Sir
Thomas Gresham (~1519 -1579) was an English financier who worked for King
Edward VI of England and his half-sister Queen
Elizabeth I of England. He was born in
London and educated at
Caius,
Cambridge. No arm-chair philosopher, he not only played the
stock market (or
bourse) in
Antwerp,
Belgium, so well that he was able to eliminate England's European debts, but he also made himself one of the richest men in England. He used this experience to then set up the Royal Exchange modelled on the Antwerp bourse. He also set up Gresham College bequeathing the proceeds from the Royal Exchange to finance the first college in London. He is credited with stating
Gresham's Law, although the concept had been recognized for years, because he was the one who said it to Queen Elizabeth, while he was trying to persuade her to restore the debased currency.
Gresham appears as a background figure is a series of fictional mystery novels by the British author Valerie Anand (writing under the penname Fiona Buckley). The fictional heroine of the stories, Ursula Blanchard, lived in Antwerp with her first husband while he was one of Gresham's agents.
