The London agency system in English banking, 1780-1825

London Journal

Volumn 21, Issue 2, 1996, Pages 112-130

  Black, Iain S ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

BANKING SYSTEM; CAPITAL FLOWS; ECONOMIC HISTORY; EIGHTEENTH CENTURY; HISTORICAL STUDY; INTERREGIONAL PAYMENTS; LONDON AGENCY SYSTEM; NINETEENTH CENTURY;

UK, ENGLAND;

EID: 0030437889     PISSN: 03058034     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1179/ldn.1996.21.2.112     Document Type: Review

References (99)

1. See, for example: J. Langton, 'The Industrial Revolution and the Regional Geography of England', Transactions, Institute of British Geographers, 9 (1984), 145-67; D. Gregory, 'The Production of Regions in England's Industrial Revolution', Journal of Historical Geography, 14 (1988), 50-58; J. Langton, 'The Production of Regions in England's Industrial Revolution: A Comment', Journal of Historical Geography, 14 (1988), 170-74; D. Gregory, 'Reply', Journal of Historical Geography, 14 (1988), 174-76'; I. Black, 'Geography, Political Economy and the Circulation of Finance Capital in Early Industrial England', Journal of Historical Geography, 15 (1989), 366-84; P. Hudson, ed., Regions and Industries: A Perspective on the Industrial Revolution in Britain (Cambridge, 1989); P. Hudson, The Industrial Revolution (1992).
2. See, for example: J. Langton, 'The Industrial Revolution and the Regional Geography of England', Transactions, Institute of British Geographers, 9 (1984), 145-67; D. Gregory, 'The Production of Regions in England's Industrial Revolution', Journal of Historical Geography, 14 (1988), 50-58; J. Langton, 'The Production of Regions in England's Industrial Revolution: A Comment', Journal of Historical Geography, 14 (1988), 170-74; D. Gregory, 'Reply', Journal of Historical Geography, 14 (1988), 174-76'; I. Black, 'Geography, Political Economy and the Circulation of Finance Capital in Early Industrial England', Journal of Historical Geography, 15 (1989), 366-84; P. Hudson, ed., Regions and Industries: A Perspective on the Industrial Revolution in Britain (Cambridge, 1989); P. Hudson, The Industrial Revolution (1992).
3. See, for example: J. Langton, 'The Industrial Revolution and the Regional Geography of England', Transactions, Institute of British Geographers, 9 (1984), 145-67; D. Gregory, 'The Production of Regions in England's Industrial Revolution', Journal of Historical Geography, 14 (1988), 50-58; J. Langton, 'The Production of Regions in England's Industrial Revolution: A Comment', Journal of Historical Geography, 14 (1988), 170-74; D. Gregory, 'Reply', Journal of Historical Geography, 14 (1988), 174-76'; I. Black, 'Geography, Political Economy and the Circulation of Finance Capital in Early Industrial England', Journal of Historical Geography, 15 (1989), 366-84; P. Hudson, ed., Regions and Industries: A Perspective on the Industrial Revolution in Britain (Cambridge, 1989); P. Hudson, The Industrial Revolution (1992).
4. See, for example: J. Langton, 'The Industrial Revolution and the Regional Geography of England', Transactions, Institute of British Geographers, 9 (1984), 145-67; D. Gregory, 'The Production of Regions in England's Industrial Revolution', Journal of Historical Geography, 14 (1988), 50-58; J. Langton, 'The Production of Regions in England's Industrial Revolution: A Comment', Journal of Historical Geography, 14 (1988), 170-74; D. Gregory, 'Reply', Journal of Historical Geography, 14 (1988), 174-76'; I. Black, 'Geography, Political Economy and the Circulation of Finance Capital in Early Industrial England', Journal of Historical Geography, 15 (1989), 366-84; P. Hudson, ed., Regions and Industries: A Perspective on the Industrial Revolution in Britain (Cambridge, 1989); P. Hudson, The Industrial Revolution (1992).
5. See, for example: J. Langton, 'The Industrial Revolution and the Regional Geography of England', Transactions, Institute of British Geographers, 9 (1984), 145-67; D. Gregory, 'The Production of Regions in England's Industrial Revolution', Journal of Historical Geography, 14 (1988), 50-58; J. Langton, 'The Production of Regions in England's Industrial Revolution: A Comment', Journal of Historical Geography, 14 (1988), 170-74; D. Gregory, 'Reply', Journal of Historical Geography, 14 (1988), 174-76'; I. Black, 'Geography, Political Economy and the Circulation of Finance Capital in Early Industrial England', Journal of Historical Geography, 15 (1989), 366-84; P. Hudson, ed., Regions and Industries: A Perspective on the Industrial Revolution in Britain (Cambridge, 1989); P. Hudson, The Industrial Revolution (1992).
6. See, for example: J. Langton, 'The Industrial Revolution and the Regional Geography of England', Transactions, Institute of British Geographers, 9 (1984), 145-67; D. Gregory, 'The Production of Regions in England's Industrial Revolution', Journal of Historical Geography, 14 (1988), 50-58; J. Langton, 'The Production of Regions in England's Industrial Revolution: A Comment', Journal of Historical Geography, 14 (1988), 170-74; D. Gregory, 'Reply', Journal of Historical Geography, 14 (1988), 174-76'; I. Black, 'Geography, Political Economy and the Circulation of Finance Capital in Early Industrial England', Journal of Historical Geography, 15 (1989), 366-84; P. Hudson, ed., Regions and Industries: A Perspective on the Industrial Revolution in Britain (Cambridge, 1989); P. Hudson, The Industrial Revolution (1992).
7. See, for example: J. Langton, 'The Industrial Revolution and the Regional Geography of England', Transactions, Institute of British Geographers, 9 (1984), 145-67; D. Gregory, 'The Production of Regions in England's Industrial Revolution', Journal of Historical Geography, 14 (1988), 50-58; J. Langton, 'The Production of Regions in England's Industrial Revolution: A Comment', Journal of Historical Geography, 14 (1988), 170-74; D. Gregory, 'Reply', Journal of Historical Geography, 14 (1988), 174-76'; I. Black, 'Geography, Political Economy and the Circulation of Finance Capital in Early Industrial England', Journal of Historical Geography, 15 (1989), 366-84; P. Hudson, ed., Regions and Industries: A Perspective on the Industrial Revolution in Britain (Cambridge, 1989); P. Hudson, The Industrial Revolution (1992).
8. Hudson, Regions and Industries.
9. See I. Black, 'Review of P. Hudson, The Industrial Revolution', Journal of Historical Geography, 19 (1993), 208-9.
10. Gregory, 'Production of Regions'; See also I. S. Black, 'Money, Information and Space: Banking in Early Nineteenth-Century England and Wales', Journal of Historical Geography, 21 (1995), 398-412.
11. Gregory, 'Production of Regions'; See also I. S. Black, 'Money, Information and Space: Banking in Early Nineteenth-Century England and Wales', Journal of Historical Geography, 21 (1995), 398-412.
12. See also D. Gregory, ' "A New and Differing Face in Many Places": Three Geographies of Industrialization', in R. A. Dodgshon and R. A. .Butlin, eds., An Historical Geography of England and Wales, 2nd edn (1990), 351-99.
13. P. Hudson, The Genesis of Industrial Capital: A Study of the West Riding Wool Textile Industry c. 1750-1850 (Cambridge, 1986).
14. In this paper I am indebted to two classic pieces of economic history published in the 1950s: D. M. Joslin, 'London Private Bankers 1720-1785', Economic History Review, VII (1954-5), 167-86, and L. S. Pressnell, Country Banking in the Industrial Revolution (Oxford, 1956).
15. In this paper I am indebted to two classic pieces of economic history published in the 1950s: D. M. Joslin, 'London Private Bankers 1720-1785', Economic History Review, VII (1954-5), 167-86, and L. S. Pressnell, Country Banking in the Industrial Revolution (Oxford, 1956).
16. R. Cameron, 'England 1750-1844', in R. Cameron, ed., Banking in the Early Stages of Industrialization: A Study in Comparative Economic History (Oxford, 1967).
17. J. H. Clapham, The Bank of England: A History (Cambridge, 1944).
18. D. M. Joslin, 'London Private Bankers'.
19. S. E. Thomas, The Rise and Growth of Joint Stock Banking. Vol 1: Britain to 1860 (1934).
20. Ibid. 14.
21. Joslin, 'London Private Bankers'.
22. Ibid.
23. Cameron's estimate of the typical capitalisation of London private banks in the later eighteenth century was £20-30,000, compared to estimates by Pressnell of the capitalisation of country banks at £10,000. See Cameron, Banking in the Early Stages of Industrialization, 32, and Pressnell, Country Banking, 226-7.
24. Cameron's estimate of the typical capitalisation of London private banks in the later eighteenth century was £20-30,000, compared to estimates by Pressnell of the capitalisation of country banks at £10,000. See Cameron, Banking in the Early Stages of Industrialization, 32, and Pressnell, Country Banking, 226-7.
25. W. T. C. King, History of the London Discount Market (1936).
26. This is demonstrated, in sustained fashion, by Pressnell, Country Banking.
27. J. A. S. L. Leighton-Boyce, Smiths the Bankers 1658-1958 (1958), 7.
28. Ibid. 1.
29. Pressnell, Country Banking, 4; P. L. Cottrell, 'Banking and Finance', in J. Langton and R. J. Morris, eds., Atlas of Industrializing Britain 1780-1914 (1986), 144-55.
30. Pressnell, Country Banking, 4; P. L. Cottrell, 'Banking and Finance', in J. Langton and R. J. Morris, eds., Atlas of Industrializing Britain 1780-1914 (1986), 144-55.
31. Leighton-Boyce, Smiths the Bankers.
32. Ibid.
33. Pressnell, Country Banking, 126-7.
34. Joslin, 'London Private Bankers'.
35. Ibid. 168.
36. Ibid. 172.
37. T. S. Ashton, The Industrial Revolution 1760-1830 (Oxford, 1948), 114-121.
38. Joslin, 'London Private Bankers', 175, 179.
39. Post Office London Directory (1802); Post Office London Directory (1820).
40. Post Office London Directory (1802); Post Office London Directory (1820).
41. P. O. London Directory (1802).
42. G. L. Grant, The Standard Catalogue of Provincial Banks and Banknotes (1977).
43. P. O. London Directory (1820).
44. Pressnell, Country Banking, 106.
45. See L. H. Grindon, Manchester Banks and Bankers (Manchester, 1877).
46. Cameron, Banking in the Early Stages of Industrialization, 31.
47. King, London Discount Market, 17-26.
48. See L. S. Pressnell and J. Orbell, A Guide to the Historical Records of British Banking (Aldershot, 1985), xiii.
49. T. S. Ashton, 'The Bill of Exchange and Private Banks in Lancashire 1790-1830', Economic History Review, XV (1945-6), 25-35.
50. Pressnell and Orbell, Historical Records of British Banking, xiv.
51. King, London Discount Market, chapters 1 and 2. Pressnell, Country Banking, 84-105, offers a critique of King's account, particularly with regard to the date of transition from agents to principals.
52. King, London Discount Market, chapters 1 and 2. Pressnell, Country Banking, 84-105, offers a critique of King's account, particularly with regard to the date of transition from agents to principals.
53. Cameron, Banking in the Early Stages of Industrialization, 31.
54. See also G. A. Fletcher, The Discount Houses in London: Principles, Operations and Change (1976).
55. Pressnell, Country Banking, 97-99.
56. See T. S. Ashton, Economic Fluctuations in England 1700-1800 (Oxford, 1959), 107, on a Derby bank's differentiation between bills and notes.
57. B. L. Anderson and P. L. Cottrell, Money and Banking in England: the Development of the Banking System 1694-1914 (1974), 154.
58. Joslin, 'London Private Bankers', 170.
59. R. S. Sayers, Lloyds Bank in the History of English Banking (Oxford, 1957), 139. H. Thornton, An Enquiry into the Nature and Effects of the Paper Credit of Great Britain (1802), 113, notes 'it is certain, at least, that only a very small proportion of Bank of England notes circulate far from London, and it is to the metropolis itself that all the larger ones are confined'.
60. R. S. Sayers, Lloyds Bank in the History of English Banking (Oxford, 1957), 139. H. Thornton, An Enquiry into the Nature and Effects of the Paper Credit of Great Britain (1802), 113, notes 'it is certain, at least, that only a very small proportion of Bank of England notes circulate far from London, and it is to the metropolis itself that all the larger ones are confined'.
61. Significant infiltration of the bank's notes into the provinces had to await the development of provincial branches of the Bank of England after 1826. See D. Ziegler, 'Central Banking in the English Provinces in the Second Quarter of the Nineteenth Century', Business History, 31 (1989) 33-47.
62. P. Deane, The First Industrial Revolution, 2nd edn (Cambridge, 1979), 188.
63. Joslin, 'London Private Bankers', 170.
64. Ashton, 'The Bill of Exchange'.
65. Pressnell, Country Banking, 157-8.
66. Cameron, Banking in the Early Stages of Industrialization, 18, notes 'although the country was nominally on a bimetallic standard in the eighteenth century, it had in fact gone over to a gold standard as a result of undervaluation of silver at the Mint'.
67. Deane, Industrial Revolution, 190.
68. Pressnell, Country Banking, 139.
69. E. Green, Midland Bank, Bewdley: 200 Years of Banking, 1782-1982 (Privately published, 1982).
70. Midland Bank Archives (hereafter, M. B. A.), AK9.
71. The precise date of establishment of the London Clearing House is not known. W. Howarth, The Banks in the Clearing House (1905), 2, notes 'there seems no doubt that it was established before 1773'. 1773 is the date now commonly accepted. But see W. R. Bisschop, Rise of the London Money Market 1640-1826 (1910), 161, where he notes that 'it is impossible to state with precision when the Clearing House was established, but very probably it was prior to 1773'.
72. The precise date of establishment of the London Clearing House is not known. W. Howarth, The Banks in the Clearing House (1905), 2, notes 'there seems no doubt that it was established before 1773'. 1773 is the date now commonly accepted. But see W. R. Bisschop, Rise of the London Money Market 1640-1826 (1910), 161, where he notes that 'it is impossible to state with precision when the Clearing House was established, but very probably it was prior to 1773'.
73. Sayers, Lloyds Bank, 179.
74. Ibid. 3.
75. The exact date of establishment of the Newark branch is not clear. Sayers, Lloyds Bank, 314, gives 1809, the date from which correspondence records become available. The bill book analysed here is for 1807-9, and carries the inscription 'Newark Bank Premises'.
76. Lloyds Bank Archives, A50b/111.
77. Ibid.
78. The statement that agricultural regions customarily enjoyed a 'surplus' at this time needs clarification. This 'surplus' was akin to a surplus on the balance of payments - the amassing of claims by the agricultural regions in the markets in which they sold their produce.
79. Such integration was not without its dangers, as the frequent financial crises of the early nineteenth-century testified. Deane, Industrial Revolution, 190-7, discusses how the increasing integration of the banking system increased the vulnerability of individual banks to financial panic or crisis developing elsewhere in the country.
80. J. Hughes, Liverpool Banks and Bankers 1760-1837 (London & Liverpool, 1906), 169.
81. W. F. Crick and J. E. Wadsworth, A Hundred Years of Joint Stock Banking, 3rd edn (1958), 410.
82. Hughes, Liverpool Banks, 171.
83. Crick and Wadsworth, Joint Stock Banking, 412.
84. M. B. A., AE14/17-19/37-38/40.
85. B. L. Anderson, 'Financial Institutions and the Capital Market on Merseyside in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries', in B. L. Anderson and P. J. M. Stoney, eds., Commerce, Industry and Transport: Studies in Economic Change on Merseyside (Liverpool, 1983), 26-59.
86. Ibid. Richardson & Co. was the most celebrated bill broking firm of the early nineteenth century; see King, London Discount Market, 17-26.
87. Ibid. Richardson & Co. was the most celebrated bill broking firm of the early nineteenth century; see King, London Discount Market, 17-26.
88. Leighton-Boyce, Smiths the Bankers.
89. Pressnell, Country Banking, 128-9.
90. Leighton-Boyce, Smiths the Bankers, 293.
91. Ibid.
92. National Westminster Bank Archives, B11691.
93. Leighton-Boyce, Smiths the Bankers, 253.
94. Gregory, 'A New and Differing Face'.
95. Ibid.
96. Hudson, Regions and Industries; Langton, 'Regional Geography of England'.
97. Hudson, Regions and Industries; Langton, 'Regional Geography of England'.
98. This is true of flows more generally; see G. Hoppe and J. Langton, Flows of Labour in the Early Phase of Capitalist Development: The Time-Geography of Longitudinal Migration Paths in Nineteenth-Century Sweden, Historical Geography Research Series No. 29 (Cheltenham, 1992), 1-3.
99. Ashton, Industrial Revolution, 85-86.