Great Britain Exchequer payment memoranda

George Downing, nephew of John Winthrop, first governor of the colony of Massachusetts Bay, was born in Dublin. His family emigrated to Salem, Massachusetts in 1638, and Downing was among the first graduating class of Harvard College in 1642. After graduation he served for a year as a tutor at Harvard. In 1645 he signed on as a ship's chaplain in the Caribbean; from there he made his way to England, where in 1646 he became a chaplain in Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army. In 1649 he was appointed scoutmaster-general (i.e., chief of military intelligence) of the English army in Scotland, took part in the defeat of Charles II, and was active in the Protectorate administration. His wealth and political position were consolidated by marriage to Lady Frances Howard in 1654 and appointment as teller of the receipt in the Exchequer in1656. He was elected to all three Protectoral Parliaments (1654, 1656, 1659) and undertook various diplomatic missions to further Cromwell's policies and to aid Protestants abroad. It was during this time that he became acquainted with the Dutch policy of levying high taxes to pay for military protection of the Netherlands' overseas trade; he would later promote this practice for British commerce.

After Cromwell's death, Downing approached Charles II through intermediaries and requested pardon for his activities against the king. To demonstrate the genuineness of his loyalty, he forwarded military intelligence regarding the anti-royalist army to Charles; the king accepted his overture, and he was subsequently knighted. In 1660 he was returned to Parliament. He performed further service to the king by delivering three of Charles I's regicides, who had escaped to the Netherlands, back to England for execution. For this he was granted a baronetcy in 1662. He thereafter received a number of offices, including commissionership of customs in 1671, and continued to act as an agent on diplomatic missions to the Netherlands.

Downing sponsored a number of reforms to generate revenue under Charles II and is most noted for his contribution to statebuilding and the fiscal development of Great Britain at the dawn of empire. Samuel Pepys worked under Downing in the Exchequer for a number of years and mentions him in his diary. London's Downing Street is named after him.