<P> Public finances were in so dire a condition at the time that the terms of the loan were that it was to be serviced at a rate of 8% per annum, and there was also a service charge of £ 4,000 per annum for the management of the loan . The first governor was Sir John Houblon, who is depicted in the £ 50 note issued in 1994 . The charter was renewed in 1742, 1764, and 1781 . </P> <P> The founding of the Bank of England put an end to defaults such as the Great Stop of the Exchequer of 1672, when Charles II had suspended payments on his bills . From then on, the British Government would never fail to repay its creditors . About 3 / 7th of British national debt in 1776 and 1 / 3rd of major stocks like East India Co., were held by Dutch bankers . </P> <P> In 1815, at the end of the Napoleonic Wars, British government debt reached a peak of £ 1 billion (that was more than 200% of GDP). </P> <P> The Lord Treasurer Robert Harley established the South Sea Company in 1711 . Nominally, this was a trading company, but its main activity was the funding of government debt . In 1720, a bill was passed making the South Sea Company responsible for the entire national debt . This led to a frenzy of interest in the company, whose shares reached ten times their original issue price . A liquidity problem and collapse followed . The company was responsible for at least part of the national debt until it was abolished in 1850 . </P>

When did britain finish pay off ww2 debt