles Wynne, Esq., of London. Sir James died (says Le Neve), “about 25th October 1700,” and was buried in St. Bennet’s, Paul’s Wharf, 31st October, about ten at night, in a vault in the middle aisle of that church. Lady Houblon died as his widow on 27th May 1731. Their family consisted of three daughters and two sons. The daughters were Elizabeth (wife of John Harvey, Esq. of Norfolk), Dorothy, and Sarah. The elder son, Wynne Houblon, seems to have lost his life at Lisbon, in August 1694; Narcissus Luttrell writes, “Mr. Brown, an English merchant, made a noble treat upon the news of Admiral Russell’s arrival in the Mediterranean, for the English envoy, Mr. Methuen, and the company drank plentifully; the young gentlemen went a serenading, which occasioned a quarrel with the natives, in which some.of them were killed, as, one of Mr. Methuen’s sons and one Mr Houblon.” The other son appears in the records of the Commissary Court of Edinburgh as “James Howblong, of the parish of St. James, Westminster, in the county of Middlesex, Esquire, merchant in London;” he had been appointed by Queen Anne “one of the Commissioners for managing the Scots Equivalent,” and ,£612 sterling of salary was due to him at his decease in or before 1715; his sister, Sarah Houblon, spinster, was confirmed as his only executrix, and her “cautioners” were Sir John Cope of London, knight; Richard Houblon, of London, Esquire [her cousin, afterwards Sir Richard]; and Alexander Dundas, M.D., her factor in Edinburgh, 21st April 1715.
The third son of the first James was Sir John Houblon, the most eminent of the brothers, Alderman for Cornhill Ward, and member of the Grocers’ Company. The first Lord Mayor’s day in the reign of William and Mary was 29th October 1689. Luttrell writes: “The 29th was observed the usual solemnity of the Lord Mayor’s show, which was very splendid; their Majesties and the Prince of Denmark did his lordship [Sir Thomas Pilkington] the honour to be there, and in a balcony in Cheapside to see the show, which was very fine and great appearance of the citizens; and there was the royal city regiment of Volunteer Horse led by the Earl of Monmouth [who afterwards succeeded his uncle as Earl of Peterborough]; and after the show
