Philip Cazenove (1798 – 1880) was the founder of Cazenove & Co
The Cazenove family were Huguenot financiers who fled from France to Geneva in the late 17th century and later came to London. Philip Cazenove was educated at Charterhouse and in 1819 he joined the business of his brother-in-law John Francis Menet.
In 1854 Cazenove formed a new partnership with his son and nephew. The partnership quickly rose to prominence partly because of its involvement in the financial side of the rail industry. Part of his success was also attributed to his relationship with the Rothschild banking family, which became a financial partner in some of his transactions. The company acted as broker for the formation of the Bank of Hindustan, helped raise funding for the Atlantic Telegraph Company and the Great Eastern Railway Company and was involved in the creation of the Metropolitan District Railway Company, which built the London Underground.
In later life he devoted himself to charitable works in the fields of church, education and medicine. His obituary described him as a businessman of great capacity and a philanthropist of large sympathies.
The company became one of the leading stockbroking partnerships in London and gained a reputation as a preeminent investment banker, reputedly the appointed stockbroker to Her Majesty The Queen. The last Cazenove to work for the company was Bernard Cazenove who retired in 2004 and was Philip Cazenove’s great-great-great-grandson.
Sources:
The Quiet Conquest: The Huguenots 1685-1985: Tessa Murdoch
www.encyclopedia.com/books/politics-and-business-magazines/cazenove-group-plc
www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/huguenot-exiles-who-founded-swashbuckling-city-icon-18961.html
www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2004/11/11/last-of-the-line