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 on 24 September 1896, a First Class member of the Zanzibari Order of Hamondieh on 25 August 1897 and later promoted to Commander of the Zanzibar armies. Raikes was acting prime minister of Zanzibar by 1898 when he was involved in a diplomatic incident with France. The Zanzibar police had caught a slave trader in the act of exporting slaves from Pemba and he had been arrested. However, despite claims he was a native of Pemba he claimed French nationality as a native of the Comoros islands and flew a French flag from his dhow. Raikes returned the flag to