John Gurney was born in 1749 into an influential
Quaker family that established
Gurney's bank in 1770. At the turn of the 19th century, the family business was led by Bartlett Gurney (1756–1802). When he died childless in 1802, members from another branch of the family succeeded him and John and his brother Richard (1742–1811) became partners in the bank in 1803. , residence of John Gurney and childhood home of his daughter
Elizabeth Fry John Gurney lived at
Earlham Hall in Norwich. On 26 May 1775 at Tottenham, London, he married Catherine Bell (1755–1794), daughter of Daniel Bell and Catherine Barclay, a member of the
Barclay family, who were among the founders of
Barclays Bank. Catherine's sister was
Priscilla Wakefield, a writer on
feminist economics and children's literature. John Gurney and his wife had 13 children, including the bankers
Samuel Gurney and
Daniel Gurney, the
social reformers
Elizabeth Fry and
Joseph John Gurney, while Hannah married
Sir Thomas Buxton. Another daughter was
Louisa Hoare, the writer on education. When John Gurney's wife died in 1794, Elizabeth as became partly responsible for the care and training of her younger siblings. In the 19th century, the Gurney family was known for its wealth: In
Gilbert and Sullivan's 1875
comic opera "
Trial by Jury", a character describes his accumulation of wealth until
at length I became as rich as the Gurneys. On John Gurney's death in 1809, his son
Samuel Gurney assumed the control of Gurney's Bank in Norwich. About the same time, he also took over control of the London billbroking business of
Richardson, Overend & Company, whose title was subsequently changed to
Overend, Gurney and Company. It went on to become the world's largest discounting house. ==Descendants==