Sir Francis Baring, 1st Baronet was an English merchant banker, a member of the Baring family, later becoming the first of the Baring baronets.

John Baring was a German-born British merchant. Born in the Duchies of Bremen and Verden, he subsequently emigrated to the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1717 as the apprentice of a wool merchant. His decision to settle permanently in England started the Baring family on the road to becoming one of the leading banking families in the world.