Thomas Raikes Thomas Raikes Thomas Raikes ("the Elder") (28 March 1741 – 29 December 1813) was a British merchant particularly trading from London with Russia, a banker and newspaper proprietor. Notably, he was Governor of the Bank of England during the 1797 currency crisis, when the Bank was prohibited by the British Government from paying out in gold. Raikes was born at Gloucester in 1741, third son of Robert Raikes the Elder and Mary Drew. His brothers included Robert Raikes, the founder and promoter of Sunday schools, and William Raikes, a director of the South Sea Company. Raikes was Governor of the
Arthur Raikes Hall Raikes and Charlotte d'Ende Arbuthnot. Raikes was an officer in the Wiltshire Regiment, being commissioned a second lieutenant on 10 November 1888 and a lieutenant on 24 November 1890. Raikes moved to Zanzibar to take up an appointment as Brigadier-General in the Sultan's army. In 1896 he was involved in the Anglo-Zanzibar War, caused by the succession of a sultan unfavourable to the British, and led 900 pro-British Askaris during the bombardment of the Sultan's palace. In return for his service he was appointed a First Class (Second Grade) member of the Order of the Brilliant Star of Zanzibar