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Papers of Richard Cobden Phillips, including Phillips' letter book recording out-letters from Ponto da Lehna and Banana Congo, Sep 1883-Oct 1885, including to his family on personal matters and to the Standard on political and social conditions; eighteen sepia photographic prints of scenes along the Congo river including of Henry Morton Stanley and party; two certificates of corresponding membership from the Bremen and Hamburg Geographical Societies, 1883.

Letters and accounts from Gunter, Greenway & Co. to Joseph Previté concerning the import and export of groceries. The account books cover the period March 1840 to March 1843.

The records of PW Flower and Sons, merchants, concern the company's trading interests and property investments, and the affairs and investments of the Flower family (see CLC/B/173/MS19469 for a Flower family tree) and of other families with shared or related interests; they include the papers of various trustees by whom some family and business activities were administered.

The records include:

• Mss 19338-55: business records: general, or relating to more than one country;
• Mss 19356-78: business records: Australia, including some Salting family papers (see also Mss 19470-89);
• Mss 19379-93: business records: India, including some Pearse family papers;
• Mss 19394-99: estate records: general or relating to more than one estate;
• Mss 19400-9: estate records: individual estates or properties (except Park Town);
• Mss 19410-38: estate records: Park Town, except maps and plans which are catalogued in the Print and Maps Section;
• Mss 19439-46: family records: executors of P.W. Flower, including references to business and estate matters;
• Mss 19447-69: family records: general, including references to business and estate matters;
• Mss 19470-89: Papers relating to the Salting family of Australia (with which the Flower family had business connections; see also Mss 19356-78) and in particular to George Salting (d 1909) art collector and benefactor to public art galleries.

Account book of an unidentified Dutch merchant in London, apparently trading mainly with Antwerp, Belgium.

Records of Ralli Brothers Limited, merchants, comprising printed annual reports 1953-60; financial records 1814-1857; powers of attorney 1839 and 1847; correspondence 1868-1872; business papers 1836-1866 and 1908, and report on organisation 1939; letting agreement 1843 and historical notes 1902-1952.

Records of merchants John Richards and John Rooke, comprising invoice and account of sales books.

Agreements for the hire of vessels at Bathurst, Australia, to the River Gambia Trading Company Limited.

The collection of primarily bound volumes comprises the business documents of Robert Newman and Co., and related companies, 1774-1955. The documents themselves include letter books, journals, ledgers, account books, memorandums and ship registers, and relate chiefly to trading in Newfoundland, Canada. Many of these internal working documents were originally intended to serve as permanent records. They can provide the researcher with a general overview of the financial and statistical history of the firm, giving a record of transactions as they occurred. In addition, they offer a degree of descriptive information, showing the development of codes and ciphers used by the firm, an insight into labour relations, and a detailing of the raw materials used for trade.

The records relate to the following company names; Hunt Newman Roope and Co; Hunt Roope and Co; Hunt Roope Teage and Co; John Newman and Co; Newman and Co; Newman Hunt and Co; Newman Hunt and Lyon; Newman and Land; Newman Land Hunt and Co; Newman and Roope; Robert Newman and Co.

Volumes 2 and 102 are missing from the collection and number 91 was not originally used when the items were acquisitioned.

Records of the Russia Company, including:

• Copies of charters, 1554-1628;
• Court minute books, 1666-1999;
• Financial records, 1699-1995;
• Correspondence, 1879-1943;
• Correspondence and other papers, 1711-1888, 1885-c.1908, 1916-1919, 2005;
• Annual reports, 1905-1953;
• Stamp duty book, 1896-1947;
• Administrative records, 1877-1946;
• Papers relating to the Anglican chaplaincies in Russia, 1894-1917, 1993-7;
• Records of the Council for British Repatriated from Russia, 1919-1932;
• Records of the British Factory, St. Petersburg, 1774-1875.

Correspondence relating to the trade of Sandbach, Tinné and Co. with British Guiana, 1808-1909, including correspondence with McInroy, Parker & Co. of Glasgow (9 letters, 1817-1829), with McInroy, Sandbach & Co. of Demerara, British Guiana (about 40 letters 1815-1852), with Blackwood, Conor and Co. from 1879 and with Sandbach, Parker and Co. from 1870.
Single correspondents include P.J. Tinné, Liverpool (1816); James McInroy, Demerara (1808) and Glasgow (1811), both to Samuel Sandbach in Liverpool; Peter McLagan, Georgetown, Guiana (1821), to S. Sandbach; George Rainy, Demerara (1828-1832), and Cheltenham (1839); and some copies of letters from other correspondents.
The letters concern the shipping of coffee, rum, sugar, cotton, and other merchandise to England, and contain incidental references to French, Dutch and English plantations in Guiana, financial arrangements, the state of crops and the labour force, and the use of machinery in plantations e.g. for cane-grinding. The letters of George Rainy also discuss the partnership, apparently between himself, Sandbach, and Tinné.
Also included are an invoice of goods shipped to Demerara, 1810; an account of McInroy, Parker & Co., with Sandbach, Tinné & Co., 1817; copies of the loading lists of ships; 5 printed cheques of Messrs. Hodsoll & Stirling, 345 Strand, London, May 1810, and 2 of Sir Charles Price, Kay, Price & Coleman, 1 Mansion House St., London, 1815 and 1816; a 'Memorandum of Copper, Bricks, Tools etc. required in the new machinery in Plantation Providence' (1866); a printed prospectus for Dissolved Peruvian Guano (1866); a 'Sketch showing proposed exchange of land between Plantations Peters Hall and Providence' (1869); and a 'Memorandum on Sandbach, Parker & Co.'s Sugar Purchases from Estates [in Guyana]' (1907).

Records of George G Sandeman, Sons and Company Limited, wine shippers and cotton merchants, comprising financial records 1799-1812 and 1838-9; an order book 1792-1809; merchant bankers' ledger 1817-1819; letter books 1795-1797 and 1885-1887; shipment register 1869-72; trade circulars 1840-2; private account books of stocks and shares 1821-60; and a copy of a letter by George Sandeman dated 1790.

Papers of Clive Macmillan Schmitthoff, c 1880-1990, including official and personal correspondence on topics including royalties, publisher contacts, conferences, obituaries of friends, wartime correspondence, references, academic societies, course notes, arbitration rules in the London Chamber of Commerce summer schools, c 1980-1995 and professional commercial treaties - correspondents include the Board of Trade, the International Chamber of Commerce and the Institute of Import and Export; press cuttings; appointment diaries; notebooks; lecture notes; articles; videos and cinefilm, c 1960-1985; photographs, including family photographs c 1890-1994; minutes of meetings and other papers relating to arbitration, Frankfurt, 1968-1969, Turkey, 1968 and Uganda, 1990; City of London College photographs and correspondence with London Chamber of Commerce Law Committee, c 1945-1990; personal papers including nationalisation documents, revocation right to practice in Germany and papers relating to his change of name and correspondence and papers relating to his wife's family (Ilse Auerbach).

Papers, 1893-1940, of the Rev Charles Perry Scott and the Rev Percy Melville Scott, together with those of fellow missionaries of the North China and Shantung Mission. Also included is a continuous series of the North China and Shantung Mission Quarterly Papers (January 1893-October 1936), and the correspondence and diaries of Maurice Woodforde Scott dating from his time in China with Butterfield & Swire (1934-1937).

Records, 1909-1932, of Serdang Central Plantations Ltd, comprising Articles of Association, correspondence, annual reports and agreements relating to the voluntary liquidation and reconstruction.

Papers of William Sherriff relating principally to historical and survey work on plans for a Burma-China railway through the Shan States of Northern Burma, [1885-1900], including a survey by Sherriff on the feasibility of a Burma to China railway for Rangoon Chamber of Commerce, [1886-1899]; article by Sherriff in the Manchester Guardian, 'Railway communication with China - The Burmah-China Railway', 09 Mar 1900; correspondence, 1888-1890; blueprints for the Burma Railways Mandalay Kunlon railway, 1899; note by [A] R Colquhoun entitled 'Amongst the Shans', 1885; report by Capt A Bowers, 'Bhamo Expedition Report in the Practicability of reopening the trade route between Burma and Western China', 1869; memorandum on a possible railway route on to the Shan Plateau, 1889; reports on the Shan States, 1887-1889 and notes by Sherriff relating to Burma.

Papers relating to the South Africa Conference (1892-1971). The collection consists of a series of volumes dating from 1892 to 1971. SAC/1-4 relate to the various trade routes between Europe and Southern Africa, and consist of minutes of the various meetings held. SAC/6-9 consists of the South Africa Conference major meetings, including meetings with D.O.A.L, between shipowners, committee and joint minutes. SAC/10 is a volume containing various agreements between the conference and the countries it traded with.

Letters of attorney given by holders of South Sea stock in Amsterdam, The Hague and Geneva to London merchants respecting their stock, 1731-1739.

Notebook containing a draft address to Robert, Earl of Oxford, by the subscription commission of the Corporation for carrying on trade to the South Seas, [1711], including a list of subscribers of more than £3,000. The names of Governors and Directors of the Corporation are indicated by a mark in the margin. The last page of the book has been reused for personal accounts, including the purchase of female mourning clothes, 1720.

Printed reports of the House of Commons Committee of Secrecy, 1721, appointed to enquire into the 'Act for Enabling the South Sea Company to increase their present capital stock by redeeming such publick debts and incumbrances...and for calling in Exchequer Bills remaining uncancelled...'.

Papers of Thomas Abel Brimage Spratt, consisting of various reports, 1850 to 1884, which include surveys (particularly of the Black Sea area); remarks on Crete and the Cretans; on the coal trade of the Black Sea; on a new harbour at Malta; on an electric cable between Malta and Alexandria; reports submitted to the Teignmouth Harbour Commission and Fishery Commission reports for England and Ireland. Spratt's correspondence consists of a few letters received and some draft replies, 1853 to 1860. The memorandum of his service, 1837 to 1862, contains an account of his part in the Crimean War. His publications are also listed.

Mainly records of predecessor companies of Standard Chartered Bank, including African Banking Corporation; Bank of British West Africa; Bank of Nigeria; Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China; Eastern Bank Limited; E D Sassoon Banking Company Limited and related companies, London and South African Bank; P & O Banking Corporation Limited; Standard Bank of South Africa Limited and Wallace Brothers and Company (Holdings) Limited (together with Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation Limited)

The papers include foundation papers; minutes and agendas (except signed Board and Committee minutes which are retained by the bank); annual reports and accounts; financial and taxation records; papers relating to branches and agencies; agreements; papers relating to shareholders and investments; correspondence (including a large series of letterbooks for Standard Bank of South Africa); statistics; photographs; publicity material; administrative records and original banknotes and cheques.

The records of general merchants Steel Brothers and Company Limited mainly comprise annual reports and accounts, photographs and unpublished histories.

Records of merchants Stratton and Gibson (later known as Stratton, Gibson and Fuller) comprising two series of account books, 1798-1817.

Records, 1869-1967, of John Swire & Sons Ltd, comprising the bulk of known surviving material stored in the London Office, covering the development of the firm from about 1870 to 1947, and including series of correspondence coming in and out of the London Office; legal material including original deeds and leases; accounts; organisation papers; and photographs. The importance of the collection lies in the comprehensiveness of the nineteenth and twentieth century correspondence in illustrating the development of the firm and its subsidiaries from the London side where policies were decided, and from the Eastern side where they were implemented. It also gives a good picture of leading figures and firms involved in the Far Eastern trade at that time such as Jardine, Matheson & Company, the China Merchants Company and Holt's, and reveals aspects of Chinese trade and British business philosophy at the end of the Victorian era.

Records of T Wiggin and Company, merchants, comprising ledgers 1858-74; waste books 1864-72; out-letter book 1865; correspondence and accounts 1865-72.

Mainly letters written and received between 1770 and 1835 by Simon Taylor, his family and heirs, and his friends, agents and business partners, relating to their Jamaican estates and business interests. Over a quarter are contained in Simon Taylor's letterbooks. Though the majority of the correspondence consists of letters either to or from Simon Taylor up to his death in 1813, there is also correspondence of other family members, like his brother Sir John Taylor (1741-1786) and his widow Lady Elizabeth Haughton Taylor (1758-182[?2]), their son and his heir Sir Simon Richard Brissett Taylor, and his cousin and business partner Robert Taylor. Subject matter ranges from the domestic (illness, family quarrels, disinheritance, bigamy) to business (slaves, sugar, trade and shipping, the effects of hurricanes, the introduction of a steam engine on an estate), to the Maroon and French wars and the politics of Abolition. The collection also includes correspondence of George Watson Taylor, 1815-1819, and detailed reports on the estates made for Anna Susannah Watson Taylor in 1835. Genealogical tables for the Taylor, Haughton, Brissett and Hibbert families have been added to the collection at a later date.

This is a collection of records of various companies involved in the trading of Ceylon [now Sri Lanka] and Indian teas. It consists of import registers for an un-named company, auction catalogues for private trade teas and photographs of tea plantations, possibly in Ceylon, and the offices and staff of R.M. Holborn and Sons Limited, tea and coffee merchants.

Legal and business papers of Thomas Vyse and Sons, merchants.

Records of Thorne and Company Limited, merchants, including letter books; financial records; partnership deeds; share certificates; insurance policies and papers relating to land leased by the company in Shanghai.

Information regarding the value of the trade of Britain and Ireland, 1698-1765.

Records of East India and general merchants Tribble, Pearson and Company. The records comprise partnership and tenancy agreements 1914-1957, financial records 1940-72, records of sales and purchases, including correspondence and ledgers, 1929-72, correspondence regarding finance and insurance 1933-70, correspondence with customers 1941-1975, records relating to trade, including papers regarding trademarks, specification books of products and a trade association membership certificate, 1900-1970, correspondence regarding the destruction of the company office 1941-1943, advertising material c 1942 and c 1950, cable books, telegraphic code book and postage book 1897-1959.

The collection also includes a register of members of the International Produce Exchange (1926) Limited 1926-1927 and 1955-1956; its connection with the firm is unknown.

Papers of Van Ommeren (London) Limited, comprising Charter Party guard books, 1940 to 1944, 1949 to 1952, 1955 to 1965; a commission book, 1965 to 1969, and a brokerage book, 1968.

Papers of Wallace Brothers and Company Limited, East India Merchants, bankers and London agents, later known as Wallace Brothers and Company (Holdings) Limited. Most of the records emanate from the core business of the Wallace Brothers partnership and its successors; but some emanate from the business of associated or subsidiary companies which were based in London. The latter include the records of Wyer and Hawke, London agents of Bombay Company Limited, who operated from the London office of Wallace Brothers between 1912 and 1968.

The archive does not hold the papers of Wallace Brothers' associated or subsidiary companies based overseas. No lists of the papers of these companies are held, and their whereabouts and accessibility are unknown. However the archives transferred to Guildhall from Wallace Brothers' London office include a considerable amount of information about the activities of many of these companies, including numerous copy and original documents sent to London by the companies concerned.

Besides papers created or received in the course of business, the Wallace Brothers archives include some memoirs of partners, directors or members of staff, and notes of research into the history of Wallace Brothers and its associates and subsidiaries.

The business papers date from 1862 to 1989, and relate to all aspects of Wallace Brothers' operations, although few banking records are held, and only formal business records survive from the period ca. 1966-1989.

Access is subject to a 45-year closure period (70 years in the case of personnel records). Annual reports and other published documents are not subject to closure.

The associated and subsidiary companies whose activities are known to be reflected in the Wallace Brothers archives are (provisionally) listed below, in the order in which the records will be arranged in the catalogue:

• Arrancan Company Limited, Burma rice merchants;
  • Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation Limited;
  • subsidiaries and associaties of Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation Limited: Amalgamated Saw Mills Limited, Anamallais Ropeway Company Limited, Bombay Burmah Plantations Limited, East India Rubber Corporation Limited;
  • subsidiaries and associates of East India Rubber Corporation Limited (Bombay-Java Trading Company, Indo-Java Rubber Planting and Trading Company Limited), Joint Timber Company Limited, Thailand, North Borneo Timbers Limited;
  • subsidiaries and associates of North Borneo Timbers Limited (Wallace Bay Limited), Rangoon Mining Company, Sumatra Petroleum Company, Thai Tapioca Limited;
  • Bombay Company Limited;
  • subsidiaries and associates of Bombay Company Limited: BCL Limited, BMD Agency Limited, Dymes and Company, cotton mill owners and oilseed processors, Madras, Karachi Company Limited (formerly the Karachi branch of Bombay Company Limited; established as a separate company in 1952), Lakhshmi Cotton Manufacturing Company, Sholapur, India, Wyer and Hawke, London agents of Bombay Company Limited;
  • Chrestian and Company, mica producers, India;
  • DP Investments Limited;
  • subsidiaries and associates of DP Investments Limited: Development Participations Limited;
  • Glazebrook, Steel and Company Limited, textile manufacturers, Manchester;
  • Hermes Securities Limited;
  • subsidiaries and associates of Hermes Securities Limited: Hermes Credit Corporation Limited;
  • Kerosene Oil Company Limited;
  • Leslie and Anderson Limited;
  • Malaysian Company Limited;
  • Tannadine Company Limited, Sumatra;
  • Wallace and Adam Limited, agricultural equipment importers, Kenya;
  • subsidiaries and associates of Wallace and Adam Limited: Kiu Estate Limited, Ol Pejeta Ranching Company Limited, Pyrita Limited;
  • Wallace and Company, Bombay;
  • Wallace Brothers Developments Limited;
  • Wallace Brothers Finance Limited;
  • Wallace Brothers Nominees Limited;
  • Wallace Evans and Company Limited (known as Wallace Brothers Commodities Limited from 1967).

Records of Wallace Brothers concerning Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation Limited, including memorandum and articles of association; board minutes; annual reports and accounts; agreements; papers relating to shareholders; correspondence; financial records; and papers relating to branches in Rangoon, Moulmein, Bangkok and Borneo.

Records of Westways Greetings including sale catalogues and unused greeting cards published by Lip Productions Limited, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America and imported by Westways Greetings for sale in the United Kingdom. The cards depict gay and Christmas themes mainly marketed to the gay and lesbian community. Some of the cards depict Black people / people of African descent and other ethnic origin.

No administrative records of the firm are known to survive.

This collection was catalogued by Ros Hamner, volunteer, as part of Speakout London project funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, supervised by Sally Bevan and Richard Wiltshire, Senior Archivists.

Records of Whiffen and Son Ltd, manufacturing chemists, 1752-1972, including history of the company; articles of partnership and other contracts and agreements; legal documents relating to property; correspondence; circulars; financial accounts; papers relating to shares and shareholders; stock records; newspaper cuttings; photographs; staff wages books and pensions papers; records relating to staff associations and sports clubs including minute books; reports on chemical manufacture, laboratory notebooks and chemical analyses; papers relating to sales; papers relating to imports and foreign suppliers; advertisements; registers of product labels; samples of packaging; rules, regulations and legislation regarding factories and safety measures; papers regarding the Second World War including war damage to factories and papers relating to staff on active duty.

Also records of Saint Amand Manufacturing Company Limited including ledgers, letter books and journals.

Records of Whitbread International Limited, a subsidiary company of Whibread and Company Limited, brewers. Records include ledgers detailing Whitbread exports and ship stocks from the 1920s through to the 1970s along with advertising from the launch of various Whitbread products abroad most notably that of Mackeson Stout and Whitbread Premium Draught Beer.

William MacKinnon and Company records comprise: partnership deeds, 1919-25 (Ms 27849); and copy minute of an agreement, 1885 (Ms 27850).