Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1846-1906 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
13 production units.
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Benjamin Charles Thomas Gray appears to have started in business in London as a West Indies merchant in about 1832. By 1846 he was already also acting as a North America merchant, and had taken his son Charles William Gray into partnership. The firm was known at this time as B.C.T. Gray and Son. By 1856 another son, Benjamin Gerrish Gray, was also a partner, and the firm was styled B.C.T. Gray and Sons. BCT Gray died in 1853, and in 1858 Benjamin Gerrish Gray resigned his partnership in favour of his brother Ambrose Gosling Wentworth Gray. The firm was then known as Charles William and Wentworth Gray until it disappeared c 1910. On Charles William Gray's death in 1880, he was succeeded in partnership by his son Lewis Gray. The firm traded successively from Upper Stamford Street; Great Surrey Street, Cornhill; Lime Street and Great St Helen's.
Repository
Archival history
GB 0074 CLC/B/023 1846-1906 Collection 13 production units. BCT Gray and Sons , merchants
Benjamin Charles Thomas Gray appears to have started in business in London as a West Indies merchant in about 1832. By 1846 he was already also acting as a North America merchant, and had taken his son Charles William Gray into partnership. The firm was known at this time as B.C.T. Gray and Son. By 1856 another son, Benjamin Gerrish Gray, was also a partner, and the firm was styled B.C.T. Gray and Sons. BCT Gray died in 1853, and in 1858 Benjamin Gerrish Gray resigned his partnership in favour of his brother Ambrose Gosling Wentworth Gray. The firm was then known as Charles William and Wentworth Gray until it disappeared c 1910. On Charles William Gray's death in 1880, he was succeeded in partnership by his son Lewis Gray. The firm traded successively from Upper Stamford Street; Great Surrey Street, Cornhill; Lime Street and Great St Helen's.
The archives were deposited in the Manuscripts Section of Guildhall Library by a member of the family in August 1984, and converted to an outright gift on 31 July 2006. The Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section merged with the London Metropolitan Archives in 2009.
The archives consist almost entirely of business and partnership correspondence of A.G. Wentworth Gray between 1856 and 1906. They therefore include some private and family material. The firm dealt in a wide variety of goods and cargoes. The records contain references to, inter alia: beef, pork, cocoa, flour, sugar, limes, molasses, rice and timber.
Access to Mss 21409, 21411, 21412 and 21413 is subject to special conditions: for further information please ask a member of staff.
Records arranged by MS number, assigned during cataloguing at the Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section.
Available for general access.
Copyright to this collection rests with the City of London.
English
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
It is believed that some earlier papers were given by the family some years ago to libraries in North America and Nova Scotia.
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
November 2010 to January 2011. Industry Manufacturing industry Food industry Meat trade Overseas trade Information sources Documents Business records Sugar trade Trade International trade Trade (practice) Food trade Cocoa trade Timber merchants Merchants Mercantile personnel Personnel People by occupation People BCT Gray and Sons , merchants City of London London England UK Western Europe Europe
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
The archives were deposited in the Manuscripts Section of Guildhall Library by a member of the family in August 1984, and converted to an outright gift on 31 July 2006. The Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section merged with the London Metropolitan Archives in 2009.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
The archives consist almost entirely of business and partnership correspondence of A.G. Wentworth Gray between 1856 and 1906. They therefore include some private and family material. The firm dealt in a wide variety of goods and cargoes. The records contain references to, inter alia: beef, pork, cocoa, flour, sugar, limes, molasses, rice and timber.
Access to Mss 21409, 21411, 21412 and 21413 is subject to special conditions: for further information please ask a member of staff.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Records arranged by MS number, assigned during cataloguing at the Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Available for general access.
Conditions governing reproduction
Copyright to this collection rests with the City of London.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
- Latin
Language and script notes
English
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
It is believed that some earlier papers were given by the family some years ago to libraries in North America and Nova Scotia.
Finding aids
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- English