Francis Algernon Govett

Francis Algernon Govett (1858 – October 27, 1926) was a British stockbroker who was a director of many mining companies, was closely involved with future American president Herbert Hoover, and later became the chairman of the Burma Corporation.

His business practices were sharply criticized by anti-corruption campaigner Walter Liggett in his 1932 book, The rise of Herbert Hoover.

He received his BA in law from University College, Oxford, in 1880, after which he embarked on a career in the City of London.

Early in his career he took an interest in the discoveries of silver-lead and zinc at Broken Hill in New South Wales, Australia, and throughout his life took an active part in the management of companies exploiting those resources and other mining discoveries.

[1] His son was commander Leonard Evelyn Romaine Govett (RNVR) who died in 1944 or 1945 at Sydney, New South Wales, in a plane crash.