Eric Roll, Baron Roll of IpsdenKCMGCB(bornErich Roll;1 December 1907 – 30 March 2005) was a Britishacademiceconomist,public servantandbanker.He was made alife peerin 1977.[1]
Biography
editRoll was born inNowosielitza,Austro-Hungarian Empireand grew up nearCzernowitzinBukovina,which became part ofRomaniaand is now part ofUkraine.His parents, Matthias and Fanny Roll, were of Middle European origin.[1][2]
His father was a bank manager, and his mother's brother was a distinguished member of the law faculty at theUniversity of Vienna.WhenWorld War IsawRussiantroops burn down the village, his family took refuge inVienna.His parents then sent him toEnglandin the 1920s and he studied atBirmingham University.Shortly afterwards, he completed hisPhDand published his first book.[3]He mixed with artistic and creative circles.
By the age of 28, Roll became Professor of Economics and Commerce atUniversity College, Hull,appointed with the backing ofJohn Maynard KeynesandLord Stamp.Perhaps his most enduring work from this time was the publication in 1938 of his bookAHistory of Economic Thought,[4]which subsequently went through several editions. DuringWorld War II,however, he was recruited to thecivil serviceas deputy head of the British Food Mission (1941–1946), where he was principally involved in the procurement of food supplies - most notably dried eggs. He made a number of contacts in theUnited Statesand rejected the offer to head theGeneral Agreement on Tariffs and Trade,instead joining the British Ministry of Food. His economic experience and contacts made him invaluable in the post-war government and he was the British representative in theParisdiscussions onMarshall aid.He played an important role in the setting up of European and trans-Atlantic institutions before rejoining theMinistry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
Roll was about to accept thevice-chancellorshipofLiverpool University,but was asked to go toWashington, D.C.as economic minister at the British embassy from 1963 to 1964. Then, whenLabourwon the1964 election,he becamepermanent secretaryof the new Department of Economic Affairs, despite not agreeing with its development.
Roll was also a director of theBank of Englandbetween 1968 and 1977,[5]chairman of themerchant bankersSG Warburg,and a director ofThe Times.
Roll became Joint President of thePolicy Studies Institute,London, in 1978. He was Chancellor of Southampton University 1974-84.[6]
He was chairman of theBilderberg meetingsbetween 1986 and 1989.[5]
Honours
editRoll was appointed aCompanion of the Order of St Michael and St George(CMG) in 1949,[7]aCompanion of the Order of the Bath(CB) in 1956[8]and aKnight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George(KCMG) in 1962[9]and was made anofficierof theLegion d'Honneur.He was created alife peerasBaron Roll of Ipsden,ofIpsdenin the County ofOxfordshire,on 19 July 1977.[10]
Personal life
editRoll married Winifred Taylor in 1934 and they had two daughters, Joanna and Elizabeth. Lady Roll died in 1998.[1]
Major publications
edit
- A History of Economic Thought.London: Faber & Faber. 1938.
- An Early Experiment in Industrial Organization: History of the Firm of Boulton and Watt 1775-1805,Routledge, 1968
- Economics, Government and Business.London: Athlone Press. 1976.
- Crowded Hours (autobiography).London and Boston: Faber & Faber. 1985.
References
edit- ^abcMosley, Charles,ed. (2003).Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knighthood(107 ed.). Burke's Peerage & Gentry. p. 3383.ISBN0-9711966-2-1.
- ^Faith, Nicholas (2 April 2005)."Lord Roll of Ipsden: Economist, civil servant, banker and formidable negotiator".The Independent.Retrieved6 April2018.
- ^Eric Roll.An Early Experiment in Industrial Organisation, being a History of the firm of Boulton & Watt, 1775–1805[1930]
- ^Eric Roll 'The History of Economic Thought', [1938]
- ^abWho's Who.1999.
- ^"Lord Roll of Ipsden".Independent.co.uk.2 April 2009.
- ^"No. 38493".The London Gazette(Supplement). 1 January 1949. p. 4.
- ^"No. 40787".The London Gazette(Supplement). 31 May 1956. p. 3102.
- ^"No. 42552".The London Gazette(Supplement). 1 January 1962. p. 4.
- ^"No. 47281".The London Gazette.21 July 1977. p. 9451.
External links
edit- Works by or about Eric Roll, Baron Roll of Ipsdenat theInternet Archive
- "Lord Ipsden: Economist who organized postwar Marshall aid to Europe and came to believe in a British destiny linked with the Continent",The Times:63, 1 April 2005
- Cairncross, Alec(2 April 2005)."Lord Roll of Ipsden: Distinguished academic economist at the heart of public policymaking for 60 years - from Marshall aid to European integration".The Guardian.Retrieved15 February2024.
- Cairncross, Frances(2009)."Roll, Eric, Baron Roll of Ipsden (1907–2005)".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/96608.Retrieved15 February2024.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
- "Desert Island Discs - Castaway: Lord Eric Roll".BBC Online.BBC.Retrieved15 February2024.
- Portraits of Eric Roll, Baron Roll of Ipsdenat theNational Portrait Gallery, London
