Nicholas Barbon

(c. 1640 - 1698)

Nicholas Barbon played a considerable role in the rebuilding of London after the Great Fire of 1666. He often built and demolished without permits to make a quick profit, disregarding legal and local objections. Around 1680 he set up the first office in London to sell fire insurance, pioneering the industry. His vast writing on trade and money anticipated later economic thought, including his theory that a loan is a type of rent, “a payment for the use of goods.”