Sir Michael John de Rougemont Richardson — “Mr Privatisation”. Past Master’s jewel of Tuscan Lodge No. 14, 1960

A Past Master’s jewel of one of London’s oldest Masonic lodges, Tuscan Lodge No. 14, has entered the Museum collection. It was presented in 1960 to Michael John de Rougemont Richardson. The man who owned this jewel would later become one of the most prominent international financiers of the second half of the 20th century, a senior leader of N. M. Rothschild & Sons and one of the figures most closely associated with the British privatisation programme of the Margaret Thatcher era.

Sir Michael John de Rougemont Richardson (1925–2003) was born in London and educated at Harrow School. During the Second World War he served as an officer in the Irish Guards, was seriously wounded during the fighting around Nijmegen in the Netherlands, and later continued his military service in the Middle East.

After the war Richardson entered the City of London. He became a partner at Panmure Gordon in 1952 and in 1971 moved to Cazenove, one of Britain’s most prestigious stockbroking houses. In 1981 Sir Evelyn de Rothschild invited him to join N. M. Rothschild & Sons. Richardson became Managing Director of the bank, serving from 1981 to 1990, and subsequently Vice-Chairman until 1994.

It was during his Rothschild years that Richardson acquired the sobriquet “Mr Privatisation”. He became one of the leading City figures involved in implementing the wide-ranging privatisation programme of Margaret Thatcher’s government. Rothschild advised the British government on the privatisations of British Gas and British Petroleum and participated in the restructuring of the electricity and water industries. Richardson understood that privatisation represented not only a transformation of the British economy but also the creation of a new international advisory business. Under his leadership Rothschild began exporting this expertise to governments abroad, developing one of the most influential privatisation advisory practices in international investment banking.

Richardson stood at the centre of Britain’s financial and political establishment, was involved in major corporate transactions and maintained relationships with many of the leading businessmen and politicians of his time. In 1990 he was knighted for his services to finance.

A less widely known aspect of his life was his long involvement in Freemasonry. As early as 1959–1960, at only 34 years of age, Richardson served as Worshipful Master of one of London’s oldest lodges, Tuscan Lodge No. 14. His Masonic activity later continued at a senior institutional level, and during the 1980s he served as Chairman of the Royal Masonic Hospital.

Tuscan Lodge No. 14 traces its history to November 1722, when its predecessor met at the Lion tavern in Brewer Street, Golden Square, London. Through successive changes in Grand Lodge numbering it eventually became Lodge No. 14. Tuscan is also one of the historic Grand Steward or “Red Apron Lodges”, a select group with distinctive ceremonial traditions and the characteristic use of red regalia.

That tradition is reflected in Richardson’s Past Master’s jewel. It is suspended from a dark-red ribbon bearing a column of the Tuscan architectural order and the Lodge number “14”. The column is a direct visual reference to the Lodge’s name: the Tuscan is one of the five classical architectural orders, distinguished by its simplicity, solidity and restrained form. The main jewel is the traditional English Past Master’s emblem — a square enclosing a suspended plate depicting the 47th Proposition of the First Book of Euclid, the Pythagorean theorem. The upper part of the square is set with rubies. The jewel is made of silver with gilding.

On the reverse of the jewel, the owner’s surname is engraved as “RICHARSON”, with the letter D omitted. This was most likely an engraver’s error: the initials M. J. de R., the association with Tuscan Lodge No. 14, the presentation date — 1960 — and the owner’s biographical details all point to Michael John de Rougemont Richardson.

The object therefore brings together two very different chapters in the life of one man: the young London Freemason who led one of England’s oldest lodges in 1959–1960, and the later Sir Michael Richardson — internationally known financier, Rothschild leader and one of the defining financial figures of Britain’s privatisation era.