Sir Jeremy Morse was one of the most intellectually gifted London bankers of the postwar era. He led Lloyds Bank through the challenges of Big Bang, the reorganisation of stock exchange practices and the third world debt crisis, and saw it emerge as one of the strongest of Britain\u2019s retail banking groups.<\/p>\n
With the air of a don rather than a City banker, he was skilled at crosswords and brain-teaser puzzles and was even acknowledged as the inspiration for Inspector Morse. The detective\u2019s creator, Colin Dexter, named the character after him because he said that he had never encountered a finer problem-solving mind.<\/p>\n
Knowing he had inspired Inspector Morse gave him great pleasure. He was introduced to Dexter in the 1950s at dinners hosted by The Observer for those who had solved their Ximenes crossword. Unlike his fictional alter-ego, Morse said, \u201cI am distressingly unmelancholy.\u201d\u009d He drank wine, albeit in moderation, and listened to Bach rather than wallowing in Wagner.<\/p>\n