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
Pigot (1780 Indiaman) Pigot (1780 Indiaman) Pigot was an East Indiaman that made five voyages to India, China, and the East Indies for the British East India Company (EIC) between 1780 and 1794. Oh her fifth voyage, which occurred early in the French Revolutionary Wars, the French captured her during the Sunda Strait campaign of 1794. Captain Robert Morgan left Portsmouth on 3 June 1780, bound for China and Benkulen. "Pigot" reached Whampoa on 2 February 1781. For her return voyage she crossed the Second Bar, about 20 miles before Whampoa, on 8 April, and was at Macao on 23 April. She reached