Peabody, George

(born Feb. 18, 1795, South Danvers [now Peabody], Mass., U.S.—died Nov. 4, 1869, London, Eng.) U.S. merchant and financier. Born in South Danvers, Mass. (renamed Peabody in his honour), he earned an early fortune as a partner in a wholesale dry-goods business and as president of the Eastern Railroad (from 1836). On a trip to England, he negotiated an $8 million loan for the near-bankrupt state of Maryland. In 1837 he moved to London permanently and founded a merchant banking house specializing in foreign exchange; his banking operations helped establish U.S. credit abroad. He spent most of his fortune on philanthropy to promote education and the arts; his gifts include a natural history museum at Yale University, an archaeology museum at Harvard University, and an Asian export art museum in Salem, Mass.

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