In 1837 he moved to London (which was then the capital of world finance) where he became the most noted American banker and helped to establish the young country's international credit.

The Times of London noted that while Peabody was an "American gentleman of the most unblemished character", the Reform Club had blackballed him for being a citizen of a country that reneged on its debts.

[1] At last, in 1845 he conspired with Barings to push Maryland into resuming payment by setting up a political slush fund to spread propaganda for debt resumption and elect legislators who would placate their investors.

By means of a secret account, the two firms transferred a thousand sterling to Baltimore and even bribed Daniel Webster, the orator and statesman, to make speeches for debt repayment.

[2] Ron Chernow describes him as "homely", with "a rumpled face ... knobby chin, bulbous nose, side whiskers, and heavy-lidded eyes.

[4] In February 1867, on one of several return visits to the United States, and at the height of his financial success, Peabody was suggested by Francis Preston Blair, an old crony of President Andrew Jackson and an active power in the smoldering Democratic Party as a possible Secretary of the Treasury in the cabinet of President Andrew Johnson.

He subsequently opened a branch office in Liverpool, and British business began to play an increasingly important role in his affairs.

The trust's first dwellings, designed by H. A. Darbishire in a Jacobethan style, were opened in Commercial Street, Spitalfields in February 1864.

Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone arranged for Peabody's remains to be returned to America on HMS Monarch, the newest and largest ship in the Royal Navy, arriving at Portland, Maine, where they were received by US Admiral David Farragut.

Peabody's death and the pair of funerals were international news, through the newly completed trans-Atlantic underwater telegraph cable.

[30] Historian Roderick Nash argues that Peabody made his millions quietly in groceries and real estate, while contemporary millionaires were building more visible empires in oil, iron, land and especially railroads.

As a disciple of Benjamin Franklin, Peabody combined hard work with frugality, punctuality, and a strong public spirit.

By contrast, philanthropy in Europe was more typically dispensed by aristocratic families with inherited landed wealth, which built palaces and museums that were eventually opened to the public.

They agreed with Peabody that riches produced a duty to give most of it back to the community through specialized permanent foundations.

[31] Peabody was especially imaginative, and relied on his own memories of poverty and self-education to introduce new ways to educate and culturally enrich the next generation of poor youth, and thereby promote greater equality in American society.

He rejected doling out cash to the poor as a waste of money in comparison to building permanent institutions that produced a steady stream of benefits.

His last great benefaction was the Peabody Education Fund, which had a dramatic impact in improving southern public schools.

It was the first major philanthropic institution that gave large sums to poor blacks on the same terms as whites, albeit within the limits of racial segregation.

Even more important was the institutional framework that Peabody devised, of a permanent professional foundation run by experts in philanthropy, who were guided by and indeed invented the best practices of the day.

He was praised by European contemporaries such as Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone and author Victor Hugo, and Queen Victoria offered him a baronetcy, which he declined.

A statue sculpted by William Wetmore Story stands next to the Royal Exchange in the City of London, unveiled by the Prince of Wales in July 1869: Peabody himself was too unwell to attend the ceremony, and died less than four months later.

[42][43] The mural reproduced in the Google Doodle is physically located within the lunchroom of the George Peabody Elementary School in San Francisco.