Piercy, William Stuckey, 1886-1966, 1st Baron Piercy, financier

William Piercy, 1886-1966, left school at the age of 12 and took a job with Pharaoh Gane, timber brokers, of which he later became joint managing director. He studied at the London School of Economics, 1910-1913, and became a lecturer in history and public administration at the LSE in 1914. From 1914 to 1918, he worked as a civil servant, later becoming principal assistant secretary in the Ministry of Supply and Ministry of Aircraft Production, and personal assistant to Clement Attlee when he was the deputy prime minister. Piercy was also very involved in the world of finance and business. He played a leading role in organizing the first unit trusts, was a member of the London Stock Exchange, 1934-1942, and headed the British Petroleum Mission in Washington during World War Two. In 1945, he became the first chairman of the Industrial and Commercial Finance Corporation Ltd. He was also chairman of the Estate Duties Investment Trust, 1952-1966, and was appointed to the court of the Bank of England in 1946, 1950 and 1956. Piercy also served as a governor of the LSE and a member of the senate and court of London University, was president of the Royal Statistical Society, 1954-1955, and chairman of the Wellcome Trust, 1960-1965.