Born Abraham Gottheimer in Dublin in 1831, Albert Grant set up the Mercantile Discount Company in 1859, which failed two years later. In 1864 he set up a brokerage house, Crédit Foncier and Mobilier of England, which he used to promote various companies that he helped float on the stock exchange. By 1865 he was rich enough to own a large mansion in Surrey, get elected to parliament as MP for Kidderminster and buy Leicester Square as a gift to the public. He was also created an Italian baron in 1868.

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