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The Grand Order of Israel Friendly Society was inaugurated by Henry Angel and friends on 9 September 1896. Their aim was "to establish a Lodge in every town and city where our co-religionists reside". Membership involved a permanent allegiance to the Jewish cause and service for one's co-religionists and believed that co-operation among Jewish people helps to foster the Jewish conscience and one's obligation to fellow Jews by supporting Communal Institutions and endeavours.

In 1901 17 lodges had been established (13 in London and 4 in the provinces) with 1,856 members and funds totalling £2,733. By 1914 there were 81 lodges, 9,474 members and funds totalling £23,425.

The Grand Order of Israel became the first Jewish approved Society in the country after the introduction of the National Insurance Act in 1912 and full time staff were appointed. London was the centre of activity for the Order but lodges were set up in all the large cities of Great Britain and Ireland. During the two World Wars the Order gave assistance to 'aliens' and succour to refugees. The Order was the first Jewish Approved Society under the National Health Insurance Scheme. At the time of the merger with the Order Shield of David in 1935 there were 54 lodges, 5,871 members and funds totalling £59,000

The Order Shield of David was established in 1896 and was originally known as the Hebrew Order of Druids. By 1903 it had ten lodges in London. The first General Secretary was Frank W Woolf who held the post for more than 30 years. In 1913 the Order Shield of David became an approved Society under the National Insurance Act 1912. At the time of the merger with the Grand Order of Israel there were 41 lodges, 3,578 members and funds totalling £19,000.

The Grand Order of Israel and the Order Shield of David merged in 1935. Details of the merger were agreed at conferences in 1932 and formally confirmed on 26 August 1934. Branksome Dene Convalescent Home was opened in 1951 in Bournemouth. Members were given two weeks at the home to recover from serious illness or after hospital treatment. The stay was covered by the benefit paid by the member. It closed after 30 years and instead members received grants from the Convalescent Fund.

The 'Messenger' was established in the early 1950s was a means of communicating with Order members and increase the profile generally in the Jewish community. The Messenger was replaced by 'Achov' which was published twice a year.

The introduction of the National Health Act resulted in a decline in membership as the National Health Service provided for the medical needs of people. The Order adapted to the changing needs of its members and the focus turned to social activities, which has lead to an increase in membership. The Society ran a number of schemes from which members and their dependents benefited. These include death and sickness funds, the private patients scheme and the holiday scheme. The Order also ran a number of social events and conferences including the annual dinner and ball, quiz evenings and the annual conference.

List of Grand Masters:

Grand Order of Israel:-
1896 - 1904 H Goodman
1904 - 1907 S Ginsberg
1907 - 1910 I Kutner
1910 - 1913 P M Phillips
1913 - 1917 M Levy
1917 - 1919 H Chesney
1919 - 1922 E Goldman
1922 - 1925 J Smith
1925 - 1928 E Moss
1928 - 1934 E Goldman
1931 - 1932 A J Jacobs
1932 - 1934 J Goldberg

Order Shield of David:-
1896 - 1906 H Harris
1906 M Appleby
1906 - 1907 C F Isaacs
1907 - 1910 J W Coevorden
1910 - 1917 H Harris
1917 - 1920 M Clapper
1920 - 1923 M Goldberg
1923 - 1926 J P Grossman
1926 - 1927 A Lazarus
1928 - 1931 A Ogus

Grand Order of Israel and Shield of David Friendly Society:-
1935 E Goldman
1935 - 1936 J Goldberg
1936 - 1939 J Wilks
1939 - 1942 J Slutsky
1942 - 1949 J F Sager
1949 - 1951 S Cohen
1951 - 1952 L L Tobin
1952 - 1954 J Solomons
1954 - 1955 L L Tobin
1955 - 1957 Dr K Jessel
1957 - 1958 M Simms
1958 - 1959 Dr K Jessel
1959 - 1961 L Davis
1962 - 1964 M Simms
1964 - 1965 L Davis
1965 - 1966 H C Goodman
1966 - 1969 J Brand
1969 - 1971 J Gold
1972 - 1974 W Phillips
1975 - 1979 B Steel
1979 - 1982 N Bloom
1982 - 1985 J Sampson
1985 - 1988 M Levine
1988 - 1990 S Cross
1990 - 1993 M Birnbaum
1993 - 1996 D Collins.

Secretaries of the Orders:

Grand Order of Israel:-
A Harries 1897 - 1915
E Moss 1916 - 1920
J Solomon 1921 - 1934.

Order of Shield of David:-
H Richland 1896 - 1897
F Woolf 1897 - 1930
M Lipton 1930 - 1934.

Grand Order of Israel and Shield of David:-
J Solomon 1935 - 1948
A Richmond 1948 - 1953
J Solomon 1953 - 1959
M Pliskin 1960 - 1978
J Lindsey 1978 - 1981
S Merrin 1981 - 1984
R Meth 1984 - 1993
R Salasnik 1993.

Edward Stephen Harkness of New York founded the Pilgrim Trust in 1930 by endowing it with a capital sum of just over two million pounds. A group of Trustees were appointed to oversee the granting of funds in Britain. Stanley Baldwin was the first Chairman of the Trust and Dr Thomas Jones the first Secretary. Other trustees were Lord Macmillan, John Buchan and Sir Josiah Stamp. They had authority to expend both the capital and the income of the fund and were given the discretion of absolute owners in the choice of investments.

Until the outbreak of the Second World War grants were split equally between the preservation of the historic heritage of Britain and schemes for the welfare of the unemployed. In the first ten years the Trust made grants totalling over £1 million, of which £460,000 had been given to schemes of Social Welfare and nearly £400,000 for the preservation of national monuments, archives and the countryside and the remainder to education and research.

During the Second World War the Trust focused on the welfare of the forces and of other engaged in the war effort, and the alleviation of hardship caused by the conflict. A scheme known as Recording Britain was also established, the aim of which was to give employment to artists while recording historic buildings and places at risk of destruction. This work was published in four volumes and the original paintings and drawings were presented to the Victoria and Albert Museum. Perhaps the most successful of the Pilgrim Trust's war-time efforts was the institution of the Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts, known as CEMA, which later developed into the Arts Council of Great Britain.

After the war there was less unemployment and the Welfare State had been established so the Trust devoted its resources to the numerous cathedrals, churches and ancient buildings of all kinds which had been neglected during the course of the war and were in serious states of disrepair. The Trust received so many requests for grants from parish churches that they approached the Archbishop of Canterbury about the national problem and there followed the establishment of the Historic Churches Preservation Trust and later the Council for Places of Worship. The Trust makes annual block grants to these organisations (the former for the preservation of individual churches and the latter for the restoration of works of art within these buildings).

The Pilgrim Trust's current priorities are as follows:

Social welfare:

• Projects that assist people involved in crime or in alcohol or drug misuse to change their lives and find new opportunities.
• Projects concerned with the employment, support or housing of people with mental illness.
• Projects in prisons and projects providing alternatives to custody that will give new opportunities to offenders and so assist rehabilitation.

• Projects for young people who are looked after by local authorities in residential or foster care and for those leaving that care.

  Art and learning:

• The promotion of scholarship, academic research, cataloguing and conservation within museums, galleries, libraries and archives, particularly those outside London.

• Trustees do not exclude acquisitions for collections, but funds for this purpose are strictly limited.

  Preservation:

• Preservation of particular architectural or historical features on historic buildings or the conservation of individual monuments or structures that are of importance to the surrounding environment.
• Projects that seek to give a new use to obsolete buildings that are of outstanding architectural or historic interest.

• The preparation and dissemination of architectural or historical research about buildings and designed landscapes and their importance to the community.

  Records:

• Cataloguing and conservation of records associated with archaeology, marine archaeology, historic buildings and designed landscapes.

  Places of worship:

• The Pilgrim Trust makes annual block grants for the repair of the fabric of historic churches of any denomination to the Historic Churches Preservation Trust for churches in England and Wales and to the Scottish Churches Architectural Heritage Trust.
• The Pilgrim Trust makes an annual block grant to the Council for the Care of Churches for the conservation of historic contents (organs, bells, glass and monuments etc.) and important structures and monuments in church yards for places of worship of all denominations.

In the late 16th-century, there was a pressing need for a fresh water supply to the City of London. Work was begun on a new conduit in 1609, which was completed in 1613. The New River rises from Chadwell Spring in Hertfordshire and ends in the Round Pond at New River Head. The New River Company was incorporated in June 1619.

In 1902 the provision of London's water supply passed to the newly created Metropolitan Water Board. Following this takeover, the New River Company was re-incorporated as a modern property company.

The City of London Gas Light and Coke Company was founded in 1817, with offices at Salisbury Square, off Fleet Street. The company had gas works at Dorset Street, Blackfriars; Fetter Lane, Aldgate and Whitechapel. It was taken over by the Chartered Gas Light and Coke Company in 1870.

The Great Central Gas Consumers Company was founded in 1849. Consumers Gas Companies were usually set up in consequence of dissatisfaction with the existing suppliers, in this case the City of London Gas Light and Coke Company and the Chartered Gas Light and Coke Company, which were both charging high amounts for their gas. According to the Act of Parliament which established the Company, it was obliged to sell gas at 4 shillings per 1000 cubic feet, and to take profits of 10 percent maximum. Any profit above 10 percent was to be put towards the reduction of prices. The Company had a gas works at Bow Common. In 1870 it was taken over by the Chartered Gas Light and Coke Company.

The first Ottoman Bank was formed in 1856 as a British chartered company by a group of London businessmen with interests in Turkey. It was liquidated in 1863 when a new Turkish company, the Imperial Ottoman Bank was formed, with its head office in Istanbul and a board of directors divided between London and Paris. This new Turkish company which absorbed all the business of the old British company, operated under a concession granted by the Turkish government, and acted as the state bank of Turkey. In 1923 the new Turkish republic established its own central bank and the Imperial Ottoman Bank became an ordinary bank. In 1925 the bank reverted to its original title, the Ottoman Bank, as a condition of the renewal of its concession by the Turkish government.

The head office was located in Istanbul, but with management control resting with a board of directors, half of which sat in London and the other half in Paris, decisions taken by one half being subject to ratification by the other. Annual general meetings were held in London. Branches of the bank were opened throughout the Ottoman Empire; these became subsidiary banks when the Empire disintegrated. The branches in Turkey and subsidiaries in Yugoslavia and Syria were the particular interest of the Paris group of directors, while the London group supervised the branches in Egypt, Cyprus, Palestine, Iraq, Iran, Transjordan and Roumania. In 1969 the branches of the bank in London, Cyprus, Jordan, Sudan, Uganda, Arabia and Jersey were taken over by Grindlay's Bank.

The London office had premises at 26 Old Broad Street 1856-62; 4 Bank Buildings, Lothbury 1863-71; 26 Throgmorton Street 1872-1947 (including 27 Throgmorton Street 1925-7); 20-22 Abchurch Lane 1948-58; 18-22 Abchurch Lane 1959-69; 23 Fenchurch Street 1970-71; 2-3 Philpot Lane 1972-83; 3rd floor, Dunster House, 17-21 Mark Lane 1984-7; and King Wiilliam House, 2A Eastcheap from 1988.

Philip William Flower (1809-72) and his brother Horace (1818-99), sons of John Flower, a City of London merchant, established themselves as merchants in Sydney, Australia, in 1838, trading in connection with their father's City business. In 1842 they formed a Sydney partnership with Severin Kanute Salting (1805-65), a Dane who had invested the profits from his marine equipment business, established in Sydney in 1834, in sheep stations and sugar plantations. A further partnership was formed later with a related company in Melbourne. Philip William returned permanently to the City in about 1843 to run the London side of the business (called P . Flower and Company, 1845-72), which had a succession of offices moving from John Flower's premises at 62 Bread St to 29 Bucklersbury in 1845 and then to 4 Princes St in 1852, 6 Moorgate in 1863, and Swan House, Swan Alley in 1914.

The business was eventually run, from about 1934, from the Park Town estate office at 18 Queen's Square, Battersea. The company was involved in the shipping of wool and a wide variety of other merchandize to and from Australia and of coffee from Mysore, India; and in various other ventures including trade with South Africa. Investments were made in London property including wharfs; 2 office blocks built in the 1850s (Weavers' Hall, Basinghall Street and Danes Inn Chambers, off the Strand); Albert Mansions, Victoria Street, Westminster; and Park Town estate, Battersea (for which James Knowles the younger was the supervising architect). The property investments, particularly in the Park Town estate, are described in The Park Town Estate and the Battersea Tangle by Priscilla Metcalfe (London Topographical Society, no 121, 1978).

The Moorgate office was run by a series of confidential clerks who acted as managers, including James Gould, who died in June 1893, and his successor, Charles Potter. The Park Town estate managers were J. Melville Curtis 1878-1901, Charles Ernest Mayo Smith 1901-27, H. W. Eason, formerly office clerk at Moorgate, 1927-51, and C F Hatto, 1951-79. The estate was sold in 1979. In 1877 James Cooper was appointed agent and surveyor to the Flower estates and worked from an office in Albert Mansions. The company's solictors were Flower and Nussey of Great Winchester Street, whose Flower partners were descended from John Wickham Flower, one of Philip William's brothers.

The company was registered in 1910 as Bitter Creek Prospectors Limited, but did not do any business. In November 1910 the company name changed to Roumanian Consolidated Oilfields Limited, and it re-registered under this name in 1912 as an amalgamation of Roumanian Consolidated Oilfields Limited; Moreni (Roumania) Oilfields Limited; Central Roumanian Petroleum Company Limited; Bana Moreni Petroleum Company Limited; British Roumanian Oil Company Limited; and Roumanian Oilfields Limited.

In 1913 and 1914 respectively the company acquired Moreni Pipeline and Transport Company Limited and Roumanian Pipeline and Trading Company Limited. Refineries were built at Targoviste and Ploesti.

In November 1916 the wells, refineries, plant were destroyed to prevent them from falling into enemy hands, and claims for compensation were made to the British and Roumanian governments. Roumanian Consolidated Oilfields Limited regained possession of its properties in February 1919, but production was restricted because of the absence of export facilities. A new refinery was later erected at Ploesti. Roumanian Consolidated Oilfields Limited was taken over in 1922 by Phoenix Oil and Transport Company Limited. Until this time its registered office had been at 48 Cannon Street.

The Port of London Authority was established in 1908 to take full control of the tidal river Thames and its docks.

The Authority was housed in a large stone office in Trinity Square, overlooking Tower Hill. The offices were built between 1912 and 1922 to designs by Edwin Cooper.

The Press Association was founded in 1868 as a limited company. It was formed by provincial newspapers acting together in a cooperative venture to organise their own collection and supply of national and foreign news to their newspapers outside London. In forming the Press Association, its founders sought to produce a more accurate and reliable alternative to the monopoly service of the telegraph companies. Through their co-operation, they wanted to provide a London-based service of news-collecting and reporting with correspondents in all the major towns. The Press Association copy is always anonymous. There was a Board of seven directors, who were themselves directors, managers or editors of regional papers. There was also a Finance Committee of three directors, and a Consultative Committee which consisted of members of the Board and five previous directors. The chief executive was the general manager. Other officers included the editor, the secretary and assistant general manager, and the telecommunications manager. It was based in the Strand (1868-70), 7 Wine Office Court (1870-93), 14 New Bridge Street (1893-1922), Byron House (later 85) Fleet Street (1922-ca. 1994), 292 Vauxhall Bridge Road (ca. 1994-). In 1934 Byron House and adjoining properties in Salisbury Court and Salisbury Square were demolished for the construction of a new building. During the four years of demolition and construction, the Press Association was temporarily housed in an office in St Bride Street.

At the beginning of the First World War, the government tried to control the dissemination of news in emergency situations. A committee, later called the D (Defence) Notice Committee, was set up in 1914, under which newspapers were asked not to refer to certain matters, or to consult the War Office before doing so. An Assistant Secretary of the War Office and Edmund Robbins, the representative of the Press Association, were appointed as joint Secretaries of the Committee. If the Admiralty or the War Office wished to inform the Press of something which should not be published, the War Office would get in touch with Robbins, a meeting of the Committee would be convened or the members would be consulted, their agreement would be obtained and Robbins would send the agreed notice to the newspaper editors. The records of the Press Association included volumes of D-notices 1914-39, but these have not survived. References to D-notices may however be found in the minute books of the Management Committee (Ms 35358), manager's memoranda books (Ms 35362), Robbins' memoranda books (Ms 35417) and the typescript histories (Mss 35596-8).

In 1871 Central News was formed out of the already existing Central Press. Central News was the majority shareholder in the Column Printing Company, which distributed news to clubs, and betting and sports news to private subscribers. In 1938, the PA and Exchange Telegraph Company bought an equal share of a 81% interest in Central News, and a 75.7% interest in the Column Printing Company. By an agreement which became effective in 1947, the PA took over the Parliamentary Service and transmission plant, and the Central News library of photographs. The ETC, in return, took over the PA's shares, making it the sole shareholder in Central News, and the majority controlling shareholder in the Column Printing Company.

In 1868 an Act was passed providing for the taking over of the old telegraph companies by the State. From 1870, when the first Press Association news message was sent, to 1920, news was distributed by means of Post Office press telegrams (except to the London newspapers, which were served by messengers). The Press Association copy is always anonymous. In 1869 a contract was signed under which Reuters supplied the Press Association with foreign telegrams for exclusive use in the British Isles outside London. In turn, Reuters would disseminate Press Association news overseas. A special supplementary foreign service was started by the Press Association in 1890, later to be called Foreign Special.

In 1905 the Press Association began to use telephones to supply sports results and news items. Telephone centres were opened in Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield, and one in London in 150 Fleet Street. From 1868 to 1918 the news was mainly sent on the Wheatstone-Morse telegraph system which was subject to Post Office delays. From the beginning of the 20th century the Exchange Telegraph Company had used teleprinted machines which printed messages at a faster speed, and both Reuters and the Press Association later used this system for transmission of some of their news in London. In 1915 the Post Office proposed sharp increases in the charges for press telegrams. The increases did not come into operation until 1920 and then at a lower rate than originally planned, but by that time the Press Association had decided that it needed a more efficient system for disseminating news. From 1919 the Press Association installed its own "private wire system" using the experimental Creed-Wheatstone telegraph service, and in 1920 the first provincial telegraph service was opened in Bristol. The Creed system was abandoned in 1949 and replaced with a new voice frequency (v.f.) multi-channel teleprinter system working on 6-channel broadcast. This system was much faster as it enabled all the provincial newspaper offices to receive the news simultaneously.

The main services offered by the Press Association were general home news and Reuters' foreign news services. Additional services were gradually introduced, culminating in the introduction of the Comprehensive Service in 1941, which offered Parliamentary reports, golf, racing, cricket and football reports, as well as home and foreign news. The Press Association also provided more detailed reports, known as "Special Reporting". The opening of telephone centres by the Press Association in 1905 led to intense competition between the Press Association and the Exchange Telegraph Company. An agreement was reached in 1906 whereby the Press Association and the Exchange Telegraph Company would run a joint service in all areas except London. The service would be run by joint managers and supervised by a joint committee. Accounts would be kept jointly and audited jointly. There were difficulties in working the agreement and it was not until ca. 1911 that the joint service began to work effectively. In 1922 a Joint Commercial Service of London Stock Exchange prices and London Market Reports was agreed between the Press Association and Exchange Telegraph Company. The Press Association and Exchange Telegraph Company combined their separate Law Courts staffs in 1931, and set up the Joint Law Service. In 1945 the Press Association, Reuters and Exchange Telegraph Company concluded an agreement to pool their handling of commercial news. An agreement signed in 1961 (in effect from 1962) provided for the joint collection and sale of horse racing and greyhound racing results, betting details, and cricket and football results and scores, and for equal shares of the annual surpluses. The Exchange Telegraph Company withdrew from the joint law service it had operated with the Press Association in 1965. For the Exchange Telegraph Company's records of the joint service see Mss 23136-57.

As well as its own reporting staff, the PA employed the services of hundreds of correspondents in the UK to report on local news. The correspondents were not full-time PA staff, but usually journalists in the employment of provincial newspapers. The records are incomplete, as many records were destroyed in the early 1990s by the PA because of sewage contamination. However payments to some correspondents may be recorded in the surviving cash books (Mss 35434, 35436 and 35437/1-2).

On 1 December 1925 it was agreed that the PA should purchase a majority holding in Reuters. It bought 31,250 "A" shares (preference) and 8,750 "B" shares (ordinary) at a total cost of £160,000. This was financed by a loan of £80,000 from Lloyds, and a loan of £80,000 from the Association's members for which an issue of 800 61/2% £100 12-year Notes was made. In 1931, the PA purchased all the minority shares (18,750 "A" shares and 16,250 "B" shares) at a cost of £157,500. This was financed by a bank loan. In 1932 an offer was made to shareholders to extend the term of currency of their Notes from 1937 to 1944 and to convert them from 61/2% Notes to 5% Notes. The converted shares were called 5% Registered Notes. In 1944 the 5% Registered Notes were converted to 4% Registered Notes and the date for payment of the principal moneys was extended from 1944 to 1954. The resignation of the chairman of Reuters in 1938 led to discussions about the ownership structure of Reuters. In 1941, in response to the "national emergency", the PA sold half of the issued share capital of Reuters to the Newspaper Proprietors' Association, to form the new Reuters Trust. The PA and the NPA were each to appoint four trustees, under a chairman to be nominated by the Lord Chief Justice.

In 1867 the nominal capital of the Association was £18,000, divided into 1,800 shares of £10 each. In 1904 the capital was increased to £100,000 by the creation of 8,200 new shares of £10 each. In 1928, part of the share reserve fund was capitalised, and 4,914 new shares of £10 each were issued to existing shareholders to replace old shares. The P. A. Share Purchase Company was incorporated on 5 April 1911. The Company was created for the purchase and sale of shares of the Association and the investment of profits in government securities. It constituted a "market" for the Association's shares. The Companies Act, 1948, put a stop to the activities of the Share Purchase Company, and in 1951 it was wound up. In 1935, 400 First Mortgage Debentures at £500 each (to a total of £200,000) carrying interest at 4% were issued to finance the rebuilding of Byron Court. In 1946 a change in the Association's Private Telegraph Wire System from Creed-Wheatstone to Multi-Channel Teleprinter Working was financed by the issue of 600 4% "Second" Notes of £250 each. The Association's capital was reduced in 1951 from £100,000 to £91,360 (following the demise of the Share Purchase Company). The capital was then increased to £100,000 by the creation of 864 shares of £10 each, and later the same year from £100,000 to £500,000. In 1963 members were allowed by a change in the Articles of Association to convert Ordinary Shares of £10 into 61/2% Cumulative Preference Shares of £10. This measure was adopted to deal with the problem of passive shares. The main purpose of the Ordinary Shares was to provide services for members at a discounted rate; the shares were not intended to pay dividends. Some shares had become passive because the newspapers which held them had ceased publication or were weekly newspapers which no longer required the News Services. In 1970 the capital was increased to £1,250,000 by the creation of 75,000 Ordinary Shares of £10 each.

Only a few staff records survive for the Press Association. In the early 1990s, burst drains in the PA building contaminated the records with sewage and many of them were destroyed. It can therefore be very difficult to find information relating to PA staff at particular dates. For some staff, entries in the pension contributions books (Mss 35534-7, 35542-3, 35547, 35561-2) or records of their expenses in various cash books (Mss 35432-6) may be all there is. An annuity fund was first set up in 1897. In 1921 this fund was closed to new members following the establishment of a supplementary fund, called the "Annuity Fund (1921)", and a fund for the Association's officers, the "Officers' Fund". The two schemes were closed in 1938 (the Officers' Fund continued to pay the pensions of retired officers), and a new fund was set up, called the "P.A. Annuity Fund (1939)". The name of the fund was changed in 1944 to the "Press Association Annuity Fund", and in 1983 to the "Press Association Pension Fund". In 1882 an Insurance and Endowment Fund was set up. It was voluntary for present staff members, but new members were required to join the scheme. Each employee insured his or her life for the amount of their present annual salary. The Joseph and Jane Cowen Fund was founded with a bequest of £5000 from Miss Jane Cowen in 1950. Beneficiaries of the fund could include any person who had contributed to the work of the Association; it was not necessary to have been employed by the PA. The aims of the fund were to relieve the poverty of any beneficiary, to pay the education fees or maintenance of any dependent of any beneficiary, and to assist charitable institutions. The annuity funds and the Joseph and Jane Cowen Fund were administered by the P.A. Annuity Fund Trust Limited (established in 1939), later called the P.A. Pension Fund Trust Limited (from 1985).

The Prudential Assurance Company was established in 1848 as The Prudential Mutual Assurance Investment and Loan Association, providing loans to professionals secured through life assurance. An Industrial Department was opened in 1854, selling life insurance to the working classes by means of door-to-door agents. Following acquisitions in the 1860s, the company was renamed The British Prudential and Consolidated Assurance Company. This name was shortened in 1867 to The Prudential Assurance Company. It became a limited liability company in 1881.

In 1919, the company moved into general insurance for the first time. Overseas agencies and branches were opened in the 1920s and 1930s to sell both life and general insurance. By the 1970s, the company had made further acquisitions and it was restyled the Prudential Corporation plc in 1978. The name was changed again in 1999 to Prudential plc.

The Prudential Assurance Company was based at Hatton Garden, 1848-1879 and Holborn Bars, 1879-2006. The company subsequently relocated to offices across the UK and India; the registered office is now at Laurence Pountney Hill.

The Ralli family, originally from the Greek island of Chios, were involved from the 18th century in the mercantile trade between the Levant and Europe with bases in several European and Mediterranean ports. In the early nineteenth century, two brothers, John Stephen Ralli and Eustratio Stephen Ralli, established an arm of the merchant business in London. "Eustratio Ralli and Company, merchants" appears in London directories at various addresses, chiefly 4 Billiter Square, 1819-27, together with "Ralli and Petrocochino, Turkey merchants, 5 Union Court, Broad Street", 1820-1; "PG Ralli and Company, merchants", also at 5 Union Court, 1821-3; and "Ralli Brothers, merchants", again at 5 Union Court, 1823-6, but from 1826 chiefly at 25 Finsbury Circus, where the firm then remained for nearly 150 years, to 1961.

Three further brothers were based abroad, Augustus in Marseilles, Thomas in Constantinople and also Pandira Stephen, who in 1826 came to work in London, shortly before John Stephen left London to take up business in Odessa in 1827. The five brothers worked in partnership, trading with Europe and particularly in the Mediterranean. The records refer to various countries, including Austria, France, Greece, Italy, Persia, Russia and Turkey, and also to the Baltic, and to a wide variety of commodities, including grain, silk and wool.

The company also traded in cotton piece goods, and a Manchester branch was opened in 1827, a Calcutta branch in 1851, and a Bombay branch ten years later. The firm remained a family partnership until 1931, when it became a private limited company, Ralli Brothers Limited. In the meantime, it had expanded its operations into a number of other countries, but little of this is reflected in the surviving archives, which date mostly from before 1860. Ralli Brothers Limited became a public company in 1941, and in 1959 was taken over by General Guarantee Corporation Limited. It subsequently became part of the Bowater Group.

Robinson, David and Company Limited were timber and plywood importers of Cardiff. British Borneo Timber Company Limited (later known as Sabah Timber Company) acquired shares in the firm in 1960.

The Fund was established in 1865, and based initially at 3 Abchurch Lane. From 1867-75 it was based at 3 Royal Exchange, 1875-1900 at 86 King William Street, 1900-9 at 94 Gracechurch Street and 1909-1919 at 16 St Helen's Place.

This company was established in 1908. It was acquired by, and allied with, the London and Lancashire Insurance Company Limited in 1923. In 1961 the London and Lancashire Insurance Company was acquired by, and allied with, the Royal Insurance Company Limited.

British Fire Insurance Company Limited traded from 167 Fenchurch Street, 1908-9; 106 Charing Cross Road, 1910-11; 46 Queen Victoria Street, 1911-17; 31 Great St. Helen's, 1917-19; 1-2 Bucklersbury, 1919-25; 47-51 King William Street, 1925-41; and 149 Leadenhall Street, from 1941.

The Economic Life Assurance Society was established in 1823 in premises at 34 Bridge Street, Blackfriars. By 1850 the company was at 6 New Bridge Street where it remained until it was acquired by the Alliance Assurance Company in 1913. Alliance Assurance appear to have retained separate series for Economic Life for some years after the takeover. Alliance Assurance itself merged with the Sun Insurance Company in 1960 to form the Sun Alliance Insurance Company.

Imperial Life Insurance Company was established in 1820 for the business of life insurance in the United Kingdom as a sister company to the Imperial Insurance Company, also called the Imperial Fire Insurance Company. At first its offices were in Sun Court, Cornhill and 5 St James's Street, but in 1845 its West End premises moved to 16 Pall Mall and in 1848 its head office moved to 1 Old Broad Street. In 1893 it took over the England Assurance Institution.

In 1902, Imperial Life was acquired by Alliance Assurance and this company merged with Sun Insurance to form Sun Alliance in 1959.

This company was established in 1861 as the London and Lancashire Fire Insurance Company. In 1919 it acquired the Law Union and Rock Insurance Company Limited. In 1920 its name was changed to the London and Lancashire Insurance Company Limited. In 1961 it was acquired by, and allied with, the Royal Insurance Company Limited.

The London and Lancashire had joint head offices in London and Liverpool during some periods, but its chief administration offices were 79 Lombard Street, 1861-2; 73 King William Street, 1862-5; 158 Leadenhall Street, 1865-7; Exchange Buildings, Liverpool, 1867-9; 11 Dale Street, Liverpool, 1869-89; 45 Dale Street, Liverpool, 1889-1919; and 7 Chancery Lane, from 1919.

This company was established in 1806. It traded from 14 (re-numbered c 1850 as 15) New Bridge Street. It was acquired in 1909 by the Law Union and Crown Fire and Life Insurance Company, which was subsequently re-named the Law Union and Rock Insurance Company.

This company was established in 1834 as the York and North of England Fire and Life Insurance Company; it was renamed in 1838 at which time it had offices in London at 82 King William Street.

In 1842, at which date it was styled as York and London British and Foreign Assurance Office, it transferred its fire business to Imperial Fire Insurance Company. In 1844 its life business was merged with Standard Life Assurance Company.

Imperial Fire was taken over by Alliance Assurance Company which merged with Sun Insurance in 1959.

A charter was granted on February 26th 1555 to a group of merchants intending to trade with Russia. The company was known variously as the Russia Company, the Muscovy Company, and the Company of Merchants Trading with Russia. Sebastian Cabot was appointed the first governor of the Company in 1555, and 207 other subscribers - the majority of whom were London merchants - formed the first of the great joint stock foreign trading companies.

The charter gave the Company a monopoly of English trade with Russia which included the rights to trade without paying customs duties or tolls, and to trade in the interior. The Company's principal imports from Russia were furs, tallow, wax, timber, flax, tar and hemp. Its principal export to Russia was English cloth.

English merchants were expelled from Russia in 1646, and the Tsar ended the Company's privileges three years later. Trade resumed in 1660, when the Company was reorganised as a regulated company. It lost its monopoly in 1698, but survived as an important City institution and shared the eighteenth century revival of Anglo-Russian trade.

The Company in London appointed agents or factors in Russia, hence the term British Factory for the group of British agents. The headquarters of the British Factory was in Moscow until 1717, when it moved to Archangel. In 1723 the Factory moved again to St Petersburg. The Company also appointed a chaplain to the Factory in Russia. With the expansion of trade in the nineteenth century, the number of trading posts maintained by the Company grew to include Archangel, Cronstadt, Moscow and St Petersburg. Since 1917 the Russia Company has operated principally as a charity.

Trade directories indicate that the Company had offices at 25 Birchin Lane, 1842-53 and South Sea House, Threadneedle Street, 1854-65. At other times, the Court of Assistants appears to have met at various premises around the City, including coffee houses and livery company halls.

The early records of the Russia Company perished in the Great Fire of London in 1666.

The society was formed in 1790 and was the first trade association formed by the sugar refining industry. It held its meetings at the offices of Phoenix Assurance Company. It was also known as the Sugar Refiners Club, and Trebilcock's history of Phoenix refers to it as the Sugar Refiners Trade Committee.

The firm appears to have commenced in the late 18th or early 19th century, for there are references in a directory of 1811 to "Sparks and Sons, distillers, 134 St John Street", and in a directory of 1818 to "Sparkes and Evans, wholesale druggists, 14 St Peter's Hill". From 1823 to 1831 the firm is listed as "Thomas Sparks and Son, 134 St John St.", being described variously as "merchants" (1823-4), "druggists" (1826) and "distillers' chemists" (1831). From 1836 to 1858 the firm is listed as "Sparks and Company, distillers' chemists", at 134 St John Street, and from 1860 to 1948 as "Sparks, White and Company, distillers' chemists", or "wholesale druggists and distillers' chemists", at various addresses: 134 St John Street (1860-7), 62 St John Street (to 1909), and Albion Mills, East Tenter Street, E1 (1911-48). The firm became a limited liability company, Sparks, White and Company Limited, around 1907, and disappears from the directories after 1948, when it was acquired by another druggists, Brome and Schimmer.

Standard Chartered Bank was formed in 1969 when the Standard Bank Limited merged with the Chartered Bank. This merger created the Standard Chartered Banking Group Limited; the group consisted of the Standard Bank and the Chartered Bank along with their principal subsidiaries and associated companies.

Immediately following the merger both banks continued to operate separately with each maintaining their own board of directors and a third board being created for the Standard Chartered Banking Group Limited. It was not until 1973 that the General Management of both banks were amalgamated and 1974 when the three boards of directors were all run by the same people. On 1 October 1975 the name of the company was changed to Standard Chartered Bank Limited. In 1983 all banking operations of both Standard Bank and Chartered Bank were brought together into one company, titled, Standard Chartered Bank. In 1985 the parent company was again renamed to Standard Chartered PLC.

Following the 1969 merger the bank retained City of London headquarter premises at 10 Clements Lane (former headquarters of Standard Bank Limited) and at 38 Bishopsgate (former headquarters of Chartered Bank). In 1990 new premises were opened in Aldermanbury Square for all London staff and in 20--, the headquarters were moved to 1 Basinghall Avenue, where the bank remains situated (as at 2014)

CHARTERED BANK OF INDIA AUSTRALIA AND CHINA

The Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China, known from 1956 as The Chartered Bank, was established by Royal Charter in 1853. It was an overseas exchange bank, based in and controlled from the City of London. It was established to take advantage of the end of the East India Company's monopoly in 1853.

STANDARD BANK OF SOUTH AFRICA

The Standard Bank of British South Africa Limited, known as the Standard Bank of South Africa Limted from 1881, was incorporated on the 18 October 1862 in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Initially operating within British controlled areas, the bank gradually expanded its network to include branches across South, East and Central Africa responding to the economic development and growth of the regions.

Both the Chartered and the Standard Banks acquired shares in and merged with many other banks.

Geographical ranges these covered are as follows:

African Banking Corporation: British South Africa, Nigeria and New York

Bank of British West Africa: Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Cameroon and Canary Islands

Bank of Nigeria: Nigeria and Ivory Coast

Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China: India, China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia, Siam [Thailand], Burma [Myanmar], Singapore, Malacca, Penang and the Malay States, the Philippines, Japan, Java, Sumatra, Ceylon [Sri Lanka], North Borneo, Brunei, Sarawak, Pakistan and East Pakistan. There were also branches in New York (United States of America) and Hamburg (Germany). Despite its name, the bank never operated in Australia

Eastern Bank Limited: India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, Singapore, Malaysia, Yemen, Qatar, Iraq, Bahrain, Lebanon, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Oman

P & O Banking Corporation Limited: India, Sri Lanka, China and Singapore

E D Sassoon Banking Company Limited: London, India and China, Gulf ports, Iraq and Japan

Standard Bank of South Africa: Cape Province, Natal, Orange Free State, Transvaal [South Africa]. After amalgamations; Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Cameroon, Canary Islands and Ivory Coast

Wallace Brothers and Company (Holdings) Limited: India, Burmah [Myanmar], Thailand, Java [Indonesia], Malaysia and East Africa

Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation Limited (BBTCL) was founded in 1863. Originally called the Burmah Trading Company Limited, its name was changed shortly after its foundation. The corporation was formed as a public company to take part in the developing teak business by taking over the assets and rights in Burma of William Wallace, the eldest of the six Wallace Brothers. From 1863 until the 1950s, A F Wallace, the senior resident partner of Wallace and Company was its chairman, and Wallace and Company largely directed its affairs. Its head office was in Bombay, but its initial operations were in Burma (Myanmar) and branch offices were opened in Rangoon and Moulmein in the 1860s or 1870s.

It expanded its operations into Siam (Thailand) in 1884, Java in 1905-6, South India in 1913, North Borneo in the late 1940s and East Africa in 1955. Its trading interests (some operated directly, others through subsidiary or associated companies) were in teak (and later other timbers too), and in other commodities including rubber (from ca.1907), tea and coffee (from the 1930s) and tapioca (from 1954). For eighty years was, the BBTCL was the single largest teak company in the industry, marketing over a third of the world's teak supplies. The fortunes of the company rested heavily on teak trade from Burmese and Siamese forests. The corporation was a dealt a blow in 1942 when the Japanese invaded Burma and Siam, bringing teak production to a halt.The timber trade declined in the mid 20th century and later the company's main business was in manufacturing and Indian tea plantations, established since 1913.

A major part of Wallace Brothers' business was to act as the London agents of the BBTCL, developing markets in the United Kingdon and continental Europe for shipments of timber and providing finance to bring the cargoes from the Far East.

Wallace Brothers also purchased machinery and equipment in London on Bombay Burmah's behalf. In practice, however, since the Wallace family were the senior partners in Wallace and Company of Bombay, who in turn were managers of Bombay Burmah, Wallace Brothers were more than Bombay Burmah's London agents. Until the 1950s, Wallace Brothers had the power to exercise control over Bombay Burmah's policy and operations. In the late 19th century Bombay Burmah's dividends and staff pay were decided in London, and until ca. 1960 its senior (European) staff were selected and appointed there.

Bombay Burmah had the following subsidiaries and associated companies:

Amalgamated Saw Mills Limited

Anamallais Ropeway Company Limited

Bombay Burmah Plantations Limited

East India Rubber Corporation Limited

Joint Timber Company Limited, Thailand

North Borneo Timbers Limited

Rangoon Mining Company

Sumatra Petroleum Company

Thai Tapioca Limited

The Kerosene Company Limited was formed in 1888 by Wallace Brothers and Lane and MacAndrew (shipping brokers). In 1897 the Anglo-American Oil Company (a subsidy of the Standard Oil Company) took over direction and control of the company.

Leslie and Anderson Limited was an investment dealing company, large importing house and exporters of produce. In 1952 Wallace Brothers, through Wyer and Hawke, joined in the operations of Leslie and Anderson Limited which opened up considerable investment opportunities in Kenya, Tanganyika, Uganda and Zanzibar.The Warehousing and Forwarding Company of East Africa was a subsidy of Leslie and Anderson (East Africa) Limited dealing with warehousing, clearing and forwarding. Indian Carpets Limited was a subsidiary of Leslie and Anderson, who owned fifty percent of the business in 1950s and acquired the remaining forty percent in June 1960.

Wallace and Adam Limited was formed in 1950 when Wallace Brothers purchased a half share in the Adam Trading (Kenya) Limited who were importers of agricultural equipment. Ol Pejeta Ranching Company Limited was based on a 100,000 acre ranch in Kenya, formerly owned by Lord Delamere, in which Wallace and Adam Limited invested in. A.L.P.F Wallace was made a director. Pyrita Limited was a Wallace and Adam venture for the cultivation of pyrethrum crops.

Wyer and Hawke were set up as a formal partnership between M R Wyer who and E J Hawke who acted as the London agents for the Bombay Company Limited. The partnership was set up due to the advantages of handling exchange transactions in London and was based at the Wallace Brothers offices at 8 Austin Friars, City of London. It was staffed by senior members of the Bombay Company Limited upon their retirement from India. Wyer was a partner in Wallace and Company 1881-1892 and managing director of the Bombay Company Limited 1890-1904, when Wyer and Hawke was formed. Hawke was a managing director of the Bombay Company Limited 1903-1912. Wyer and Hawke was dissolved in 1968.

The Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China, known from 1956 as Chartered Bank, was established by Royal Charter in 1853. It was an overseas exchange bank, based in and controlled from the Copyright to this collection rests with the City of London.. It was established to take advantage of the end of the East India Company's monopoly in 1853.

The bank operated in India and throughout the Far East-in China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia, Siam [Thailand], Burma [Myanmar], Singapore, Malacca, Penang and the Malay States, the Philippines, Japan, Java, Sumatra, Ceylon [Sri Lanka], North Borneo, Brunei, Sarawak, Pakistan and East Pakistan. There were also branches in New York and Hamburg. Despite its name, the bank never operated in Australia.

Further UK branches opened in Manchester (1937) and Liverpool (1948). The bank gained a second London office and additional branches in India, Pakistan, China and Ceylon with the takeover in 1938 of the P and O Banking Corporation.

The bank's activities in the Far East were severely disrupted by World War Two and nationalist post-war governments in the region. The takeover in 1957 of rival Eastern Bank presented new opportunities. Eastern Bank was active in Chartered Bank's traditional areas of operation, but also had branches in the Middle East-in Iraq, Bahrain, Yemen, Lebanon, Qatar, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Oman. In the same year, Chartered Bank purchased the Ionian Bank's interests in Cyprus.

The bank operated from various addresses in its earliest years, and was afterwards for many years based in Hatton Court, Threadneedle Street. It moved just before the First World War to Bishopsgate, where it remained until 1969, when it merged with Standard Bank to form what is now Standard Chartered Bank.

The Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China, known from 1956 as The Chartered Bank, was established by Royal Charter in 1853. It was an overseas exchange bank, based in and controlled from the City of London. It was established to take advantage of the end of the East India Company's monopoly in 1853.

The bank operated in India and throughout the Far East - in China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia, Siam [Thailand], Burma [Myanmar], Singapore, Malacca, Penang and the Malay States, the Philippines, Japan, Java, Sumatra, Ceylon [Sri Lanka], North Borneo, Brunei, Sarawak, Pakistan and East Pakistan. There were also branches in New York [United States of America] and Hamburg [Germany]. Despite its name, the bank never operated in Australia.

Further UK branches opened in Manchester (1937) and Liverpool (1948). The bank gained a second London office and additional branches in India, Pakistan, China and Ceylon with the takeover in 1938 of the P and O Banking Corporation.

The bank's activities in the Far East were severely disrupted by World War Two and nationalist post-war governments in the region. The takeover in 1957 of rival Eastern Bank presented new opportunities. Eastern Bank was active in Chartered Bank's traditional areas of operation, but also had branches in the Middle East - in Iraq, Bahrain, Yemen, Lebanon, Qatar, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Oman. In the same year, Chartered Bank purchased the Ionian Bank's interests in Cyprus.

The bank operated from various City of London addresses: 1852 first two meetings of directors at 8 Austin Friars; November 1852 offices acquired at 21 Moorgate. December 1853-1855 rented offices at South Sea House, Threadneedle Street. 1855 rented offices at 34 Gresham House, Old Broad Street. June 1857-1866 rented offices in the City Bank building at Threadneedle Street. 1867 Former Hatton Court building on Threadneedle Street. In 1909 they moved into newly built premises on the former site of Crosby Hall where they were still at the time of the merger with Chartered Bank in 1969.

For further information on the history of the bank see Sir Compton Mackenzie, Realms of silver: one hundred years of banking in the East (London, 1954) and Geoffrey Jones, British multinational banking 1830-1990 (Oxford, 1993).

The Chartered Bank was not based around a branch-banking model, instead having a smaller number of branches in the main ports in the east to provide capital and services, usually via a network of local middle-men, to mercantile customers. Until 1909 the Chartered Bank was not authorised to act as a general banking business in London, therefore cash for Head Office customer accounts had to be obtained from the City Bank and any monies had to be paid in there also. The branches abroad generally offered advances and insurance on cargo and discounting and exchanging bills in sterling and local currency. They were involved with both the opium and cotton markets initially, later providing financial services to merchants trading in tea, coffee, sugar, hemp, silk, rubber, tin, jute tobacco, rice. Initially in India and China expanding from there into Hong Kong, Singapore, Pakistan, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Japan as the middle East including Yemen, Bahrain, Lebanon, Qatar, UAE. At various times offices were also run in New York, Hamburg and Cyprus.

The Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China, known from 1956 as The Chartered Bank, was established by Royal Charter in 1853. It was an overseas exchange bank, based in and controlled from the City of London. It was established to take advantage of the end of the East India Company's monopoly in 1853.

The bank operated in India and throughout the Far East - in China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia, Siam [Thailand], Burma [Myanmar], Singapore, Malacca, Penang and the Malay States, the Philippines, Japan, Java, Sumatra, Ceylon [Sri Lanka], North Borneo, Brunei, Sarawak, Pakistan and East Pakistan. There were also branches in New York [United States of America] and Hamburg [Germany]. Despite its name, the bank never operated in Australia.

Further UK branches opened in Manchester (1937) and Liverpool (1948). The bank gained a second London office and additional branches in India, Pakistan, China and Ceylon with the takeover in 1938 of the P and O Banking Corporation.

The bank's activities in the Far East were severely disrupted by World War Two and nationalist post-war governments in the region. The takeover in 1957 of rival Eastern Bank presented new opportunities. Eastern Bank was active in Chartered Bank's traditional areas of operation, but also had branches in the Middle East - in Iraq, Bahrain, Yemen, Lebanon, Qatar, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Oman. In the same year, Chartered Bank purchased the Ionian Bank's interests in Cyprus.

The bank operated from various City of London addresses: 1852 first two meetings of directors at 8 Austin Friars; November 1852 offices acquired at 21 Moorgate. December 1853- 1855 rented offices at South Sea House, Threadneedle Street. 1855 rented offices at 34 Gresham House, Old Broad Street. June 1857-1866 rented offices in the City Bank building at Threadneedle Street. 1867 Former Hatton Court building on Threadneedle Street. In 1909 they moved into newly built premises on the former site of Crosby Hall where they were still at the time of the merger with Chartered Bank in 1969.

For further information on the history of the bank see Sir Compton Mackenzie, Realms of silver: one hundred years of banking in the East (London, 1954) and Geoffrey Jones, British multinational banking 1830-1990 (Oxford, 1993).

George Ure Adam (appointed London Manager of the Bank in 1857, retired 1870) was in charge of opening the first branches and agencies abroad. By the late 19th Century the management of Bank premises and property had become the responsibility of the premises department based at Head Office. This department oversaw the physical management of property, fixtures and fittings, both abroad and in the UK, including branches, staff accommodation and Head Office. The premises department was also responsible for the sourcing and purchase/rental of new premises as required and was involved in insurance of premises, fixtures, fittings and cash and goods in transit as well as overseeing rental of Bank owned property to private individuals/companies. As with many other departments, the majority of correspondence was addressed to the Secretary with copies sent to the premises department for action/response.

Opening of key branches (by year opened):
1858: Calcutta, India; Bombay, India
By 1860: Singapore; Hong Kong; Shanghai, China
1862: Rangoon, Burma
1863: Batavia [Djakarta, Indonesia]
1866 (briefly): Karachi, Pakistan
1872: Manila, Philippines
1877: Surabaia, Indonesia
1877 (briefly): Colombo, Sri Lanka (reopened in 1892)
1880: Yokohama, Japan; Foochow, China
1880s (briefly): Iloilo, Philippines
1888: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Taiping, Malaysia
1892: Colombo, Sri Lanka (reopened)
1894: Bangkok, Thailand
1895: Kobe, Japan; Tientsin, China
1900: Madras, India; Cebu, Philippines
1906: Karachi, Pakistan (reopened)
1907: Ipoh, Malaysia
1909: Klang, Malaysia

1910: Seremban, Malaysia
1911: Delhi, India; Iloilo, Philippines (reopened)
1911: Canton, China

1924: Kuching, 1924
1958: Brunei.

The Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China, known from 1956 as The Chartered Bank, was established by Royal Charter in 1853. It was an overseas exchange bank, based in and controlled from the City of London. It was established to take advantage of the end of the East India Company's monopoly in 1853.

The bank operated in India and throughout the Far East - in China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia, Siam [Thailand], Burma [Myanmar], Singapore, Malacca, Penang and the Malay States, the Philippines, Japan, Java, Sumatra, Ceylon [Sri Lanka], North Borneo, Brunei, Sarawak, Pakistan and East Pakistan. There were also branches in New York [United States of America] and Hamburg [Germany]. Despite its name, the bank never operated in Australia.

Further UK branches opened in Manchester (1937) and Liverpool (1948). The bank gained a second London office and additional branches in India, Pakistan, China and Ceylon with the takeover in 1938 of the P and O Banking Corporation.

The bank's activities in the Far East were severely disrupted by World War Two and nationalist post-war governments in the region. The takeover in 1957 of rival Eastern Bank presented new opportunities. Eastern Bank was active in Chartered Bank's traditional areas of operation, but also had branches in the Middle East - in Iraq, Bahrain, Yemen, Lebanon, Qatar, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Oman. In the same year, Chartered Bank purchased the Ionian Bank's interests in Cyprus.

The bank operated from various City of London addresses: 1852 first two meetings of directors at 8 Austin Friars; November 1852 offices acquired at 21 Moorgate. December 1853-1855 rented offices at South Sea House, Threadneedle Street. 1855 rented offices at 34 Gresham House, Old Broad Street. June 1857 - 1866 rented offices in the City Bank building at Threadneedle Street. 1867 Former Hatton Court building on Threadneedle Street. In 1909 they moved into newly built premises on the former site of Crosby Hall where they were still at the time of the merger with Chartered Bank in 1969.

For further information on the history of the bank see Sir Compton Mackenzie, Realms of silver: one hundred years of banking in the East (London, 1954) and Geoffrey Jones, British multinational banking 1830-1990 (Oxford, 1993).

The Chartered Bank has periodically published and commissioned histories throughout its existence. Detailed records of the research, images produced and publication of the bank's centenary anniversary publication, 'Realms of silver: one hundred years of banking in the East' (London 1954) can be found in the Secretary's Department sub-fonds in four sub-series (CLC/B/207/CH03/01/14 - 17).

E D Sassoon Banking Company Limited was established as a subsidiary of E D Sassoon and Company Limited. It was first incorporated in Hong Kong in 1928 to coordinate the trading interests of the Sassoon family, In March 1930 E D Sassoon and Company Limited's new headquarters were opened at Sassoon House, Shanghai. In order to facilitate the investment of Bombay assets into Shanghai, E D Sassoon Banking Company Limited, was registered in 1930 (however the parent company had been handling private banking functions since 1921). The head office of the new company was in Hong Kong with branches in the City of London and Manchester. The firm continued to invest in property, choosing to purchase large hotels and office blocks. Despite successful production rates, the firm decided to dispose of the mills in Bombay after the Second World War, fearing problems as foreign owners once independence was granted. In May 1949, Shanghai and Hong Kong were under control of communist regimes and seemed unhealthy places for the company's head office so it was transferred to Nassau in the Bahamas in 1950. It is thought that Nassau was chosen because there were no forms of personal or corporation tax in place and Sir Victor Sassoon planned to live there, until his death in 1961.

E D Sassoon Banking Company Limited invested in a number of companies which it operated as subsidiaries including Far Eastern Nominees Limited and Arnhold and Company Limited.

In 1967 the structure of the company was enlarged to admit new shareholders with the head office later moving to London. Major Desmond Fitzgerald, a cousin of Sir Victor Sassoon, became chairman. The company offered a full range of banking facilities including current and deposit accounts, loans and overdrafts, acceptance credits, export finance, foreign currency exchange and other financial services and advice. Also in 1967, the Nassau office became a wholly owned subsidiary of E D Sassoon Banking Company Limited under the title of E D Sassoon Banking International Limited, Nassau, Bahamas and offered services such as company management by incorporating Bahamian holding or operating companies and trust administration.

In 1972 E D Sassoon Banking Company Limited merged with Wallace Brothers and Company (Holdings) Limited and the name of the company was changed to Wallace Brothers Sassoon Bank Limited, with registered offices at 4 Crosby Square, City of London. The name was later changed to Wallace Brothers Bank Limited in November 1974, continuing to operate from Crosby Square. E D Sassoon and Company Limited continued to exist as a separate company from 1972 and later became DK Investments (Crosby Square) Limited in 1978.

E D Sassoon Banking Company Limited's registered offices were initially Sassoon House, Hong Kong and Gloucester Building, Victoria, Hong Kong (1930-1950). In 1950 the company was incorporated in the Bahamas and the new registered offices became Fenby House, Shirley Street, Nassau, Island of New Providence, Bahamas (1950-1963) and later 324 Bay Street, Nassau, Island of New Providence, Bahamas (1963-1969).

Most of the company's operations were controlled by the London branch offices. These were based at Stone House, 140 Bishopsgate, London (1930-1934), 85 Gracechurch Street, City of London (1934-1955), 37 Upper Brook Street, Westminster (1955-1969) and Winchester House, 100 Old Broad Street, City of London (1969-1972). There were also branches at 58 Whitworth Street, Manchester and Holland House, Hong Kong.

The collection contains a pamphlet on the company's background entitled 'A century of service to finance and trade' (CLC/B/207/CH09/01/001) along with an earlier draft by Major Derek Fitzgerald which contains more detailed historical information about the company (CLC/B/207/CH09/01/002).

Geographical range:
London, India and China, Gulf ports, Iraq and Japan

In 1867 Elias David Sassoon set up the mercantile house, E D Sassoon and Company with offices in Bombay, India and Shanghai, China. The company also operated in the Gulf ports, Baghdad and Japan. The company bought up poorly performing cotton mills in Bombay and turned them into successful profitable operations. After the death of Elias David Sassoon in 1880, his eldest son Jacob took over the business and further branches were opened in Calcutta and Karachi. The firm also purchased property in Shanghai.

In the early twentieth century Jacob Sassoon played a very prominent role in forming the Eastern Bank. E D Sassoon and Company took advantage of the facilities provided by the Eastern Bank, making themselves less vulnerable to fluctuations of the rupee currency. On 1 January 1921, E D Sassoon and Company Limited was incorporated as a private trading and banking company. After the death of Sir Edward Sassoon and his younger brother Meyer, Jacob's nephew Victor Sassoon and his widowed Aunt Mozelle became the main beneficiaries of the combined business assets, then valued at £15 million. Sir Victor Sassoon became the chairman of the company and Meyer and Mozelle's son-in-law, Derek Fitzgerald was appointed manager of the London and Manchester branches.

In 1927, E D Sassoon and Company Limited was the largest mill owner in Bombay where the headquarters were then based. The company moved to new head quarters at Sassoon House in Shanghai, China in 1930. In order to facilitate investment a banking subsidiary was formed, E D Sassoon Banking and Company Limited. This new company took on the majority of the parent companies functions and continued to exist until it was taken over by Wallace Brothers and Company (Holdings) Limited and renamed Wallace Brothers Sassoon Bank Limited in November 1974. E D Sassoon and Company continued to operate as a separate company from 1972 until 1978 when it became DK Investments (Crosby Square) Limited, 4 Crosby Square, City of London.

Far Eastern Nominees (England) Limited, later Far Eastern Nominees (Nassau, Bahamas) Limited, was a wholly owned subsidiary of E D Sassoon Banking Company Limited. It was incorporated on 1936 Oct 3. Registered offices at 85 Gracechurch St, London, EC3 (1936-1955) and later 37 Upper Brook Street, London W1 (1955-19--).

Established in Calcutta in 1863 as Calcutta City Banking Corporation, changing name in 1864 to the National Bank of India. The bank was an Indian registered company, promoted by British and Indian businessmen. Its business included discounting bills and notes, dealing in exchange, and lending on security of real and personal property and securities. The bank did much to finance India's external trade in indigo, tea and coffee.

In 1866 its head office was transferred to London (where it had established a branch in 1864) and a British registered company of the same name was incorporated to acquire the business. The Indo-Egyptian Bank, based in Bombay, was acquired in the early 1860s and its office became the bank's Bombay branch. Branches were established in Hong Kong, 1869, Shanghai 1875, Madras 1877, Colombo 1881, Karachi 1884, Rangoon 1886, Zanzibar 1893, Mombasa 1896 and Nairobi 1904. By 1900 the bank had 19 branches and the balance sheet total had grown from £328,736 in 1864 to over £9.5 million. Capital and reserves stood at £850,000 and the staff numbered 800. In 1920 the projected acquisition by Lloyds Bank Limited was disallowed.

The entire share capital of Grindlays Bank Limited (bankers and agents connected with India since 1826) was acquired from National Provincial Bank Limited in 1948. The Eastern branches of Lloyds Bank Limited were absorbed in 1961 and 1965 the bank acquired a two thirds interest in Brandts Limited (merchant bankers), the remaining third being acquired in 1972. This company was subsequently known as Grindlays Brandts Limited. In 1958 Grindlays business was totally absorbed and name changed to National Overseas and Grindlays Bank Limited, then to National and Grindlays Bank Limited in 1959. In 1969 the London group business of the Ottoman Bank was acquired. Name changed to Grindlays Bank Limited in 1975. The bank was acquired by Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited in 1984.

From 'Company Archives - The Survey of the Records of 100 of the First Registered Companies in England and Wales', Lesley Richmond and Bridget Stockford.

The National Bank of Malawi was formed in 1971 when in July of that year the Standard Bank of Malawi and the Barclays Bank of Malawi merged. The two banks holding a 51 per cent share of the new company. Gradually both the Standard Bank and Barclays Bank reduced their holdings until neither had any interest remaining.

FOUNDATION AND NAME CHANGES

On 3 June 1857 a prospectus committee met in Port Elizabeth, led by John Paterson, to draft a prospectus for a new bank in the region. This early prospectus was reviewed over the next two years to create a vision of a bank which would be established in Port Elizabeth and which would grow through the acquisition of as many of the existing unitary banks in the region with a head office in London. In 1859 Paterson travelled to London to promote interest in the venture. On 15 October 1862 'The Standard Bank of British South Africa Limited' was incorporated and the first formal meeting of the inaugural board of directors was held on the 18 October 1862. The bank commenced buiness on 20 February 1863 in premises in Port Elizabeth - formerly offices of the Commercial Bank of Port Elizabeth with which the Standard had merged, the branch under the management of James Tudhope, also formerly of the Commercial Bank. In reflection of the growth of the network of branches and a change in the articles of association to allow the bank to operate outside of British controlled areas in 1881 the name of the bank was changed to 'The Standard Bank of South Africa Limited'. In 1962 the name was changed to 'The Standard Bank Limited' for operations outside South Africa with 'The Standard Bank of South Africa Limited' continuing to run as a wholly owned subsidary in South Africa.

BRANCH EXPANSION

The bank expanded its network with branches across South, East and Central Africa responding to the economic development and growth of the regions. From the first branch in Port Elizabeth the bank expanded quickly across Cape Province and by 4 January 1864 the first branch at Cape Town had opened. Outside of Cape Province the bank expanded into Natal [South Africa] opening the first branch in the region at Durban on 22 June 1863 (Manager James Alexander). The first branch in the Orange Free State opened at Bloemfontein in October 1863 (closed March 1865, reopened 26 March 1900). The Standard Bank was the first to open on the Diamond Fields in Griqua Land West [South Africa] with a branch at Klipdrift [Barkley West] opening on 12 November 1870 and the first on the Gold Fields in Transvaal with a branches at Potchefstroom and Pretoria opening in May 1877 (Manager Hugh Crawford); On 16 January 1890 the bank opened in Bechuanaland [Botswana] with a branch at Mafeking. In Rhodesia the first branch at Salisbury opened on 29 July 1892 (Manager John Boyne) and a branch opening on 4 May 1894 at Bulawayo was the first in the Matebeleland district (Manager Alexander Thain). A branch was opened in Portuguese East Africa [Mozambique] on 20 August 1894 at Delagoa Bay, Lourenco Marques. The first branch in Basutoland [Kingdom of Lesotho] opened in 1901. On 29 April 1901 the bank opened in Nyasaland [Malawi] with a branch at Blantyre (Manager H T Lewis); In Northern Rhodesia [Zambia] the bank opened at Kalomo in March 1906. In January 1911 the first branches in British East Africa [Kenya] were opened at Nairobi and Mombassa by J. J. Toogood, closely followed by further East African expansion with a branch opening on 20 August 1912 by J J Swanson in Uganda at Kampala. In August 1915 the bank opened branches in the former German territories in South West Africa [Namibia] at Luderitzbutch, Swakopmund and Windhoek and the former German East Africa [Tanzania] opening in 1916 at Dar-es -Salaam. Outside Africa agencies were opened at Hamburg in Germany (15 November 1904) and in New York (1 February 1905); a branch in the City of London was opened at London Wall and on 2 December 1918 a further branch was opened in the London West End at Northumberland Avenue.

PREMISES

In the City of London the bank first had premises in Moorgate Street and then at 101 Cannon Street before acquiring permanent premises in 1867 at 10 Clement's Lane.

In Africa the offices and operations were established at Port Elizabeth [South Africa] in 1863; In 1883 on the appointment of Joint General Managers a second administrative head office was opened at Cape Town. On 31 December 1885 the Port Elizabeth headquarters were closed and all administration transferred to Cape Town. In 1952 headquarters moved to Pretoria and in 1959 moved again to Johannesburg.

In Africa daily operations were managed from the administrative head quarters. Robert Stewart (General Manager 1864 - 1875) increased headquarter control over the early network of branches and erradicated the initial system of local boards of directors and local autonomy instead making himself the conduit implementing all executive orders issued from London and ensuing all regions were answerable to the South African General Manager. Decentralisation of Cape authority began in 1926 when the East African Superintendent began reporting direct to London rather than via the Cape and continued in the 1950s when, in 1953 a number of local boards were established. In 1956 the local board for Rhodesia and Nyasaland began to report direct to London. In 1962 the banks operations in South Africa were transferred to a subsidiary Company retaining the name, 'Standard Bank of South Africa Limited' whilst across the rest of Africa the name was changed simply to 'Standard Bank Limited'

ACQUISITIONS

The progressive expansion of the bank had been aided by its acquisitions of a number of local banks. In 1863 the Standard acquired the Commercial Bank of Port Elizabeth, Colesberg Bank, British Kaffrarian Bank and the Beaufort West Bank. In 1864 the Fort Beaufort and Victoria Bank was acquired. The 1870s saw the acquisition of the Albert Bank (1874), the Swellendam Bank (1877), The London and South Africa Bank (1877), the Caledon Agricultural Bank (1878) and the Malmesbury Agricultural and Commerical Bank (1878). In 1890 the Wellington Bank was acquired, in 1920 the African Banking Corporation was acquired and in 1966 the bank merged with the Bank of West Africa. In 1969 the Standard Bank merged with the Chartered Bank to create the Standard Chartered Banking Group Limited.

ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL

Oversight of the accounting and financial functions of the bank was managed by the Chief Accountant. He was part of the Bank's senior-level staff and was based at Head Office. Later, he headed the Accounts Department, in existence by the 1900s.

The Secretary also kept close contacts with the Chief Accountant's office and many reports and letters actioned by the Chief Accountant and his staff were copy-letters addressed to the Secretary.

The Chief Accountant during World War Two was H W Gibson. He and his office took on additional responsibilities at this time including resolving issues of enemy debtors and creditors and assimilating changes to business procedures.

In addition to the operations of the Accounts Department, the Securities Department also managed investments and securities held by the bank in order to ensure stability and good financial returns.

FOUNDATION AND NAME CHANGES

On 3 June 1857 a prospectus committee met in Port Elizabeth, led by John Paterson, to draft a prospectus for a new bank in the region. This early prospectus was reviewed over the next two years to create a vision of a bank which would be established in Port Elizabeth and which would grow through the acquisition of as many of the existing unitary banks in the region with a head office in London. In 1859 Paterson travelled to London to promote interest in the venture. On 15 October 1862 'The Standard Bank of British South Africa Limited' was incorporated and the first formal meeting of the inaugural board of directors was held on the 18 October 1862. The bank commenced buiness on 20 February 1863 in premises in Port Elizabeth - formerly offices of the Commercial Bank of Port Elizabeth with which the Standard had merged, the branch under the management of James Tudhope, also formerly of the Commercial Bank. In reflection of the growth of the network of branches and a change in the articles of association to allow the bank to operate outside of British controlled areas in 1881 the name of the bank was changed to 'The Standard Bank of South Africa Limited'. In 1962 the name was changed to 'The Standard Bank Limited' for operations outside South Africa with 'The Standard Bank of South Africa Limited' continuing to run as a wholly owned subsidary in South Africa.

BRANCH EXPANSION

The bank expanded its network with branches across South, East and Central Africa responding to the economic development and growth of the regions. From the first branch in Port Elizabeth the bank expanded quickly across Cape Province and by 4 January 1864 the first branch at Cape Town had opened. Outside of Cape Province the bank expanded into Natal [South Africa] opening the first branch in the region at Durban on 22 June 1863 (Manager James Alexander). The first branch in the Orange Free State opened at Bloemfontein in October 1863 (closed March 1865, reopened 26 March 1900). The Standard Bank was the first to open on the Diamond Fields in Griqua Land West [South Africa] with a branch at Klipdrift [Barkley West] opening on 12 November 1870 and the first on the Gold Fields in Transvaal with a branches at Potchefstroom and Pretoria opening in May 1877 (Manager Hugh Crawford); On 16 January 1890 the bank opened in Bechuanaland [Botswana] with a branch at Mafeking. In Rhodesia the first branch at Salisbury opened on 29 July 1892 (Manager John Boyne) and a branch opening on 4 May 1894 at Bulawayo was the first in the Matebeleland district (Manager Alexander Thain). A branch was opened in Portuguese East Africa [Mozambique] on 20 August 1894 at Delagoa Bay, Lourenco Marques. The first branch in Basutoland [Kingdom of Lesotho] opened in 1901. On 29 April 1901 the bank opened in Nyasaland [Malawi] with a branch at Blantyre (Manager H T Lewis); In Northern Rhodesia [Zambia] the bank opened at Kalomo in March 1906. In January 1911 the first branches in British East Africa [Kenya] were opened at Nairobi and Mombassa by J. J. Toogood, closely followed by further East African expansion with a branch opening on 20 August 1912 by J J Swanson in Uganda at Kampala. In August 1915 the bank opened branches in the former German territories in South West Africa [Namibia] at Luderitzbutch, Swakopmund and Windhoek and the former German East Africa [Tanzania] opening in 1916 at Dar-es -Salaam. Outside Africa agencies were opened at Hamburg in Germany (15 November 1904) and in New York (1 February 1905); a branch in the City of London was opened at London Wall and on 2 December 1918 a further branch was opened in the London West End at Northumberland Avenue.

PREMISES

In the City of London the bank first had premises in Moorgate Street and then at 101 Cannon Street before acquiring permanent premises in 1867 at 10 Clement's Lane.

In Africa the offices and operations were established at Port Elizabeth [South Africa] in 1863; In 1883 on the appointment of Joint General Managers a second administrative head office was opened at Cape Town. On 31 December 1885 the Port Elizabeth headquarters were closed and all administration transferred to Cape Town. In 1952 headquarters moved to Pretoria and in 1959 moved again to Johannesburg.

In Africa daily operations were managed from the administrative head quarters. Robert Stewart (General Manager 1864 - 1875) increased headquarter control over the early network of branches and erradicated the initial system of local boards of directors and local autonomy instead making himself the conduit implementing all executive orders issued from London and ensuing all regions were answerable to the South African General Manager. Decentralisation of Cape authority began in 1926 when the East African Superintendent began reporting direct to London rather than via the Cape and continued in the 1950s when, in 1953 a number of local boards were established. In 1956 the local board for Rhodesia and Nyasaland began to report direct to London. In 1962 the banks operations in South Africa were transferred to a subsidiary Company retaining the name, 'Standard Bank of South Africa Limited' whilst across the rest of Africa the name was changed simply to 'Standard Bank Limited'

ACQUISITIONS

The progressive expansion of the bank had been aided by its acquisitions of a number of local banks. In 1863 the Standard acquired the Commercial Bank of Port Elizabeth, Colesberg Bank, British Kaffrarian Bank and the Beaufort West Bank. In 1864 the Fort Beaufort and Victoria Bank was acquired. The 1870s saw the acquisition of the Albert Bank (1874), the Swellendam Bank (1877), The London and South Africa Bank (1877), the Caledon Agricultural Bank (1878) and the Malmesbury Agricultural and Commerical Bank (1878). In 1890 the Wellington Bank was acquired, in 1920 the African Banking Corporation was acquired and in 1966 the bank merged with the Bank of West Africa. In 1969 the Standard Bank merged with the Chartered Bank to create the Standard Chartered Banking Group Limited.

Thomas Tayler Curwen (1820-1879) went into business as a stock and share broker in around 1849. In 1878 he took his sons, Edward Spedding Curwen (b. 1852) and Thomas Cecil Curwen (b 1854) into partnership with him, and the name of the firm was changed to T T Curwen and Sons. In 1974 the firm was incorporated into William Morris and Company.

The firm was based at 3 Bartholomew Lane (1849-67), 19 Change Alley (1868-1905), 1 Cornhill (1905-33), 80 Cornhill (1933-53), Westminster House, Old Broad Street (1954-64), and 39/41 New Broad Street (1965-74).

In 1885 the General Credit and Discount Corporation of London Limited amalgamated with the United Discount Corporation Limited to form the Union Discount Company of London Limited. It soon became the largest London discount house in terms of turnover and deposits; a position it held until the 1980s. In 1891 it acquired the discount houses of Harwood Knight and Allen, and Green Tomkinson and Company. An office in Edinburgh was opened in 1975. The company became the Union Discount Company of London PLC in 1994.

The company was based at 38 Lombard Street (1885-90) and 39 Cornhill (1890-). In 1973-9 the company moved temporarily to 78-80 Cornhill while its main offices were undergoing renovation work.

Welch, Margetson and Company, a firm of menswear manufacturers specialising in shirts, collars, silk handkerchiefs, silk neckties, scarves and braces, was established in 1832. It was one of the first companies to introduce an in-working factory arrangement for the making of shirts. In 1847 the first Londonderry factory was opened, followed by Carlisle Road factory, Londonderry, in 1876. A tie factory was built in Bermondsey in 1890, to which the production of all other company products moved in due course. Early in the 20th century a factory for the shirt, collar and tie trade was opened in Melbourne, Australia, and in 1911 a limited liability company was formed, Welch, Margetson and Company (Overseas).

Welch, Margetson and Company became a public company in 1948 and was taken over by Viyella International Limited in 1968. During the early 20th century there was a company social club called the Crownfield Sports and Social Club. The Martus Fifty Club, a social club for employees who had completed fifty years with the company, was formed in 1949.

The company was based at 7 Farringdon Street (1832-5), 132 Cheapside (1836-43), 134 Cheapside (1844-9), 17 Cheapside and 46 Old Change (1850-7), 16-17 Cheapside (1858-98), 16-30 Moor Lane (1899-40), 5 Warwick Street (1943-63) and 237 Long Lane, Bermondsey (1929-).

John Barnsdale (1800-65) was born into a family of clockmakers from Bale, Norfolk. In 1825 he married Sarah Elizabeth Barnsdale in Shoreditch. In 1862 he moved his clockmaking business to 11 Brunswick Place. On his death in 1865, the business was taken over by his third son, William Barnsdale (1834-1921), who moved it to 16 Brunswick Place in 1868 and then to 18 Brunswick Place in 1871. William Barnsdale was Master of the Clockmakers' Company in 1906. He married Sarah Augusta Clinch (1832-99) in 1859. From 1902-22 the firm is listed at J Barnsdale and Son. From 1923, after his father's death, William James Barnsdale (1860-1935) took on the business, moving it to 3 Newman's Court, where it was known as William James Barnsdale and Son. He married Amelia Ricards in 1891 and the family lived in Stamford Hill. William James Barnsdale was Master of the Clockmakers' Company in 1919 and 1930. On his death, his son Stanley Barnsdale (1894-1973) took over the business, moving premises to 10 Queen Street from 1953-60.

James Henry Archer was baptised in 1814 in St Botolph Aldgate, son of James and Frances Archer. By 1871, he was a widower, and living only with a servant.

According to London directories, Suse and Sibeth had premises at 35 Lime Street and at 15 Cullum Street from the 1860s until 1885. They were Dutch merchants trading with Holland.

Founded in 1939, the Association was based first at 84 Leadenhall Street. It moved to 5-7 Houndsditch in 1959, then to 24 St Mary Axe in 1968. After circa 1965 it was known as the Association of Organic and Compound Fertilisers Limited. It does not appear in the ratebooks after 1972.

The firm of Bruce de Ponthieu and Company, merchants and East India agents, of 71 Old Broad Street, became Bruce de Ponthieu Bazett and Company (1805-12); Bruce Bazett and Company (1813-16); Bazett Farquhar Crawford and Company (1816-28); and Bazett Colvin Crawford and Company (1829-33).

Reginald Alfred Bennett (1873-1949) moved to London from Manchester to begin work in the City of London in 1889. He was a partner in the stock jobbing firm of Smith, Wright and Bennett from 1908 to 1915 when he established R. A. Bennett and Company. From 1910 to his death, he conducted his business from 20 Copthall Avenue.

Thomas Blossom was a coachbuilder who later worked in the Windward Islands for the London Missionary Society first as a carpenter, then from 1823 attempting to establish the manufacture of cotton.

John Bridgman (1766-[1804]) was the fourth child of Richard Bridgman (1731-70), a tea dealer from Aldgate, and Sarah, his wife. He became free of the Grocers' Company (by patrimony) in 1787. His brother Richard Whalley Bridgman (1762-1849) became clerk of the Grocers' Company. He set up in business with his brother William Bridgman (b 1767, free of the Grocers' in 1790) at 24 Austin Friars in 1792. By 1794 they were trading as Bridgman, Combes and Bridgman. The firm moved to 29 Throgmorton Street in 1794, to 36 Old Jewry, 1795-7, and 9 Finch Lane, Cornhill, 1797 (previously the address of Bridgman and Stuart, merchants).

From 1 March 1797 John Bridgman traded alone as a West India merchant from 80 Hatton Garden, moving to 83 Hatton Garden in 1800, and to Church Court, Lothbury in 1803. He is not listed in the directories after 1803.

At the front of the volume are brief notes on the history of the company, compiled in 1929. The notes suggest that the firm was established in 1765, but the firm is first listed in the London trade directories at 31 Cateaton Street (later Gresham Street) from 1781-1825 under the styles John Cowley; Cowley, Son and Sancton; and Cowley and Sancton. The firm is described by various trades, including merchants, linen factors and scotch factors. From 1826-40 the firm is recorded, at the same address, as Cowley and Hewetson.

From internal evidence in the volume the firm had a warehouse in Blackwell Hall Court in the 1820s and the partners for the period 1825-34 appear to be Samuel Norman Cowley and Henry Hewetson. From 1841 the firm is styled in the London trade directories as Henry Hewetson and Co at various addresses including 55 Wood Street. The last mention of the firm in the directories is in 1976, when it was sited in Stoke Newington.