Editing Bank of England (section)

====Governance====
The first Governor of the bank was [[John Houblon]], and the first Deputy Governor [[Michael Godfrey]]. (330 years later, in 1994, the bank would issue a [[Bank of England £50 note|£50 note]] depicting Houblon to mark its [[tercentenary]].)<ref>{{Cite ODNB |title=Houblon, Sir John (1632–1712), merchant |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-13861 |access-date=2022-12-17 | year=2004 |language=en |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/13861| last1=Roseveare | first1=H. G. }}</ref>

[[File:Running Cash Note - Bank of England Museum - Joy of Museums - 2.jpg|thumb|right|An early Bank of England note, with [[Britannia]] emblem, signed by the Chief Cashier, [[Thomas Madockes]], and dated 1699]]
Governance was vested in the Governor, his Deputy and a 'Court' of 24 Directors (most of whom were [[merchant banker]]s recruited from the City); the Directors were elected annually by a 'General Court' of all the Bank's registered stockholders (collectively known as 'the Proprietors'). The [[Company seal|common seal]] of the Court of Directors, adopted on 30 July 1694, depicted '[[Britannia]] sitting and looking on a Bank of mony'; Britannia has been the bank's emblem ever since.<ref>{{cite web |title=Britannia and the Bank (1962) |url=https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/-/media/boe/files/archive/publications/britannia-and-the-bank.pdf |website=Bank of England |access-date=2 February 2024}}</ref> 

The Court appointed three senior officers who, alongside the Governor and Deputy Governor, were responsible for its day-to-day running of the bank: the Secretary and Sollicitor, the First Accomptant and the First Cashier. (Their successors, the Secretary, Chief Accountant and [[Chief Cashier of the Bank of England|Chief Cashier]], continued to head up the main divisions of the bank's operations for the next 250 years: the Chief Cashier and the Chief Accountant had oversight of the 'cash side' and the 'stock side' of the bank, respectively, while the Secretary oversaw its internal administration.)<ref name="Hennessy1992" />

Besides these officers, the bank in 1694 was staffed by seventeen clerks and two doorkeepers.<ref name="BoEHistFun">{{cite book |title=The Bank of England: History and Functions |date=1970 |publisher=Bank of England |location=London |url=https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/-/media/boe/files/archive/publications/history-and-functions.pdf}}</ref>