The Building Society Indemnities Committee was established in 1925 by insurance companies interested in mortgage guarantee business. Originally meetings were held at the head office of the Royal Exchange Assurance Company at Royal Exchange, London. From 1928 until 1937 meetings were held in a variety of places, including the offices of various insurance companies, the Accident Offices Association and the Fire Offices Committee. In April 1937, the Accident Offices Association agreed to meetings being held at its offices and to provide executive and secretarial services to the Committee. The Building Society Indemnities Committee was wound up on 31 May 1981 and its business transferred to the British Insurance Association.
Offices transacting fire insurance business overseas had been meeting since at least 1859. By 1869, 29 foreign fire insurance tariffs were in operation, and the participating offices formed the Fire Offices' Committee (Foreign) for supervising rates. Co-operation assisted British fire offices in their development of overseas markets where they had problems with competition from local companies and the novelty and complexity of overseas risks, and had to deal with legislation by foreign governments. During the 20th century, the growth of foreign business was such that several committees were established by the Fire Offices' Committee (Foreign) to protect and promote the interests of companies transacting business in particular parts of the world. These included the London Australasian Insurance Committee in 1925.
The London Fire Engine Establishment was created and maintained by the principal fire insurance offices of London. It was formed in 1832 "with a view to the better protection of the property and lives of the inhabitants of the Metropolis, and its vicinity". Although a private body with no official standing, it was recognised as the public fire service for the London area. However, the Tooley Street fire of 1861 and the expansion of London caused both the fire offices and the Government to reconsider the arrangements for fire protection in London. This led to the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act of 1865 and the eventual division of fire extinguishing and salvage work. The Act made fire extinguishing the responsibility of the Metropolitan Board of Works and the Metropolitan Fire Brigade was created to fulfil this function from 1 January 1866. The London County Council inherited the responsibility in 1889.
The National Amalgamated Approved Society was formed in 1912, under the provision of the 1911 National Insurance Act by which industrial assurance companies or friendly societies could set up an "approved society" to administer statutory benefits. The National Amalgamated Approved Society was a joint venture between a number of Offices: Albion Friendly Society, Britannia Assurance Company Limited, British Legal and United Provident Assurance Company Limited, London and Manchester Industrial Assurance Company Limited, City Life Assurance Company Limited, Hearts of Oak Life and General Assurance Company Limited, Pearl Assurance Company Limited, Pioneer Life Assurance Company Limited, Refuge Assurance Company Limited, and Royal London Mutual Insurance Society Limited. Each Office was represented on the Committee of Management.
The Society ceased to exist in 1948 under the terms of the 1946 National Insurance Act which abolished approved societies. The Society had offices at 30, Euston Square, NW1.
The origins of the Printers and Theatres Rating Committee (Southern Committee) are unclear. At the end of the 19th century, it appears that a scheme was established for rating insurance premiums on theatres, music halls, and printers and allied trades under the auspices of the London Salvage Corps. The earliest records, tariff rate books, survive from 1896 (Ms 29509); circulars dating from 1899 exist among the records of the London Salvage Corps (CLC/B/017-23, Ms 15739). Meetings of offices interested in matters to do with printers and theatres (and later cinemas and film production studios) came to be held after the meetings of the London Salvage Corps (Ms 29503). The name Printers and Theatres Rating Committee seems to have been first used in 1914. There were also Northern and Scottish Rating Committees.
The Southern Rating Committee was originally managed and administered by the London Salvage Corps. In 1941, owing to the transfer of the London Salvage Corps to London County Council, it was taken over by the Fire Offices' Committee for the duration of the war. After the Second World War, the close relationship between the Southern Rating Committee and Fire Offices' Committee continued. In April 1962, the committee requested that its chairmanship and adninistration should be taken over by the chairman and officers of the Fire Offices' Committee.
The Southern Rating Committee was based at the premises of the London Salvage Corps (at 64 Watling Street) until its administration was taken over by the Fire Offices' Committee.
The Association of Investment Trust Companies was formed in 1932 as the Association of Investment Trusts (the name changed in 1969, changing again in 2006 to the Association of Investment Companies). Investment trust companies have been in existence since 1868, companies formed for the purpose of holding investments. They do not trade in investments. The money raised by the issue of shares is invested and the greater part of the income is distributed as dividends and interest on its own capital. The Association was formed to represent the interest of these companies, and to provide information on the composition and performance of investment trusts. It was run by a general Committee, which met every second month, normally five times annually in London and once in Scotland. Special committees were appointed to consider the various matters dealt with by the Association. The Association was based at 62a Lombard Street (1932-4), Pinners Hall, Austin Friars (1934-6), Kent House, Telegraph Street (1936-57), 7 Angel Court (1957-75), Park House, 16 Finsbury Circus (1975-ca.2000), 8-13 Chiswell Street (ca.2000-5) and 24 Chiswell Street (from 2005).
This firm of chartered accountants specialised in shipping insurance work and the audit of shipowners protection and indemnity associations. It was founded in 1835 by William Edward Bagshaw. Bagshaw's two sons were admitted as partners in 1891 and 1903.
The firm was called:
- Broom and Bagshaw (1835-54),
- Broom, Bagshaw and Westcott (1855-65),
- Bagshaw and Westcott (1866-7),
- Bagshaw, Westcott and Johnson (1867-76),
- William Edward Bagshaw (1876-80),
- Bagshaw and Co. (1880-1987), and
-
Bagshaws (1987-).
In May 1991 the firm amalgamated with Moore Stephens. The firm was based at 70 Aldermanbury (1835-8), 35 Coleman Street (1839-78), 10 Moorgate (1878-81), St Michael's House, 1 St Michael's Alley, Cornhill (1881-1916), 6 Crosby Square, Bishopsgate (1917-19), 63 and 64 New Broad Street (1920-41), 17 St Helen's Place (1942-5) and 3 St Helen's Place (1946-).
The Baltic Exchange was based successively at Threadneedle Street and St Mary Axe. It was founded in 1744 as the Virginia and Baltic Coffee House, established as a meeting place for merchants trading with Virginia or the Baltic. From 1823, it was known as the Baltic Coffee House; later becoming the Baltic Mercantile and Shipping Exchange Limited (1900-1981/2). In 1857 the Exchange formed the Baltic Company Limited to purchase South Sea House (wound up in 1899). In 1899 the Exchange formed a committee called the City of London Exchange Syndicate to purchase a site in Jeffrey's Square (wound up in 1900). From the late 19th century to the end of the 20th century, the Exchange became a worldwide centre for freight and records of many thousand ship charters are held.
The Jerusalem Coffee House was frequented by managing owners of East India Company ships and East India merchants and brokers. In 1892 the Jerusalem became the Jerusalem Shipping Exchange of 22 Billiter Street, setting itself up as a rival to the newly established London Shipping Exchange. The London Shipping Exchange was more successful and bought out the Jerusalem Shipping Exchange later that year. In 1903 the London Shipping Exchange amalgamated with the Baltic Committee to become the Baltic Mercantile and Shipping Exchange Limited.
The London Shipping Exchange was based at Billiter Street. It was registered in 1892, but merged with the Baltic Committee and the Baltic Mercantile and Shipping Exchange (later known as the Baltic Exchange) in 1903.
The British Bankers' Association was established in 1919 as a result of the merger of the Central Association of Bankers and the Association of English Country Bankers. Its object was to better promote the interests of the banking community by having just one responsible association.
The Central Association had been established in 1895 by representatives of the London Clearing House, the West End banks and the Association of English Country Bankers to "safeguard the interests of bankers as a whole ... without in any way interfering with the work of the older societies". From the start, the Central Association was a channel for consultation, information and defence of banks. It was not concerned with the interests of bank officials which were cared for by the Institute of Bankers, although it shared the Institute's premises at 34 St Clements Lane.
The Association of English Country Bankers had been formed in 1874 to defend the interests of country banks.
Until 1972, membership of the British Bankers' Association was open only to British (including Dominion and Colonial) banks. After 1972, it was enlarged to include representatives of all recognised banks operating in the United Kingdom.
In 1991, the Committee of London and Scottish Bankers, formerly the Committee of London Clearing Bankers, was subsumed into the Association.
The British Bankers' Association archive also includes records of a number of other organisations including the London Clearing House, later known as the Bankers' Clearing House Limited, and the Committee of London Clearing Bankers which oversaw it.
The British Bankers' Association was established in 1919 as a result of the merger of the Central Association of Bankers and the Association of English Country Bankers. Its object was to better promote the interests of the banking community by having just one responsible association.
Bankers' Clearing House Limited, of 10 Lombard Street, was formed in 1895 to administer the premises of the London Clearing House which had been established in Lombard Street since 1833 and which was supervised by the Committee of London Clearing Bankers. More recently the company has been known as BCH Property.
The Central Association had been established in 1895 by representatives of the London Clearing House, the West End banks and the Association of English Country Bankers to "safeguard the interests of bankers as a whole ... without in any way interfering with the work of the older societies". From the start, the Central Association was a channel for consultation, information and defence of banks. It was not concerned with the interests of bank officials which were cared for by the Institute of Bankers, although it shared the Institute's premises at 34 St Clements Lane.
The British Bankers' Association was established in 1919 as a result of the merger of the Central Association of Bankers and the Association of English Country Bankers. Its object was to better promote the interests of the banking community by having just one responsible association.
Edward Herbert Burkitt (1854-1922) was a solicitor of 42 Theobalds Road, London WC, and also Clerk of the Curriers' Company, 1881-1922 and of the Tin Plate Workers' Company, 1881-91. In these last two roles he succeeded his father, Edward Burkitt (d.1881) of Highbury, Clerk of the Curriers' Company from 1833 and of the Tin Plate Workers' Company from 1838. Edward Burkitt senior was also Common Councilman for Cripplegate Within, 1855-77. Edward Herbert Burkitt was made free of the Curriers' Company in 1875 and gained the livery in the same year. He also acted as solicitor to the Company. He published a history of the Curriers' Company in 1906.
Butterworth and Company (Publishers) of 7 Fleet street 1818-99, 12 Bell Yard 1899-1912, 4-6 Bell Yard 1912-53, 88 Kingsway 1955-94, Borough Green, Kent 1973-95, and Halbury House, 35 Chancery Lane 1994-.
The business was founded in 1818 by Henry Butterworth who sold both his own publications and many other law books. The firm was first known as Henry Butterworth, law bookseller and publisher; but from the 1850s was variously known as Messrs Butterworth, Messrs Butterworth and Co. and Messrs Butterworth and Son though it appears in London directories from 1853 as Henry Butterworth and Co. On the death of Joshua Whitehead Butterworth (Henry's son) in 1895, the firm was bought by Shaw and Sons, law printers and publishers. The new business was known as Butterworth and Co and owned by Charles Bond, soon succeeded by his son Stanley Shaw Bond. The company has been known colloquially (in the twentieth century at least) as Butterworths.
Limited companies were set up from 1910 onwards to trade in the empire and dominions but the principal UK firm was not set up as a limited company until 1927 when Stanley Shaw Bond changed the name of Butterworth and Company (Canada) to Butterworth and Company (Publishers) and increased the authorised capital to +250,000. Butterworths remained a group of separate companies with Bond as the sole shareholder of each company until his death in 1943. The company structure was then rationalised with the smaller companies becoming subsidiaries of Butterworth and Company (Publishers). In 1947 Butterworths became a public company and in 1967 it was bought by IPC.
The company was set up to trade in Canada as a limited liability company in 1912. Until the 1950s it concentrated on selling English legal textbooks rather than publishing Canadian law books. In 1927 Stanley Shaw Bond changed the name of Butterworth and Company (Canada) to Butterworth and Company (Publishers) and therefore the Canadian company took over Bond's personal business.
For some years Butterworth and Company (Publishers) continued to operate in Canada and kept separate accounts relating to the Canadian business. In 1931 a company was incorporated in Ontario to take over the Canadian operation.
Publisher Butterworth and Company (New Zealand) was established in 1960. For earlier records of Butterworths' activities in New Zealand, see under Butterworth and Company (Overseas).
Butterworth and Company (India) Limited was set up in 1910 and traded until 1946. As well as publishing many textbooks dealing specifically with Indian law, the firm also published some medical textbooks.
The company traded as booksellers from 27 Fleet Street and in 1882 also set up as law publishers. It moved to 7 Fleet Street in 1901 (which Butterworth and Company (Publishers) Limited had just vacated) until 1907 when the building was demolished. In 1907 all of the law publishing business was sold to Butterworths.
The journal Justice of the Peace was established in 1837. In 1927 it became a private limited liability company, with Stanley S Bond as the chairman (1927-42). The journal was sold in 1969 to its editor.
Buzzacott and Company is a firm of chartered accountants based at 12 Fetter Lane, formed out of numerous predecessor firms.
Down and Harper was formed from the partnership of A N Harper and H E Down in 1945, and became Down, Son and Harper on Down's son's qualification and entry into the partnership in 1952. They were based at 44 Bow Lane. Their successor firms merged with Watson, O'Regan and Company, Buzzacott, Lillywhite and Company and Vincent and Goodrich to form Buzzacott and Company in 1971.
No historical information has yet been found for the other companies represented in this collection.
Camp Bird Limited was incorporated 8 September 1900. Its principal business was the Camp Bird mine, a gold mine in the Mount Sneffels mining district, County Ouray, Colorado, with a stake of £49,900 in the Camp Bird Mining Company, Denver, Colorado, acquired in June 1902. The company acquired substantial holdings in various Mexican enterprises, in particular the Santa Gertrudis gold and silver mines (1910). Revenue from the Camp Bird mine was decreasing by the 1940s, but in the meantime, the company's mining interests had expanded into Nicaragua, Canada, Australia, Nigeria, South Africa and Rhodesia. By 1952 66% of the company's total investments were in South Africa and Rhodesia.
In the late 1950s, an industrial and trading group in the electrical industry was built up and concentrated into the subsidiary Hartley Baird Limited. The parent company had become purely a holding company by 1958, but in 1960 Camp Bird Limited ceased to be a finance company and was restored as a mining house, with interests in Colorado, Canada, and elsewhere, the parent company becoming an investment company. A winding-up order was made on 7 October 1963.
Camp Bird's first registered office was at 3 Princes Street. It moved to 43 Threadneedle Street in 1902, to 1 London Wall Buildings in 1919, to 49 Moorgate in 1929, and to 39 Dover Street (Camp Bird House) in 1957.
Tekka Taiping Ltd was in business by 1914, but was reconstructed in 1919 when some of its properties went into liquidation and were transferred to a new company. Its registered office was Station Hill, Redruth, Cornwall, and its principal business was tin mining in Malaysia. The company was taken over by Camp Bird Ltd in 1956 and went into voluntary liquidation in 1958.
A large number of Grahams companies, registered in Glasgow, were trading individually in Glasgow and elsewhere, including Portugal and India, as early as the late 18th century. Grahams Trading Company Limited, however, was incorporated on 29 July 1924, as general merchants and manufacturers all over the world, with a registered office at 7 St Helen's Place, EC3. It was an amalgamation of several of the older Grahams companies and the newly acquired "Portuguese companies". The latter, Abelheira Paper Mills Limited, Boa Vista Spinning and Weaving Company Limited and Braco de Prata Printing Company Limited, had all begun in the late 19th century and were registered in Glasgow but traded in Portugal through William Graham and Company, William and John Graham and Company, and William Graham Junior and Company, who acted as their agents and held title to the real estate in Portugal.
An assets company was also formed in 1924, known as the Reserved Assets Company Limited. Its registered office also was 7 St Helen's Place. It was wound up in 1936 on the reduction and reorganisation of the capital of the trading company. West European Industries Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary, was incorporated on 26 March 1930. Its registered office was 7 St Helen's Place, moving to 5 St Helen's Place in 1947. The Portuguese business of Grahams Trading Company Limited was held through West European Industries Ltd. In 1947, the "Portuguese companies" went into voluntary liquidation, and the various mills and factories were gradually closed down and sold off in the 1950s. Grahams Trading Company Limited was taken over by Camp Bird Ltd in 1957 and went into voluntary liquidation in 1960.
A large number of Grahams companies, registered in Glasgow, were trading individually in Glasgow and elsewhere, including Portugal and India, as early as the late 18th century. Grahams Trading Company Limited, however, was incorporated on 29 July 1924, as general merchants and manufacturers all over the world, with a registered office at 7 St Helen's Place, EC3. It was an amalgamation of several of the older Grahams companies and the newly acquired "Portuguese companies". The latter, Abelheira Paper Mills Limited, Boa Vista Spinning and Weaving Company Limited and Braco de Prata Printing Company Limited, had all begun in the late 19th century and were registered in Glasgow but traded in Portugal through William Graham and Company, William and John Graham and Company, and William Graham Junior and Company, who acted as their agents and held title to the real estate in Portugal.
An assets company was also formed in 1924, known as the Reserved Assets Company Limited. Its registered office also was 7 St Helen's Place. It was wound up in 1936 on the reduction and reorganisation of the capital of the trading company. West European Industries Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary, was incorporated on 26 March 1930. Its registered office was 7 St Helen's Place, moving to 5 St Helen's Place in 1947. The Portuguese business of Grahams Trading Company Limited was held through West European Industries Ltd. In 1947, the "Portuguese companies" went into voluntary liquidation, and the various mills and factories were gradually closed down and sold off in the 1950s. Grahams Trading Company Limited was taken over by Camp Bird Limited in 1957 and went into voluntary liquidation in 1960.
The Canada Company was incorporated by royal charter in 1826. The aim of the Company was to obtain land in Canada and to promote its sale to prospective settlers. According to London directories, it had offices at 13 St Helen's Place, Bishopsgate (ca. 1826-67), 1 East India Avenue (ca. 1867-1925), 44 Bedford Row (c 1925-1928), 25 Bishopsgate (ca. 1928-33) and 145 Dashwood House, Old Broad Street (c 1933-1950). Its last appearance in this source was 1950. The Company ceased to operate in 1951 and was liquidated in 1953.
The companies listed in this collection had several connections, such as shared premises and directors.
They had ceased trading or had become holding or investment companies by 1982 when those that survived became subsidiaries of the Caparo Group Limited.
The company originated in an agreement for working manganese ore in the Central Provinces, India, 18 December 1899, between Patrick Macfadyen, Henry Gribble Turner and George Henry Glass. The partnership became known as the Central Provinces Prospecting Syndicate, with offices at 305 Winchester House, Old Broad Street, EC2, and was registered as a limited company of that name on 30 January 1908. The name was changed to the Central Provinces Manganese Ore Company on 15 May 1924. Its head office moved to 308 Winchester House in 1926, 120 Winchester House in 1954, 4-7 Chiswell Street EC1 in 1965, and 99-101 Regent Street W1 in 1974. In June 1962, all the company's mines except one (Balapur Hamesha, Dongri Buzurg) and its fixed assets and consumable stores were transferred, by agreement with the Government of India, to the newly-constituted Manganese Ore (India) Limited in return for 49% of the latter's share capital, the balance being held by the Indian Government and the Government of the states of Maharastra and Madhya Pradesh. The company's right to renew its options on its one remaining mine was refused by the former state in September 1971, but it eventually resumed work at the mine in accordance with a staying order of the High Court of Bombay.
In June 1973, the company's articles of association were amended to enable it to operate in general investment. Its quotation on the London Stock Exchange was cancelled in October 1975. Its holdings in Manganese Ore (India) Limited were purchased by the Government of India on 21 December 1977 and from that date the company has carried on investment business only. The company owned 50% of the share capital of the United Kingdom Ferro-manganese Company which it formed together with a group of English ferro-manganese makers in 1926 to buy, sell and refine various ores. Its office was at 328 Winchester House, EC2. It appears to have ceased trading in 1975.
The Chinese Engineering & Mining Company Limited was established in 1900 to mine coal for steamships in the area around Tientsin, China. The company was reformed in 1912 as a public company registered in London. Also in 1912 the Chinese Engineering and Mining Company and the Lanchow Mining Company Limited formed the Kailan Mining Administration to administer the coal mines. In the 1920s the Company was producing c 4.5 million tons of coal annually, some of which was exported to Hong Kong, Japan and other places in the Far East. All its activities ceased in 1949 with the Chinese Civil War, and the subsequent Communist takeover. The company was finally dissolved in 1984. The offices of the company were 22 Austin Friars, except for the war years when business was conducted from the residence of the Secretary, 5/6 Clarendon Terrace, King's Cliff, Brighton.
Philatelist Robson Lowe (1905-1997) founded the Regent Stamp Company and subsidiary Robson Lowe Limited, a leading stamp auction house. Robson Lowe Limited was taken over by Christie's, the fine art auction house, in 1980.
In the 1970s Robson Lowe persuaded the Corsini family to sell their archive of correspondence, which contained letters of great importance for postal history. He personally worked on them until their sale at Christie's in the 1980s.
The City Offices Company Limited was incorporated in 1864 to acquire property for investment purposes in the City of London and elsewhere. Its shares were publicly quoted from the same year. It became a subsidiary of Greycoat Estates plc in 1982. The company had offices at the following addresses: 70 Cornhill, 1864-6; St Clements House, Clements Lane, 1866-1867; Palmerston Buildings (known as Palmerston House from 1902), Bishopsgate, 1867-1982.
The Accident Insurance Company Limited was based at 10 St Swithin's Lane (in 1901). It was also known as the City Accident Insurance Company Limited (Feb-Mar 1870). The company was acquired in 1906 by Commercial Union Assurance Company Limited.
The company was established in 1868 for accident and fidelity guarantee. It amalgamated with the Accident Insurance Company in 1870 at which time its guarantee business was transferred to the General Guarantee Company. The Accident Insurance Company was acquired by the Commercial Union Assurance Company in 1906.
This company was established in 1862 as London and Lancashire Life Assurance Company; it was a sister company to London and Lancashire Insurance. After 1910 it expanded into general insurance as well and became known as London and Lancashire Life and General Assurance Association, but it was renamed London and Scottish Assurance Corporation Ltd in 1919. It became a subsidiary of Northern Assurance in 1923 and Northern Assurance merged with Commercial Union in 1968. London and Scottish Assurance had their first offices at 73-4 King William Street; by the time of their amalgamation in 1919 their address was 66 Cornhill.
The company was founded in 1861 for London wharf and warehouse fire insurance. It was acquired by the North British Insurance Company in 1862. This company, which was then styled North British and Mercantile Insurance Company, merged with Commercial Union in 1959. When it was established, Mercantile Fire Insurance occupied what it regarded as temporary offices at 31 Threadneedle Street.
This company was established in Manchester in 1886 for the business of fire insurance in the United Kingdom and overseas; it moved into general accident insurance after 1890. It became a subsidiary of Commercial Union Assurance in 1900.
This company was established in 1876 as Provident Clerks and General Accident Insurance Company for accident insurance business. Its address was 61 Coleman Street. It was renamed in 1907 when it merged with its sister company (Provident Clerks and General Guarantee Association) from which date it also provided fidelity guarantee insurance. In 1917 it became a subsidiary of Northern Assurance Company and was renamed Provident Accident and Guarantee Company until 1925 when it merged with another subsidiary, White Cross Insurance Association, and was restyled Provident Accident and White Cross Insurance Company. This name was changed to White Cross Insurance Company in 1949. Northern Assurance became a subsidiary of Commercial Union Assurance in 1968.
The company was established in 1849, in offices at 3 Old Broad Street, for the insurance of railway passengers. It expanded this business after 1856 to include general accident insurance in the United Kingdom and South Africa. In 1910, at which date its address was 64 Cornhill, it became a subsidiary of the North British and Mercantile Insurance Company which in turn became a subsidiary of Commercial Union Assurance in 1959.
This company was established as the Union Fire Office, in 1714 at Blackwell's coffee house on Queen Street. During 1715 it held meetings at Blacksmiths' Hall and Brown's coffee house, before settling in offices on Gutter Lane in 1716. In 1754 it moved to 11 Maiden Lane, and in 1800 to 81 Cornhill, where it remained. It was renamed in 1813 when it expanded its London fire insurance business to include life insurance in the United Kingdom and overseas. It became a subsidiary of Commercial Union Assurance in 1907 when it was restyled Union Assurance Company.
The United Kingdom Life Assurance Company was based at 8 Waterloo Place, Pall Mall (in 1852). It was established in 1834 and acquired in 1862 by the North British and Mercantile Insurance Company Limited, which became a subsidiary of Commercial Union Assurance Company in 1959.
This company was established as the World Marine Insurance Company in 1894, at 21 Finch Lane, for the business of marine, fire and accident insurance in London. It changed its name in 1914 by which time its offices were at 3-4 Royal Exchange Buildings. It became a subsidiary of Northern Assurance Company in 1920 which in turn merged with Commercial Union in 1968.
The Corn Exchange was founded in the 1740s, and the first exchange building was erected c 1750 on the east side of Mark Lane. This building was enlarged in 1827 and roofed in 1850. In 1882 it was demolished and replaced by a far larger building, designed by the architect Edward I'Anson, with an Italianate facade. The entrance to this building was on Mark Lane, but the building extended through to Seething Lane, where there was a private subscription room for the members. Until 1872 the Exchange was managed by a Committee of Members. In that year it was incorporated by Act of Parliament. Various later Acts were also obtained. In 1974 the Exchange became a limited liability company.
In 1826 a group of discontented corn traders obtained an Act of Parliament entitling them to set up a rival corn exchange, the London Corn Exchange, and in 1828 a separate London Corn Exchange building was constructed immediately north of the Corn Exchange on the same side of Mark Lane. This building was often referred to as the "New Corn Exchange", and the Corn Exchange building as the "Old Corn Exchange". In 1929 the London Corn Exchange merged with the Corn Exchange under an Act of Parliament of 1926, and the London Corn Exchange's 1828 building was demolished in 1931. The Corn Exchange's 1882 building was destroyed by enemy action in 1941, and a new building was reopened in 1953 on two-thirds of the former combined site of the Corn Exchange and the London Corn Exchange. Much of the Exchange's revenue by this date came from commercial lettings rather than members' subscriptions or the hire of dealing stands on the Exchange, and the 1953 building incorporated an 8-storey commercial office block. The 1953 building was itself demolished and rebuilt in 1973.
In 1975, following the Corn Exchange Act of that year, the shares of the Corn Exchange were admitted for the first time to the Stock Exchange Official List. By the 1980s the number of traders on the Exchange had declined severely, and in 1987 the remaining members of the Exchange's trading floor moved from Mark Lane to the Baltic Exchange in St Mary Axe.
Corney and Barrow Limited, wine and brandy merchants, successively of 65, and 6 Gresham House, Old Broad Street. The company was known in 1799 as Corney and Cowell. It underwent several changes of name until 1838, when the name Corney and Barrow was adopted.
The Corporation of Insurance Brokers was formed in 1906 as the Association of Insurance Brokers and Agents and incorporated in 1910. It aimed to represent and provide a central organization for incorporated insurance brokers. From 1910-18 it was known as the Corporation of Insurance Brokers and Agents, until the agents formed a separate Corporation of Insurance Agents (see Ms 35853). The CIB was initially based at 1-2 Queen Street, Cheapside. It moved to 59a London Wall in 1915; to 3 St Helen's Place in 1926 and then in 1961 to 15 St Helen's Place.
Desbois and Wheeler, watch and clockmakers, was based at 9 Gray's Inn Passage between 1820-1835. In 1836 the business was renamed Daniel Desbois and Sons and remained at the same premises until 1879 when it moved to 79 High Holborn. From 1902-58 the firm's address was 10 Brownlow Street, High Holborn and from 1959 to 1980 51 Carey Street. The business then appears to have moved to Hampstead.
The firm of Davison, Newman and Company, grocers and importers of West-Indian produce, was founded in 1650. It was sitauted "at the sign of the three sugar loaves and crown", 14 Creechurch Lane, Leadenhall Street, London EC3. It was bought up by the West-Indian Produce Association Limited, on 1 January 1911. The registered trade name of the present firm retains the name of the original business.
The company was formed in 1863 to carry out a concession from the Russian government; first registered on the Stock Exchange on 2 June 1863; and its name changed in 1893 to the Dvinsk and Vitebsk Railway Company Limited. It went into voluntary liquidation on 21 May 1894 after acquisition by the Russian government - shareholders received cash or Russian government bonds.
Edward Grace and Company, later Grace and Jepson, brokers and merchants, traded in slaves, oil and other commodities, in Gambia, Senegal and the West Indies. The firm had premises at 27 Exchange Alley, Cornhill and later, as Grace and Jepson, at 8 Park Cross Street, Leeds.
Exchange Telegraph Company Limited was incorporated on 28 March 1872 to transmit business intelligence, including stock and share prices and shipping news, from stock or commercial exchanges and offices of the company to subscribers. Its founders were Sir James Anderson, former captain of the "Great Eastern", which laid the first submarine telegraph cable beneath the Atlantic in the late 1860s, and an American, George Baker Field. Lord William Montague Hay was the first chairman and Captain W H Davies, former first officer of the "Great Eastern", became the first managing director.
A licence was obtained from the Postmaster-General to carry out ETC's system of telegraphy within a 900 yard radius of stock exchanges in London, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dublin. Agents were appointed in Manchester and Liverpool.
The first service (the financial service) began in November 1872 when an operator was placed in the Settling Room of the London Stock Exchange, and tape instruments were furnished to members and non-members of the Stock Exchange. In October 1874 a system was introduced whereby subscribing firms could send, through nearby Bartholomew House, messages to their representatives on the floor of the Stock Exchange, and those representatives could get in touch with their offices. The system continued in use until the old Stock Exchange building closed in 1970. A parliamentary service was begun in 1876 and a general news service in 1879. The latter included sport and foreign news. In 1882 the Glasgow and Liverpool Exchange Telegraph Companies were launched. In 1891 a legal service was instituted, reporting from the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand.
By 1906, ETC had branches in Birmingham, Bristol, Brighton, Glasgow, Hull, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Nottingham.
In 1907, a new fast financial service was begun by Frederick Higgins (ETC's chief engineer from 1872 until his death in 1915), with new, faster-working instruments of his own invention. The objects of the company were extended in 1913 to include the collecting and distributing of news worldwide, and the undertaking of advertising agency business. A statistics service was begun in 1919, to produce compact sources of information about the main activities and financial position of individual companies (these sources are now known as Extel cards). In the early 1930s, a new fast special sporting service was introduced, using page printers manufactured by Creed, Bille and Company. The foreign service closed down in 1956, and the parliamentary and general home news services closed down in 1965, as these had all proved uneconomical. Also in 1965, ETC withdrew from the joint law service which it had operated with the Press Association.
The company was involved in many legal battles, chiefly libel and copyright cases, but its fiercest and most protracted quarrel was with the Press Association. Competition between the two agencies in the reporting of sport led to a rate-cutting war in 1905. They signed, on 3 July 1906, the Joint Service Agreement, whereby they were to run joint services in all areas except London, but there were difficulties in working the agreement. The matter went to arbitration and it was not until about 1911 that the joint service began to work effectively. ETC began to build up a group of subsidiaries from 1945, when it acquired the Press Association's interest in Central News Limited (including the Column Printing Co Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary), which they had controlled jointly since 1935. Thames Paper Supplies, of Curtain Road EC3, was acquired in 1948, and the Victoria Blower Company Limited, which operated the 'Blower' telephone service for bookmakers from London and Leeds, in 1954.
In 1962, ETC bought the London and Provincial Sporting News Agency Limited, and in 1964 acquired Burrup, Mathieson and Company Limited, printers (est. 1628). In 1966 the group was reorganised. Exchange Telegraph Company Limited changed its name to Exchange Telegraph Company (Holdings) Limited and became the parent holding company of the group. It became Extel Group Limited in 1980 and Extel Group Plc in 1982. In 1987 the group was taken over by United Newspapers Limited.
ETC had offices at 11, Old Broad Street, April-July 1872; 17-18 Cornhill, 1872-1919; 64 Cannon Street, 1919-57 (and 62 Cannon Street from 1922); and Extel House (formerly Island House), East Harding Street, 1957-87. The company also opened a West End office at 8 Piccadilly in December 1876.
The origins of the firm are obscure, but trade directories suggest it was in existence by 1805 when Charles Farebrother, auctioneer, was acting from premises at 16, Old Bond Street. In 1827, the style was changed to Farebrother, Wilson and Lye. In 1836 the partnership was renamed Farebrother and Lye. In 1845 it became Farebrother, Clark and Lye. It reformed as Farebrother, Clark and Co in 1867, and as Farebrother, Ellis, Clark and Co in 1877. In 1898 it was renamed Farebrother, Ellis and Co, a style it retained until 1980 when it became known simply as Farebrother, chartered surveyors.The firm has had premises at: 16 Old Bond Street 1805; Beaufort Buildings 1806-24; 6 Wellington Street 1825-6; Lancaster Place 1827-84; 29 Fleet Street 1885-1986; and 7/9 Bream's Buildings 1987- .
From the mid 19th century the firm appears to have specialised in the collection of fee farm rents, small annual sums payable by the owners or occupiers of particular properties scattered throughout England and parts of Wales. These rents had originally been payable to the Crown, but had been sold into private ownership in the 17th century. Farebrothers acted for a great many of the owners of these rents, arranging the collection of payments all over England and not just in the London area. In addition, the firm inherited a number of 17th and 18th century fee farm rentals (Mss 22367-87 and 33848-9). It seems that many of these records were received in the form of slender gatherings relating to the estates of a few rent-owners in one or two counties at a time, and that Farebrothers had them bound together as large volumes, and annotated and indexed, to suit their own requirements (for example, Ms 33848).