E. R. WATEXnOUPv 
 
THE GRASSHOPPER' 
 
 IN 
 
 LOMBARD STREET 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN BIDDULPH MARTIN. 
 
 o Se xPVH- aTLa " r V' s /8«M0S tis eoTiv, /ecu 6 ttXovtos BrjXov otl ov to fyrov/Aevov 
 dyaOov' XPW'P- 0V y^P KC " aXXov ^apiy. — ARIST., Eth., i. 5. 
 
 1892. 
 
 LONDON : 
 The Leadenhall Prefs, Ltd : 
 
 Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co., Ltd : 
 Neiv York : Scribner & Welford. 
 
TJ"~ LEADEN HALL PRESS, LTD: LONDON, E.C 
 (T- 4S54) 
 
TO MY FATHER, 
 
 THE LAST SURVIVOR OF THE PARTNERS 
 
 FROM WHOM I RECEIVED 
 
 THE TRADITIONS OF 
 
 "THE GRASSHOPPER/' 
 
 I DEDICATE THIS RECORD 
 
 OF ITS HISTORY. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 ' 'HE compiler of a work such as the present has to encounter 
 many and special difficulties. He is, in the first place, dealing 
 with the biographies of men whose lives, respectable though they 
 have been, can hardly be said to have turned the course of history ; 
 the library of the British Museum, however carefully searched, will 
 furnish but scant materials for his purpose. Next, he is to a great 
 extent treating of family matters, and of his family circle he cannot 
 but regard his own standpoint as being the centre. His point of 
 view must needs differ from that of even his near relatives, for 
 each of whom the horizon is extended in one direction in proportion 
 as it is curtailed in another. Moreover, in dealing with the affairs 
 of others he is in an exceptional position. To him, in a special 
 sense, is applicable the French saying, " Toute verite n'est pas 
 bonne a dire." It has been said that no man has secrets from 
 his lawyer, his doctor, or his banker; and many interesting or 
 romantic stories must remain untold owing to the obligations of 
 professional confidence. 
 
 On the other hand, there is nowadays a growing sympathy with, 
 and interest in, all things that bear the stamp of antiquity ; and 
 the annals of a business transacted continuously from a time 
 almost immemorial, on a spot which has for very nearly seven 
 
( viii ) 
 
 centuries been the centre of the trade, the commerce, and the 
 finance of England, may not be entirely without interest to some 
 who can only regard the " dramatis personam " as names and nothing 
 more. There is no attempt in the present work to dilate on the 
 theory of finance ; the intention has been rather to portray the 
 manner in which monetary matters were transacted by our ancestors 
 in their everyday life ; how they managed their affairs ; and by 
 what expedients these were carried on. 
 
 The temptation to digress has been an ever-present difficulty, 
 especially as this temptation has been accompanied by a con- 
 sciousness that the interest of the narrative may occasionally have 
 been proportionate to its digression from the main subject. The 
 casual reader is strongly advised to skip, or at least to skim, 
 Book III. Chap. 2, which deals with the title-deeds of the Grass- 
 hopper. The succession in the way of legal title, though necessary 
 as a matter of historical record, must of necessity be lacking in 
 interest to the public. The histories of Archbishop Stone and of 
 Andrew Stone, which concern the Grasshopper but indirectly, and 
 the domestic annals of Ebenezer Blackwell, apart from his business 
 career, are likely to be more entertaining ; and, in the case of 
 Blackwell, it may be that a record of prices and of the cost of 
 living in 1 750 will not be wholly devoid of interest. 
 
 It is at the same time clear, from the manner in which the 
 author's inquiries have been met, that researches such as the 
 present are likely to strike here and there a responsive chord. 
 Addressing himself in many cases to persons quite unknown to 
 him, and always asking questions which it must needs entail some 
 trouble to answer adequately, he has invariably been met with 
 a readiness, and even an enthusiasm, that has given him the 
 greatest satisfaction and assistance. He must particularly acknow- 
 
( i* ) 
 
 ledge the obligations under which he is to his worship the Mayor 
 of Winchester, Mr. W. H. Jacob, who has, at great pains, supplied 
 extracts from the municipal archives relating to the Stone family ; 
 to the Rev. Charles E. Seaman, curate-in-charge of Northwood, 
 Isle of Wight, whose information respecting Mr. Richard Smith 
 and his family has been of great interest and value ; to the Rev. 
 T. Stevens, late vicar of Siffron Walden, who has furnished the 
 genealogy of the Martins of Saffron Walden by extracts from the 
 parish registers ; and to Mr. Charles William Stevens, who has very 
 kindly examined the deeds and documents of title relating to the 
 premises. He has further to acknowledge the courtesy with 
 which the officers of the Bank of England have lent their assist- 
 ance to his researches ; and it is unnecessary to say, since it is 
 apparent throughout the text, that Mr. F. G. Hilton Price has con- 
 tributed in the most unreserved manner all the materials that came 
 into his hands for the purposes of his enlarged edition of his " Hand- 
 " book of London Bankers." 
 
 68, Lombard Street. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 THE PARTNERS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 LEGENDARY HISTORY TO SIR THOMAS GRESHAM j 1483-1579. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Mythical origin of the " Grasshopper " — Jane Shore — The Gresham myth — The 
 Gresham family — Sir Thomas Gresham — His apprenticeship — His marriage 
 — Royal agent to Edward VI. — To Queen Mary — To Elizabeth — His private 
 business — His association with Sir Lyonell Dockat — His factors or clerks — 
 Richard Candellor — John Elliot — Richard Clough — Edmund Hogan — 
 Gresham's private life — His family — His estates — The Royal Exchange — His 
 death ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 3 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 SIR RICHARD MARTIN TO THOMAS AND JAMES MARTIN: 1 55 6-1 73 1. 
 
 Sir Richard Martin, 1558 — Goldsmith — Lord Mayor in the Armada year, 
 1558-9 — His armorial bearings — The Martins of Saffron Walden — Sir 
 Richard Martin Warden of the Mint — His impeachment and acquittal — Sir 
 Richard Martin and the Commissioners on the coinage — Duncombe and 
 Kent of the Grasshopper — The Duncombe family — Pepys and Sir John Dun- 
 combe — Charles Duncombe and the closing of the Exchequer — Duncombe 
 purchases Helmsley of the Duke of Buckingham — His impeachment — Com- 
 mittal to the Tower and release — Richard Smith, 1686 — Mr. Smith's portrait 
 — His partner and brother-in-law, Elmes Spincke — Thomas Martin his executor 
 — Andrew Stone — The Stones of Winchester — The Westgate prison — Andrew 
 Stone marries Anne Holbrook, niece of Richard Smith — The Holbrooks of 
 
( xii ) 
 
 Titsey, and the Greshams of Limpsfield— Death of Andrew Stone, 1711— His 
 will — Andrew Stone and Thomas Martin partners after the death of Richard 
 Smith— The Martin family of Evesham— James Martin a partner, 1714— M.P. 
 for Cambridge, 1 741-17 44— Lord of the Manor of Quy— Thomas Martin retires 
 about 1725— Thomas Martin's death, 1765— His maxims ... ... 21 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 EBENEZER BLACKWELL : 1731-1782. 
 
 The Blackwells of Bushey, Herts, temp. Eliz.— Sir William Parkyn— Rowland Pitt 
 —Ewer, or Hewer— The Blackwells of Bushey, Herts— Of Sprouston Hall, 
 Norfolk— Of Gloucestershire— Ebenezer Blackwell born at Cirencester— Wit- 
 nesses the signatures, 1732— Becomes a partner, 1746 — His private accounts 
 — Mrs. Sparrow, of Lewisham — John and Charles Wesley— Blackwell buys 
 Mrs. Sparrow's house at Lewisham— His friendship with Wesley — Wesley's diary 
 — Blackwell manages Wesley's money matters — Wesley's exhortations and 
 cautions to Blackwell— Death of Mrs. Blackwell— Wesley's last visit to 
 Lewisham— Blackwell and Whitfield— Whitfield's journey to^eorgia— Black- 
 well's benevolence — His private liberality — His bets — The case of Elizabeth 
 Canning— Blackwell's house in Change Alley— Its destruction by fire in 174S 
 —His family affairs— Family visits— Christmas-boxes— Wages— Prices of 
 commodities — Robberies — Personal habits — His expenditure, 1750— His 
 father and mother— His second wife, Mary Eden— Her family— Connexion 
 with families of Pitt, Lowth, Sturges, Jarvis, Knollys, and Martin— His retire- 
 ment from business, 1780— Dies, 1782— Buried at Lewisham— His residence 
 there, The Limes— John Wesley's bedroom ... ... ... ••• 49 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ANDREW STONE AND ARCHBISHOP STONE: 1703-1773. 
 
 Andrew Stone, eldest son of Mr. Smith's apprentice— His education— Befriended 
 by the Duke of Newcastle— Appointed Under-Secretary— Respected by the 
 King, the Duke of Newcastle, and Mr. Pelham— His successive promotions 
 — Manies Miss Mauvillain— Sir Horace Walpole and Andrew Stone— Andrew 
 Stone and the Prince of Wales' household— Backstairs intrigues— Tribute of 
 the Duke of Bedford in the House of Lords to Andrew Stone's character— He 
 becomes Treasurer of the Queen's household, 17 6 1— His death, 1773 — 
 Buried in Westminster Abbey— Andrew Stone and " Lady Grizel." 
 
 George Stone, third son of Mr. Smith's apprentice— His birth -His rapid 
 promotion in the Church— Primate of Armagh, i743~ His relations with the 
 
( xiii ) 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Duke of Dorset — His political activity — Avows himself a politician rather 
 than an ecclesiastic — The Appropriation Bill — Disturbances in Ireland — 
 His fall — His death — Horace Walpole and Archbishop Stone — Plowden, Sir 
 George Trevelyan, and Mr. Froude on the Archbishop ... ... ... 71 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 MARTIN, SURMAN, LEAVER, AND STONE, TO MARTIN AND CO. : 173I-189I. 
 
 John Marke — The first, surviving books of the firm — Robert Surman — Surman, 
 Dineley, and Cliffe, goldsmiths, seceded from the Grasshopper — The Surmans 
 of Barking — John Martin, executor of his brother James — Takes his place on 
 his death — Brings in his second son, Joseph— Purchases Overbury in 1723 
 — John Martin — His wife, Judith Bromley, of Ham Court — John Martin 
 contests the Borough of Tewkesbury, 1734 — Is defeated — Is elected, 
 jy 4I — Joseph Martin head partner — Marries Eleanor Torriano, niece 
 of Sir Horace Mann — M.P. for Gatton, 1768 — Sheriff of London, 1771 — 
 Retires from business — A family incident — His death, 1774 — Richard 
 Stone, second son of Mr. Smith's apprentice — Marries Mary Harris, of 
 Barking — Their children — Lives at Ilford — His death, 1 7 6 1 — Richard 
 Stone, the younger — Begins business early — Junior partner, 1760 — John Porker 
 — Partner, 1763— Richard Stone marries Mary Herring— Her sister Harriet 
 marries Sir Francis Baring — Archbishop Herring, their uncle, once Rector of 
 Stow-cum-Quy— His activity in 1745— John Foote, clerk — Becomes partner, 
 1770 — Marries Eleanor Martin — The Footes of Detling — George, son of John 
 Foote, drowned, 1804 — James Porter, partner, 1783 — Lives at Leytonstone 
 — The missing Grasshopper — James, brother of Joseph Martin — Born 1738 — ■ 
 Partner, 1760 — Senior partner, 1774 — Marries Penelope Skipp — Personal 
 characteristics — M.P. for Tewkesbury, 1776-1807 — His political integrity 
 — "Starling" Martin — Lives in Downing Street — John Martin, born 1774 
 in Downing Street — Richard Stone, partner, 1793, and John Martin, 1796 
 — George Stone and John Martin living in Lombard Street — Richard Stone 
 buys " Cooper's " Estate at Chislehurst — Marriage of John Martin and Pene- 
 lope Stone — Death of Richard Stone, 1802 — Of George Foote, 1804 — James 
 Martin, junior, partner — His personal characteristics — Retires, 1824 — Last 
 survivor but one in a government tontine — John Martin lives in Lombard 
 Street — His sons born there — Death of James Martin, senior, 1810 — John 
 Martin lives at Camden Place, Chislehurst — His death, 1832 — Henry 
 Stone, partner, 1823 — Marries Mary Roxburgh — John Martin, junior, 
 partner, 1827 — Parliamentary contests — George Stone, junior, and James 
 
( xiv ) 
 
 Martin, junior, partners, 1830 — Robert Martin, partner, 1837 — George 
 Stone, senior, dies, 1843 — Henry Stone dies, 1844 — George Stone, junior, 
 retires, 185 1 — Dies, 1861 — The Stone family extinct — The head clerks 
 — Thomas Dyer, J. Lovett, William Cole, W. Dobson, William Pegler Sani- 
 gear — John, James, and Robert Martin, sole partners — James Martin lives 
 at Chislehurst— Robert Martin marries Mary Anne Biddulph — Retires, 1873, 
 —Richard Biddulph Martin, partner, 1 861— John Biddulph Martin, partner, 
 1864 — Parliamentary connexion with Tewkesbury closed by its disfranchise- 
 ment, 1885— John Martin retires, 1875— His death, 1880— Waldyve Martin, 
 partner, 1876— Retires, 1880— James Martin dies, 1878 — Frederick H. 
 Norman, partner, 1880 — Edward Norman, partner, 1884 — Their brother, 
 Charles Norman, partner of Messrs. Baring Brothers ... ... ... 85 
 
 BOOK II. 
 THE BUSINESS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 EARLY BANKING AND MONEY-LENDING. 
 
 Early banking— At Babylon, at Athens, at Rome— The Norman Conquest — 
 The Jews and the Lombards — Bills of exchange— Attempted regulation 
 of capital under Edward VI. — Development of credit and capital under 
 the Tudors— Early continental banks — The Caursines — Story of Ralph 
 Cornwaille — Plate, jewels, and cash under Elizabeth — The early goldsmiths— 
 Pepys on State banks — His transactions with goldsmiths — State of the 
 coinage — Profits of the goldsmiths 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 GOLDSMITHS AND MODERN BANKING. 
 
 The goldsmiths of the Restoration — Nature of their business as silversmiths and 
 jewellers — Accumulation of cash in their hands — Transactions generally 
 effected in coin— Pepys and his anxieties as to his money — Goldsmiths' 
 deposit notes — Their evolution into the modern bank-note— The cheque — 
 Cheques originally in the terms of bills of exchange— Earliest specimens of 
 the latter and former — Goldsmiths had become bankers by 1694 — Foundation 
 of the Bank of England— Opposition of the goldsmiths — The South Sea 
 
( xv ) 
 
 Bubble, 1720— Earliest ledgers and books of the Grasshopper — First general 
 balance, 17 31 — The liabilities and assets — Composition of the reserve of cash 
 — Current accounts and interest on deposits — The cheque system — Pass-books 
 — These probably in use before the foundation of the Bank of England — The 
 " Note Book " — Nature of goldsmiths' notes — Disappeared in 1807 — Continued 
 in the case of Messrs. Coutts & Co. till 1843 — Legislation as to bank-notes — 
 The assets — Investments — Navy and Victualling bills — Bank Circulation — The 
 Million Bank — Lotteries — Transactions in the books of the Grasshopper — 
 Lottery Blanks — Malt Lottery Prizes — Malt Lottery Tickets — Malt Lottery 
 Blanks — Lottery Tickets — Blanks and Prizes — Reversions — Loans — Respon- 
 dentia Bonds — Historical sketch of Marine Insurance — References to public 
 events from 1758 to 1826 ... ... ... ... ... ... 123 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE GRASSHOPPER AND MODERN BANKING. 
 
 Clerical staff at the Grasshopper, 1752 — Rate of salaries — Expenses and ledgers 
 — Old terms still in use — Machine-ruling — Crossed cheques — Printed cheques 
 — The Clearing House — Its origin — Originally conducted out-of-doors — First 
 clearing room, 1773 — Removed to present Clearing House, 1810 — Clearing 
 bankers in 1774, 1810, 1841 ; proprietors in 1852 and 1891 — Joint-stock banks 
 in the clearing, 1854 — Settlement by bank-notes discontinued, 1854 — Its effect 
 on the Bank of England circulation — The Bank of England in the Clearing 
 House, 1864 — The country clearing, 1858 — Growth of the Clearing House 
 operations — Large cheques — Country branches opened by the Grasshopper. 165 
 
 BOOK III. 
 THE PREMISES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 LOMBARD STREET AND THE KING'S EXCHANGE. 
 
 Lombard Street — The Jews and the Lombards — The name Lombard Street as 
 early as Edward II. — The King's Exchange between Lombard Street and 
 Cornhill — Business carried on in the open air until temp. Elizabeth — Richard 
 Clough's design — His letter to Gresham — Change Alley the site of the King's 
 Exchange — Sailing of ships advertised here ... ... ... • • • * 7 9 
 
( xvi ) 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 CHANGE ALLEY — THE GRASSHOPPER — THE UNICORN. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Change Alley — Stowe's description — Maps of 1604, 1666, and 1775 — Alderman 
 Backwell's alterations — He lays out the passages, and makes entrances into 
 Cornhill— Complete destruction by the Great Fire of 1666 — Backwell builds 
 his " little town " — Early documents of the Grasshopper — Sir Richard Stapple- 
 ton and Sir Martin Bowes, 1553 — Thomas Taylor, 1602 — Morgan Aubrey, 
 t 6 0 8 — James Cambell, 1619 — Paul ffouree, 1619 — Paul Furre of the Dutch 
 ordinary — Pepys at the ordinary — Reney Augier, 1651 — Charles Everard — 
 Everard and Cutler — Everard the younger, 1665 — Everard and Backwell, 
 1668 — Backwell's leaseholds — Leases to Duncombe and Kent — The heirs of 
 Backwell and Nathaniel Turner, 1700— Everard and Procter, 1700 — Details 
 of costs and charges — Lease from Procter to James Martin, 1737 — Alterations 
 and details of expenses— The conveyance from Procter to James Martin, 1741 
 —Recapitulation of title — Charles Everard's inheritance — The Palsgrave's 
 Head— Alderman Backwell at the Unicorn— Backwell's failure ... ... 183 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 garraway's and baker's coffee-house. 
 Change Alley and the South Sea Bubble— Mr. Ward's picture— Garraway's Coffee- 
 house—Swift and the South Sea Bubble— Garraway's originally divided 
 between Backwell and Everard — Its boundaries in 1700— Conveyed to 
 Jeremiah Stokes, 1700— To Stephen Skinner, 1775— To Nathaniel Wright, 
 I793 _To Messrs. Glyn & Co., 1866— To Messrs. Martin & Co., 1884— The 
 Crown Alehouse — Langley the hatter — Baker's Coffee-house — Called the 
 Rummer Tavern in 1700— Known as Baker's Coffee-house, 17 12 — A mart for 
 clothing, wool, and woollen goods— Conveyed in 1789 by Benjamin Bond 
 Hopkins to Richard Pugh— In 1884 to Messrs. Martin & Co. — Backwell's 
 melting-house and the kitchen of Baker's Coffee-house. ... ... ... 207 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE THREE CROSSED DAGGERS AND THE PLOUGH. 
 
 James Martin at the Grasshopper, 1741 — Ebenezer Blackwell his tenant at the 
 Crossed Daggers — The fire of 1748 — Blackwell's house destroyed — The fire of 
 1778 — The Plough purchased in 1792 — Former owners of the Plough — The 
 distribution of the sites east of Change Alley — Atwill and Hamond— The 
 Grasshopper, Plough, and Crossed Daggers rebuilt in 1794— Disappearance of 
 
( xvii ) 
 
 the sign of the Grasshopper— Later occupants of the premises— Alterations 
 of 1852— The Plough exchanged for Garraway's, 1884— Garraway's rebuilt— 
 The cellars of Garraway's— Internal alterations — Baker's kitchen — The 
 firearms ... ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• 2I 9 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 THE CUSTOMERS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE OLD CUSTOMERS. 
 
 Introductory— Foreign names among the early customers probably connected 
 with Alderman Backwell— List of names from 1731 to 1799 that still survive 
 —Celebrities— Philanthropic institutions— Thomas Papillon— J. Fullerton— 
 Sir Geo. Downing — Mr. A. G. Fullerton, present representative of the 
 Downing family — John and Francis Baring, 1764— World-wide reputation 
 of Baring Bros.— Reverses of fortune— Their pedigree— Humorous letter from 
 Mr. John Baring, 1 881— Connexion of the Barings and the Grasshopper, 
 1764— Mr. Francis - Baring and Mr. Smith— Their agreement respecting the 
 borough of Ilchester, 1789 — Subsequent connexions between the families 
 of Baring, Labouchere, Thornton, Stone, etc.— Peter Floyer, 1770— Survival of 
 a singular unclaimed balance — Two similar cases— John Aislabie, 1748, 
 connected with Messrs. Standring— Benjamin Aislabie— His reputation as a 
 cricketer— The West Kent Cricket Club— His rhyming alphabets... ... ,233 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE QUEER CUSTOMERS. 
 
 Eccentric customers and their requirements — Memorandum by Mr. Richard 
 Stone— Henry Fauntleroy— Forgeries on the Grasshopper since 1853 — How 
 perpetrated — "Raised" cheques— Forged cheques— Forged endorsements - 
 Anecdotes and instances— The confidence trick— The thief pure and simple- 
 An unsuccessful raid-Fraudulent operations-Two instances of ill-directed 
 ingenuity — Anonymous communications — " Overwork in Banks"— Queer 
 addresses— A remarkable application for shares— Business risks incurred for 
 conscience sake— An illustrative letter ... ••• ••• ••• 2 45 
 
( xviii ) 
 
 APPENDICES. 
 BOOK I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 A. Style of the Grasshopper, from endorsements, receipts, etc., 1688-1770 ... 263 
 
 B. Signatures on receipts, cheques, etc., drawn on Messrs. Child & Co., 
 
 1688-1770 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 267 
 
 C. Names of the partners, with the witnesses, as appended to the annual balance- 
 
 sheets ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 271 
 
 D. Representatives in Parliament of the Borough of Tewkesbury, 1 734-1885 ... 279 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 E. "The Mystery of the New Fashioned Goldsmiths or Bankers," etc., 1676 
 
 (in fac-simile). ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 285 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 F. Copy of " Perticular of writeings " relating to the title to the Grasshopper 
 
 previous to 1700 ... ... ... ... ... ... 295 
 
 G. Epitome of the title of the Grasshopper, 1670-1741, and of the Plough, 1792 305 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 H. Pedigree of the families of Baring, Biddulph, Labouchere, Martin, Stone, etc. 309 
 
 L'Envoi 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Grasshopper and the Unicorn ... ... ... ... Frontispiece 
 
 The Grasshopper (from a sketch by J. O. Westwood) ... ... Title-page 
 
 Sir Thomas Gresham ... ... ... ... ... To face g 
 
 Arms of Gresham ... ... ... ... ... ... i g 
 
 Richard Smith ... ... ... ... ... ... To face 39 
 
 Andrew Stone's Seal ... ... ... ... ... ... 44 
 
 Arms of Sir Richard Martin {temp. Eliz.) ... ... ... ... 47 
 
 The Limes, Lewisham ... ... ... ... ... ... 5 1 
 
 Arms of Blackwell and Ewer ... ... ... ... ... ... 69 
 
 Andrew Stone ... ... ... ... ... ... To face 71 
 
 Archbishop Stone ... ... ... ... ... ... „ 81 
 
 Arms of Stone ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 84 
 
 Richard Stone ... ... ... ... ... ... To face 91 
 
 Archbishop Herring ... ... ... ... ... » 93 
 
 James Martin (" Starling " Martin) ... ... ... ... „ 97 
 
 George Stone ... ... ... ... ... ... ,,99 
 
 John Martin ... ... ... ... ... ... ^ IOI 
 
 Robert Martin ... ... ... ... ... ... ff I03 
 
 John Martin ... ... ... ... ... ... n I0 g 
 
 Arms of Martin .. . ... ... ... ... ... ... io 6 
 
 The Partners, 1890 ... ... ... ... ... ... To face 107 
 
 The Usurer ... ... ... ... ... ... ... io 8 
 
 Garraway's Coffee-house, from Change Alley ... ... ' ... ... 208 
 
 Baker's Coffee-house, from Change Alley ... ... ... ... 216 
 
 The Grasshopper : the " Shop" (1852-1874) ... ... ... ... 227 
 
 The Grasshopper : the Blunderbusses ... ... ... ... 230 
 
 Benjamin Kenton's Monogram ... ... ... ... ... 243 
 
 The Partners (caricatures) ... ... ... ... ... 246 
 
 Tewkesbury Election Plates, 1754 ... ... ... ... 279,281 
 
( xx ) 
 
 MAPS AND PLANS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Everard's Estate (double-page) ... ... ... ... To face 190 
 
 The Grasshopper, Garraway's, Exchange Tavern, Baker's Coffee-house, and 
 
 Unicorn (1890) ... ... ... ... ... ... 204 
 
 The Grasshopper, Garraway's, and Exchange Tavern (1882-84) ••• ••• 21 3 
 
 The Grasshopper, Garraway's, Exchange Tavern, and Baker's Coffee-house, 
 
 (1884-86)... ... ... ... ... ... ... 214 
 
 The Grasshopper, Garraway's, Exchange Ta and Baker's — Baker's kitchen 
 
 included in the Bank Premises (1886) ... ... ... ... 217 
 
 The Area of the Fire, 1748 ... ... ... ... To face 220 
 
 The Grasshopper, the Three Crossed Daggers, and the Plough (1 794-1874) ... 226 
 The Grasshopper, the Three Crossed Daggers, and Garraway's (1874-82) .. 228 
 
 %* The foregoing illustrations have been reproduced by Messrs. Walker and 
 
 Boutall, London. 
 
BOOK I. 
 THE PARTNERS. 
 
 avi numerantur avorum." 
 
"THE GRASSHOPPER. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 LEGENDARY HISTORY TO SIR THOMAS GRESHAM I I483-I579. 
 
 Mythical origin of the " Grasshopper "—Jane Shore — The Gresham myth — The 
 Gresham family — Sir Thomas Gresham — His apprenticeship — His marriage — 
 Royal agent to Edward VI. — To Queen Mary — To Elizabeth — His private 
 business — His association with Sir Lyonell Dockat — His factors or clerks — 
 Richard Candellor — John Elliot — Richard Clough — Edmund Hogan — Gresham's 
 private life — His family — His estates — The Royal Exchange — His death. 
 
 HE annals of 68 Lombard Street offer no exception to the rule 
 
 which requires that all history shall remount through the 
 heroic phase to the realm of legend and fable. The earliest myth 
 in connexion with the subject of this work, is associated with the 
 name of Matthew Shore, husband of Jane Shore of unfortunate 
 memory. It cannot be said that there is any historical evidence 
 whatever to support what has long been a tradition, that Matthew 
 Shore carried on his business as a goldsmith on the site of the 
 present No. 68, or that the business has been handed down from 
 him. All that can be said is that Matthew Shore was a goldsmith 
 in Lombard Street. This is recorded in Percy's " Reliques " in the 
 following stanza : — 
 
 In Lombard Street I once did dwelle, 
 As London yet can witness welle ; 
 Where many gallants did beholde 
 My beautye in a shop of golde." 
 
( 4 ) 
 
 Jane Shore's disgrace took place on the death of Edward IV., in 
 
 1483. In the words of the ballad — 
 
 " At last my royall king did dye, 
 And then my dayes of woe grew nighe ; 
 When crook-back Richard got the crowne, 
 King Edward's friends were soon put downe. 
 
 I penance did in Lombard Street, 
 In shamefull manner in a sheet." 
 
 It may be remarked that another myth has attached itself to 
 Jane Shore, who is popularly supposed to have died an outcast in 
 Shoreditch, and to have given her name to the place. In point of 
 fact, Shoreditch had even then long been so called, from its being 
 a common ditch, or " shore "—a word that is still in use in some 
 of the provinces * Moreover, Jane Shore did not die until the 
 eighteenth year of Henry VIII., that is, 1527, forty-four years after 
 the death of Edward IV. If the authority of the ballad be accepted, 
 the shame of Jane Shore's infidelity drove her husband from 
 England. 
 
 " From England, then, he goes away, 
 To end his life beyond the sea." 
 
 If this statement can be received as of historical value, his business 
 must have passed into other hands. It is on record that Richard 
 Shore, who died in 15 10, directed that he should be buried in the 
 closely adjoining church of St. Mary Woolchurch Haw, where he 
 founded a chantry, f 
 
 There is an abrupt transition from this purely mythical period to 
 the time of Sir Thomas Gresham, who, if not exactly the eponymic 
 hero of the banking business, is yet associated with it by the sign 
 
 * Shore— erroneously supposed to be a corruption of " sewer." It is really from 
 German scharren, " to scrape ; " Swiss schoren, " to cleanse." So Shoreditch is the ditch 
 which receives the scrapings of the streets (Wedgewood, " Diet, of English Etym.," 
 sub voc). 
 
 f "Registers of St. Mary Woolnoth," etc., p. 409. 
 
( 5 ) 
 
 of the Grasshopper, his family crest, which the premises bear to this 
 day. Sir Thomas Gresham is, in himself, an instance of the facility 
 with which a myth can be propagated. The tradition has been 
 often repeated, that Sir Thomas Gresham was a castaway infant 
 exposed in a field, and discovered by a casual passer-by, whose 
 attention was attracted by the loud chirping of a grasshopper ; and 
 that, in commemoration of this circumstance, Sir Thomas Gresham, 
 when he acquired wealth and dignity, assumed the grasshopper as 
 his crest. Mr. Granville Leveson Gower, of Titsey, in his " Gene- 
 alogy of the family of Gresham," remarks that this legend has been 
 localized ; and that an old dame in his village inquired of him whether 
 he knew the origin of the Greshams, and then proceeded to relate 
 the story, placing the scene of the occurrence at New Hall, in the 
 adjoining parish of Limpsfield. The absurdity of this legend is 
 obvious in view of the fact that the Greshams were a well-known 
 Norfolk family, taking their name, possibly, from a parish of that 
 name — Gresham, that is, Grassham.* 
 
 The pedigree of Sir Thomas Gresham is traced f backwards 
 through at least four generations : from John Gresham, of Gresham, 
 through James Gresham, of Holt, and John Gresham, also of Holt, 
 to Richard Gresham, who was knighted in 1531, when he served as 
 Sheriff of the City of London, and who was elected Lord Mayor in 
 1537. Sir Richard Gresham was apprenticed to Mr. John Middleton, 
 a mercer, and merchant of the Staple at Calais. He was in 1507 
 admitted to the freedom of the Mercers' Company. 
 
 Burgon says that there is no evidence whatever that Sir 
 Richard was appointed to the office of royal agent in the Low 
 Countries, but that he frequently was employed in the service 
 of the State, and that he was its accredited financial agent. At 
 
 * Notes and Queries, 3 series, vol. iv. 175 j 5 series, vol. x. 135. Grassheim is a 
 German word for " grasshopper ; " it is a canting crest. 
 
 t Burgon, "Life of Gresham," vol. i. p. 557; " Genealogy of Gresham Family," 
 p. vii. 
 
( 6 ) 
 
 the same time, Burgon attributes to his more habitual residence 
 in London the fact " that he attained, in succession, to the several 
 " honours of citizenship, from all of which his son was excluded, by 
 " his periodical residence in the capacity of royal agent at Antwerp." 
 It might be assumed that the private business of Sir Richard 
 Gresham was that of a mercer, but in 1539, when Anne of Cleves 
 came over as the fourth bride of Henry VIII., a payment is recorded, 
 " To Sir Richard Gressham for a cheyne of fyne golde whiche wls 
 "geven to a gent that came from the Duke of Bavyer, ^100. 13. 9" 
 Hence it may be conjectured that he had ceased to be, save as a 
 member of that corporation, a mercer, and that he followed the 
 occupation of a goldsmith. 
 
 Before dismissing Sir Richard Gresham, it should be recorded thit 
 he had much at heart the erection of a Bourse or Exchange, in 
 Lombard Street. In 1537, he submitted to Cromwell, then Lord 
 Privy-Seal, a design for a building after the plan of the Exchange it 
 Antwerp, and before he resigned the office of Lord Mayor in 1538, 
 he made another attempt in the same direction, referring to a design 
 that he had submitted in the previous year, and specifying " serten 
 " howssis in the sayd (Lombert) strette, belonging to Sir George 
 " Monnocks," which he proposed that the mayor and corporation 
 should acquire under compulsory powers. This, however, was not 
 done, and the scheme stood over for completion some thirty years 
 later by Sir Richard's son, Sir Thomas Gresham. 
 
 John Gresham (knighted in 1537), youngest brother of Sir 
 Richard, and uncle to Sir Thomas Gresham, was, according to 
 Burgon, also apprenticed to Mr. John Middleton, mercer, and was 
 admitted a member of the Mercers' Company in 15 17. He, like his 
 brother, Sir Richard, served as Lord Mayor (in 1547), was employed 
 as financial agent of the Crown in Flanders, and at his death in 
 1556, was buried with great pomp in the church of St. Michiel 
 Bassishaw. It was through Sir John Gresham that the connexion 
 between the families of Gresham and Duncombe (see post, p. 28) 
 
( 7 ) 
 
 was derived. Enough has been said to show that the Gresham 
 
 O 
 
 family was not only of credit and renown in the eastern provinces 
 of England, to which the Flemish weavers had immigrated some 
 two hundred years before (1336), but that the family had achieved 
 for itself an honourable name in the city by the middle of the 
 sixteenth century. 
 
 Sir Thomas Gresham was born about 15 19, and he was therefore 
 about eighteen years of age when his father, Sir Richard Gresham, 
 attained to the dignity of the mayoralty. It may be presumed that 
 it was about this time that he was admitted as a pensioner of 
 Gonville Hall, Cambridge, though no registers survive to prove 
 the exact date. Here he contracted an enduring friendship with 
 Dr. John Caius, who, later on, when Sir Thomas Gresham was 
 engaged in building the Royal Exchange, was occupied in the 
 erection of the collegiate buildings which, as Gonville and Caius 
 College, still bear his name. It is a strong point of presumptive 
 evidence as to the connexion between the "Grasshopper" and 
 Sir Thomas Gresham, that the account of Gonville and Caius College 
 is inscribed in the books from a very early date to the present time. 
 
 But, however attractive to young Thomas Gresham may have 
 been the academic life, the family bias to commercial pursuits was 
 too strong to be withstood. His father apprenticed him to his uncle, 
 Sir John Gresham, as Gresham himself states in a letter written in 
 1553, in which he says that he was bound as an apprentice for seven 
 years, although he might have taken up his freedom through his 
 father's " coppye ; " but his father had the sagacity to see that 
 without a practical initiation into the ways of business and merchan- 
 dise this would avail him little. In 1543 he was admitted as a 
 member of the Mercers' Company, with, which his father and uncle 
 had by this time long been associated. In the next year, 1544, 
 Gresham married Anne, daughter of William Ferneley, Esq., of 
 West Creting, co. Suffolk, who thus consoled herself for the loss, 
 a few months earlier, of her first husband, William Read. As early 
 
( 8 ) 
 
 as 1543, no doubt through the family influence, he is recorded to 
 have been the consignee of " gonne-powder and salpeter " bought 
 in the Netherlands for Henry VIII. ; and from this time forth 
 Sir Thomas Gresham's career belongs more to the domain of public 
 than of domestic chronicles. 
 
 In compiling the Life of Gresham, Burgon was constrained to 
 write, in a measure, the history of his times ; but with his career 
 as a royal agent, a trusty servant of the Crown, playing practically, 
 although not officially, the role of an ambassador, maintaining an 
 organized system of informants in every part of Europe for the 
 benefit of his royal masters and mistresses, the present work is not 
 concerned. That his services to the Crown must have interfered 
 very materially with his private affairs may be inferred from the 
 memorial drawn up by him in August, 1553, in which he recites that 
 for the accomplishment of the King's business " I not only left 
 "the realm with my wife and family, my occupying and whole trade 
 " of living, by the space of two years, but also posted in that time 
 " 40 times, upon the King's sending, at the least, from Antwerp to 
 "the Court." 
 
 It is only just to the memory of Edward VI. to record that he 
 recompensed this devotion with a land-grant of the annual value of 
 one hundred pounds a year, a sum equivalent to nearly ^1000 at the 
 present measure of money, accompanying the gift with the words : 
 "You shall know that you have served a king." Under Queen 
 Mary, the fortunes of Gresham suffered temporary eclipse, the 
 domain of finance not being able to keep itself altogether aloof from 
 that of religion. But on the accession of Elizabeth, Gresham was 
 prompt in gaining audience of the new sovereign ; and writing to 
 Cecil several years later, Gresham reminds him that " Upon the 
 " discoursing how I was handled in Queen Mary's time for my good 
 "service, her highness promised me, by the faith of a Queen, that 
 " ' she wolde not onlly kepe one ear shut to hear me,' but also, if I 
 " did her none other service than I had done to King Edward, her 
 
( 9 ) 
 
 "late Brother, and Queen Mary, her late sister, she would give me as 
 " much land as ever both they did." And from this time henceforth 
 for the remainder of his life, until age and infirmity curtailed the 
 activity and energy of his temperament, he continued to enjoy the 
 unabated confidence of the Crown. 
 
 So early as 1563, when Gresham was not more than 44 years of 
 age, he began to complain of advancing years. On the 3rd of October 
 in that year he writes from Antwerp to the Queen : " And besydes 
 "this my legge was brocken in Her Majesties servize, whereby I am 
 "become lame ; and now, I doo waxe olde." Twelve years later he 
 repeats the same complaint when he sends a copy of his instructions 
 to negotiate a foreign loan, being unable himself now to travel on 
 such weighty affairs "being 62 years of ayge and blinde and lame."* 
 He recommends Edmund Hogan, one of his former servants, to be 
 employed in that service, and offers to take up the sum of 15,000 
 pounds Flemish, at Antwerp, and be responsible for the same. 
 Gresham appears in this passage to have exaggerated his age. In the 
 Chancery Inquisition, taken 7th of April, 5 Ed. VI. (155 1), as to the 
 estate of his father, Sir Richard Gresham, it is stated that Sir John 
 Gresham, Kt, is his son and heir, and was of the age of 34 years at 
 the time of the taking of this Inquisition. f Sir Thomas Gresham's 
 elder brother was, therefore, only 58 at the date when Gresham 
 describes himself as being 62. By " blinde " he probably did not 
 mean to convey more than that his eyesight was failing him ; his 
 lameness was known to have been chronic, and to have been caused 
 by a fall from his horse in Flanders in 1560, when his leg was 
 broken. 
 
 Of the nature of Sir Thomas Gresham's private business it is not 
 possible, at this distance of time, to speak precisely. That he was by 
 occupation, as well as in name, a mercer, may be conjectured from the 
 
 * Public Record Office, Eliz., vol. cv. p. 305, Sir Thomas Gresham to Mr. Secre- 
 tary Walsingham, November 5, 1575. 
 t " Genealogy of Gresham," p. 140. 
 
( io ) 
 
 fact that he is mentioned on one occasion as having shipped " 4500 
 " western kerseys of the best sort, which sold with great profit to the 
 " Italians at Antwerp." Also, he presented as a New Year's gift to 
 Queen Mary "a bolte of fine Holland in a case of black leather," 
 receiving in return " oone guilt jug " weighing i6h ozs. 
 
 But Gresham was before all else a financier ; and it is probable 
 that he was looked on in some degree askance by his brethren of the 
 mercer's craft, since he is recorded on two occasions, March 1st, 
 1558-9, and August 28th, 1560, to have advised the raising of 
 ways and means to pay Her Majesty's debts by laying an embargo 
 on the fleets about to sail to and from Antwerp respectively, until 
 the shippers had assented to pay to the Queen's creditors in Antwerp 
 considerable sums at the rate of exchange most favourable to the 
 Crown that could be extorted from men on whom the mine was not 
 to be sprung until their goods were safely on board. On the first of 
 these occasions he writes to Cecil recommending him to send for the 
 Lord MayOr (Sir Thomas Legh, 1558-9) and eleven other principal 
 merchants of the city, among whom were included " Mr. Aldyman 
 Martynne and Lyonell Dockat," the latter a reputed partner of 
 Gresham's, and to move unto them, to the intent that they might 
 flourish in the commonwealth, as aforetime they had done, that the 
 Queen, being not unmindful of the payment of her debts in Antwerp, 
 had thought good to use them (as heretofore King Edward, her 
 brother, dyd). 
 
 " And for the accomplyshment of the premises, the Queen's 
 " Majestie dowthe requyre at your handes to paye in Flanders xxs. 
 " sterling upon every cloth that is now shipped, after the rate of 255-. 
 " flemysh for the pownd sterling; . . . Finally, you maye not come 
 " lower than to hav for every pound sterling xxl'is. Flemish (for so the 
 " Exchange passith at this present). Butt I trust yt will be at 22s. 6d. 
 " ere they hav fynyshed their shipping. Advertising you, yf the 
 "exchange be better in Lombard Street than 223-. in any wise, to 
 " make them paye after that rate." 
 
( II ) 
 
 This levy was to be made by inspection of the " Customer's 
 Book," i.e. the declarations for export at the custom-house. As to 
 the partnership between Gresham and Sir Lionel Duckett there is no 
 clear evidence. Sir George F. Duckett states that Sir Lionel was 
 associated with Gresham in building the Royal Exchange, and that, as 
 the richer man of the two, he probably contributed the larger portion 
 of the funds for that purpose ; and in Sir George's " Duchetiana " is 
 quoted a note of Lord Grey's agenda temp. Mary (31st December, 
 1 5 5 7) "To remember to entertain Lionel Ducket and Thomas 
 " Gresham, and make them sure for the Queen's service." 
 
 It is stated in the same work that Sir Thomas Gresham and Sir 
 Lionel Duckett were subscribers to Martin Frobisher's later Arctic 
 voyages ; these were undertaken in quest of the glittering shale of 
 which Captain C. F. Hall, in 1861, rediscovered the mines.* Whether 
 they were partners or no, it is clear that they were on terms of con- 
 fidential friendship, and Gresham gives evidence of his intimate 
 relations with Sir Lionel by appointing him trustee of his will.f 
 
 At an earlier period merchants were exposed to still more high- 
 handed measures ; and one of the first notices of Sir Thomas 
 Gresham is in March, 1545, on the occasion of the seizure by 
 Charles V. of merchandise belonging to British subjects in retaliation 
 for the arrest by Henry VIII. of certain Flemish ships, which were 
 carrying assistance to the French. But Gresham thus early, either 
 by tact or luck, was on the winning side. 
 
 " Some in dede shall wynne by it ; as William Lok, Sir Richarde 
 " Gressam and his sonne, with such other for the most parte that 
 " occupie sylkes, who owe more than they have here." At a later 
 date, 1552, when Edward VI. had occasion to raise a loan by 
 less arbitrary proceedings, a conference of merchants, among whom 
 were Thomas Gresham, Lyonel Ducket,J Roger Martin,§ John 
 
 * "Life with the Esquimaux," Sampson Low and Co. • London, 1864. 
 t Cf. also " Remembrancia," etc., s.v. Bridge House, p. 38. 
 J Lord Mayor, 1572-3. § Lord Mayor, 1567-8. 
 
( 12 ) 
 
 Calthropp, and John Elliot, agreed to pay in Antwerp in discharge 
 of the King's debts, xx shillings for every [bale of] cloth they had, 
 as a temporary advance, to be repaid in three months' time. But 
 in the midst of his pre-occupations of mind with affairs of State, 
 Gresham was not unmindful of his private business, which was 
 necessarily left very much in the hands of his " factors " or clerks. 
 He wrote to Cecil in April, 1560, "I have commanded my factor, 
 " [Richard] Candellor, to be with you by VI of the clocke in the 
 "morning every morning . . . for that I have no man ells to do my 
 " business and to keep Lombard Streat." 
 
 Candellor (his name is also spelt by Gresham — Candeler and 
 Candiller *) resided for the most part at Antwerp, where he was 
 chiefly engaged in the service of the State, and whence he trans- 
 mitted to England by more or less clandestine methods, or by 
 opportune presents made to the officials of the customs, bullion, 
 gunpowder, arms, and munitions of war. To facilitate his opera- 
 tions, he provided a code of signals ; as, for instance, that a consign- 
 ment, invoiced as velvets, should be understood to mean gunpowder, 
 while bags of silver coin were concealed in bales of goods. Equal 
 care was taken that on arrival these consignments should be dis- 
 charged at the Tower without attracting too much attention from 
 the numerous Dutch sailors who frequented the wharves. Candeler 
 was an indefatigable correspondent, and, besides business affairs, his 
 letters contain, in the fullest detail, accounts of State ceremonies such 
 as the funeral of Charles V., or the pageants celebrated by the 
 flourishing commercial cities of the Low Countries. 
 
 Another of Gresham's factors or clerks, was John Elliot, of 
 whose history Burgon says that he can discover nothing, not 
 even his will, which was certainly not proved at the Prerogative 
 Office between 1553 and 1594; but in the registers of the parish 
 
 * Sir Richard Gresham, by his will ("Genealogy of Gresham "), left " To every of 
 " my cosyn Chaundeler's children, except Richard, vi". xiii.s. ivd., and to the said 
 " Richard, x u ." 
 
( 13 ) 
 
 of St. Mary Woolnoth, the burial of John Elliot is recorded on the 
 13th of February, 1615-6. If this be Sir Thomas Gresham's factor, 
 he must either have attainted a great age, or have been junior in 
 years to his employer. Om the other hand, he is not mentioned 
 in the will of Sir Thomas Gresham, to whom he may have been 
 related, since there is a bequest by Gresham — "to my cossyn — 
 " Elliot ffyftie pounds to h<ere manage." It is clear that he was 
 a person of note, and he hias already been found (p. 12) associated 
 in financial transactions wilth the most eminent merchants of his 
 time. 
 
 Richard Clough, a Welshman, whose father's trade was that of 
 a glover, and akin to that of a mercer, was another of Gresham's 
 factors. From his having performed a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, 
 where he was created a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre, he came 
 to be called Sir Richard Clough, though he held no title or rank 
 from his own sovereign. Clough attained considerable wealth and 
 importance in Denbighshire, his native county, and Burgon gives 
 considerable space to him i n his Life of Gresham ; but, as he was 
 mainly resident in Antwerp, and engaged in his master's public 
 rather than private affairs, he has little to do with the fortunes 
 of the Grasshopper. 
 
 One more of Gresham's factors should be mentioned — Edmund 
 Hogan, whose post was att Seville, and to whom was entrusted 
 the task of remitting to Enigland the large sum of 320,000 ducats, 
 the proceeds of bills of exchange for that amount payable in Spain, 
 which Gresham had bought in Flanders. Gresham himself visited 
 Spain, in June, 1554, in this; matter; and on returning to England, 
 encountered some rebuke ffor entrusting so important an affair to 
 the charge of a servant. To Hogan, apparently, in virtue of his 
 residence in Spain, belongs the distinction of having been the 
 intermediary through whorm Gresham was enabled to present to 
 Edward VI. the "great present" of a "payre of long Spanish 
 "silke stockings," a luxurious article of raiment that some years 
 
( H ) 
 
 later particularly fascinated Queen Elizabeth.* This present 
 savours more of the mercer than of the goldsmith. It has been 
 seen (p. 13) that in 1575 Gresham described Hogan as one of 
 his former servants, and as being trustworthy in a matter of public 
 business, for which he himself was incapacitated through age and 
 infirmity. He retained Gresham's confidence to the last, for he 
 was appointed one of the trustees of Gresham's will. 
 
 " And to this my last will I do ordeynne my welbelovyd 
 "wiffe Dame Anne Gresham to be my sole Executrix. And my 
 " ou'seers Sr Lyonell Duckatt Knight Edmund Hogan Thomas 
 " Celie and Phillip Schudamore and Mr. Justice Manwood. And 
 " I doe geue to Sr Lionell Dockatt for his paynnes one hundreath 
 "poundes. To Edmund Hogan one hundreathe powndes. To 
 " Thomas Cely one hundreathe poundes. To Philipp Schudamore 
 " Twentie poundes. To Justice Manewood fyftie poundes wch I 
 " will haue them paide all in one yeare." 
 
 The apprentices mentioned in Gresham's will were William 
 Gilbert, Philip Cely, John Smythe, and Philip Gilmor, to each of 
 whom legacies of forty pounds were bequeathed. 
 
 It remains to say a word as to the private life of Gresham. 
 His marriage in 1544-5 has already been recorded. By Lady 
 Gresham, who survived her husband some seventeen years, he had 
 but one child, a son, who died in 1 564, at about sixteen years of age ; 
 but he had a natural daughter, Anne, born, as it would seem, abroad, 
 who was recognized as one of the family, and who married Sir 
 Nathaniel Bacon, the half-brother of Lord Bacon. These appear to 
 be the children whom, with his "poore wyffe," he repeatedly com- 
 mends to the protection of his employers. At the same time, it is 
 possible that among his " children " should be included William Read, 
 son of Lady Gresham by her first marriage, who must have been 
 
 * " Indeede I like silke stockings so well, because they are pleasant, fine, and 
 " delicate, that henceforth I will weare no more cloth stockings." — " Stowe's Chronicle," 
 ed. 1631, p. 867. 
 
( '5 ) 
 
 a boy of some five years of age when his mother contracted her 
 second marriage with Sir Thomas Gresham.* A few extracts 
 from his correspondence serve to show that, while busy in affairs 
 of State, his thoughts were turned towards home. In a letter to 
 Sir Thomas Parry (1560), between mention of the Queen's Majesty's 
 Turkey horse, " a very fayre beast," and a great iron chest bought 
 for the Queen's Majesty with a " littil keye," he says, " I thank 
 " you for the gentill entertainment you gave to my poore wyffe, 
 " who I do right well know molests you dayly for my coming home 
 " — suche is the fondness of women!" Again, addressing Queen 
 Elizabeth in 1560, he most humbly beseeches her Highness "to 
 "be a comfort unto my pore wife in this my absens in the service 
 " of your Majesty ; " and again in a letter addressed to Cecil 
 (1562) he says, "I shall desyre you that it maye please you to 
 " dellyver yt to my powre wyffe ; which wyll be no small comforte 
 " unto her." 
 
 With this family circle growing up round him, Sir Thomas 
 Gresham would seem to have removed, about the time that the 
 above letters were written, to a residence more suitable than 
 Lombard Street to his growing wealth and dignities. In 1562 
 Clough writes to him from Antwerp respecting the "galary and 
 " the stones for the windose and walls," presumably intended for 
 his new house in Bishopsgate Street. But he was already in 
 possession of Osterley, where one of his servants was buried in 1 562. 
 In 1564 he writes from "my poor dowffef house at Oystreley," and 
 
 * " Genealogy of the family of Gresham," p. 143; Inquisition of Lady Anne 
 Gresham, May 9, 1597. 
 
 " My poor dowffe house at Oystreley." Dowf — a dove. 
 
 And on the temple of dowfs whyte and fayre, 
 Saw I sette many a hondred payre. 
 
 MS. Cantab. Ff. i. 6. f. 26. 
 
 As dowfes eye hir loke is swete, 
 Rose on thorn to hir unmete. 
 
 Cursor Mundi, MS. Coll. Trim Cantab, f. 58. 
 
( 16 ) 
 
 it is conjectured that this deprecatory allusion described the manor- 
 house which Gresham replaced by a more pretentious mansion 
 in 1564, so that he had apparently both Osterley and Gresham 
 House on his hands at once. The preference given to Osterley is 
 ascribed to the dislike entertained by Lady Gresham for Intwood 
 in Norfolk, which Gresham inherited from his father, Sir Richard 
 Gresham. 
 
 Intwood was, no doubt, in those days a remote country resi- 
 dence for a man of affairs such as was Gresham. In August, 1563, 
 he had fled to Intwood from the outburst of plague in London, 
 and excuses himself for not personally waiting on Cecil by saying, 
 " I have noe house to put my head in, but in London, for me 
 " and mine, whiche I wolde be lothe to come in as yet con- 
 " sidering the great sicknes I understand is yet ther ... by the 
 " reason, this plague time, there is noe money nor creadit to be had 
 " in the Streat of London " (Lombard Street), a passage which 
 implies that his only residence at this time was at the "Grass- 
 hopper," and that Gresham House was as yet incomplete. Of his 
 residences at Ringshall, near Battisford, county Suffolk, and at 
 Westacre, little is known. Gresham House was, however, the 
 scene in 1568 of the reception of the Cardinal Chastillon, Count de 
 Beauvais, brother of Admiral Coligni, the militant church dignitary 
 and the hope of the Huguenot party, a guest who seems to have 
 imposed no small sense of responsibility on his host, who wrote to 
 Cecil, " beseeching you that I maie know your honour's pleasure 
 " when I shall carrye him to Osterleye." 
 
 Mayfield, near Tunbridge Wells (the legendary scene of the 
 rout of the Evil One by St. Dunstan), was, perhaps, the most 
 splendid of his country houses, and here he entertained Queen 
 Elizabeth in 1573. At his death the furniture at Mayfield was 
 valued at ^7550, a sum equivalent to some ten times its nominal 
 value in our currency. At a later date (1576) Gresham received 
 his Royal Mistress at Osterley, and still later he entertained 
 
( i7 ) 
 
 Casimir, Prince Palatine <of the Rhine, at Bishopsgate Street in 
 January, 1578-9, the last year of his life. 
 
 • But long before increase of wealth had placed within Gresham's 
 reach the means, or creepiing years had curtailed his enjoyment of 
 such splendid expenditure, death had invaded his family circle. In 
 1564 his only son died at the age of some sixteen years, and it is 
 conjectured that this eventt may have induced Sir Thomas Gresham 
 to devote his wealth and energies to the building of the Royal 
 Exchange, a scheme that his father, Sir Richard, had first designed, 
 and which, at a later date:, Clough, writing in 1561, had urged on 
 Gresham, " for in dede it iis marvell that wee have so gude orders 
 " as wee have, consyderymg what rulers wee have in the sittey of 
 " London ; suche a compainny that do study for nothyng ells butt 
 " for their own profett. As for insampell : consyderyng whatt a 
 " sittey London ys, and thait in so many yeres they have nott founde 
 " the menes to make a Bourse ! but must wallke in the raine, when 
 "ytt raineth, more lyker pedlers then marchants ; and in thys 
 " countrie, and all other, there is no kynde of pepell that have 
 " occasyon to meete, butt they have a plase meete for that pourpose. 
 " Herein I am somwatt tedyus : desyryng you to pardone me, for 
 " beyng ownse enteryd into) the matter, I collde nott stee mysellfe." 
 
 The building of the Royal Exchange does not in strictness 
 belong to the history of the Grasshopper ; it has been fully com- 
 memorated by Burgon amd elsewhere, but it may be permissible 
 to quote the account given by Stowe, from whom later writers have 
 in a great measure copied. 
 
 "Then next is the Rowal Exchange, erected in the year, 1566, 
 " after this order, namely, aertain houses upon Cornehill, and the like 
 "upon the back thereof, iin the ward of Brode Street, with three 
 " alleys, the first called Swain alley, opening into Cornehill, the second 
 " New alley, passing throughout of Cornehill into Brode Street ward, 
 " over against St. Bartholomew Lane, the third St. Christopher's alley, 
 "opening into Brode Street ward, and into St. Christopher's parish, 
 
( i8 ) 
 
 " containing in all fourscore households, were first purchased by the 
 " citizens of London, for more than three thousand, five hundred and 
 "thirty-two pounds, and were sold for four hundred and seventy- 
 " eight pounds, to such persons as should take them down and carry 
 "them thence; also the ground or plot was made plain at the charges 
 "of the city; and then possession thereof was by certain aldermen, in 
 " name of the whole citizens, given to Sir Thomas Gresham, knight, 
 " agent to the queen's highness, thereupon to build a burse, or place 
 " for merchants to assemble, at his own proper charges. And he, on 
 " the 7th June, laying the first stone of the foundation, being brick, 
 "accompanied with some aldermen, every of them laid a piece of 
 "gold, which the workmen took up, and forthwith followed upon the 
 "same with such diligence, that by the month of November, in the 
 "year 1567, the same was covered with slate, and shortly after fully 
 " finished." 
 
 "In the year 1570, on the 23rd January, the queen's majesty, 
 "attended with her nobility, came from her house at the Strand, 
 "called Somerset house, and entered the city by Temple Bar, 
 " through Fleet Street, Cheape, and so by the north side of the burse, 
 " through Threeneedle street, to Sir Thomas Gresham's in Bishops- 
 "gate street, where she dined. After dinner, her majesty, returning 
 " through Cornehill, entered the burse on the south side ; and after 
 " that she had viewed every part thereof above the ground, especially 
 "the pawn,* which was richly furnished with all sorts of the finest 
 " wares in the city, she caused the same burse, by an herald and 
 " trumpet to be proclaimed the Royal Exchange, and so to be called 
 " from thenceforth, and not otherwise." 
 
 With this mention of the crowning achievement of Gresham's life, 
 
 * Mr. Saunders, in a paper entitled " The Royal Exchange and its Founder," printed 
 in Knight's "London" (ii. p. 281, et seq.) and containing a brief history of this "glory 
 of the merchants," supposes the word pawne, by which the bazaar part of the Exchange 
 was designated, to be a corrupted form of bahn, the German word for a path or walk. 
 Probably we derive it more directly from Holland. In the Dutch language baan is a 
 pathway. 
 
( 19 ) 
 
 the present notice of him must close. "On Saturday, the 21st of 
 "November, 1579," says Holinshed, "between six and seven of the 
 " clocke in the evening, comming from the Exchange to his house 
 " (which he sumptuouslie builded) in Bishopsgate Street, he suddenlie 
 " fell down in his kitchen ; and being taken up, was found speech- 
 "lesse, and presently dead." With his death, the curtain falls on 
 the Grasshopper, not to be raised again for a period of nearly a 
 century. In the meanwhile there appears on the scene a con- 
 temporary of Gresham, a man who, like Gresham, was engaged in 
 the service of the State, who was certainly on terms of acquaint- 
 ance, possibly on terms of intimacy with him, and whose name 
 serves as a link to connect the broken chain of evidence that should 
 identify the Grasshopper with Elizabethan times. 
 
 ARMS OF GRESHAM. 
 
 Ar. a chev. erm. between three mullets, pierced sa. Crest, a Grasshopper or.— 
 Burke's " General Armory." 
 
( 21 ) 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 SIR RICHARD MARTIN TO THOMAS AND JAMES MARTIN: 1 556— T 73 1 . 
 
 Sir Richard Martin, 1558— Goldsmith— Lord Mayor in the Armada year, 1558-9— His 
 armorial bearings— The Martins of Saffron Walden— Sir Richard Martin Warden 
 of the Mint — His impeachment and acquittal — Sir Richard Martin and the Com- 
 missioners on the coinage — Duncombe and Kent of the Grasshopper— The 
 Duncombe family— Pepys and Sir John Duncombe— Charles Duncombe and the 
 closing of the Exchequer— Duncombe purchases Helmsley of the Duke of 
 Buckingham— His impeachment— Committal to the Tower and release— Richard 
 Smith, 1686 — Mr. Smith's portrait — His partner and brother-in-law, Elmes 
 Spincke— Thomas Martin his executor — Andrew StOne— The Stones of Win- 
 chester — The Westgate prison— Andrew Stone marries Anne Holbrook, niece of 
 Richard Smith— The Holbrooks of Titsey, and the Greshams of Limpsfield— 
 Death of Andrew Stone, 1711— His will— Andrew Stone and Thomas Martin 
 partners after the death of Richard Smith— The Martin family of Evesham- 
 James Martin a partner, 1714— M.P. for Cambridge, 1 741-1744— Lord of the 
 Manor of Quy— Thomas Martin retires about 1725— Thomas Martin's death, 
 1765 — His maxims. 
 
 A S early as the beginning of the reign of Elizabeth the name of 
 Martin was known among the goldsmiths. In the year 1558 
 Richard Martyn or Martin (the name appearing in either form) was 
 called to the Livery of the Goldsmiths' Company. At this time he 
 resided at the Harpe, in Goldsmiths' Row, in Cheapside; and in 
 the following year the Goldsmiths' Company purchased of him, 
 " for the use of the fellowship," a nest of gilt bolls (bowls) with 
 covers, weighing 133 oz., for ^48 15s. 4^., i.e. at the rate of js. ^d. 
 per ounce. Two years later, the following entry occurs in the 
 churchwarden's books of the parish of St. Mary Woolchurch Haw : 
 
( " ) 
 
 " 1560 Item, paid to Richard Martin, Goldsmith, for a Communyon 
 " Cuppe weinge xxix oz. @ vis. \]d. the oz. sum .... ixli xxiii^." 
 Goldsmiths' Row occupied the site of the building subsequently 
 erected by Thomas Wood, and consisted of "ten fair dwelling- 
 " houses and fourteen shops, all in one frame, uniformly built four 
 " stories high, beautified towards the street with the Goldsmiths' 
 " Arms." 
 
 The Minutes of the Goldsmiths' Company show that no persons 
 save those of the craft were permitted to occupy the Goldsmiths' 
 Row premises. There is no doubt, therefore, that Richard Martin 
 was a goldsmith by profession as well as a member of that Wor- 
 shipful Company. There is no evidence that Richard Martin had 
 any direct association with the Grasshopper ; but, from the fact that 
 he used the same armorial bearings as are now those of the Martins 
 of the Grasshopper, it seems probable that there is some connexion 
 between the families. Richard Martin was knighted some time 
 before 1588-9, the Armada year, when he served as Lord Mayor 
 for part of the year, in succession to Sir Martin Calthrop. Again, 
 in 1593-4 Sir Richard Martin served a part of the year in succession 
 to Sir Cuthbert Buckle, vintner. Stowe, in his " Survey," gives the 
 following details : — 
 
 1559- 
 
 1 Eliz. 
 
 Sheriffs, 
 
 Thomas Lodge. 
 
 
 
 Roger Martin. 
 
 1567- 
 
 9 Eliz. 
 
 Maior, 
 
 Sir Roger Martin, Mercer, son to Lawrence Martin, of 
 
 
 
 Melford in Suffolk. 
 
 1581. 
 
 23 Eliz. 
 
 Sheriffs, 
 
 Richard Martin. 
 
 
 
 William Webb. 
 
 1588. 
 
 30 Eliz. 
 
 Maior, 
 
 Sir Martin Calthrop, Draper, for part, and Sir Richard 
 
 
 
 Martin, Goldsmith, for the rest of that year. 
 
 1593. 
 
 35 Eliz. 
 
 Maior, 
 
 Sir Cuthbert Buckle, Vintner, for part of the year, and 
 
 
 Sir Richard Martin, Goldsmith, the other. Which Sir 
 Richard Martin was son to Thomas Martin, of Saffron 
 Walden in Essex. 
 
 1709. 
 
 8 Anne. 
 
 Maior, 
 
 Sir Charles Duncombe, Goldsmith, son of Duncombe. 
 
 
 
 of Drayton-Beauchamp, in Bucks, near Thring. 
 
 Book v. chap. vi. pp. 133-153- 
 
( 23 ) 
 
 GOLDSMITHS. 
 
 Sir Richard Martin, Maior 1589, in place of Calthorp deceased, and in the year 
 1594, for Sir Cuthbert Buckle. He was living in the year 1605, and was then the 
 oldest Alderman. 
 
 Sir James Pemberton, Maior, 16 12 
 Sir John Wollaston, „ 1644 
 Sir Thomas Viner, ,, 1654 
 
 Sir Robert Viner, Maior, 1655 
 Sir Francis Childe, „ 1699 
 
 Sir Charles Duncombe, „ 1708 
 Book v. chap. ix. p. 176. 
 
 Of the private history of Sir Richard Martin, it has been shown 
 above, that he lived at Saffron Walden, and the Registers of that 
 parish, which have been examined through the courtesy of the late 
 vicar, the Rev. T. Stevens, permit the construction of the following, 
 partly hypothetical, family pedigree. 
 
 Peter Martin 
 
 (Thomas Martin 
 ( d. 5 June, 1559 
 
 Leonard Martin 
 
 James Martin 
 / Richard Martin 
 
 Baptized. 
 
 Dorilit (Elizabeth?) 7 May, 1558. 
 (William 15 Jan., 1563. 
 
 Thomas MarthJ m j I 8 Nov " 
 ) 1576, 
 
 V Johan Harris 
 Griffith Martin 
 
 /Anthony Cornell, m. 3 
 Dec, 1592 An Martin 
 Richard Martin, bur. 6 
 
 Feb., 1569 
 Francis Martin, m. (1) 
 Susan, bur. Feb. 8, 
 x 59 2 ; (2) Barbara, 
 bur. Sept. 2, 16 19 
 Robert Martin, m. 2 
 Dec, 1610, Martha 
 Turner 
 
 (John 
 ( William 
 < Dorcas 
 ( Agnes 
 Thomas 
 Richard! 
 
 9 Dec, 1565. 
 10 Oct., 1568. 
 8 Aug., 1570. 
 25 Sept., 1574. 
 16 Oct., 1577. 
 5 April, 1579. 
 
 Buried. 
 
 24 Oct., 1625. 
 
 25 Dec, 1565. 
 30 May, 1569. 
 
 Dowbye (Dorothy?) 21 Sept., 1581. 17 Sept., 1586. 
 
 George 
 Martin' 
 
 Johane 
 Anfillib (?) 
 Thomas 
 Elizabetth 
 
 Anna 
 Thomas 
 Thomas 
 Johane 
 
 14 Jan., 1584. 
 
 1 April, 1583. 
 5 April, 1586. 
 
 14 April, 1597. 
 
 7 Feb., 1591. 
 12 Jan., 1595. 
 
 8 Feb., 1597- 
 
 13 Sept., 1582. 
 1 Nov., 1583. 
 
 \ 
 
 The Martins of Saffron Waldlen were,, like the Martins of the 
 Grasshopper, a long-lived race. This is evident from Stowe's 
 remark that Sir Richard Martin w;as still living, the oldest alderman, 
 
( 2 4 ) 
 
 in 1605 ; and according to Ruding he survived some years later, 
 until 161 7. In the "Accompt Book" of Saffron Walden it is 
 recorded that in 1591, when Queen Elizabeth visited the town, the 
 corporation expended " to Thomas Martyn for the charge of two 
 "of the Gard who came to know the state of the Towne, 5*. Sd." 
 The name of Martin does not entirely disappear from the registers 
 of Saffron Walden until nearly the close of the eighteenth century ; 
 but after the beginning of the seventeenth century the name occurs 
 less frequently. This was the time, as will be seen later on, when 
 the name and family reappear in the midland counties. 
 
 Questions relating to the coinage appear to have been as attrac- 
 tive to Sir Richard Martin three hundred years ago as they are 
 said to have been a hundred years later to Mr. Smith of the 
 Grasshopper, and as they have been to succeeding members of 
 the firm in more recent times. In 1572 Richard Martin occupied 
 the position of Warden of the Mint. His official duties appear to 
 have entailed on him no small trouble and annoyance, and strong 
 differences arose between Richard Martin, the Warden, and John 
 Lonison, the Master of the Mint. Stowe gives a quaint account 
 of this controversy in the following passage : — 
 
 " 1572. Eliz. 14. She granted a patent to John Lonison, during 
 " life, to be master Worker of the Monies in the Tower and else- 
 " where through this realm. This man coined money Sixpence 
 " farthing under the standard ... for divers years ; pretending 
 "that his indenture bore him out, as it seemed to do. Richard 
 " Martin, W r arden of the Mint, was the chief Man that sued him, 
 "his office being to oversee matters of the Mint. This controversy 
 "between Martin and Lonison continued for some Years. For in 
 "the Year 1574, the Lord Treasurer left the matter to Peter 
 " Osborn, the Remembrancer, an able and honest man. . . . Osborn 
 "bad them draw out two Books each, (sic) concerning their own 
 " Minds. These two Books saved the Lord Treasurer abundance 
 " of pains. ..." 
 
( 2 5 ) 
 
 This held till the year 1578, when the Queen appointed 
 commissioners to inquire into Lonison's doings ; . . . the com- 
 missioners were men of the highest rank, viz. Nicholas Bacon, 
 Lord Keeper; William Lord Burleigh, Lord Treasurer; Thomas, 
 Earl of Sussex ; Robert, Earl of Leicester ; Sir Christopher 
 Hatton ; Sir Francis Walsingham ; and Sir Walter Mildmay, 
 all Privy Councillors. 
 
 This royal commission appears to have reported in favour of 
 both the litigants, finding that " whereas the Master doth alledge 
 "that 2\d. is too little to bear all his charges, the Com- 
 "missioners do think it convenient ... to make his allowance 
 "the sum of is. $d. upon the Pound Weight, . . . and that it 
 " may please her Majesty to give him a discharge for all those 
 " things arising in question heretofore ; and that he may pass 
 " his account to the Warden accordingly. 
 
 "And that it likewise please her Majesty to give a discharge 
 "to Richard Martin, now Warden of the Mint, for to reckon and 
 " pass the said Lonison's Accompt in form above declared. Which 
 " Martin they do not find to have done anything in this controversy 
 "thereby to have any particular Gain to himself, but the whole 
 " Matters alledged by him to have tended to her Majesty's 
 " service. . . . 
 
 " Richard Martin before mentioned, now Master of the Mint, 
 " Alderman of London (afterwards Sir Richard Martin, Knt., and 
 " Lord Mayor), was a very able and honest man, and long served 
 " in that office. But he could not escape Enemies and Enviers. 
 " These had set on a beggarly, bold Fellow to accuse him as 
 " though he coined not good Standard. Whereupon to satisfy 
 " the Queen, the Lord Treasurer, and all other, in his truth and 
 " faithfulness, he made an offer in April 1586, to the said Treasurer, 
 " propounding means, whereby Trial might be made of the Goodness 
 " and Fineness of her Majesty's money. Which was, that a jury 
 " of honest and indifferent persons should be sworn to try, and 
 
( 26 ) 
 
 " present the truth unto her Majesty's Commissioners, touching 
 " the Working- Master's dealings in making the Queen's Monies. 
 " The jury to be made up of Aldermen, Merchants, and Commoners 
 "of the best rank and Quality. And that they repair to the Mint, 
 "and there see the weighing, assaying, commixing, and melting, &c. 
 " . . . So the whole action and circumstances in and about the 
 "making of the said monies shall be plainly laid. open. . . . Anno. 
 " 1597. some Goldsmiths and others made a complaint again 
 " and preferred a Petition against Misdemeanours in the Mint 
 " . . . for that Sir Richard Martin did detain Great sums of 
 "their Money perforce, converting it to his own use. But this 
 " seems to be only the complaint of some few Peevish Folk, 
 " there being but seven Hands to the Petition, and the first two 
 "Women, viz. Mary Feek, and Susannah Franknel. This man 
 "laid long under the Spleen and Malice of some People but, as 
 " formerly, in a letter to the Lord Treasurer, he appealed to the 
 " Searcher of all hearts, who best knew how unjustly he was 
 "accused, and earnestly desired an honest and indifferent Jury 
 " for Trial of his Cause ; so it bespake his faithful and good service, 
 " that the Queen continued him thus long in her Service. . . . 
 
 " The Queen once farmed out the Mint to some private Subject, 
 "who seems to have been the before mentioned Martin, the Mint- 
 " Master." 
 
 This passage appears to imply that Sir Richard Martin origi- 
 nated the annual examination into the coinage of the year known 
 as the Trial of the Pyx, but this is not the case. The first regular 
 trial took place in the ninth or tenth year of Edward I., the exact 
 form of trial being laid down in the Indenture of the eighteenth 
 year of Edward III. Richard Martin, son of Sir Richard Martin, 
 was also Master of the Mint, as the following extract, from Ruding's 
 " Annals of the Coinage," shows : — 
 
 "161 7. By the death of Sir Richard Martin, Master of the 
 " Mint, in this year, a stop was put to the working of the Mint. 
 
( 2 7 ) 
 
 " It was therefore commanded by a writ which bore date 23 Aug. 
 ' ' that such coins as had been made by Sir Richard Martin, 
 "and Richard Martin his son, should still continue to be 
 "made."* 
 
 The work of the commissioners on the coinage — Bacon, 
 Burghley, Walsingham, Mildmay, the Earls of Essex and Leicester, 
 and Sir Christopher Hatton, with whom Sir Thomas Gresham 
 is known to have been in continuous correspondence — must, prob- 
 ably, no less than as their community of interests as goldsmiths, 
 lhave brought Sir Richard Martin and Sir Thomas Gresham into 
 frequent communication with each other, and may possibly have 
 Ihad something to do with the first association of the name of 
 Martin with the fortunes of the Grasshopper. 
 
 From this time onward, during a period of nearly one hundred 
 years, there is no record of the fortunes of the Grasshopper. 
 This is all the more to be regretted, because during these years 
 the foundations of modern banking may be said to have been 
 laid. But in 1677, seventeen years before the foundation in 1694 
 of the Bank of England, there was published the first guide to 
 the addresses of the residents of London, under the title of " The 
 "Little London Directory, Licensed Oct. nth, 1677, Roger 
 " L'Estrange. A collection of the names of the Merchants living 
 " in and about the City of London. Very useful and necessary. 
 " Carefully collected for the Benefit of all Dealers that shall have 
 "occasion with any of them, Directing them at first sight of their 
 " name to the place of their abode. London, printed for Sam 
 " Lee, and are to be sold at his Shop in Lumbard-street, near 
 " Pope's-head-Alley, and Dan Major at the Flying Horse, in Fleet 
 " Street." — 1677. This very voluminous definition appears on the 
 title-page of a small i2mo volume, which was reprinted in facsimile, 
 in 1863, by the late John C. Hotten. At the end of the book 
 is inserted a supplementary .list of the " Goldsmiths that keep 
 * Ruding's "Annals," Ed. 1846, vol. i. p. 372. 
 
( 28 ) 
 
 " running cashes ; " , and among these are " Char. Duncomb and 
 " Richard Kent, at the Grasshopper in Lumbard Street." 
 
 Of the latter of the two partners here mentioned, Richard Kent, 
 very little is known. Mr. Price says that in 1666 a Richard Kent 
 had an account with Edward Backwell, which appears to be a 
 goldsmith's clearing account, and that from 1672 to 1688 Duncombe 
 and Kent kept an account with Blanchard and Child. An Exchequer- 
 order of 1 68 1 to pay ^5206 2s. 6d. to Richard Kent and Chas. 
 Duncombe transposes the names, and in a receipt to the Exchequer 
 of 1684 Kent also signs first; but Duncombe was probably the 
 senior partner throughout. 
 
 In 1694 Charles Shales,* who had been an apprentice to Dun- 
 combe, filed a complaint (Exchequer Bills and Answers, William III., 
 London and Middlesex, No. 553), in which he stated that he paid 
 and received money for Richard Kent (who had died about 1690), 
 and that he advanced certain money to Charles Danvers by his 
 order, against his bond. Danvers deposed that he received the 
 money " att a goldsmith's shoppe in Exchange Alley near the Royal 
 " Exchange." This seems to indicate Duncombe's partner. 
 
 Of Charles Duncombe, however, more is known. The pedigree 
 of the Gresham family shows that the Duncombe family was connected 
 with that of Gresham through the family of Sir Edward Randyll, 
 of Chilworth, in Surrey, whose daughter Elizabeth married John 
 Gresham, of Fulham and Albury, while Vincent Randyll, her brother, 
 married Dorothy, daughter of John Duncombe, also of Albury .f 
 
 The name of Sir John Duncombe occurs repeatedly in Pepys's 
 Diary. He was son of Sir Edward Duncombe, of Battlesden, and 
 
 * Price, "History of London Bankers," 1890, p. 150. 
 
 | Sir Edward Randyll, John Duncombe, 
 
 of Chilworth. of Albury. 
 
 John Gresham, = Elizabeth. Vincent, = Dorothy. 
 
 of Albury, d. 1673. 
 
 b. 1610, d. 1643. 
 
,( 2 9 ) 
 
 on the 28th of January, 1644-5, a letter was written by Charles I. under 
 signet of {sic, qy. " to " ) the Lord Mayor, expressing his satisfaction 
 at the appointment of Francis Vernon to the place of Coal Meter, and 
 requesting the Lord Mayor to> grant a reversion of the office to John 
 Duncombe and William his ston for their lives.* He was knighted 
 by Charles I. while the latter was a prisoner in Carisbrooke Castle. 
 
 Pepys gives the following gossiping account of Sir John Dun- 
 combe's lineage, d propos of the promotion of Sir John Duncombe 
 from being one of the Masters of the Ordnance to the dignity of 
 Commissioner of the Treasury jointly with the Duke of Albemarle, 
 Lord Ashley (Shaftesbury), Sir William Coventry, and Sir Thomas 
 Clifford : " He (Sir George Carteret) says that a great many persons 
 " are angry at the rise of this Duncombe, whose father he tells me 
 " was a Long Parliament mam, and a great Committee man ; and this 
 " fellow used to carry his pap<ers to committee after him. He was a 
 " kind of atturny, but for all that I believe this man will be a great 
 " man in spite of all." 
 
 The assertion that Duncombe's father had been a Long Par- 
 liament man is not confirmed by reference to the Roll of the Long 
 Parliament. Pepys also bears witness to the capacity for business 
 and abilities of Sir John Duincombe, who seems, at the same time, 
 to have been of an imperious and arrogant disposition. Pepys says, 
 " I find that he is a very pnoper man for business, being resolute, 
 " and proud, and industrious ; " and again, when Pepys presented 
 the report of his accounts to the council, who " being very busy did 
 " not read it," he writes, " buit Lord to see how Duncombe do take 
 "upon himself is an eyesore, though I think he deserves great 
 " honour, but only the suddenness of his rise and his pride." 
 
 The personal qualities of Sir John Duncombe appear to have 
 carried him to the front, andl Pepys was evidently at pains to be on 
 friendly terms with so influen tial a personage. The popular estimate 
 
 * Analytical Index to the series of Records known as the " Remembrancia," pre- 
 served among the Archives of the Ciity of London, a.d. 1669-1674. 
 
( 3° ) 
 
 of Sir John Duncombe's character may be appreciated from another 
 entry in Pepys's Diary, for when he called on Sir William Coventry 
 after the committal of the latter to the Tower, he found Sir William 
 vexed at a stage play that was then being presented : — ■ "He told 
 me the matter of the play that was intended for his abuse, wherein 
 " they foolishly and sillily bring in two tables like that which he hath 
 " made with a round hole in the middle in his closet to turn himself 
 " in, and he is in one of them as master, and Sir John Duncombe in 
 " the other as his man, or imitator, and their discourse in these tables 
 "about the disposing of their books and papers very foolish.." 
 
 At a still later date, Sir John Duncombe, in 1672, became 
 Chancellor of the Exchequer, on the resignation of Ashley (Earl 
 Shaftesbury), and the cause of Duncombe's leaving office is men- 
 tioned by Evelyn in the following extract from his Diary : — 
 
 " 14th January, 1682.— He (The Bishop of Rochester) related 
 "tome. . . how earnestly the late E. of Danby, Lord Treasurer, 
 " sought his friendship, and what plaine and sincere advice he gave 
 " him, from time to time about his miscarriages and partialities : 
 " particularly his outing Sir John Duncombe from being Chancellor 
 " of the Exchequer. . . " 
 
 Charles Duncombe, of the Grasshopper, was of the same family, 
 but of another branch. He was son of Alexander Duncombe, of 
 Whitchurch,* Bucks., and was born in 1648. He was apprenticed to 
 Alderman Edward Backwell, as is proved by the following order, 
 supplied by Mr. Hilton Price : — 
 
 "The 12 April 167 1. 
 
 " Charles Duncombe, 
 
 "Pay unto Mr. Phil. Marsh or the bearer, four hundred 
 "eighty nine pounds, and place it to the debt of Mr. William 
 " Batalhey : this is by order of 
 
 "Your Master, 
 
 " ^"489- " Edward Backwell." 
 
 * " Son of — Duncombe, of Drayton-Beauchamp, in Bucks, near Tring " (Stowe, 
 " Survey," etc., book v. chap. 6, p. 153). 
 
( 3< ) 
 
 Backwell carried on business at the Unicorn, in Lombard 
 Street, adjoining the Grasshopper ; but there is some obscurity on 
 this point. Backwell seems to have occupied both these premises 
 and the Grasshopper, for in a deed of lease dated the 20th of May, 
 1737, the Grasshopper is stated to have been formerly in the tenure 
 or occupation of Edward Backwell, Esq., afterwards of Charles 
 Duncombe, Esq. Charles Duncombe was, therefore, probably 
 beginning his city career about the time that Sir John Duncombe 
 was appointed as a Commissioner of the Treasury. It has already 
 been seen that Sir John Duncombe was officially associated with 
 Shaftesbury, and it is, therefore, not an improbable conjecture that 
 it was through the influence of Sir John Duncombe in favour of his 
 young kinsman, the goldsmith, that the latter became Shaftesbury's 
 banker. In January, 1672, the King brought disaster on the 
 goldsmiths by closing the Exchequer, and laying hands on the sum 
 of .£1,328,556 deposited by the goldsmiths. Of this sum ,£295,995 
 stood to the credit of Backwell. Its subsequent commutation to a 
 perpetual annuity at 6 per cent, did not save Backwell from ruin at 
 the instance of his creditors, who demanded their cash. 
 
 Charles Duncombe was more fortunate. No doubt with a keen 
 eye to his own interests, as well as to the welfare of his banker, 
 Shaftesbury conveyed to him a timely warning of the imminent 
 closing of the Exchequer, and by this means he was enabled to 
 withdraw "very great sum of his own and ^30,000 belonging to 
 "the Marquis of Winchester, afterwards the Duke of Bolton." This 
 latter transaction stood him in good stead later on. 
 
 Evidence has been found in the books of the Marygold 
 (p. 28) that the partnership between. Duncombe and Kent subsisted 
 until 1688, when it was dissolved by the death or retirement of Kent. 
 But it is tolerably clear that in the meanwhile Charles Duncombe 
 had associated with himself his brother Valentine. A notice in the 
 London Gazette of 1682 mentions " Vallentine Duncombe of the 
 " Grasshopper, in Lombard Street ; " and there are in the ledgers of 
 
( 32 ) 
 
 Messrs. Child & Co. numerous entries of sums paid to the credit of 
 certain of their customers by Charles Duncombe and Valentine 
 Duncombe. The signature of the latter occurs again in 1688 on 
 the following document, also in the possession of Messrs. Child 
 & Co. : — 
 
 "Mr. Dowk, 
 
 "yu may pay ye one hundred and fourscore pounds for 
 " yr. fine to Mr. Valentine Duncombe Bancker at ye Grashoper 
 " in Lombard Street whose acquittance for ye same shall bee accepted 
 "by me for payment. March ye 29th. (88) 
 
 " Weymouth." 
 
 "Received this 26th May 1688 of Mr. Michael Wicks by the 
 "appointment of Mr. Job Dowk the sum of one hundred and 
 "eighty pounds, which is for the use of the Right Honble. Thomas 
 " Lord Viscount Weymouth, which sum I promise to pay to his 
 " Lordship or order on demand. 
 
 " p. Vall. Duncombe." 
 
 The relationship between the two Duncombes is proved by the 
 following notice in the London Gazette of the 1 7th of November, 1 7 1 1 , 
 six months after the death of Sir Charles : — 
 
 " All persons that have any just debts owing them from Sir 
 " Charles Duncombe or his Brother Valentine Duncombe Deceased 
 "may apply themselves to Mr. Lewis at his chambers in Brick Court 
 " in the Middle Temple in order to their satisfaction." 
 
 In 1688, when the partnership with Richard Kent was drawing to 
 a close, Charles Duncombe was Receiver of Customs,* and when 
 James II. fled to France, nth December, he applied to the Receiver 
 for ^1500. The latter declined to accede to this request, and was 
 
 * Macaulay says (" History," vol. v. p. 19) that he was in 1697 cashier of the 
 Excise. 
 
( 33 ) 
 
 on this account specially excepted from the general amnesty subse- 
 quently proclaimed by the exiled King. In spite of the fact that 
 Charles Duncombe was a Tory, it is not improbable that this trans- 
 action gave rise to the tradition that James II. kept an account at 
 the Grasshopper as well as at Child's ; and that when, after his 
 abdication and flight in 1688, he sent to his bankers for his balance, 
 the latter, as good bankers, sent it to him, while the former, as good 
 Whigs, told him to come and fetch it. There is room for another 
 conjecture, namely, that his Majesty's account was overdrawn. 
 
 Duncombe, in the meantime, was one of the first to wait on 
 William of Orange, and to give him his adhesion. In 1695 Luttrell, 
 in his diary, records, " This week Charles Duncombe sold all his 
 "effects in the Bank of England being ^80,000." Evelyn complains 
 (nth of May, 1696) of the " confusion " and " distraction " through the 
 clipped money, for which Parliament was then actively endeavouring 
 to find a remedy, and goes on to speak of " the fraud of the bankers 
 "and goldsmiths, who, having gotten immense riches by extortion, 
 " keep up their treasure in expectation of enhancing its value, 
 " Duncombe, not long since a mean goldsmith, having made a 
 " purchase of the late Duke of Buckingham's estate at neere ,£90,000, 
 " and reputed to have neere as much in cash. Banks and lotteries 
 "every day set up." The (second) Duke of Buckingham had died in 
 1688, and the adjustment of his affairs had been tedious, as may be 
 inferred from the following extracts from the London Gazette of 9th 
 July, 1694. 
 
 " By order of the Court of Chancery. 
 
 "The Estate of the late Duke of Buckingham is to be sold for 
 "the payment of his Debts, and a Particular of Helmsley, Kirby- 
 "moorside and other parts of the said Duke's Estate in the County 
 " of York is now left with Sir John Hoskyns one of the masters of 
 " the said Court of Chancery, and all Persons who are minded to 
 "purchase the said Estate or any part thereof, may see the said 
 
 D 
 
( 34 ) 
 
 " Particular, and make their proposals in writing on or before the 
 " ist day of Michaelmas Term, and at which time the said Master will 
 "allow him to be the purchaser that offers most. 
 
 " 9 July 1694." 
 
 " The Manor of Helmsley in Yorkshire and other Manors adjoining 
 " of the late Duke of Buckingham are upon sale, and such Persons as 
 " will treat for the same or part thereof are desired to meet at 
 " Helmsley on Easter Monday next where Commissioners appointed 
 " by the Court of Chancery will meet to Treat and receive Pro- 
 " posals. 
 
 "28 March 1695." 
 
 This purchase by Duncombe gave origin to the well-known 
 couplet in Pope's imitation of Horace — 
 
 " Helmsley, once proud Buckingham's delight, 
 Slid to a scrivenir and a city knight." 
 
 But Duncombe was not destined to enjoy in peace the pleasures 
 of a country life; in 1697 he was charged with falsifying endorse- 
 ments on Exchequer Bills, and was committed to the Tower. He 
 was expelled the House of Commons, of which he was a member, 
 and after much debate a division of one hundred and thirty-eight to 
 one hundred and three determined on the confiscation of a great part 
 of his estate. The House of Lords, however, by a narrow majority, 
 declined to confirm the verdict of the Commons, and released the 
 prisoner. A full account of this transaction is given in Mr. 
 Chisholm's report on the national debt. 
 
 In the autumn of 1697, a fraudulent endorsement of Exchequer 
 Bills to a considerable extent was committed. It is thus alluded 
 to by Ralph, a contemporary writer : " It seems . . . that after 
 "they . . . had been paid in upon any of the taxes, and had 
 "been issued a second time, they were entitled to an interest of 
 "£y 12s. per cent. Here therefore was an opening for the 
 "ingenious and industrious to try their talents, and accordingly 
 
( 35 ) 
 
 "a company was formed by Mr. C. Duncombe, Receiver-General 
 "of the Excise, Mr. John Knight, Treasurer of the Customs, and 
 " Mr. Reginald Marriott, one of the Deputy Tellers of the 
 "Exchequer, to make the most of it." 
 
 It would appear that the bills were not to bear interest for 
 such time as they were in the hands of the several officers of the 
 Revenue or Exchequer, and that the evidence of such interest 
 being in abeyance was to be shown by endorsing the bill with 
 the date of its receipt, and with their signature, whilst the evidence 
 of the interest reviving was to appear by the date of re-issue and 
 the signature of the Exchequer officer. The fraud was committed 
 by the abuse of the power thus entrusted to these officers. 
 
 In October, 1697, Mr. Marriott confessed his guilt before the 
 Lords of the Treasury, and said that he was the only guilty 
 party, but was ordered to be tried before the King's Bench ; in 
 November Mr. Knight and Mr. Burton, implicated by Marriott, 
 were discharged. 
 
 On the 20th of November, the King presided at a council, at 
 which, among others, a Mr. Smith was present, and the question 
 was discussed. The result. is thus given in Hansard's " Parliamentary 
 History" (vol. v. p. 11 71) : " Upon a full proof of the matter, Dun- 
 " combe and Knight, who were Members of the House of Commons 
 " (for Downton, in Wiltshire, and for Weymouth respectively), were 
 " first expelled the House, and committed prisoners to the Tower. 
 " Burton was sent to Newgate, and bills were ordered to be brought 
 "in (25 Jan. 1698) to punish them. The bill against Mr. Duncombe, 
 " whereby a fine of nearly half his estate (which at that time was 
 "judged to be worth ,£400,000) was set upon him, did quickly 
 " pass the Commons, notwithstanding the opposition that was made 
 " to it, particularly by the Attorney-General (Trevor) ; but being 
 " sent up to the Lords, and their Lordships being equally divided, 
 "the Duke of Leeds gave his vote for the rejection of the Bill. 
 " It was then the common report that Mr. Duncombe dispelled 
 
( 36 ) 
 
 "the rising storm by a golden sacrifice, which however history 
 " cannot relate as truth, because it never came under public notice ; 
 "but we must not pass over in silence that Mr. Duncombe being 
 "set at liberty by order of the House of Lords,* without the 
 "consent of the Commons, the latter resented it to that degree 
 "that they caused him (15 Mar. 1698) to be remanded to the 
 " Tower of London, where he continued till the end of the session. 
 " The bills against Knight and Burton had the same fate, and so 
 "all those threatening clouds that seemed ready to crush the false 
 " endorsers spent themselves in vapour and noise." f 
 
 Although the matter had been dropped in the House of Parlia- 
 ment, Duncombe was tried at the Court of King's Bench on the 
 4th of February, 1699, and was found not guilty through a mistake 
 in the informations. The indictment was amended in the next 
 term, but he was found not guilty, and further proceedings were 
 abandoned. 
 
 Duncombe had no sooner shaken off the anxiety that must have 
 attended this protracted investigation than he engaged in the pursuit 
 of municipal distinction. On the 24th of June, 1699, he was elected 
 Sheriff without a poll, and was knighted on the 20th of October in 
 the same year. In 1700 he was elected Alderman of the Bridge 
 Ward, and was nominated Lord Mayor, but was rejected on a 
 partisan division of the Court of Aldermen in favour of the Whig 
 candidate, Abney. He was again nominated in 1701, but was not 
 elected until 1708-9. He died, unmarried, and without a will, on 
 the 9th of April 1711, at his house at Teddington, being then re- 
 puted to be the richest commoner in England. Pope must have 
 known him by general reputation, and not as a neighbour, since 
 the poet did not take up his residence at Twickenham till 1715 ; 
 
 * The House of Lords decided in Duncombe's favour (March 15, 1698) by 49 
 votes — among them that of the Duke of Bolton — to 48. 
 
 f From Mr. Chisholm's " Report on National Debt." Return to House of 
 Commons dated May n, 1857; ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 
 July 19, 1858, No. 443. See also Macaulay, " History," chaps, xx. and xxi. 
 
( 37 ) 
 
 but in the dying Euclio (" Moral Essays," epistle i., lines 256-261), 
 grasping to the end his worldly possessions, it has been supposed 
 by some that Duricombe was indicated. 
 
 To return to the Grasshopper. While the partnership between 
 Charles and Valentine Duncombe still subsisted, in 1686, the first 
 record appears of Richard. Smith,* in the shape of a sum placed 
 to the credit of a customer of Messrs. Child & Co. in their books 
 "by Richard Smith, per Duncombe." In the following year, 1687, 
 credit entries occur as paid in by Richard Smith & Co. In 1688, 
 on an old cheque in the possession of Messrs. Child & Co., he 
 is more particularly described as " Richard Smythe at the corner 
 " of Change Alley," and his name recurs on similar documents dating 
 frorri 1694- 169 7. It may here be mentioned as a remarkable 
 coincidence that, full one hundred years previously, the names of 
 Smith, Kent, and Duncombe are associated in the records of the 
 adjoining parish of St. Margaret, Lothbury. 
 
 "The xij th daye of Iune anno 1575. at a vestry by theas namys 
 "here under wrytten yt was agreed that Mr. Beekett, Mr. Meers, 
 " Mr. Bramley, Mr. George Smythe, & Mr. Kentt, & Mr. Donkom 
 " or iij of them with y e churche wardens & syde men shall goe to 
 "y e L(ord) of London or to y e Lord Keper or the hy Comyssyoners 
 "and Requyre that Iamys Style maye be depryvyd and that y e 
 " L(ord) of London may take som shorter waye for that Cawse 
 "then by ordynary Course of y e Law for avoydyng of chargis to 
 "y e parryshe also yt ys agreed that theas men shall shew to y e 
 " Lord Keper for y e Revarsyon of y e vowson to y e parryshe." f 
 
 In 1694 Richard Smith's name occurs again in the following 
 official announcement : — 
 
 " The Rt. Hon. the Lords Commrs. of Their Majesties' Treasury 
 
 * Smith, Smyth, or Smythe. The name is not always spelt alike, even in the same 
 document. 
 
 f Extract from the books of the parish of St. Margaret, Lothbury, to endeavour 
 to compel the clergyman to dwell in the residence in the parish. From "A Discourse 
 '• on some Unpublished Records of the City of London," by Edwin Freshfield. 1887. 
 
( 38 ) 
 
 " have thought fit that Mr. Bartholomew Burton at the Exchg., 
 " Mr. John Knight* at the Custom House, Mr. Edward Mompessen, 
 "and Mr. Richard Smith, of London, Golds* 8, (together with Sir 
 " Fran Child, Sir Ste Evance, Chas Duncombe Esq re- Mr. Lassels, 
 " Mr. Johnson and Mr. Fowle, who were named in the last (Gazette), 
 " shall be Their Majesties' Receivers of the Contributions upon the 
 " Act for raising any sum not exceeding ten hundred thousand 
 "pounds upon the new Duty arising by Salt, and new rates of 
 " Excise " {London Gazette, 29th of March, 1694). 
 
 In 1698, in the rate rolls of the parish of St. Mary Woolnoth, 
 Richard Smith was assessed to the relief of the poor in company 
 with many others, most of whom are known by name as gold- 
 smiths of that time. It will be remembered that at the Royal 
 Council convened to consider the charges against Charles Duncombe 
 a Mr. Smith is specially mentioned, and it may plausibly be 
 conjectured that this Mr. Smith was Mr. Richard Smith of the 
 Grasshopper. He is said to have taken an active part in the 
 restoration of the coinage of 1695-6 — a matter which had become 
 so serious that the whole energy of Government was devoted to 
 its adjustment at a great expense, in spite of the pressure of onerous 
 war and most burdensome weight of taxation (Macaulay, vol. iv. 
 chap. 21). 
 
 Mr. Smith's portrait still hangs in Lombard Street, and repre- 
 sents him in a flowing wig and blue silk dress, standing under the 
 colonnade of the Royal Exchange. The picture, which is one of 
 considerable merit, has always been traditionally assigned to Huys- 
 man, a rival to Sir Peter Lely. Huysman died in 1696. He 
 is referred to in Pepys's Diary on 26th of August, 1664 — "to see 
 "some pictures at one Hiseman's, a picture drawer, a Dutchman 
 " which is said to exceed Lilly, and indeed there is both Queens 
 " and mayds of Honour — as good pictures I think as ever I saw." 
 
 * Knight and Burton were involved with Charles Duncombe in the charge of 
 fraudulent dealings in Exchequer Bills (see ante, p. 35, 36). 
 
( 39 ) 
 
 But when the picture was cleaned in 1872, the name " J. Hargrave, 
 "ft. 1767," was discovered on it. Hargrave is an unknown painter; 
 but, as the costume is of an earlier period, the picture has probably 
 either been copied or touched up by Hargrave. 
 
 In 1695 the London Gazette records a partnership between Mr. 
 Smith and Mr. Spinks. The parish records of St. Mary Woolnoth 
 give the clue to the origin of this partnership. In the register 
 of deaths there Is the following entry : — 
 
 " ^99 July 22 Dyed, Mr. Richard Smith, Goldsmith, bur. in 
 " Northwood Church, Isle of Wight, July 28." 
 
 "1699 July 28 Was taken up, the body of Jane, wife of Mr. 
 " Elmes Spincke, goldsmith, a sister of the aforesaid Mr. Richard 
 " Smith, by faculty from the Bishopp of London's office, to be 
 "interred with Mr. Smith at the Isle of Wight, in Northwood 
 " Church, she having been bur. Sep. 4. 1690." 
 
 And a corresponding entry occurs in the registers at Northwood, 
 in the Isle of Wight — 
 
 "July 31 1699 Buryed at Northwood Mr. Richard Smith of 
 " Lombard Street in London, goldsmith, hee dyed in London 
 "and was brought down to be buryed here together with the 
 " corps of his sister Spinks who dyed and was buryed in London 
 "September 1690, but her body was taken up again, putt in a 
 " new coffin, brought down and laid in the same grave with her 
 " brother. These two were the children of Mr. Smith my 
 " predecessor who was 35 years minister of this parish (Signed) 
 " Joh. Scott." 
 
 The tomb of Mr. Samuel Smith records that he was for 
 thirty-four years minister of Northwood. The patronage of 
 Carisbrooke, with the chapelries of Northwood and Cowes, is 
 vested in Queen's College, Oxford, of which Samuel Smith was 
 admitted as a Bateller in 1633, and was elected Fellow in 1643. 
 He appears in the usual course to have resigned his Fellowship, 
 and to have taken up this college preferment in 1655 on his 
 
( 40 ) 
 
 marriage " with Grace his wife," by whom he had four children, 
 namely, Richard Smith, Jane Spinks, and two who died in infancy. 
 Richard Smith was born on the 12th of May, 1659; he was, therefore, 
 little over forty years of age at his death on the 22nd of July, 1699. 
 It is noticeable that his will, executed seven days before his death, 
 is attested by Thomas Martin. Richard Smith clearly took an 
 interest in his native place, for he bequeathed to the minister, 
 for the time being, of Carisbrooke, a vicarage house at Northbrook, 
 together with about fifty acres of land, subject to annual charges 
 of £12 for the benefit of the poor of the place, on condition that 
 there should always be a resident clergyman at Northwood. He 
 evidently feared lest the association of Carisbrooke with North- 
 wood might lead to the neglect of the latter. 
 
 Not only was the partnership between Richard Smith and Elmes 
 Spincke (or Spinks) dissolved by the death of the former, but the 
 latter appears, at the same time, to have retired from business. The 
 name of Elmes Spinks, however, occurs in the first surviving 
 balance-sheet — that of the 25th of December, 1732 — as one of the 
 depositors. Assuming him to have been a contemporary of Richard 
 Smith, it is quite possible that this was the ex-partner in the firm, 
 by this time resident elsewhere, since his death is not recorded in 
 the parish register. But at some period before his death Mr. 
 Richard Smith had taken into his service Andrew Stone, the first 
 of that name to be associated with the Grasshopper. 
 
 The Stone family was closely connected with Winchester, and 
 it is possibly owing to this circumstance that Andrew Stone was 
 taken into partnership by Richard Smith, who, as has been seen, 
 was connected with Carisbrooke, in the Isle of Wight."' The first 
 mention of the name is in 1646, when William Stone "was pre- 
 sented " for selling beer without a licence. It is not stated whether 
 
 * The information here given respecting the Stone family is derived from the records 
 of the corporation of Winchester, and has been kindly furnished by Mr. W. H. 
 Jacob, the Mayor. 
 
( 4i ) 
 
 the charge thus brought was substantiated or not ; but, in the same 
 year, William Stone and Thomas Stone are entered in the constable's 
 return as alehouse keepers, the latter being the hayward of the 
 corporation. In 1662 Andrew Stone is mentioned in the parish 
 register of St. Maurice as an alehouse keeper at Westgate, and 
 sergeant-at-mace for the city. Five years later he is recorded to 
 have received two shillings " for writing the scrivener's and bell- 
 man's rate." In the same year he obtains a lease of the "two voyd 
 " pieces of ground within and without the citie neare the Westgate, 
 " reserving a sufficient cartway by the gate to the Castle, from the 
 " annunciation last past for fifty years, at xii pence per an. tenant 
 " to repair and maintaine the fences from tyme to tyme, and shall 
 " pay, for a fine at the ceiling, x pounds and a couple of chickens at 
 " the second burrough mote." In this year too he obtains a lease 
 of the ground called Denmark, for forty years, formerly granted to 
 John Tipper; while, at the same time, Johanne (or Joane) Stone, 
 widow, has a lease of a little tenement, " by her latilie built, on the 
 " south side of the Westgate, for seventy years, at a yearly payment 
 "of twelve pence at Michaelmas, and a couple of chickens, without 
 " fyne in respect of building." This Johanne Stone may have been 
 the widow of William or Thomas Stone. In 1672 Andrew Stone 
 receives £2 for extraordinary business, and £1 for "encouragement," 
 and this last payment inspired him to the expense of £10 (no small 
 sum in those days) for a dinner on All Saints' Day in 1673. 
 
 For several years he seems also to have had the care of, and to 
 have received £\ yearly for looking after, St. John's House. That 
 he was a trader appears by the fact that he received an advance of 
 £2^ without interest, under the provisions of Sir Thomas White's 
 gift. In this year also he had the misfortune to be "presented" 
 by the clerk of the market for not appearing with his measures. 
 Later on, in 1678, his name appears again as leasing a tenement 
 near St. Clement's church, in consideration of a fine of £i£>, and 
 yearly payment, for forty years, of a couple of chickens. 
 
( 42 ) 
 
 Meantime, he seems to have had a son growing up, who, in 
 1684, was made a freeman of the city, and is described as a "gent." 
 This title seems to mark the ascent in social standing from that 
 of plain William Stone through his son, Mr. Andrew Stone, to the 
 grandson, Andrew Stone, gentleman. In 1684 Andrew Stone — 
 either the elder or the younger — was the Keeper of the Westgate, 
 then, and many years after, used as a prison. Such a prison was 
 on a small scale, and it was not unusual for a licensed victualler to 
 contract for the catering of the prisoners. It has already been seen 
 that Andrew Stone had dealings in land, or house property, in various 
 quarters of the city of Winchester. One more instance occurs, 
 when, in 1685, it is recorded that Mr. Andrew Stone should have 
 " a lease of eighty years of the land where the city pound lately 
 " stood, near the Westgate, wherein to build a house, provided 
 " among other things that Mr. Mayor be desired to consult Sir 
 " C. Wrenn whether the King shall have occasion for the ground, 
 " if so the act voyd." This last proviso refers to the scheme of 
 Charles II. for building a royal palace at Winchester. The designs 
 were by Sir Christopher Wren, and the foundation stone was laid 
 in 1683. The building was carried on with considerable energy for 
 two years, but the death of the King left it incomplete, and it was 
 never finished. 
 
 Henceforward the annals of Winchester are silent respecting 
 Andrew .Stone, who, as has been stated, became a partner in the 
 Grasshopper at the end of the century, and died in 171 1. He 
 married Anne, the daughter of Mrs. Holbrooke, the sister of Mr. 
 Smith. But whether Andrew Stone met with the reward of the 
 industrious apprentice in contracting this marriage, or whether 
 Mr. Smith took his relative into his business, must remain a 
 matter of conjecture. His widow, Anne Stone, appears in 1716 as 
 having leased the porter's lodge at the Westgate, and as having died 
 in 1725. Mrs. Andrew Stone's maiden name, Holbrooke,* appears 
 * The family of Holbrook (or Holdbrook) was apparently established in the parish 
 
( 43 ) 
 
 in the will of John Gresham, of Limpsfield (1673), who gave to "my 
 "friende, Mr. John Houlbrook, of Tytsie, ^5 ;" and Edward Gres- 
 ham, by his will (1674), bequeathed to "Mr. Holbrooke, of Tutsey, 
 " forty shillings." 
 
 The registers of the parish of St. Mary Woolnoth show that 
 Andrew Stone resided in the parish — 
 
 " 1698 Jan. 19 — Baptised Anne, daughter of Mr. Andrew and 
 " Anne Stone, Goldsmith, book-keeper to Mr. Smythe at the ' Grass- 
 " ' hopper,' born Jan. 9. 
 
 " 1700 May 17 — Baptised Mary, daughter of Mr. Andrew and 
 "Anne Stone, Goldsmith, born May 9th. 
 
 "1 70 1 — Elizabeth, born Dec. 18th. 
 
 " 1 702 — Andrew, born Feb. 4th. 
 
 " 1705 — Richard, born April 19th.* 
 
 " 1707 — George, born Jan. 7th." 
 
 Andrew, sub-governor to George III., and George, Primate of 
 Ireland, both figured conspicuously in the history of their time. 
 
 Andrew Stone did not long survive the birth of his youngest 
 child. The probate of his will, dated February 11, 171 1, is still 
 in Lombard Street, and is one of the oldest documents there extant. 
 He is therein described as a cloth-maker, agreeably with the custom 
 then prevalent of being enrolled among one of the city companies. 
 He leaves his share of the business to Thomas Martin on payment 
 of ^9000 to his widow, to her mother, Mrs. Holbrooke, and to 
 Nathaniel Torriano. He disposes of his estate as follows : one-third 
 "by custom of the City of London" to his widow, one-third "by said 
 " custom " to his children equally, and one-third free to dispose of by 
 said custom. 
 
 Mr. Smith also took as a clerk Thomas Martin, who, not long 
 
 of St. Mary Woolnoth. In 1690 is recorded the birth, and shortly afterwards the 
 death, of Jane, .daughter of Richard and Mary Holdbrook, and in 1708 is entered the 
 burial of Mrs. Mary, widow of Mr. Richard Holdbrook. 
 
 * Registered as the son of Richard and Anne Stone, goldsmith- This surely is an 
 error in the record. 
 
( 44 ) 
 
 after the death of his employer, entered into partnership with Andrew 
 Stone. Their names are associated together in 1703, and from that 
 time forward the business was mainly conducted by members of the 
 two families until 1852, when Mr. George Stone left the firm. At 
 his death, on the 15th of July, 1861, the Stone family became extinct 
 in the male line — he being the great-great-grandson of Andrew 
 Stone. 
 
 seal of Andrew stone (2. natural size). 
 From the original in the possession of the author. 
 
 It would be interesting to ascertain positively what degree of 
 consanguinity existed between Thomas Martin and the Martins of 
 Saffron Walden a hundred years earlier, and Sir Richard Martirt, 
 contemporary of Sir Thomas Gresham, and Master of the Mint in 
 the time of Elizabeth. As has already been recorded, the Martin 
 family were most numerous at Saffron Walden previous to the 
 year 1600. In the parish church of All Saints, at Evesham, in 
 Worcestershire, a tablet is erected " to the happy memory of Mr. 
 "William Martin, who, having bin Mayor of the Borough in the 
 "year 1623, 1632, and 1641, and Justice of the Peace eight yeares 
 "together to the great encouragement of piety, and the terror of 
 "evill doers, — departed this life June 14th, 1653, etat 7°-" His son, 
 
( 45 ) 
 
 Thomas Martin, is similarly recorded to have been Mayor of the 
 Borough for the years 1652 and 1677, and Justice of the Peace eight 
 years together. He, too, is stated to have been a " terrour to evil- 
 -doers," with this addition, that he was also "a praise to them that 
 "did well." 
 
 Thomas Martin, the partner of Andrew Stone, was his grandson. 
 After the death of Andrew Stone, Thomas Martin carried on the 
 business alone, as appears from an endorsement on a cheque drawn 
 19th of February, 1711-12, on Sir Francis Child & Co., endorsed 
 "witness, Rob. Knight, for mw Mr. Thomas Martin," until 1714, 
 when he took into partnership hiis brother James. 
 
 The fact that James Martin represented the Borough of 
 Cambridge in the Parliament of 1 741 until his death in 1744, and 
 that he was a conservator of the river Cam, and the lord of the 
 manor of Stow-cum-Quy, near Cambridge, which he purchased of Sir 
 Thomas Whichcote, Bart., points to a connexion between the Martins 
 of Essex and of Worcestershire.. The partnership between Thomas 
 and James Martin was terminaited by the retirement from business 
 of Thomas Martin at some tiime between 1725, when Mr. Price 
 finds his name, and 1 73 1, when his name is not included in the first 
 surviving balance-sheet. 
 
 His retirement may have be<en influenced by an inclination to a 
 political career, for in the Parliaiment of 1 727-1 734 he was M.P. for 
 Wilton, Wilts, with Robert Herbert, Esq., as his colleague. 
 
 It may possibly have been iin connexion with this parliamentary 
 campaign that he went to Batlh in 1728, whence he remits to his 
 bankers a cheque drawn by thie Earl of Oxford on Francis Child, 
 Esqr., and Partners, on which is the following endorsement : — 
 " Pay Mr. James Martin &: Comp. or order 
 
 "Bath, Oct. 26.. 1728. Thomas Martin. 
 "James Martin & Co. 
 " Witness for Mr. James Martin & Coy. 
 
 " Saml. Thorne." 
 
( 46 ) 
 
 Thomas Martin lived, at any rate during the latter part of his 
 business life and until his death, at Clapham, where he died in 1765, 
 at the age of eighty-six. He was buried at Cheshunt, Herts, of 
 whose great tithes he was the impropriator, no doubt through his 
 marriage with Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Lowe, of that place. 
 A memorial tablet, formerly affixed to the exterior wall of the old 
 church at Clapham, has now been removed by the careful solicitude 
 of the vicar, to a conspicuous place in the porch. It records his 
 death full of years and good works. That this is not merely 
 tombstone flattery, but that he was evidently much respected, we 
 may judge from the fact that in the deeds of partnership, renewed ' 
 at intervals of not more than five years, he was appointed arbitrator 
 in any disputes that might arise. A quaint record of him exists in 
 the following set of rules for the guidance of a banker, of which the 
 original is written in a fair and clerkly hand, apparently that of his 
 successor in business, Ebenezer Blackwell, bearing the date of 
 January 22nd, 1746, and endorsed in a different handwriting, "Mr. 
 "T.MVs maxims." 
 
 " Proper Considerations for Persons concerned in the Banking 
 
 " Business. 
 "January 22nd, 1746. 
 
 " 1. Some Judgment ought to be made of what sum is proper to 
 " be out at a constant interest. 
 
 " 2. A proportion of Bonds, Land tax tallies, and silver, to be 
 " ready on a sudden demand. 
 
 " 3- A proportion of Government Securities, as Navy Bills. 
 
 " 4. Not to lend any money without application from the borrower 
 "and upon alienable security that may be easily disposed of, and a 
 " probability of punctual payment without being reckoned hard by 
 " the borrower. 
 
 " 5. All loans to be repaid when due, and ye rotation not exceed 
 " six months. 
 
( 47 ) 
 
 " 6. Not to boast of great surplus or plenty of money. 
 
 " 7. When loans do not offer, to lend on Stocks or other 
 "securities, buy for ready money and sell for time. 
 
 " 8. When credit increases by accident upon an uncertain circu- 
 " lation, the mony may be lent to Goldsmiths, or discount Bills of 
 " Exchange. 
 
 " 9. 'Tis prudence and advantage of a Goldsmith that depend 
 "upon credit, to endeavour as near as possible upon the yearly 
 "settling Accounts to have the investure of that mony in Effects 
 "that are easy to be converted into mony. 
 
 " 10. To appear cautious and timorous contributes very much 
 " to give persons in credit an esteem among mankind. 
 
 "11. Avoid unprofitable business, especially wn. attended with 
 " trouble and expense. 
 
 "12. 'Tis certainly better to employ a little money at a good 
 " advantage, if lent safely, in order to have a greater cash by you, 
 " tho' possibly you may extend your credit safely. 
 
 " 13. When it shall be thought proper to call in old loans the 
 "demanding of them ought to be in the names of all the Partners." 
 
 ARMS OF SIR RICHARD MARTIN, temp. Eliz. 
 
 From Stowe's "Survey of London," vol. ii. book v. p. 138 (edit. Strype, 1720). 
 
( 49 ) 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 EBENEZER BLACKWELL : 173I-I782. 
 
 The Blackwells of Bushey, Herts, temp. Eliz.— Sir William Parkyn — Rowland Pitt 
 — Ewer, or Hewer — The Blackwells of Bushey, Herts — Of Sprouston Hall, Nor- 
 folk — Of Gloucestershire — Ebenezer Blackwell born at Cirencester — Witnesses 
 the signatures, 1732 — Becomes a partner, 1746 — His private accounts — Mrs. 
 Sparrow, of Lewisham — John and Charles Wesley — Blackwell buys Mrs. 
 Sparrow's house at Lewisham — His friendship with Wesley — Wesley's diary — 
 Blackwell manages Wesley's money matters — Wesley's exhortations and cautions 
 to Blackwell — Death of Mrs. Blackwell — Wesley's last visit to Lewisham — Black- 
 well and Whitfield — Whitfield's journey to Georgia— Blackwell's benevolence — 
 His private liberality — His bets — The case of Elizabeth Canning — Blackwell's 
 house in Change Alley — Its destruction by fire in 1748— His family affairs — 
 Family visits — Christmas-boxes — Wages — Prices of commodities — Robberies — 
 Personal habits — His expenditure, 1750 — His father and mother — His second 
 wife, Mary Eden — Her family — Connexion with families of Pitt, Lowth, Sturges, 
 Jarvis, Knollys, and Martin— His retirement from business, 1780— Dies, 1782 — 
 Buried at Lewisham — His residence there. The Limes — John Wesley's bedroom. 
 
 T EAVING, for the present, the Martins and the Stones, a 
 slight retrogression is necessary in order to take up the name 
 of Ebenezer Blackwell, which first appears in attestation of the 
 signatures of the partners on the balance-sheet of 1732. The family 
 of Blackwell seems to have been a numerous one. In the reign 
 of Elizabeth, 1573, Robert Blackwell, of Bushey, gentleman, became 
 Lord of the Manor of Bushey, Herts, and this dignity remained in 
 his family until the death, without issue, of Richard Blackwell in 
 1677. One of his daughters, Susan, married Sir William Parkyn, 
 who was attainted of high treason in 1696. The other daughter, 
 
 E 
 
( 5o ) 
 
 Anne, married Rowland Pitt. About this time several members of 
 the family were in business in various parts of London. Charles 
 
 Blackwell, living in the Strand, married, in 1703, Ewer, 
 
 daughter of Isaac Ewer.* The name of Ewer, occasionally spelt 
 Hewer, appears in the earliest books of the Grasshopper. In this 
 latter form the name is familiar to readers of Pepys's Diary. 
 
 Another branch of the Blackwell family established itself at 
 Sprouston Hall, Norfolk, and a third in the Cotswold Hills of 
 Gloucestershire, a district in which the name is still of frequent 
 occurrence. Ebenezer Blackwell was one of this branch. His 
 grandfather, Samuel Blackwell, seems, though there is some am- 
 biguity as to this, to have lived at Brockhampton, or Brockington, a 
 small hamlet in the parish of Snowshill, near Broadway ; and his son, 
 John Blackwell, born in 1671, married Elizabeth Freeman, born 
 1679. Ebenezer Blackwell, born the 22nd of October, 1711, at 
 Cirencester, was their son. His first wife was Elizabeth Moland. 
 The date of this marriage is uncertain, but it was before the 1st 
 of January, 1746-7, from which date to January, 1756, a flood of light 
 is thrown on the history of Ebenezer Blackwell, by an extremely 
 interesting book of private accounts extending over the above- 
 mentioned period, which has accidentally survived among the books 
 of the Grasshopper. This book is prefaced by an inventory of 
 his property dated 1st of January, 1746-7. The balance-sheets of 
 1 745-6-7 are missing, but it is probable that this inventory was taken 
 on the occasion of his admission to the firm. He states that he has 
 two shares in twenty-four in company with Messrs. John and Joseph 
 Martin, Robert Surman, and Richard Stone, and he at once shows 
 his connexion with Gloucestershire by the following entry — 
 " I have a freehold house in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, 
 " formerly tenanted by Mr. Glover. It is a Fore- 
 " street house the right hand of Fish Alley in the 
 
 * The above particulars are derived from a memorandum furnished by Mr. Samuel 
 John Blackwell, of Brookshill, Harrow Weald. 
 
( Si ) 
 
 " Barton Street, and did let for forty shillings p. ann. 
 " the income of which I have given during pleasure 
 " to Mrs. Etheridge of Tewkesbury my father's sister. 
 " I value the house at only ten years' purchase, tho' it 
 "cost 14 and J ... ... ... ... £20!' 
 
 This account-book of Blackwell's is a mine of interesting informa- 
 tion, not only as to the character of Blackwell, but also as to the con- 
 
 THE LIMES, LEWISHAM. [From a Photograph. 
 
 ditions of life in the middle of the eighteenth century. In 1748 Mrs. 
 Jane Sparrow, of Lewisham, died, leaving Mr. Blackwell her executor, 
 with a legacy of £21. Mrs. Sparrow was on intimate terms with 
 John and Charles Wesley. She directed that one or other of the 
 brothers should preach her funeral sermon, and by a codicil to her 
 will bequeathed to Charles Wesley ^50, together with a silver-gilt 
 cup and other specific legacies. John Wesley, as early as 1747, 
 
( 52 ) 
 
 writes that he had " retired to Mrs. Sparrow's at Lewisham," where 
 he remained four days, preaching every evening. Mr. Blackwell, 
 as executor of Mrs. Sparrow, sold the estate at Lewisham to Mrs. 
 Hannah Dewell, and at the same time bought back from Mrs. 
 Dewell a half-share of the property. It was perhaps through 
 Mrs. Sparrow that Blackwell came to be on intimate terms with 
 Wesley and Whitfield. 
 
 In the summer of 1749 Blackwell took up his residence at 
 the Limes, at Lewisham, and here for many years John Wesley used 
 to retire for rest and meditation, as had previously been his custom 
 in the lifetime of Mrs. Sparrow. It is evident from the numerous 
 entries in Blackwell's accounts, as well as from passages in Wesley's 
 Journal and letters, that the two were intimate friends. Some of 
 these passages bear on John Wesley's most intimate private affairs. 
 His ill-assorted marriage took place in February, 1751. On the 
 5th of March he writes from Bristol to Blackwell, " Will you not like- 
 " wise advise and comfort her who is now likely to stand in need of 
 " every help. You see how bold a beggar I am;" and a month 
 later, 7th of April, " You must blame yourself if your never denying 
 " me anything makes me ask more and more " (namely, to act with 
 a friend in looking into Mrs. Wesley's money matters). " I am 
 "persuaded Mrs. B. and you do not forget me nor her that is as 
 " my own soul." 
 
 On the 14th of May, Wesley makes further reference to his wife's 
 affairs — Blackwell has removed some of Mrs. Wesley's trials; if 
 these outward encumbrances were removed his wife might be more 
 with him. Three years later, writing from Bristol, whither he had 
 gone on account of illness, Wesley writes to Blackwell, " I must 
 " not delay writing to you, who have been the greatest instrument 
 " in God's hand of my recovery thus far. The journey here did not 
 " weary me at all, but I now find the want of Lewisham air." 
 
 Other passages in Wesley's letters are by way of exhortation, 
 and from the study of Blackwell's accounts it may be imagined that 
 
( 53 ) 
 
 although he had a tendency towards the doctrines of Wesley and 
 Whitfield, he was at the same time a man of the world, and not 
 sufficiently austere to satisfy Wesley's ideal. The latter writes in 
 1753, " I have feared you was not so bold for God as you was five 
 " years ago ; " and again, " I have observed you had many enemies, 
 " perhaps one was a natural cheerfulness of temper . . . another 
 " has been a kind of shame . . . was it not owing to these that you, 
 " who had received such blessings by way of field preaching, grew 
 " unwilling to attend it." 
 
 An entry in John Wesley's Journal of 21st of May, 1740, refers 
 to the manifestations that accompanied this revivalist movement, 
 and may have had a personal interest to Mr. Blackwell — 
 
 " Most of our brethren were fully convinced, that those who were 
 " under this strange temptation (hysterical laughter) could not help 
 
 " it. Only E — th B and Anne H — n (Qy. Elizabeth Blackwell and 
 
 " her maid Anne Higda) were of another mind ; being still sure, any- 
 one might help laughing if they would . . . On Friday 23rd God 
 " suffered Satan to teach them better. Both of them were suddenly 
 " seized in the same manner as the rest, and laughed whether they 
 " would or no, almost without ceasing. Thus they continued two 
 " days, a spectacle to all, and were then, upon prayer being made 
 " for them, delivered in a moment." 
 
 Elsewhere Wesley accounts business as one of the greatest of 
 the thousand temptations by which Blackwell is surrounded, hinting 
 that he has been ashamed to avow his religious profession before 
 the gay world; and on another occasion reproaching him for inti- 
 mating that he would not attend a preaching of the Conference : 
 " This is indeed deserting me at my utmost need just when the Philis- 
 " tines are upon me." It must indeed have been difficult to satisfy so 
 austere a spiritual mentor, who suggested that the backsliding which 
 he feared in his disciple might be due partly to these feelings of 
 shame and partly to "allowing too large a place in your affections 
 " even to so innocent an enjoyment as that of a garden." Other of 
 
( 54 ) 
 
 his suggestions have a practical shrewdness. In 1764 he writes 
 that he hears from his brother that Blackwell has been dangerously 
 ill, and he expresses fear that "that chariot" will cost Blackwell his 
 life ; he cannot expect to be well if he gives up riding. Wesley him- 
 self believed in his own prescription. He perpetually rode from end 
 to end of England with incredible rapidity, of which an instance may 
 be found in the following extract from his Journal (September, 1767), 
 " I was informed between twelve and one (on Saturday) that Mrs. 
 " Blackwell was dying. Judging that I had no time to lose, about 
 "one I left Bristol, and about seven on Sunday morning came to 
 " London. Learning that she was better, I stayed to preach, and 
 " then hastened on, and spent a solemn and profitable hour at 
 " Lewisham." Mrs. Blackwell, however, recovered from this illness, 
 and survived until 1772. 
 
 As has already been stated, Blackwell's accounts abound with 
 interesting entries of sums subscribed to Wesley, in some cases 
 personally, in others on account of his chapel, or " for that vast 
 "uncouth heap of ruins the Foundery," whither Wesley had removed 
 in 1 740 from Fetter Lane. The school at the Foundery, its portal, 
 its poor, and the pew-opener, all received his continual support. Mr. 
 Whitfield's name occurs with almost equal frequency. There is on 
 the 20th of July, 1748, a donation of £20 towards discharging the debt 
 occasioned by the Orphan House in Georgia, and, on the 12th of 
 December, 1753, a donation of £\o 10s. to the Rev. Mr. Whitfield 
 towards the building of his Tabernacle. In March, 1754, there is 
 a quaint entry — 
 
 " To paid for chesnutts and horses when Mr. Whitfield was at 
 " Lewisham in his way to Georgia, 12s." 
 
 This entry must have reference to the historical occasion when 
 Whitfield, leaving England, passed within hail of the ship that was 
 bearing Wesley back from the settlement in Georgia. Some of 
 Blackwell's benefactions were, however, totally unsectarian. Thus 
 he contributes £2 2s. towards assisting " a young man some 
 
( 55 ) 
 
 " time since condemned, but repreaved, and likely to become a use- 
 " ful member to society as well as a christian indeed ; " and shortly 
 afterwards £i is. to a young Turk who came to England to embrace 
 the Christian religion. It may interest the present inhabitants of 
 Blackheath to know that there were rabbits and a rabbit man on the 
 heath in those days. The latter was burnt out in 1752, and to his 
 relief Mr. Blackwell contributed £5 $s. 
 
 He was equally liberal to his friends and relations. Entries in 
 his accounts such as the following, are frequent — 
 "1754, Jan. 9. To lent Mrs. Webb to repay again if she 
 
 " is able... ... ••• ^5 5*" 
 
 "1754, Feb. 9. To lent my Nephew Euclid Woodward, 
 
 " which I never expect to be repaid again £20." 
 "1755, Mar. 29. To gave Cozen Purton to get her child 
 
 "cured of the King's Evil ... ... £3 3J." 
 
 "1754, Mar. 14. To lent Cozen Mary Freeman to pay 
 
 "me when she is able ... £15 1 5 s - 
 
 "1754, June 1. To gave Mrs. Galatine towards fixing 
 
 " two poor women in business ... £1 is." 
 
 The Americanism in this last entry is worthy of note. 
 Again — 
 
 " 1749, June 1. To gave my sister Sarah upon her mar- 
 triage to Dr. Rudd to buy her cloaths £20 ijs." 
 It may be conjectured that John Wesley was not aware that his 
 friend was a victim of the popular fashion— it was indeed a mania in 
 those days— for betting; but Blackwell placed even his gambling 
 transactions on a business footing. On the 1st of September, 1752, 
 there is the following entry — 
 
 " By gave Mr. James Colebrooke, Jr., to receive ^5 5*. in 
 " case there is no reduction of the Land Tax for either 
 " of the next two years .. . ••• ••• £ l Is - 
 
 Not dissimilar is an entry on the 3rd of February, 1753 — 
 
 " By paid Mr. John Martin, to receive £6 6s. if this is 
 
 "the last sessions of this Parliament ... ••• £2 2s. 
 
( 56 ) 
 
 This bet was lost, for the Parliament was not dissolved until the 
 8th of April, 1774. But his favourite form of gambling was on the 
 matrimonial prospects of his friends. On the 18th of June, 1748, 
 there is a series of entries of this description. We find — 
 "By gave Mr. Joseph Martin, to receive back £21 when- 
 ever Daines Barrington, Esq., is married... ... £2 2s." 
 
 And— 
 
 "By gave Daines Barrington, Esq., to receive back £52 
 
 " 10s. whenever he shall marry ... ... ... £5 5^" 
 
 These long odds were taken in vain. The Hon. Daines Barring- 
 ton, the well-known correspondent of Gilbert White, of Selborne, 
 died unmarried in 1801. Two or three similar entries are recorded, 
 followed closely by two subscriptions to Mr. Wesley's chapel. 
 Blackwell evidently thought that Daines Barrington was a marry- 
 ing man, for in 1753 he is found again taking ten to one on a 
 similar venture. He made similar bets with his partners, taking five 
 to one, both from John Martin and his brother Joseph, on the chance 
 that the former would fall into matrimony. These bets he evidently 
 won, for John Martin married, as has been seen, Judith Bromley, in 
 1 76 1. He also took five to one from John Martin on the matri- 
 monial prospects of Joseph Martin. Joseph Martin married Eleanor 
 Torriano on the ft th of February, 1 74! ; and the bet is duly entered 
 as paid on the 21st of July, 1749 — 
 
 " Received of Mr. John Martin, being what he was obliged 
 "to pay me whenever his brother Mr. Joseph Martin 
 "marryed ... ... ... ... ... £21." 
 
 These gains were in due course taxed, as is clear from the fol- 
 lowing entry — 
 
 " 1752, Dec. 6th. Gave by E. B. and myself when we went 
 "to see Mrs. Joseph Martin after her 
 
 "lying-Inn ... £1." 
 
 Two of Mr. Blackwells bets referred to a matter of considerable 
 contemporary interest. The case of Elizabeth Canning was to the 
 
( 57 ) 
 
 Town in 1753-4, what the Tichborne case was in our own time ; and 
 two entries refer to this absorbing topic — 
 " 1754, May 1 st. By purchasing a place at the Old Bailey 
 " for Miss Peggy Martin, to hear Can- 
 ning's tryal, 105. 6d. ; sweetmeats, is. 11s. 6d." 
 On the other side there occurs — 
 " 1754, July 24. To received of Thomas Martin and John 
 " Ashton, Esq., to pay them £10 10s, 
 "whenever it is proved that Elizabeth 
 " Canning was in any other place than 
 " Mr. Wells's house during the time she 
 "has alledged she was there ... £1 is." 
 
 Elizabeth Canning disappeared from her home, at the east end of 
 the city, on the 1st of January, 1 753. Advertisements were issued by 
 her parents without avail, till on the 29th she returned home in rags, 
 and in an emaciated and starving condition. Her story was that she 
 had been attacked on her return from Rosemary Lane, had been 
 reduced to insensibility, and had been dragged along the road for a 
 considerable distance. She had been taken into a house, and thrust 
 up a flight of stairs leading out of a kitchen into an attic, where she 
 was left during the whole period of her confinement, having no 
 sustenance save twenty-four crusts of bread, and a jar containing 
 about a gallon of water. From the window she identified the driver 
 of a stage-coach, whom she knew by sight, as the driver of the 
 Hatfield stage. Finally, she had escaped by the window, and 
 returned home. By her description the house was recognized, and 
 a gipsy woman, named Mary Squires, was indicted on the technical 
 charge of assaulting Canning, and taking from her a pair of stays ; 
 and Susannah Wells was, at the same time, indicted for harbouring 
 and concealing Squires. The defence was an alibi, but in spite of 
 this the gipsy was found guilty. Such was the state of a question 
 which divided the good people of this metropolis into two zealous 
 parties, when Mr. Fielding published a pamphlet called, " A Clear 
 
( 58 ) 
 
 Statement of the Case of Elizabeth Canning," which, soon after, pro- 
 duced another, called " The Story of Elizabeth Canning, considered 
 by Dr. Hill." In September it was anticipated that a proclamation 
 would be issued for apprehending Canning. Her supporters retorted 
 by offering £50 to her " managers " if security to produce her for 
 trial were furnished, and they applied to remove the case to the 
 Court of King's Bench. In February, 1754, Canning surrendered 
 at the Old Bailey, and on the 29th of April was indicted for 
 perjury. Ultimately she was found guilty, and on the 31st of July 
 it is recorded that she was ordered to be transported to some of 
 his Majesty's American colonies, and that she had been delivered 
 to the merchant who contracted with the court, to be transported 
 accordingly. 
 
 We hear something of Canning from Horace Walpole. Seven 
 years afterwards (October 10, 1 761) he writes to the Countess of 
 Aylesbury, apropos of the acceptance of a peerage by Pitt, " I am in 
 " such a passion I cannot tell you what I am angry about — why, about 
 "virtue and Mr. Pitt, two errant cheats gipsies (sic). I believe he 
 "was a comrade of Elizabeth Canning when he lived at Enfield 
 "Wash." But, in the meantime, a new wonder had arisen which 
 eclipsed Elizabeth Canning. Walpole writes to George Montagu 
 (2nd of February, 1761), " Elizabeth Canning and the rabbit woman 
 "were modest impostors compared to this," i.e. the Cock-Lane 
 Ghost. 
 
 At the beginning of the period with which his account book 
 deals, Blackwell was living in Change Alley, in premises that lay 
 between the banking house, as it then was, and Garraway's, which 
 were known by the name and sign of the Cross Daggers.* He 
 rented the premises at £$1 10s. per annum, from Mr. Joseph 
 Martin. A disastrous fire took place on the 25th of March, 1748, 
 which destroyed the whole of the buildings between Cornhill on the 
 north, St. Michael's Alley and George Yard on the east, and the 
 
 * Or Three Crossed Daggers, see p. 219. 
 
( 59 ) 
 
 western portion of Exchange Alley on the west. It did not quite 
 reach Lombard Street, but destroyed Garraway's and Blackwell's 
 premises, stopping just short of the Grasshopper. Blackwell was 
 insured in the London Assurance Corporation, which was itself burnt 
 out, and promptly received, on the 7th of April, £194, being ^200 less 
 3 per cent, tax, in respect of his household goods destroyed by the fire. 
 There are sundry entries, such as rent of a room for storing his 
 goods for one year ^io, and repairing his pewter damaged in the 
 fire, which afford evidence of the same catastrophe. 
 
 Shortly after the death of Mrs. Sparrow, he removed to her 
 house, the Limes, at Lewisham, retaining at the same time his city 
 residence in Change Alley. Mrs. Dewell, with whom, as has been 
 seen, he appears to have been joint-owner in the Lewisham house, 
 was one of the household, for she contributed £70 a year in respect 
 of her board ; and there are records of numerous journeys into the 
 country, and even as far as Calais, in which the party was made up 
 of Mr. and Mrs. Blackwell, Mrs. Dewell, and others. Of a like 
 character are entries recording visits to his partners, or on their 
 affairs. Such as this, " To fetch my wife from Overbury, £10 10s." 
 and again, " To paid brother James Blackwell for 4 orange and 
 "lemon trees and packing, which were sent to Overbury, £1 4s." 
 
 There are expeditions to dine with Mr. Stone at Ilford, to 
 Mr. Martin at Quy, in Cambridgeshire, and to the Bishop of Ely at 
 Cambridge, to settle Caius College account with the Bishop. 
 "June 27, 1753. To going after His Grace of Canterbury (Arch- 
 " bishop Herring), and my Lord of Ely to serve Dr. Rudd ,£2 os. 6d." 
 These visits entailed the usual expenses in the way of what were 
 then called "vails"— a system which was, in those days, at least 
 as burdensome as the modern system of "tips." The presents 
 made to Mr. Martin's servants, and others, on the occasion of his 
 various visits are duly set out. The following entries may serve 
 as specimens of the charges which Christmas brought with it : — 
 
( 60 ) 
 
 Jan. 10. To gave Mr. Hallifax ... ... ^ 2 o & 
 
 Wm. Hurford ... ... 1 1 o 
 
 Abm. Edlin ... ... 1 1 o 
 
 Rowd. Stevenson .. . ... 10 6 
 
 Wm. Dawling (ye Watchman) 2 6 
 
 Danl. Harbor ( ye Porter) 2 6 
 
 To gave Taylor's Men ... ... 5 
 
 4 19 6 
 
 o 
 
 5 o 
 
 Barber's Men 
 
 Hatter's Man ... ... 26 
 
 Parish Clerk ... ... 2 6 
 
 Beadle, Lorriner's Compy. ... 26 
 
 Beadle, Artilly. Company ... 26 
 
 Garraway's Coffee House ... 50 
 
 Baker's Coffee House ... 26 
 
 To gave Mr. Joseph Martin's servants, 
 
 viz. the men ... ... 10 6 
 
 The Housekeeper ... 10 6 
 
 The Cook ... ... 10 6 
 
 Child's Nurse ... ... 50 
 
 Housemaid ... ... S 0 
 
 7 6 
 
 The first entry, with similar ones in other years, shows that it was 
 his custom to give Christmas presents to his clerks, and the list 
 shows the staff at that time. The names of Mr. Hallifax and Mr. 
 Hurford appear as witnesses to the balance-sheet about this time. 
 
 The rate of payment for domestic service is also shown in an entry — 
 
 1750- 
 
 Dec. 28. By House Expenses : paid the servants their 
 
 wages to Xmas, viz* : — £ s. d. jQ s. d. JT s . d. 
 Ann Higda, 1 year ... 600 
 
 Gave her ... 1 1 
 
 o 
 
 Eliza Matts, Do. ... 60 
 
 o 
 
 Gave her ... 10 6 
 
 Grace Salt, Do. ... 5 o 
 
 o 
 
 Gave her ... 10 6 
 
 Peter Wight \ year ... 4 10 
 
 6 10 6 
 
 5 10 6 
 
 o 
 
 Gave him ... 10 6 
 
 o 6 
 
 Gave Anthony ... 50 5 
 
 o 
 
 24 7 6 
 
( 6i ) 
 
 Here and there are indications of the cost of various commodities 
 at the time, such as — 
 
 1749, Jan. 26. 
 Sep. 22. 
 Oct. 22. 
 Oct. 27. 
 
 Dec. 10. 
 i749"5°> J an - 2 5- 
 
 1750, May 1. 
 
 1 75 1, June27. 
 
 1752, Feb. 25. 
 
 5^ Chaldron of Coal 
 
 A doz. of Claret for Lewisham 
 
 6 doz. of Cyder at 6s. and carriage 
 
 A Ton of Scotch Coal 
 
 To gave Sammy Foster to provide buttons 
 
 for a new coat 
 1 lb. of Green Tea 
 
 Two cakes— one for Dr. Rudd and one for 
 
 Mrs. Dewell at Croydon ... 
 1 lb. of Green Tea ... 
 To gave Sammy Foster to pay for a wigg 
 
 £ 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 8 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 14 
 
 0 
 
 1 
 
 18 
 
 0 
 
 1 
 
 12 
 
 0 
 
 
 6 
 
 0 
 
 
 12 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 13 
 
 6 
 
 
 1 1 
 
 0 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 0 
 
 2 lb. Chocolate 
 
 1 lb. Green Tea 
 \ lb. of Bohea 
 
 2 Canisters 
 Carriage 
 
 1754, July 15- 
 1752, Jan. 25. 
 
 Haunch of venison for Dr. Heberden 
 
 A Flitch of Bacon to Brother and Sister Rudd 
 
 16 8 
 1 17 6 
 
 The taxation of those days sounds strangely in modern ears ; 
 besides the Orphan Tax there are a half-year's Personal Tax, Ss. ; 
 a half-year's Window Lights, 7 s. gd. ; a half-year's Lamp Tax, 7s. 6d. 
 
 There is evidence of the insecurity of the times in an entry — 
 "Jan. 27, 1754. To gave the Watchman at Clapham, who 
 
 " prevented my wife from being robbed £1 is." 
 Mrs. Blackwell was on this occasion presumably visiting Mr. 
 Thomas Martin, the retired head partner of the firm. 
 
 As regards Mr. Thomas Martin himself, a good many years 
 previously the watchman had not been so vigilant, as may be seen 
 from the following passage of the Grub Street Journal, May 13th, 
 1 731 : " On friday night, about 9, Mr. Martin, Banker, at the Gras- 
 " hopper in Lombard-Street, was attacked by a single highwayman, 
 " near Clapham, who took from him a gold watch and 7 guineas. 
 
( 62 ) 
 
 " Thomas Martin, Esq. It is remarkable that the person called him 
 " by his name. D.J. (Daily Journal ? )." 
 
 Some entries throw a light on his personal habits. Among the 
 weaknesses of which Wesley was, perhaps, unaware in his disciple 
 was that of sloth— either in himself or his wife. He appears to have 
 struggled against this besetting sin, and to have organized a system 
 of paying Mrs. Blackwell a premium as an inducement to overcome 
 it. On October nth, 1749, is an entry "to E.B. for riseing early, 
 " js. 6d." But this system does not appear to have worked to his 
 satisfaction, for on the very next day he invested £2 12s. 6d. in an 
 alarm clock, a remedy that did not avail to cope with the malady, for 
 in October he again paid Mrs. Blackwell £1 Ss. for rising early, and 
 a month afterwards bought another "alarum clock in a wain'scott 
 "head, £2 5 s." 
 
 That he was of a sociable and hospitable temperament may be 
 inferred from one or two entries that recall the days of Pepys a 
 century earlier — 
 
 1 75 1, June 13. At John Brown's ye Newcastle Coffee 
 Ho. with my Mother, Dr. Rudd 
 and Sister, brother James and 
 Peggy, Wife and self ... 
 
 £ s. d. £ s. d. 
 
 1 o 
 
 2 6 
 2 o 
 
 I 753> J un e 5- In entertaining the Bankers' Clubb at 
 Pontack * 
 
 ^54, Oct. 2. To paid the Exp. of my treat at the Bankers' 
 Clubb 
 
 1 5 
 4 19 
 4 10 
 
 The following is an analysis of Blackwell's expenditure for the 
 year 1750. It is interesting as showing the cost of living in the 
 middle of the last century, to one who maintained a house at Lewis- 
 * Pontack or Pontack's head— this was at the west corner of Abchurch Lane, now 
 Messrs. Robarts & Co., immediately opposite the Grasshopper. Monsieur Pontac 
 here set up a restaurant which became famous. The Royal Society dined here "as 
 usual," 1694. In 1696 it became Lloyd's Coffee-house (Price, "Signs of Old 
 Lombard Street "). 
 
( 63 ) 
 
 ham as well as in Lombard Street, who was reputed well-to-do, and 
 to whom John Wesley wrote that he " had enough, and that, by the 
 " blessing of God, he knew it." 
 
 EBENEZER BLACKWELL. 
 Details of Expenditure from January, 1749-50 to December, 1750. 
 Household Goods. £ s. d. £ s. d. 
 
 Books 
 Pictures ... 
 Furniture 
 Clocks ... 
 Bed Linen, etc. 
 Sundries 
 
 My Own Expenses. 
 For the Pocket 
 Hosiery, Drapery, etc. 
 Tailor 
 Hatter ... 
 Boots 
 Barber ... 
 
 Elizabeth Blackwell (my wife). 
 Pocket or Sundry Exp 8 
 Travelling, etc. 
 Watch repairs 
 
 Extra Expenses. 
 Travelling, etc. 
 Sundries... 
 
 Horse Expenses. 
 
 Farrier 
 
 Repairs to chaize ... 
 
 Sadler 
 
 Extras ... 
 
 Sundries. 
 Subscriptions (Charitable, etc.) 
 Presents ... 
 Doctor 
 
 Christmas Boxes ... 
 Sundries 
 
 (?) (Entry incomplete) 
 Carried to my mother's A/c. 
 
 £ 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 5 
 
 A 
 
 4 
 
 
 2 
 
 Q 
 O 
 
 0 
 
 20 
 
 1 3 
 
 5 
 
 2 
 
 5 
 
 0 
 
 3 
 
 14 
 
 10 
 
 7 
 
 19 
 
 0 
 
 45 
 
 3 
 
 0 
 
 3 2 
 
 13 
 
 4 
 
 31 
 
 17 
 
 0 
 
 2 
 
 12 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 12 
 
 0 
 
 7 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 40 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 
 16 
 
 0 
 
 3 2 
 
 *9 
 
 0 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 10 
 
 3 
 
 19 
 
 8 
 
 
 15 
 
 0 
 
 
 
 0 
 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 38 
 
 I 
 
 0 
 
 29 
 
 17 
 
 0 
 
 10 
 
 IO 
 
 0 
 
 9 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 0 
 
 10 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 25 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 42 4 3 
 
 120 17 10 
 
 55 16 
 
 40 7 10 
 
 5 x6 
 
 126 17 6 
 
 391 19 7 
 
( 64 ) 
 
 Brought Forward ... ... ... ^391 19 7 
 
 House Expenses. £ s. d. £ s. d. 
 
 Eent of House (Change Alley) ... ... 31 10 o 
 
 Rent of Vaults Do. ... ... 3 3 2 
 
 Water, New River Co., 1 year 128 
 Watchman, year ... 10 o 
 Scavenger, 1 year ... 80 
 
 Personal tax, 1 year ... 1 o o 
 
 Poors rate, y 2 year ... 118 
 
 424 
 
 Ins 06 of Furniture (Change Alley) ... ... 60 
 
 Servants' Wages ... ... ... 24 7 6 
 
 Housekeeping (Lewisham) 199 1 1 
 Do. (Change Alley) 55 9 6 
 
 Sundry Groceries ... 4126 
 Furniture, Repairs, and Tools 5 3 9 
 Sundries ... ... 9 18 9 
 
 Wine, Spirits, Beer, etc. ... 35 2 2 
 
 Coals ... ... 10 3 o 
 
 Christmas Boxes, viz. : Dust-\ 
 
 man, 1/- ; Baker's Man, 1/6 ; / 70 
 
 Brewer's Man, 1/6; Glazier,^ 
 
 1/-; my mother's Nurse, 2/6 ' 
 
 319 17 9 
 
 Less by Mrs. Dewell, 1 year's ) 
 
 Board ... ...} 70 ° ° 
 
 249 17 9 
 
 313 6 9 
 
 ^705 6 4 
 
 Blackwell's father had died before the beginning of the period over 
 which the accounts extend, but that his memory was affectionately 
 cherished is shown by an entry : " For the repair of a sword that 
 belonged to my father." He not only managed his mother's money 
 matters in a methodical style, but the numerous entries of little 
 presents made to her, and of visits to and with her, down to the 
 time of her last illness and death in April, 1 754, show him to have 
 been a dutiful son. Among the characteristic entries relating to her, 
 may be cited the repurchase by Blackwell from the estate of Mrs. 
 Jane Sparrow of the mourning ring which his mother had given 
 her on the death of his father. 
 
( 65 ) 
 
 Numerous entries in the accounts indicate that Mrs. Ebenezer 
 Blackwell was an invalid, and it would seem that she was childless. 
 At the date of her death, in 1772, Blackwell was in the sixty-first 
 year of his age ; nevertheless, he married again in the autumn 
 of 1774. 
 
 His second wife was Mary Eden, the daughter of Robert Eden, 
 prebend of Winchester and Worcester, and Archdeacon of Win- 
 chester, by Martha Lowth, the daughter of William Lowth and 
 Margaret Pitt, the daughter of Robert Pitt, of Blandford — a family 
 to which, at a later date, the Great Commoner belonged. Through 
 his wife, Mary Eden, Ebenezer Blackwell became connected with 
 the Martin family. One of her uncles, Robert Lowth, became 
 Bishop of London. Another, William Lowth, was Prebend of 
 Winchester, and Vicar of Lewisham, in Kent. Her aunt, Margaret 
 Lowth, married John Sturges, also Prebend of Winchester. His son, 
 John Sturges, Prebend and Chancellor of the Diocese of Winchester, 
 married Judith Bourne, and their daughter, Isabel Margaret Sturges, 
 married Joseph Martin, of Ham Court. Mrs. Joseph Martin was, 
 therefore, first cousin, once removed, to Mrs. Blackwell. 
 
 Blackwell's second marriage took place in 1774, and six children 
 were born to him before his death in 1782. Wesley describes 
 them as "six lovely children." They were Mary Elizabeth Freeman, 
 who married the Hon. Thomas Jarvis, Member of Council of the 
 Island of Antigua, and left numerous children. Charlotte Martha 
 married William Knollis, or Knollys, Earl of Banbury, and. left a 
 family of eleven children, of whom the eldest, Sir William Thomas 
 Knollys, became comptroller of the household of the Prince of Wales : 
 this connexion accounts for the introduction of the name of Knollis 
 into the Jarvis family. Nathaniel Shepherd Joseph James married 
 Jane, eldest daughter of the above-named Thomas Jarvis, and their 
 second son, the Rev. Robert Edward Blackwell, died in 1872, being 
 the last survivor of the family in the male line. Ebenezer Blackwell's 
 younger son, John Robert, died unmarried, as did his daughter, 
 
 F 
 
( 6 7 ) 
 
 Margaret. Philadelphia, his fourth daughter, married, as had 
 her sister Mary, and her brother Nathaniel, a Jarvis. Her husband 
 was Colonel George Ralph Payne Jarvis, and their children, George 
 Knollis, Charles Macquarie, George, Mary Eden (Mrs. Cole), John 
 George, and Edwin George, have all kept their accounts at the 
 Grasshopper. 
 
 These genealogical particulars have been supplied by Mrs. 
 Blackwell, widow of the Rev. Robert Edward Blackwell. They are 
 set forth in the table given on p. 66. 
 
 Blackwell's immediate family circle during the period of his first 
 marriage, as far as it can be ascertained from entries in the account- 
 book, that has been so frequently quoted, is shown in the following 
 table : — 
 
 John Blackwell m. Elizabeth 
 
 Mrs. Etheridge. 
 
 
 (Freeman). 
 
 Ebenezer 
 m. 
 
 1 
 
 James 
 m. 
 
 John 
 d. in 
 
 1 
 
 Sally 
 m. 
 
 1 
 
 Dorothy 
 m. 
 
 Elizabeth 
 (Moland). 
 
 Thos. Martin ■ 
 John Martin 
 Charles Noiray 
 Isaac Hunter , 
 
 1748 Mar 11 
 1751 May 27 
 Jun 18 
 1754 Feb 9 
 
 1753 Apl 7 
 
 53 5J J> 
 
 1753 Dec 29 
 
 1754 Dec 28 
 
 1755 Jun 9 
 
 Peggy, 
 May, 1773. 
 
 Barbados, 
 1747. 
 
 Mrs. Freeman. 
 
 Joseph William 
 Freeman. Freeman. 
 
 Dr. Sayer 
 Rudd. 
 
 — Moland. 
 
 Niece Peggy. Becky. 
 
 Trustees. 
 
 John, 
 clerk 
 in the 
 bank, 
 1760-64. 
 
 Dick. 
 
 20 
 
 Unplaced Relations. 
 By Cozen John Blackwell for making up our own bed is ... 
 „ gave my nephew Euclid Woodward 
 ,, gave my great-nephew Euclid Woodward 
 „ lent my nephew, Euclid Woodward, which I never expect 
 
 to be repaid again 
 ,, gave Cozen Nanny Parton on account of her lying-in ... 
 „ Cozn. Hannah Ladyman, her monthly allowance 
 
 Dorothy Moland — paid Mr. Poulter & Prettyman for a 
 wig for her son Dick ... ... ... ... 1 
 
 „ paid my niece Margt. Blackwell for one years Int of 
 ^"200 . ... ... ... ... ... 10 
 
 „ carried to the account of Mr. Jos Freeman for one years 
 allowance to Cozn. Ann Horwood ... ... 1 
 
 s. 
 o 
 16 
 2 
 
 o 
 10 
 10 
 
( 68 ) 
 
 Blackwell retired from the bank in 1 780, after a business career 
 of close on half a century. He did not long enjoy the pleasures of 
 retirement, for he died on the 21st of April, 1782. He was buried 
 in the parish churchyard of Lewisham, under the shadow of the 
 church, whereof he had actively promoted the rebuilding. He 
 exerted himself energetically to get together the necessary funds, 
 and pending their collection, the initial expenses were defrayed by a 
 temporary loan of ^600 from the Grasshopper. That he closed his 
 long business career on good terms with those around him, may be 
 inferred from the fact that the executors of his will, which is 
 registered at Somerset House, were the three partners in the bank, 
 who survived him. The sermon which was preached at his funeral 
 is still in the possession of his granddaughter, the widow of the Rev. 
 R. E. Blackwell. The obelisk in his memory still stands in the 
 churchyard ; unfortunately the stone of the monument is of so 
 perishable a nature that the inscriptions on it are altogether 
 illegible. 
 
 John Wesley, now himself in his eightieth year, testifies that his 
 friendship with Blackwell endured unbroken to the last. In his 
 Journal of the 24th August, 1782, he writes — 
 
 " My brother and I paid our last visit to Lewisham, and spent a 
 " few pensive hours with the relict of our good friend, Mr. Blackwell. 
 " We took one more walk round the garden and meadow that he had 
 " taken so much pains to improve. Upwards of forty years this has 
 " been my place of retirement when I could spare two or three days 
 "from London. In that time, first Mrs. Sparrow went to rest,* 
 "then Mrs. Dewell,f then good Mrs. Blackwell, J now Mr. Blackwell 
 " himself." § 
 
 Blackwell's house at Lewisham, " The Limes," still remains, but 
 
 * Mrs. Sparrow died the 26th of May, 1748. 
 I Mrs. Dewell died the 12th of November, 1762. 
 X Mrs. Blackwell died the 27th of March, 1772. 
 § Ebenezer Blackwell died the 21st of April, 1782. 
 
( 69 ) 
 
 his garden and meadows have been entirely covered by eligible 
 suburban residences. The exterior as well as the interior appearance 
 of the house is little altered from what it must have been in 
 Blackwell's time ; and it is singular that one of the first objects that 
 strikes the eye of the visitor is an old-fashioned blunderbuss 
 apparently coeval with the weapons that still distinguish the Banking 
 House. The bedroom traditionally reputed to be that which John 
 Wesley usually occupied, is still shown at the head of the first 
 landing. * 
 
 * There is some account of Blackwell in the interesting little book, " Methodism in 
 Lewisham," by E. W. Brabrook, F.S.A. London, Wesleyan Conference Office, Castle 
 Street, City Road, London, 1881. 
 
 ARMS OF BLACKWELL AND EWER. 
 
 Blackwell (Sprouston Hall, Norfolk). Paly of six, ar. & az. on a chief gu. a lion 
 passant guardant or, all (?) within a border erm. Crest, a swan's head and neck erased 
 ar. ducally gorged or. 
 
 Ewer or Ewre, of Hunton Bridge, Abbot's Langley. Or a tiger passant sa. on a 
 chief gu. three crosses forme ar. 
 
( 7i ) 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ANDREW STONE AND ARCHBISHOP STONE! I703-I773. 
 
 Andrew Stone, eldest son of Mr. Smith's apprentice — His education — Befriended by 
 the Duke of Newcastle — Appointed Under-Secretary — Respected by the King, 
 the Duke of Newcastle, and Mr. Pelham — His successive promotions — Marries 
 Miss Mauvillain — Sir Horace Walpole and Andrew Stone — Andrew Stone and 
 the Prince of Wales' household — Backstairs intrigues — Tribute of the Duke 
 of Bedford in the House of Lords to Andrew Stone's character — He becomes 
 Treasurer of the Queen's household, 1761 — His death, 1773 — Buried in West- 
 minster Abbey — Andrew Stone and " Lady Grizel." 
 
 George Stone, third son of Mr. Smith's apprentice — His birth — His rapid promotion 
 in the Church — Primate of Armagh, 1743 — His relations with the Duke of Dorset 
 — -His political activity — Avows himself a politician rather than an ecclesiastic — 
 The Appropriation Bill — Disturbances in Ireland — His fall — His death — Horace 
 Walpole and Archbishop Stone — Plowden, Sir George Trevelyan, and Mr. Froude 
 on the Archbishop. 
 
 ' I 'HE registers of the parish of St. Mary Woolnoth testify to six 
 
 children of Andrew Stone and Anne his wife. Of these the 
 three elder were daughters — Anne, born 19th of January 169I; Mary, 
 born 17th of May 1700; and Elizabeth, born 1 8th of December, 1701. 
 Then followed three sons— Andrew, born 4th of February 170! ; 
 Richard, born 19th of April 1705 ; and George, born 7th of January 
 1 70^. The second son followed his father's profession of a banker. 
 Andrew and George, his elder and younger brothers, while not directly 
 connected with the Grasshopper, were men of considerable mark in 
 their day.* Andrew acquired the first rudiments of learning at 
 Hyde Abbey School, Winchester, then under the direction of Mr. 
 
 * Coxe, " Pelham Administration," vol. i. chap. xvi. p. 430. 
 
( n ) 
 
 Tittle. He was, in 1717, placed on the Royal foundation at 
 Winchester ; and in 1722 was admitted a student of Christ Church, 
 in the University of Oxford. He was distinguished for his classical 
 proficiency, and was well versed in the different branches of literature 
 and science. During his residence at college he formed an intimate 
 acquaintance with Dr., afterwards Bishop, Newton, and Mr. Murray, 
 afterwards Earl of Mansfield, both of whom were also students at 
 Christ Church, and by whom he was highly esteemed. He was 
 first introduced to the Duke of Newcastle by Dr. Barnard, then 
 Rector of Esher, and afterwards successively Bishop of Raphoe and 
 Derry, who had married his sister. 
 
 His sedate deportment, sound discretion, accurate judgment, 
 suavity of manners, and extensive knowledge, added to the elegance 
 and perspicuity of his compositions, were strong recommendations to 
 the favour of the Duke of Newcastle, by whom he was appointed 
 his private secretary. In this capacity, by his assiduity and atten- 
 tion, he rose rapidly in the esteem of his noble patron, and was 
 admitted to the most intimate degree of trust and confidence. He 
 was about this period appointed Under-Secretary of State, in 
 order to give consequence to his attendance on the King, by whom 
 he was highly favoured. Of the great affection with which the 
 Duke regarded Mr. Stone, many instances are on record ; and 
 until the close of his life he was considered rather as a friend 
 and coadjutor than as a dependent. He was equally respected 
 by Mr. Pelham, and, like the Lord Chancellor, frequently acted 
 as a mediator in reconciling the differences between the two 
 brothers. 
 
 It affords a striking proof of Mr. Stone's discretion that, though 
 highly distinguished by the King, and generally respected by the 
 Government, he never excited the smallest degree of that official 
 jealousy which the Duke of Newcastle manifested towards those 
 with whom he was officially connected. On the contrary, both in 
 his private concerns and in affairs of State, the Duke of New- 
 
( 73 ) 
 
 castle invariably recurred to Mr. Stone for advice and assistance, 
 and derived essential advantage from his prudent suggestions and 
 disinterested attachment. 
 
 Still later Mr. Stone filled the important office of sub-governor 
 to Prince George, the heir- apparent ; and he acted with his usual 
 discretion in a post surrounded with peculiar difficulties. He was 
 also appointed keeper of the State- Paper Office, and, on the death 
 of George II., he owed to the kindness of the new sovereign the 
 place of treasurer to the Queen.* 
 
 This introduction to the Duke of Newcastle stood him in good 
 stead. In three successive parliaments — 1741-47, 1747-54, and 
 1754-61 — his name is coupled with that of Mr. James Pelham as 
 M.P. for Hastings. In 1742, being already Under-Secretary of 
 State, he was compelled to solicit, and obtained, re-election on his 
 acceptance of the post of Secretary to the Island of Barbados. In 
 1743 the Gentleman s Magazine announces the marriage, on the nth 
 of June, of Andrew Stone, Esq., M.P. for Hastings, to Miss Hannah 
 Mavillen (sic, her name was Mauvillain f) of Pall Mall ; and in the 
 same year he was appointed Commissioner of Customs in Scotland, 
 a country to whose royal house he was at a later period accused of 
 being too favourably disposed. 
 
 The same authority J states that in 1749 he was made Com- 
 missioner of Trade and Customs, and about the same time the 
 birth of his son and heir Thomas is announced. This was his only 
 child, whom, twelve years after, he had the misfortune to lose, at the 
 very period when, after many stormy passages in his career of 
 worldly advancement, he appears to have reached a haven of rest in 
 the secure and honourable post of treasurer of the Queen's household. 
 
 * Coxe, " Pelham Administration," vol. i. chap. xvi. p. 430. 
 
 \ She is elsewhere described as the daughter of Stephen Mauvillain, of Tooting 
 and Morden, co. Surrey, by Hannah Gregory, his wife; she died the 5th of June, 1782, 
 and was buried with her husband and child in Westminster Abbey {Mem. by Mrs. 
 Crozier, from an old chronicle of Westminster Abbey). 
 
 \ Gent. Mag., vol. xix. 1749. 
 
( 74 ) 
 
 That he had the entire confidence of the Duke of Newcastle 
 may be gathered from the following passage in a letter of the latter 
 to Mr. Pelham : " You will not be surprised that whatever regard is 
 " shown to me, from character or reputation, is shown to Mr. Stone 
 " from their knowledge of him. The King and everybody shows him 
 " the greatest distinction." But this favourable estimate was not held 
 by all without exception. Horace Walpole hated the Duke of New- 
 castle very cordially, as may be gathered from the following extract : — 
 
 " It may well be so, when the disposition of the drama is in the 
 " hands of the Duke of Newcastle — those hands that are always 
 " groping and sprawling and fluttering, and hurrying on the rest of 
 " his precipitate person. There is no describing him ; but as M. de 
 " Courcelle, a French prisoner, did t'other day, 'je ne scaurois 
 " ' m' exprimer, mais il a un certain tatillonage.' If one could con- 
 " ceive a dead body hung in chains always wanting to be hung 
 " somewhere else, one should have a comparative idea of him." * 
 
 Still, Walpole looked on Stone as one to be propitiated. He 
 writes, in reference to a silver coffee-pot that Sir Horace Mann pro- 
 posed to give as a present to the Duke of Newcastle : "In the first 
 " place, I never heard a suspicion of the Duke's taking presents, and 
 " should think he would be rather affronted ; in the next place, my 
 " dear child, it would be thought nothing among such wardrobes as 
 " he has of the finest- wrought plate; . . . lastly, as there has been no 
 " talk of alterations in the foreign ministers, and as all changes seem 
 "at an end, why should you be apprehensive ? As to Stone, if any- 
 " thing was done, to be sure it should be to him ; though I can't 
 " really advise even that. These are my sentiments sincerely; by 
 " no means think of the Duke." f 
 
 " Did neither I nor your brother tell you that we had received 
 
 "the Neapolitan snuff-box?" — "Note. — It was for Mr. Stone, the 
 
 " Duke of Newcastle's secretary." J 
 
 * To George Montagu, ist August, 1745. 
 f To Sir Horace Mann, 6th January, 1743. 
 X To Sir Horace Mann, August 6th, 1744. 
 
( 75 ) 
 
 According to Coxe, it was due partly to the representations of 
 Mr. Stone, as the common friend of the Duke of Newcastle, and his 
 brother, Mr. Pelham, that in 1750 they relinquished their rash 
 resolution of dissolving their joint administration. That his abilities 
 were fully recognized in high quarters may be inferred from the fact 
 that when a difficulty arose in deciding which of the ministers should 
 attend the King officially during his residence in Hanover in 1748 — 
 the choice lying between the Duke of Bedford and the Duke of 
 Newcastle — it was proposed that Mr. Stone should be entrusted 
 with that duty. The appointment, however, did not take place, as 
 it was judged imprudent to place a subordinate agent in that 
 responsible post for so long a period. Mr. Stone, nevertheless, 
 accompanied the King in the capacity of secretary.* 
 
 Not long after Andrew Stone became involved in the vortex of a 
 court intrigue, arising out of appointments to the Prince of Wales's 
 household. In April, 1 751, the Heir Apparent was created Prince 
 of Wales. The appointment of Preceptor was conferred on Dr. 
 Hayter, Bishop of Norwich ; and the post of Sub-Governor was 
 filled by Mr. Stone. Walpole expresses his feelings in more than 
 one letter about this time. He writes on the 1 8th of June, 1 75 1, 
 " You may imagine what incense is offered to Stone by the people 
 "of Christ Church." Later on he says (July 27, 1752), " The tutor- 
 ship at Kew is split into factions, the Bishop of Norwich (Dr. 
 " Hayter) and Lord Harcourt, openly at war with Stone and Scott ;" 
 and a few months later he writes of the universal aversion that 
 had broken out against Stone as a matter that would astonish his 
 correspondent — Horace Mann. 
 
 The details of this affair may be quoted from Coxe's account — 
 
 " This establishment (of the Prince of Wales) was of too hete- 
 " rogeneous a nature to be tranquil or permanent ; for while the 
 " nominal authority was vested in the governor and preceptor, the 
 " tutelage and education of the young prince were engrossed by 
 * Coxe, " Pelham Administration," vol. i. p. 423. 
 
( 76 ) 
 
 " subordinate officers, who enjoyed the patronage of his royal mother, 
 " and were his companions in the hours of amusement and relaxation. 
 " The governor and preceptor, therefore, soon found themselves 
 " reduced to insignificance ; and their mortification was aggravated 
 " by the open preference shewn to Messrs. Stone, Scott, and Cresset. 
 "In fact, while Lord Harcourt had been obliged to hire a house at 
 " Brentford, for the fulfilment of his duties, Mr. Stone had been 
 " accommodated with a house at Kew. He also enjoyed the con- 
 "fidence of his royal charge, and on various occasions was supported 
 " by the princess, in opposition to the governor (Lord Harcourt) and 
 "preceptor* (Dr. Hayter). Two contending parties were thus 
 " formed in the prince's household — the one including the governor 
 " and preceptor, and the other, the three subordinates. The governor 
 " neglected to manifest the deference towards Mr. Stone, to which 
 " that gentleman considered himself entitled. The Bishop of Norwich, 
 "also, disgusted the young prince by his dry and pedantic manners. 
 "He was mortified by the obtrusive behaviour of Mr. Scott, the 
 "sub-preceptor. These bickerings were aggravated by the inter- 
 " ference of Mr. Murray, the Solicitor-General, who from intimacy 
 " with Mr. Stone, and high favour with the princess, enjoyed great 
 " influence in the household. Cresset also inflamed the feud, by his 
 ''disrespectful reflections on the preceptor and governor. ... In 
 "this agitated state of the prince's household, the most trifling 
 "subject was sufficient: to provoke an open quarrel. The Bishop 
 " having discovered in the hands of the prince, ' L'Histoire des 
 " Revolutions d'Angleterre,' was indignant, this work having been 
 " compiled by Father d'Orleans, the chaplain and confessor of James 
 "II. The introduction of this book was at first imputed to Mr. 
 " Stone, who was suspected of fostering principles adverse to those 
 "of the Revolution. But, on his absolute denial, the suspicion was 
 "successively transferred to Scott and Cresset. At length by a 
 "minute inquiry, the book was said to have been lent to the Heir 
 * Coxe, " Pelham Administration," vol. ii. p. 235. (1752). 
 
( 77 ) 
 
 '" Apparent by his Brother Prince Edward, who had borrowed it 
 " from the Princess Augusta. Lord Harcourt and the Bishop 
 " resolved to relinquish their trust, if they could not obtain the 
 dismission of Stone, Scott, and Cresset. The King, offended by 
 " an accusation which he knew to be false, permitted his Lordship's 
 " retirement from office, without expressing any concern. The 
 " Bishop of Norwich at the same time tendered his resignation, and 
 " the King accepted it, declaring he wished to hear no more on the 
 " subject. . . . These transactions produced a great sensation in the 
 "public mind, and especially among the zealous Whigs. The feeling 
 " was still more strongly evinced, by a paper, intitled ' A memorial 
 " of several Noblemen and Gentlemen.' This Memorial strongly 
 " impugned the supposed Jacobite principles of Stone, Scott, and 
 " Cresset, and particularly of Mr. Murray, who was known to be of 
 "a disaffected family, and most nearly related to the Earl of Dunbar, 
 " the first minister of the Pretender. 
 
 "Mr. Fawcett, an attorney, and Recorder of Newcastle, asserted 
 " to Lord Ravensworth and others, that he had heard Messrs. Stone 
 "and Murray drink the Pretender's health at a Mr. Vernon's table. 
 " Lord Ravensworth, in several conversations with many peers, and 
 " with some of the Ministers, repeated the accusation against Murray 
 " and Stone. The charge against Mr. Murray, the Solicitor-general, 
 "and Mr. Stone, was too serious to be concealed from the King; 
 " Fawcett was consequently summoned and formally questioned ; 
 "being sworn, he could not vouch for the truth of the fact. He was 
 " reminded that he had made such an accusation against Mr. Stone 
 " and the Solicitor-general, to Lord Ravensworth. This he owned 
 " to be true. On his second examination, he said he thought he had 
 "heard treasonable healths drunk at Mr. Vernon's, when Messrs. 
 " Stone and Murray were present. He believed the meetings 
 "occurred in 1 73 1 or 1732. 
 
 " After this scrutiny, Messrs. Stone and Murray were admitted, 
 " and exculpated themselves to the entire satisfaction of the Council, 
 
( 78 ) 
 
 " who declared, in their report to the King, that the accusation was 
 " malicious and scandalous." 
 
 " The matter did not end here, but was revived in the House of 
 " Lords on the motion of the Duke of Bedford, who said 'these 
 " ' transactions are not more striking than the high rank of the accused. 
 " ' Mr. Stone stands in as public a light as any man in Britain.' 
 
 " The Lords Spiritual as well as temporal joined in the fray, but 
 " in the end the motion was negatived without a division. This 
 "brought the matter to a final close." 
 
 In 1 76 1 Andrew Stone became treasurer of the Queen's House- 
 hold, — Lord Harcourt, his quondam open enemy, being appointed 
 Master of the Horse. At this period he lived in Privy Gardens,* 
 presumably for convenience in matters connected with his duties. 
 Here his brother George, the Primate of Ireland, died on the 19th 
 of December, 1764. He himself died in December, 1773 ; and his 
 grave is marked on a small diamond-shaped stone on the floor of the 
 north-east corner of the nave of Westminster Abbey, near the mural 
 tablet to Sir Edward de Carteret. Here also lie Hannah, his 
 widow, who died in 1782 ; Thomas, his son, who died in 1761 ; and 
 Sarah Mauvillain (a relation of his wife), who died in 1804. Walpole 
 a few months earlier had not forgotten the object of his old aversion. 
 He writes on the 2nd of March, 1773 — "Did not Bolingbroke 
 " beget Lord Mansfield and Andrew Stone. Did not Mansfield 
 " and Stone beget the Bishop of Chester ? Are not atheism and 
 " bigotry first cousins ? " The death of Andrew Stone draws from 
 Walpole a parting shot — 
 
 " P.S. — Andrew Stone is dead suddenly, who, I remember, made 
 " you pay very dearly for the no-protection that he gave you." f 
 
 * Down to a comparatively recent date, the gardens above mentioned were called 
 by the old name of the " Privy Gardens," but this has now become changed to 
 " Whitehall Gardens," a name given to a row of houses in the rear of the Banqueting 
 House, which, until the formation of the Victoria Embankment, had its gardens and 
 lawns sloping to the Thames (Cassell's " Old and New London," by Walford, vol. iii. 
 p. 376 : Whitehall, its Precincts, Gardens, etc.). 
 
 f Letter ccxii., December 21, 1773. 
 
( 79 ) 
 
 Walpole's reference: to his enemy the Duke of Newcastle, after 
 his decease, is no less acrimonious. On the death of Sir Robert 
 Walpole he writes to Montagu from Houghton, on 25th of March, 
 i75i— 
 
 "... There he (Siir R. W.) sleeps in quiet and dignity, while his 
 " friend and his foe, o:>r rather his false ally and real enemy, New- 
 " castle and Bath, are exhausting the dregs of their pitiful lives in 
 " squabbles and pampmlets." 
 
 A full century later/, in a historical novel entitled " Lady Grizel," 
 the Hon. Lewis Wingjfield availed himself of the alleged Jacobite 
 tendencies of Andrew Stone to make him the villain of his story. 
 Having used his name: for the purposes of the tale, Mr. Wingfield 
 makes reparation in am envoi, as follows : — 
 
 "To the Manes off Andrew Stone I owe many apologies. For 
 "aught I know to the contrary, his behaviour may have been that 
 " of the proverbial anjgel of light. But Horace Walpole says that 
 "Prince George's tutcor was 'dark and secretive.' Now we all 
 " know that if people who are dark and secretive are not villains, 
 " they ought to be ; thierefore, (as I wanted a genteel villain badly) 
 " I took it for granted that he was a rascal of the deepest dye, 
 " and trust that his revengeful spirit may never entice me to a dark 
 " seance, there to hawe my head battered by the tambourine of 
 " retribution. I do not much dread such a contingency though ; for 
 " experience teaches tlhat the spirits who prowl on earth are neither 
 " useful nor ornamental, nor even specially spiteful. Nevertheless, 
 " I take this opportuinity of apologising and of stating that my 
 " Andrew Stone is a fictitious personage in all respects, save the 
 " 'health-drinking,' for which piece of folly the real Andrew Stone 
 " got himself into hot water" (" Lady Grizel," Hon. Lewis Wingfield, 
 1' Envoi, vol. iii. p. 377 ). 
 
( so ) 
 
 Archbishop Stone. 
 
 While Andrew Stone was thus playing a part in the political 
 world of his time, his youngest brother George was, perhaps, a still 
 more prominent public figure. According to the register of St. 
 Mary Woolnoth, he was born on the 7th of Jan. 170I, and at even 
 an earlier age than that assigned to him by Coxe * — was promoted in 
 1 73 1 from the Deanery of Derry to the Bishopric of Ferns; in 
 1733 to that of Kildare; in 1743 to Derry; and in 1747 he was 
 raised, on the death of Primate Hoadley, to the Primacy of Armagh. 
 About the same time that the Duke of Dorset was appointed as 
 Lord Lieutenant, his son (Lord George Sackville) held the office of 
 Secretary of State for Ireland. A close alliance sprang up between 
 the Secretary of State and the Archbishop — the latter of whom, in 
 consequence of his brother's influence with the Duke of Newcastle, 
 aspired to a higher degree of authority than he had hitherto been 
 permitted to exercise.f The primate was indeed more of a politician 
 than a churchman. He was no doubt appointed from political con- 
 siderations, and he served his party zealously. The biographical 
 notices of him that remain bear undeniable testimony to his abilities, 
 though they are by no means flattering to him personally. There 
 survives, indeed, at second hand, a portrait purporting to have been 
 drawn by himself. It is said that when, on one occasion, he went 
 over to London to consult the gentlemen of the faculty on his state 
 of health, he very candidly said to them, " Look not upon me as an 
 " ordinary churchman, or incident to their diseases, but as a man who 
 " has injured his constitution by sitting up late and rising early to do 
 " the business of Government in Ireland." | The whole of the Irish 
 Government is said " to have moved at the nod of the Archbishop, 
 " while the patriots complained loudly that under an English Arch- 
 
 * " Pelham Administration," vol. ii. chap. xxxi. p. 284. 
 
 | Coxe, " Pelham Administration," vol. ii. chap. xxxi. p 248. 
 
 X Rev. Dr. Campbell's "Survey of the South of Ireland," p. 55. 
 
.Curiae, 3&m&. £y4*ma&of<Jlte/cmc£'. faff 08. d. 
 
 - 
 
( 8i ) 
 
 " bishop, no very staunch model of virtue, and a young supercilious 
 " boy (Lord George Sackville) the Irish nation was governed with- 
 "out control."* 
 
 On the question of the supremacy of the Crown as against 
 the Irish Parliament in financial matters, a violent crisis arose. 
 On the rejection of the Appropriation Bill, the excitement burst 
 into flame. The Primate threw himself with characteristic energy 
 into the fray, and displayed more courage than the Lord Lieutenant, 
 whose vigour of mind was not equal to the emergency, and who 
 left the country. The Primate, continuing in the Government, 
 endeavoured by all the means in his power to turn the tide in 
 favour of the English interest. But his exertions did not save 
 him from the discredit that attaches to failure ; and, falling into 
 disgrace in consequence of the disturbances in Dublin, the Arch- 
 bishop was, by his Majesty's command, removed from the list of 
 Privy Councillors. f Walpole refers more than once to the turbulent 
 state of Ireland, and to the part taken by Archbishop Stone in its 
 affairs. " In Ireland Mr. Conway has pacified all things : the Irish 
 " are to get as drunk as ever to the glorious and immortal memory 
 " of King George, and the Prerogative is to be exalted as high as 
 " ever by being obliged to give up the Primate." J And again — 
 " News we have none. Ireland seems to be preparing the first we 
 " shall receive : ' the good Primate ' has conjured up a storm in which, 
 " I believe, he will not employ the archiepiscopal gift of exorcism " § 
 The Archbishop died on the 7th of February, 1764, and is buried 
 in the north aisle of Westminster Abbey. His death drew from 
 Walpole a characteristic obituary notice — "Yesterday died that 
 " man of bustle and noisy name, the Primate of Ireland ; a sacrifice 
 " to drunkenness which, however, was but a libation to ambition, for 
 
 * Plowden's " History of Ireland," vol. ii. p. 120. 
 f Plowden, vol. ii. p. 123. 
 X To Bentley, the 30th of September, 1755. 
 § To Mann, 27th of January, 1761. 
 
( 82 ) 
 
 " he was forced to drown his own intellect that he might govern 
 " the no-understanding of the Irish. Indeed he succeeded, and 
 " from the lowest depth of unpopularity had raised himself to full 
 " power. If Stone did not shine by his gratitude and moderation, 
 " at least he had unbounded charity and generosity, and whatsoever 
 " mischief he did revenge was never the ingredient. I do not think 
 " that the Administration will be disposed to place the metro- 
 " politan mitre on an able head again in haste."* 
 
 Plowden, an Irishman before all things, and bitterly opposed to 
 the English interest, renders even more grudging acknowledgment 
 to the talent of a man whom he detested : — 
 
 "He had ingratiated himself with the Castle by a most zealous 
 " opposition to the Irish interest. Immediately upon his translation to 
 " the see of Armagh, he was put at the head of the commission, with 
 " the chancellor and speaker as lords-justices. This prelate was a man 
 " of talent, of a lofty and arrogant disposition ; resolute and deter- 
 " mined ; a thorough-paced courtier, and too determinedly devoted to 
 " politics to be attentive to his pastoral duties. 
 
 " Primate Stone was lavish of his favours to his creatures, and had 
 " therefore many supporters ; he was too haughty and dictatorial not 
 "to have many enemies. His grandfather had been gaoler at Win- 
 " chester ; his perquisites in that situation had enabled his son (the 
 " primate's father) to become a banker ; he was a non-juror, and his 
 "chief customers were the Jacobites. He was in the flower of youth 
 " when promoted to the primacy ; to which none before him had been 
 "raised till on the decline of life. His person was uncommonly hand- 
 " some ; whence he was called the beauty of holiness. He was 
 " inordinate in his ambition, intemperate in his passions, and inexor- 
 able in his resentments. . . . His entertainments had all the attrac- 
 tions of the most voluptuous refinement. His courtesy, affability, 
 " and hospitality gained him many abettors, and his effort to gain 
 " proselytes in Parliament were indefatigable. Yet the number of his 
 * To Mann, 20th of December, 1764. 
 
( 83 ) 
 
 " enemies is a strong presumption, that the charges made against him 
 "were not altogether groundless. For the honour of the prelacy, 
 " we forbear to retail his enemies' account of his conduct." * 
 
 The refined sensualism attributed to the Archbishop by Plowden 
 seems hardly consistent with the gross intemperance attributed to 
 him by Walpole, and repeated by a later historian. Sir George 
 Trevelyan writes : " When Charles J. Fox first took rank among 
 " grown men, the head of the law in England and the head of the 
 "church in Ireland were notorious as two among the hardest livers 
 " in their respective countries, and such prominence was not then 
 "lightly earned. ... In the days of Lord Chancellor Northington 
 " and Archbishop Stone very small account was taken of any aspirant 
 " to convivial honours, who reckoned his progress through the 
 " evening by glasses." f 
 
 It was a hard-drinking age, and without admitting to the full the 
 charges against the Archbishop in this respect, it may be possible 
 that his definition of temperance at the table might not be accepted 
 by the Episcopal Bench of the present day. The ethics of his time 
 were in other respects not strait-laced, and on the point of morals in 
 the narrow sense much license was permitted to and even expected of 
 a man of the world. The ridicule that a generation later attached to 
 William Pitt did not spare even the Archbishop. He was unmarried, 
 and in the matter of his relations with the other sex no scandal could 
 be imputed to him. Yet even so he did not escape insinuations, 
 which, as has been seen, Plowden declines to specify though he can- 
 not refrain from hinting at them. 
 
 Archbishop Stone, like his Brother Andrew, has not escaped the 
 posthumous attentions of the novelist. Mr. J. A. Froude, mainly 
 on the authority of Plowden, represents Archbishop Stone in " The 
 Two Chiefs of Dunboy" as the typical Irish prelate of the time 
 appointed for political purposes, and especially distinguished by his 
 hatred of the Nonconformists. 
 
 * Vol. ii. ed. 1809, p. 115. t " Earl y History of Charles J. Fox," p. 93. 
 
ARMS OF STONE. 
 
 (London, granted 1585, confirmed 1614.) Ar. three cinquefoils sa. a chief az. Crest. 
 Out of a ducal coronet a Griffin's head erm. between a pair of wings or. — Burke's 
 "General Armory." 
 
( 85 ) 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 MARTIN, SURMAN, LEAVER, AND STONE, TO MARTIN AND CO. : I73I-189I. 
 
 John Marke — The first surviving books of the firm — Robert Surman — Surman, 
 Dineley, and Cliffe, goldsmiths, seceded from the Grasshopper — The Surmans 
 of Barking — John Martin, executor of his brother James — Takes his place on his 
 death — Brings in his second son, Joseph — Purchases Overbury in 1723 — John 
 Martin — His wife, Judith Bromley, of Ham Court — John Martin contests the 
 Borough of Tewkesbury, 1734 — Is defeated — Is elected, 1741 — Joseph Martin 
 head partner — Marries Eleanor Torriano, niece of Sir Horace Mann — M.P. for 
 Gatton, 1768 — Sheriff of London, 1771 — Retires from business — A family in- 
 cident — His death, 1774 — Richard Stone, second son of Mr. Smith's apprentice — 
 Marries Mary Harris, of Barking — Their children — Lives at Ilford — His death, 
 1761 — Richard Stone, the younger — Begins business early — Junior partner, 1760 
 — John Porker — Partner, 1763 — Richard Stone marries Mary Herring — Her 
 sister Harriet marries Sir Francis Baring — Archbishop Herring, their uncle, once 
 Rector of Stow-cum-Quy— His activity in 1745 — John Foote, clerk — Becomes 
 partner, 1770 — Marries Eleanor Martin — The Footes of Detling — George, son 
 of John Foote, drowned, 1804 — James Porter, partner, 1783 — Lives at Leyton- 
 stone — The missing Grasshopper — James, brother of Joseph Martin — Born, 1738 
 — Partner,- 1760 — Senior partner, 1774 — Marries Penelope Skipp — Personal 
 characteristics — M.P. for Tewkesbury, 177 6-1807 — His political integrity — 
 "Starling" Martin — Lives in Downing Street — John Martin, born 1774 in 
 Downing Street — Richard Stone, partner, 1793, and John Martin, 1796 — George 
 Stone and John Martin living in Lombard Street — Richard Stone buys " Cooper's " 
 Estate at Chislehurst — Marriage of John Martin and Penelope Stone — Death 
 of Richard Stone, 1802 — Of George Foote, 1804 — James Martin, junior, partner 
 — His personal characteristics — Retires, 1824 — Last survivor but one in a 
 government tontine — John Martin lives in Lombard Street — His sons born there — 
 Death of James Martin, senior, 18 10 — John Martin lives at Camden Place, Chisle- 
 hurst — His death, 1832 — Henry Stone, partner, 1823 — Marries Mary Roxburgh — 
 John Martin, junior, partner, 1827 — Parliamentary contests — George Stone, 
 junior, and James Martin, junior, partners, 1830 — Robert Martin, partner, 1837 — 
 
( 86 ) 
 
 George Stone, senior, dies, 1843 — Henry Stone dies, 1844 — George Stone, junior, 
 retires, 185 1 — Dies, 1861 — The Stone family extinct — The head clerks — Thomas 
 Dyer, J. Lovett, William Cole, W. Dobson, William Pegler Sanigear — John, 
 James, and Robert Martin, sole partners — James Martin lives at Chislehurst — 
 Robert Martin marries Mary Anne Biddulph — Retires, 1873 — Richard Biddulph 
 Martin, partner, 1861 — John Biddulph Martin, partner, 1864 — Parliamentary con- 
 nexion with Tewkesbury closed by its disfranchisement, 1885 — John Martin 
 retires, 1875 — His death, 1880 — Waldyve Martin, partner, 1876— Retires, 1880 — 
 James Martin dies, 1878 — Frederick H. Norman, partner, 1880 — Edward Norman, 
 partner, 1884 — Their brother, Charles Norman, partner of Messrs. Baring 
 Brothers. 
 
 A BOUT this time two shadowy figures pass across the scene; a 
 memorandum purporting to be a copy of one written by 
 Richard, the grandson of Andrew Stone, gives the style of "the 
 " firms as far as I can recollect, to have heard of them," as follows : — 
 
 Richard Smith. 
 
 Smith & Stone. 
 
 Stone & Martin. 
 
 Thomas and James Martin. 
 
 Martin, Marke, & Leaver. 
 
 Martin, Leaver, & Stone. 
 
 Martin, Surman, & Stone. 
 Of Marke little remains to be placed on record. James Martin 
 presumably took him into partnership on the retirement of Thomas 
 Martin about 1725, but he must have retired before 1 731. There is 
 evidence of this partnership in the following entries in the " Discount 
 " Book " :— 
 
 " I73 1 - Due from J. Martin, J. Marke, & Co., £14. 10s. yd." 
 " 1733. Due from Martin, Marke, Leaver, & Stone, £30." 
 The true order of succession would therefore appear to be — 
 1725. Thomas & James Martin. 
 (?) James Martin & John Marke. 
 (?) Martin, Marke, Leaver, & Stone. 
 1 73 1. Martin, Surman, Leaver, & Stone. 
 In 1749 a three years' partnership was established between John 
 
( 8 7 ) 
 
 and Joseph Martin, Richard Stone, and Ebenezer Blackwell, and it 
 was provided that should any difference arise in respect of the 
 construction of the deed of partnership, such difference should be 
 referred in the first place to Mr. Thomas Martin of Clapham, or, in 
 the event of his having died, to Mr. John Marke of Petersham. 
 The name of John Marke appears in the ledgers from 1731 onwards ; 
 and the parish register of Petersham has the following entry— 
 "John Marke, Esqr., was buryed March 1, 1763-" 
 
 Mr. Richard Stone's list, thus avowedly given from memory, is 
 not quite correct in the last entry, for, in 1731, when what may be 
 called terra firma is reached in the shape of the earliest surviving 
 books of the Grasshopper, the balance-sheet is signed by James 
 Martin, Robert Surman, James Leaver, and Richard Stone. 
 
 Of Robert Surman there is no accurate record. Mr. Hilton Price 
 says that in 171 5 Robert Surman signed the notes for Caswell & 
 Mount in Lombard Street— a firm that was connected with the South 
 Sea Company. The London Journal of the 8th of February 1 72I has 
 a list of the forfeited estates of directors sold, and among them is 
 « a freehold estate of Robert Surman, late deputy-cashier of the 
 " South Sea Company, situated in and near Thames Street, in the 
 " city of London, put up at ^3000 and sold for ^3065 to Mr. Hope 
 " the brewer." 
 
 It was perhaps this same Robert Surman who in 1731 was 
 a partner at the Grasshopper, where he certainly continued until 
 the close of 1748. He then retired from the firm, and there is 
 strong evidence that his retirement was of the nature of a secession. 
 One Robert Cliffe kept an account at the Grasshopper, and was 
 probably a clerk, for " R. Cliffe " witnesses the signatures to the 
 balance-sheet in 1737 and 1740. Thomas Dineley also was a customer, 
 and up to 1748 these names appear among the ledger accounts. But 
 at Christmas 1749, Surman, Dineley, and Cliffe all disappear from the 
 books, and in 1754 the three names are found as a firm of gold- 
 smiths in the London Directory, which was not then published 
 
( 88 ) 
 
 annually, so that it may be assumed that the firm of Surman, Dine- 
 ley, & Cliffe was an offshoot from the Grasshopper. The firm in 
 1759 was Cliffe, Walpole, & Clarke, and it agrees with this that in 
 the registers of Barking the following deaths are recorded :— 
 
 " 1 734. Thomasine, wife of Robert Surman, of Valentines " (still a 
 residential estate). 
 
 " 1750. Thomasine, daughter of Robert Surman, and wife of the 
 " Hon. John Boscawen." 
 
 "1759. Robert Surman, Esq." 
 
 Richard Stone is undoubtedly the son of Andrew Stone, born in 
 1705, who is recorded in the parish registers of St. Mary Wooliloth 
 as a son of Richard Stone. Accordingly, in 1731, at the age of 
 twenty-six, he was the junior partner. At the end of the follow- 
 ing year Leaver retires, and the business is carried on by James 
 Martin, R. Surman, and Richard Stone, until the death of the senior 
 partner in 1744. But for at least thirteen years (1 731-1743 
 inclusive), John, the youngest brother of Thomas and James 
 Martin, had been in a confidential position in the bank, as is 
 evident from the fact that he signed the balance-sheets during those 
 years, as a witness to the signatures of the partners, and on the 
 death of his brother James, he signed the balance-sheet as his 
 executor. It is conceivable that in serving this apparently long 
 apprenticeship he had at heart the interests of his second son Joseph 
 Martin, who in 1743 and 1744 is one of the witnesses to the signa- 
 tures of the annual balance-sheet. For he had himself married 
 Katherine, the heiress of Joseph Jackson of Sneed Park, now a 
 residential suburb of Bristol, and about 1723 had purchased, from 
 the family of Parsons, the Overbury estate, some five miles from 
 Tewkesbury on the one hand, with whose Parliamentary fortunes 
 the Martin family were destined to be thenceforth closely associated, 
 and some nine miles distant from Evesham on the other, a borough 
 with which his ancestors had long been connected.* The appear- 
 * It is note-worthy that from the top of Bredon Hill, at whose base Overbury is 
 
( 8 9 ) 
 
 ance of the gabled manor-house at Overbury, with its adjacent farm 
 buildings, is still preserved in an old estate-map of 171 7, but the 
 house was destroyed by fire in 1738, and the present Court was 
 erected by his eldest son, John Martin, in its place. 
 
 John, born 1724, appears to have chosen as a profession that of 
 being his father's heir, and further qualified himself as a country 
 gentleman by marrying Judith, the heiress of William Bromley, 
 of Ham Court, near Upton-on-Severn. He built the existing 
 mansion, but died, leaving no issue, in 1794. 
 
 Whatever may have been the family arrangements, and their 
 motives, in 1744 the annual balance-sheet of the firm is signed 
 first by John Martin, as executor of James Martin. The balance- 
 sheets of 1745-6-7 are missing, but the names of the partners on 
 the 1st of January 1747 are explicitly stated in the inventory of 
 Ebenezer Blackwell. By this time John Martin had introduced as 
 a partner his second surviving son, Joseph, who had just attained 
 his majority, but who had served a period of probation of at least 
 two years, as he had witnessed the balance-sheets of 1743 and 
 1744, the former during the life of his Uncle James. 
 
 It has been shown that the father had for some years been con- 
 nected with, though not actually a partner in the firm, and that when 
 the death of his elder brother in some measure forced a partnership 
 on him, he at once associated his son with himself. An explanation 
 of this reluctance to devote himself entirely to a business life may be 
 found in the fact that his inclinations were towards a political career. 
 In 1734 he engaged, unsuccessfully, in a contest for the borough of 
 Tewkesbury, for which Viscount Gage and Robert Tracy were 
 elected. But in the following elections — 1741-47 — he was returned 
 with Viscount Gage ; and in the Parliament of 1754-61 he was again 
 successful, having this time as his colleague William Dowdeswell, of 
 the neighbouring manor of Pull Court. 
 
 situated, the eye commands Evesham, Tewkesbury, and Worcester, the scenes of three 
 turning-points in English history, in 1265, 147 1, and 165 1. 
 
( 9° ) 
 
 John Martin's signature appears for the last time on the balance- 
 sheet of the 25th of December, 1760; in the following year he 
 retired also from parliamentary life. He survived until 1767, and 
 dying at the age of 75 years, was buried at Overbury. His second 
 son, Joseph, already mentioned as having joined the firm in 1746, took 
 his father's place as head partner on the retirement of the latter from 
 business, 176^. He was born in January, 172!, and in 174! married 
 Eleanor Torriano,* the niece of Sir Horace Mann, the British Envoy 
 at Florence, and the well-known correspondent of Horace Walpole. 
 
 Joseph Martin, like his father, had an inclination for public life, 
 and in the Parliament of 1768 to 1774 represented Gatton, in 
 Surrey, a constituency which subsequently achieved distinction 
 as a typically rotten borough of the class of Grampound and Old 
 Sarum. In 1771 he was Sheriff of London, and he enjoys the 
 distinction of being the only member of the family, since the time 
 of Sir Richard Martin, who has attained municipal honours in the 
 metropolis. His last year of political and business life was marked by 
 an exciting family incident, if a contemporary record may be believed 
 the occurrence has not survived in the oral traditions of the family : — 
 
 The Right Hon. Lord B y having paid his 
 
 addreffes to the eldeft daughter of J h M n, 
 
 Efq ; a banker of this city, received the father's 
 confent to their union ; the young, Nobleman, 
 however, not coming of age till the expiration of 
 a few months, he prevailed upon this worthy 
 family to take a trip to Paris the beginning of 
 this fummer, till the period arrived for the con- 
 fummation of the nuptials. Accordingly, Mr. 
 M n, his Lady, and Mifs M n, accom- 
 panied his Lordfhip to that city, and time paffed 
 away in the greateft harmony. As foon as his 
 
 Lordfhip came of age, Mr. M n, wanting to 
 
 return to London, politely begged of him to 
 appoint a day on which he would receive his 
 daughter's hand ; to this the other very coolly 
 anfwered, ' that as he had altered his mind, he 
 muft beg leave to wave that ceremony. ' It is not 
 eafily to be conceived into what confufion fo 
 lingular an infult muft plunge this refpectable 
 family : However, not many days after, it came 
 to the knowledge of the eldeft brother to the 
 
 young Lady, Tho. M n, Efq } when e imme- 
 diately fet off poft for Paris. On his arrival, he 
 
 demanded of Lord B y ' the reafon for this 
 
 fudden tranfition ? ' To which he could get no 
 other anfwer than ' It was his inclination to alter 
 
 his opinion.' Mr. M n thereupon demanded 
 
 immediate fatisfaction, and accordingly they re- 
 tired, with their feconds, to a convenient place. 
 
 Lord B y afked, « Who fhould fire firft ? ' 
 
 Mr.- M n replied, ' He would take an equal 
 
 chance, for that he fhould not compliment his life 
 away ; ' and taking an half-crown out of his 
 
 pocket toffed it up, when Lord B y won ; 
 
 they then took their places, and Lord B y 
 
 fired, when the ball paffed on the left fide of Mr. 
 
 M n's head. Mr. M n then levelled his 
 
 piftols and fhot his Lordfhip in the hand. Here 
 an affair ended, which appears much to the dif- 
 advantage of one party, and the credit of the 
 other, in nobly fupporting the honour of his 
 family. — Universal Magazine, Oct., 1773. 
 
 * The name of Torriano occurs in Pepys, 30 Jan. 165/^. " I went with them by 
 water to London, to the house where Signor Torriano used to be." It will be remem- 
 bered that the name of Nathaniel Torriano occurs in the Will of Andrew Stone (p. 43). 
 
( 91 ) 
 
 The young lady in question must have been either Eleanor (Mrs. 
 Foote), or Mary (Mrs. Heberden). 
 
 In 1774, Joseph Martin was elected with Sir William Codrington 
 for Tewkesbury, but died two years later in Downing Street,* at the 
 age of fifty-one. He had already left the firm, his signature appearing 
 for the last time in 1773. In 1774 his brother James signs " for self 
 "and Joseph Martin." 
 
 In the meanwhile, from some period antecedent to 1 73 1 down 
 to 1 761, the Stone family had been represented by Richard, the 
 second son of Andrew Stone. Richard was born (p. 43) on the 
 19th of April, 1705. His father having died in 171 1, some 
 provision was presumably made in the interest of the son, though 
 this does not appear in the probate of Andrew Stone's will. 
 Richard Stone was married in Westminster Abbey on the 17th 
 of February, 1737, to Mary Harris of Barking, in Essex. He 
 is described as of the parish of St. Mary Woolnoth ; and the 
 St. James s Evening Post of the 22nd of February, 173?, records 
 that she was " an agreeable young lady with ,£6,000 fortune." 
 
 In the registers of St. Mary Woolnoth the births of five children 
 are recorded, namely — Ann, 26th of September, 1739; Sarah, 
 22nd of October, 1743; George, 24th of February, 1744; Frances, 
 20th of May, 1746; and Andrew, — July, I 74%- The birth 
 of their eldest son Richard, on the 7th of December, 1737, must 
 have taken place elsewhere. In 1750 the father was living at 
 Ilford, in Essex^ as appears from an entry in the accounts of 
 Ebenezer Blackwell. 
 
 " 1750, Aug. 28. To going to dine with 
 
 " Mr. Stone at Ilford, £1 2s. lod." 
 
 Richard Stone died at Ilford in 1763, having signed the annual 
 balance-sheet for the last time at the end of 1761. 
 
 Richard Stone the younger began his business life at an 
 
 * London Packet New Lloyd's Evening Post, from Friday, March 29th, to Monday, 
 April 1 st, 1876. 
 
( 92 ) 
 
 early age ; he could not have been much more than fifteen years 
 of age when he witnessed the signatures to the balance-sheet of 
 the 25th of December, 1752. In 1760 he became junior partner; 
 and on the death of his father, three years later, succeeded to 
 his interest. At the same time (1763) John Porker, who had 
 witnessed the signatures to the balance-sheets for the two pre- 
 ceding years, became junior partner, and so continued for seven 
 years, when the partnership was dissolved (10th of October, 1770). 
 It is possible that he may have migrated only, since in 1771 
 the firm of Ladbroke, Son, Rawlinson, & Porker is found at 
 No. 10, Lombard Street ; the name of Porker dropped out of 
 this firm after 1806. Richard Stone the younger married, in 1766, 
 Mary Herring, the cousin of the late Archbishop of York and 
 Canterbury. In the following year, Miss Herring's sister Harriet 
 married Sir Francis Baring, and thus social as well as buisiness 
 relations were established between the two families and firms. In 
 1764, John and Francis Baring opened an account at the Grasshopper 
 that has been carried on uninterruptedly ever since. 
 
 Archbishop Herring was associated by birth with the eastern 
 counties, where the Martins of a previous century have already been 
 found. The following notice occurs in Hook's " Ecclesiastical 
 Biography": "Thomas Herring, born 169(1) at Walsoken, in 
 " Norfolk, of which parish his Father was rector. Educated ;at the 
 " school at Wisbeach, and then at Jesus College, Cambridge ; but 
 "in 1716 became Fellow of Corpus Christi, Cambridge. On 
 " entering into orders, obtained successively the livings of Great 
 " Shelford, Stow-cum-Quy, and Trinity in Cambridge." (Of Q'uy, as 
 has already been stated, Mr. Joseph Martin was the Squire.) " In 
 " 1722 Bishop Fleetwood made him his chaplain, and gave hiim the 
 " rectory of Rettenden, in Essex, and that of Barley, in Hertford- 
 " shire. After this chosen Preacher to the Society of Lincoln's 
 " Inn, and appointed chaplain in ordinary to the King, on which 
 "he took degree of D.D. In 1731 appointed to the rectory of 
 
( 93 ) 
 
 " Bletchingley in Surrey, and, in the same year, advanced to the 
 "deanery of Rochester. In 1737 made Bishop of Bangor, and 
 "in 1743 translated to York, where he exerted himself so much 
 " in rousing the county in favour of the Hanoverian party, that 
 "he was styled facetiously the 'red Herring."' 
 
 Walpole tells us of the part which the Archbishop played in the 
 stirring events of 1 745, when the invasion of the Young Pretender 
 from the North threw the country into consternation : " The York- 
 "shiremen, headed by the Archbishop (Herring), and Lord Malton, 
 "meet the gentlemen of the county the day after tomorrow, to 
 " defend that part of England." * 
 
 " Dr. Herring, the Archbishop of York, has set an example 
 " that would rouse the most indifferent ; in two days after the 
 " news arrived at York of Cope's defeat, and when they every 
 " moment expected the victorious rebels at their gates, the [ArchJ 
 " Bishop made a speech to the assembled county that had as much 
 " true spirit, honesty, and bravery in it, as ever was penned by an 
 "historian for an ancient hero." f 
 
 The firm now, in 1774, consisted of James Martin, Richard 
 Stone, Ebenezer Blackwell, and John Foote. The latter had passed 
 from the position of confidential clerk to that of a partner, a pro- 
 motion of which numerous instances have already been recorded. He 
 witnessed the signatures to the balance-sheet for 1763 and 1764, 
 and in 1770 became junior partner. In 1775 ne married Eleanor, 
 
 * To Sir H. Mann, 20 September, 1745. 
 f To Sir Hor. Mann, 4 October, 1745. 
 
 An excellent prelate, afterwards promoted to the see of Canterbury. Walpole, 
 in his " Memoirs, " mentioning his death, thus speaks of him: "On the 13th of 
 "March 1757, died Dr. Herring, Arch-bishop of Canterbury, a very amiable man, to 
 " whom no fault was objected ; though perhaps the gentleness of his principles, his 
 " great merit, was thought one. During the rebellion he had taken up arms to defend 
 «' from oppression that religion which he abhorred making an instrument of oppression." 
 — Note, Cunningham's Edition. 
 
 It may be remarked that the literary remains of Archbishop Herring consist of 
 some sermons published singly and some letters, edited by two members of the family 
 of Duncombe. 
 
( 94 ) 
 
 the eldest surviving daughter of Joseph Martin, the retired senior 
 partner.* Their eldest son, George Foote, was born in the following 
 year. Their eldest daughter, Eleanor, married Sir Brook Bridges, 
 a Kentish baronet. The name of their grandson, who was subse- 
 quently created Lord Fitzwalter, appeared in the books of the 
 firm until his death in 1875. 
 
 Relationships of Mann, Foote, and Martin.^ 
 Robert Mann m. Eleanor. 
 
 Horatio Eleanor Mary m. Benjamin Halley Foote. ;£ 
 
 (Walpole's m. 
 correspondent, Sir John Torriano. 
 
 Sir Horace Mann). 
 
 Eleanor Torriano 
 m. 
 
 Joseph Martin. 
 I 
 
 Eleanor Martin m. John Foote. 
 
 ! . 
 
 I I I 
 
 George Foote. Lucy Mann Foote Eleanor Foote 
 
 m. m. 
 Col. Locker. Sir Brook Bridges. 
 
 Sir Brook Bridges (Lord Fitzwalter). 
 
 John Foote's younger daughter Lucy received the second name 
 of Mann, thus keeping alive the memory of her grandmother 
 Eleanor Mann, the sister of Sir Horace Mann. John Foote con- 
 tinued in the firm until his death, in November, 1797; and in the 
 following year his eldest son George, already mentioned, took his 
 
 * The second surviving son of Joseph Martin was the Rev. Joseph Martin, of 
 Ham Court, co. Worcester, whose second son, the late Rev. George Martin, Chancellor 
 of the Diocese of Exeter, was the father of Geo. Edward Martin, now of the Old Bank, 
 Worcester. Of this Bank Hugo Hamilton Martin, second son of the late head 
 partner of the Grasshopper, became a partner in 1888. 
 
 f Cf. Hasted's " Kent," ii. 142. Also, " Pedigree of the Martin Family," pp. 9 
 and 22. 
 
 J An old Cornish family; bought the East Court Estate, Detling, Kent, in 1720 
 (Cave Browne, " History of Detling." Simpkin and Marshall, 1880). 
 
( 95 ) 
 
 father's place. But this association did not endure long, for in 1804 
 he was accidentally drowned off Margate, while sailing in a boat with 
 his sister. He was buried with his father at Detling, in Kent. 
 
 In the meanwhile, in 1783, two years after Blackwell had 
 left the firm, James Porter became the junior partner. He had 
 served a long apprenticeship, having witnessed the signatures to the 
 balance-sheets for the preceding eighteen years. James Porter's 
 name appears for the last time in the balance-sheet for 1793. 
 He is traditionally said to have lived at Leytonstone ; and there 
 is a legend that the brazen Grasshopper — the distinguishing sign 
 of the bank in Lombard Street — was removed to Mr. Porter's 
 house, and was placed over the gateway. In a letter the late Mrs. 
 Crozier, by birth a Stone, says that she was credibly informed 
 by an old servant, who had been in the service of her grandfather, 
 that he had been to Mr. Porter's house and had seen the Grass- 
 hopper over the gateway; but all the efforts on the part of the 
 author to identify Mr. Porter's house, or to ascertain what has 
 become of this historical sign, have been altogether fruitless. 
 
 James, the younger brother of Joseph Martin, began his business 
 life at an early age. He was born on the 4th of June, 1738 — on the 
 same day as King George the Third — at the farmhouse immediately 
 adjoining Overbury Court, to which his mother had been obliged 
 to remove in consequence of a fire, which had totally destroyed the 
 Court a few days previously. At the beginning of 1755 he appears 
 to have been associated with the firm, and witnessed the balance- 
 sheet for the preceding year, together with Richard Stone, junior. 
 
 In 1760 these two joined the firm, and, in 1774, James Martin 
 became senior partner on the retirement of his elder brother Joseph. 
 In the same year he married Penelope, the daughter of John Skipp, 
 of the Upper Hall, Ledbury, and of Whateley, in Warwickshire, 
 an estate inherited from the Willington family. The estates 
 which thus came into the family remain in the possession of its 
 members to the present time. He was a man of considerable 
 
( 96 ) 
 
 mental vigour, but at a comparatively early age was subject to the 
 infirmity of excessive corpulence, against which he contended 
 vigorously. There is a legend that by contriving a bridge over 
 the staircase leading to the attics at Overbury he prolonged the 
 length of the passage, up and down which he used to take exercise 
 in rainy weather, and it is by him that the walks in the Great Wood 
 at Overbury are supposed to have been laid out for the same object. 
 These walks, that had become almost obliterated by time, have 
 quite recently been cleared, and bear testimony to his appreciation 
 of the picturesque. 
 
 The death of Joseph Martin in 1776 created a vacancy for the 
 borough of Tewkesbury. His son James, now senior partner in the 
 firm, offered himself as a candidate, and was duly elected. He 
 retained the seat uninterruptedly during seven successive parlia- 
 ments, until 1807, but a tablet erected to his memory in the chancel 
 of the church at Overbury, where he was buried, erroneously states 
 that he represented the borough of Tewkesbury in nine successive 
 parliaments. During his parliamentary career, if he did not attain 
 any great eminence as a statesman, he was at least respected for 
 integrity, in an age not distinguished for political purity. Wraxall, 
 in his " Memoirs," speaks of him as one whose " incorruptible 
 " integrity compensated for the mediocrity of his talents ; " and in 
 another passage records that he, " like Aristides, never inquired 
 " whether a measure was merely useful, but whether it was just and 
 " humane ; " and yet again that " a more incorrupt man than Martin, 
 " member for Tewkesbury, did not sit in the House of Commons." 
 
 On more than one occasion his conscience compelled him not 
 merely to speak, but to vote against the ministry of which he was 
 a habitual supporter. But, even so, he drew on himself nattering 
 expressions from the Chancellor of the Exchequer. One parlia- 
 mentary phrase of his has become historical. On the formation of 
 the coalition ministry between Lord North and Fox in 1783, the 
 member for Tewkesbury took part in a debate on the motion for 
 
( 97 ) 
 
 going into committee <on Mir. Fox's India Bill, and in the course of 
 his speech expressed himself in the following terras : " That thoigh 
 " many pers<ons earnestly wished to drop the subject of the coalitiDn, 
 " as trite amd unfit t.o be longer talked of, he vas of a different 
 " opinion, amd wished to se<e a starling perched on the right elbow of 
 " the Speaker's chair, which, whenever a pernicious measure like 
 " that unde;r consideration was brought forward, should repea: 
 " incessantly/ to th e Treasury Bench, ' disgraceful, shameless 
 " ' coalition." " * 
 
 He becaime knowra accordingly as " Starling " Martin, f a nick- 
 name that rmay have b(een a.ll the more readily takei up, inasmuch as 
 there was about this time another member of parliament of the same 
 name, Samuiel Martin,, frequently mentioned in Horace Walpole's 
 letters. He passed under a.nother parliamentary alias, as, " Honest'' 
 Martin. It has been thouglht that the portrait of "Starling " Manin 
 may be reaognized irn the picture of the House of Commons in 
 1793, presenited in 1885 by the Emperor of Austria to the National 
 Portrait Galllery. 
 
 At the emd of the ffirst year of their marriage a son and heir was 
 born to Jamees and Penelope Martin, who at this period were living 
 in Downing Street, a situation that was no doubt found convenient 
 in connexiom with parliamentary engagements. The son, John, fol- 
 lowed his father's business as a banker, and in 1793, when he was in 
 his twentieth year, he was already associated with the firm, as is shown 
 by the fact tmat at the end of that year he witnessed the signatures 
 to the balanc:e-sheet. At th is period he seems to have been living at 
 No. 67, Lomibard Street, no w absorbed into Messrs. Glyn, Mills & 
 Co.'s premises. The City had mot then entirely ceased to be inhabited by 
 
 * Hansard's "Parliamentary Hiistory," vol. xxiii., p. 1388. (1st December, 1783) 
 
 f "Nay, 
 
 " I'll have a starliing shall be taught to speak 
 " Nothing; but Mortimer, and give it him, 
 " To ke<ep> his amger still in motion." 
 
 Shakespeare, " King Henry IV.," act i sc. 3. 
 
 H 
 
( 98 ) 
 
 business men, and in 1800, the Downing Street house being required 
 for departmental purposes, the father disposed of the short remainder 
 of his lease to the Government, and took up his residence at the 
 Grasshopper. 
 
 In the meantime, in 1793, George Stone, the eldest son of 
 Richard Stone, was admitted to partnership, and three years after- 
 wards, in 1796, John Martin was similarly promoted. The firm now 
 consisted of James Martin and his son John, Richard Stone and 
 his son George, and John Foote. George Stone had been living 
 in Lombard Street, but, in 1801, when the senior partner came to live 
 on the premises, George Stone migrated to what was then the West 
 End, namely, George Street, Westminster. His father, Richard 
 Stone, had in 1784 bought, in the name of trustees, for £5250, an 
 estate at Chislehurst of one James Adams ; and, in the following year, 
 he added to his estate about sixteen acres bought of one Samuel 
 Rush for £1150. These two purchases appear to make up the 
 estate now known as " Cooper's," a name which has apparently failed 
 to perpetuate the memory of some former occupant. It is not easy 
 from the title-deeds to identify the boundaries of the estate thus 
 acquired, which now consists of close on 120 acres; but in 1798 
 Richard Stone redeemed the land tax on 100 acres. In 1845 the 
 executors of George Stone, the elder, sold the estate to Mr. Henry 
 Bowden for ,£10,274. In 1862, on the death of Mr. Bowden, Mr. 
 Frederick Joseph Edlmann, of Hawkwood, Chislehurst, and Mr. 
 James Martin, bought the estate, as joint owners, for ,£16,000. On 
 the death of the latter in 1878, his interest in the estate passed to his 
 nephew, John Biddulph Martin. 
 
 At Cooper's Mr. Richard Stone lived until his death in 1802. 
 In the meanwhile an alliance had been formed between the partners 
 of another kind : in 1803 a marriage took place between John Martin, 
 the son of the senior partner, and Frances, the daughter of 
 Richard Stone. This event seems not to have been hastily brought 
 about. A curious document is still in existence which indicates that 
 
( 99 ) 
 
 the young people imported a certain professional ring into their com- 
 munications with one another. It serves, moreover, to illustrate the 
 reaction of fashion against the wearing of hair-powder— a change of 
 mode which some have attributed to the influence of the French 
 Revolution. 
 
 " I, Frances Stone, of Chislehurst in the County of Kent. 
 " Spinster, having this day received from John Martin of Lombard 
 " Street Banker the sum of one Pound one Shilling of true & 
 "lawful money of Great Britain do hereby faithfully promise and 
 " engage to pay unto the said John Martin the sum of five shillings 
 " of true & lawful money of Great Britain on the eleventh day of the 
 " month of February in each ensuing year from the date hereof untill 
 "his death or his voluntarily wearing hair Powder. In witness 
 " whereof I hereto set my hand & seal this Eleventh day of February 
 " in the year of our Lord One thousand seven hundred and ninety- 
 " nine. 
 
 " Frances Stone. 
 
 " Witness, Mary Stone." 
 
 The family combination in the firm was broken up by the death, 
 on the 6th of August, 1802, of the second partner, Richard Stone; 
 and the death by drowning, already recorded, of George Foote in 
 1804, created a vacancy that was filled in 1806 by James, the younger 
 brother of John Martin. He had originally contemplated a legal 
 career as a barrister, and in this career he would probably have 
 distinguished himself. There are not a few still left who sufficiently 
 remember his shrewd intellect, his readiness at repartee, and vigorous 
 turn of expression, which, if occasionally disconcerting, was never ill- 
 natured. Nowhere, perhaps, was he better known than at Pau, of 
 whose English colony he may be said to have been the founder, 
 and which he visited for some forty winters in succession, dating 
 from a period when railways were not. 
 
 His connexion with the firm ceased in 1823; but he lived until 
 
( ioo ) 
 
 1^70 at Colwall, near Ledbury, dying in his ninety-second year. 
 His longevity conferred on him this distinction, that he was the last 
 survivor but one in a government tontine. At the time of his birth, 
 in 1777, during the crisis of the American War of Independence 
 the English Government was content to borrow ,£228,600 (Irish*) 
 at seven per cent., each subscriber contributing £100 per share in 
 his own name or that of his nominee, the principal being forfeited at 
 h:s death, while the entire interest was divided among the survivors. 
 James Martin was nominated as a subscriber to this tontine, and the 
 p-ofitable nature of the investment may be imagined. It will be 
 shown more clearly in the following figures, giving the amounts of 
 h.s half-yearly income during the latter years of his life from the 
 original investment of £100 : — 
 
 
 
 
 
 £ 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 1864, Jan. 
 
 Dividend for preceding 6 months 
 
 248 
 
 0 
 
 3 
 
 1865 „ 
 
 
 ■>■> 
 
 >> 
 
 382 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 1866 ,, 
 
 >j 
 
 >> 
 
 >> 
 
 409 
 
 10 
 
 6 
 
 1867 „ 
 
 5) 
 
 » 
 
 )) 
 
 t4°9 
 
 10 
 
 6 
 
 1868 „ 
 
 J) 
 
 
 >> 
 
 620 
 
 11 
 
 1 
 
 1869 „ 
 
 yi 
 
 » 
 
 >> 
 
 1103 
 
 3 
 
 7 
 
 » July 
 
 »> 
 
 )> 
 
 J) 
 
 ... 3875 
 
 10 
 
 2 
 
 1870, Jan. 
 
 » 
 
 >) 
 
 5> 
 
 ... 3875 
 
 0 
 
 4 
 
 » July 
 
 
 >> 
 
 1> 
 
 .. 3891 
 
 10 
 
 2 
 
 It was characteristic of him that he put himself in communication 
 vith his sole surviving rival — an old lady living in Switzerland — 
 vhen he found that they two were left alone in the race. She 
 survived him, and lived to receive one half-year's dividend = 
 ^7784 $s. 1 id. on the whole capital of .£228,600, which at her death 
 kpsed to the Government. 
 
 It has been seen that at the early part of the century John 
 Martin was living in Lombard Street, and here his children were 
 born, among them his three sons — John, James, and Robert, all 
 * ;£io8 6^. %d. Irish - ^"ioo English. 
 
 f Miss Mary Stone held two shares in this tontine. She died 19th of June, 1867, 
 having only eight surviving participants, who held bet ween them fourteen shares. 
 
( ioi ) 
 
 three destined to take their place in the firm. James Martin, the 
 senior partner, retired from business at the end of 1807. He sur- 
 vived until 1 8 10, when he died at Overbury, where he is buried. 
 
 John Martin, now senior partner, continued to make Lombarc 
 Street his home, migrating for the summer to various temporary 
 residences — usually at no great distance from London — until 1826 
 when he took, at first for a year, but subsequently on a longer hold- 
 ing, Camden Place, Chislehurst. The house was the property of the 
 Bonar family, and had earned a tragic notoriety by the murder, a: 
 the hands of a servant, in 181 3, of its aged occupants, Mr. and Mrs 
 Thomson Bonar. It was destined, later on, to become still more 
 widely known as the residence of the ex-Emperor Napoleon III. who 
 occupied it from the time of his release from captivity in Germany 
 March, 1871, until his death on the 9th of January, 1873. It hac 
 in the meantime undergone considerable structural changes, anc 
 in the days of the ex-Emperor bore little resemblance to the 
 straggling mansion with its endless corridors and passage-rooms 
 which made it the Liberty Hall of more than one generation o:' 
 children. Here John Martin lived until his death, on the 4th of 
 January, 1832. 
 
 In the meanwhile, in 1823, the junior partner, James Martin 
 retired, and his place was taken by Henry, the brother of George 
 Stone, born in 1777, who had spent a considerable number of 
 years in the Indian Civil Service. By his first wife, Mary Rox- 
 burgh, he had a daughter, Sibella, who married Mr. George 
 Warde Norman, and whose two sons, Frederick Henry and 
 Edward, will be found later on as members of the firm. 
 
 In 1827, John Martin, the senior partner, brought his eldest son, 
 John, into the firm. The father had taken up the parliamentary 
 career of his own father, James ("Starling" Martin). When the 
 latter retired from political life, in 1807, the son contested unsuccess- 
 fully against Mr. Charles Hanbury Tracy the vacancy thus created. 
 In 18 1 3 he was more fortunate; and, with Mr. John Edmund 
 
( 102 ) 
 
 Dowdeswell, represented the borough in six successive parliaments, 
 up to 1832. The Reform Act of 1832 has made the year a 
 momentous one in our parliamentary annals. John Martin did not 
 live to see the great change ; but in the election that ensued his 
 son John contested the borough. He was opposed, as had been 
 his father, by Mr. Charles Hanbury Tracy, and, as a further coin- 
 cidence, he was defeated. Bqt in the next year he and Mr. Tracy 
 were returned as members. Defeated again in 1835, he was re- 
 turned in 1837, and maintained his seat during five parliaments, 
 until 1859. 
 
 In the meanwhile, in 1830, John Martin and George Stone 
 each introduced a son — George Stone and James Martin — into 
 the firm, which, for the first time in its history, now consisted of 
 six partners, including two John Martins and two George Stones. 
 This combination did not endure long ; the death of John Martin, 
 as recorded above, at the beginning of 1832, reducing the number 
 of partners again to five. It was increased again in 1837 to the 
 number of six by the admission of Robert Martin, the fourth, and 
 third surviving son of the late head partner. He and his brothers 
 had been educated at the Charterhouse, whence he himself had gone 
 to Exeter College, Oxford, and had then spent some three years 
 in travelling before he settled in business. 
 
 The firm remained at this full strength for seven years, when the 
 number of its members was reduced by the death, in 1843, of the 
 senior partner, George Stone, who had been in the business for 
 nearly fifty-two years. His brother Henry, who had for some years 
 lived at St. Leonards, Harrow Weald, whence he had removed to 
 Lombard Street, died at the latter place in the following year, and 
 the business was now left in the hands of the three brothers, John, 
 James, and Robert Martin, and of George Stone, the younger. The 
 latter retired at the end of 1851 ; and on his death, in 1 86 1, the 
 Stone family, that two generations before had been extremely 
 numerous, became extinct in the male line. The last to bear the 
 
( io3 ) 
 
 name was his aunt, Miss Mary Stone, who died at Chislehurst in 
 1867, at the age of ninety years. It has already been mentioned 
 that she was one of the last survivors in the Government Irish 
 tontine of 1777, in which James Martin, of Colwall, was one of the 
 two last participants. 
 
 During these changes in the partnership the memory of some of 
 the confidential clerks, whose names are still traditional, is kept alive 
 by their attestation of the signatures in the balance-sheets. Among 
 these may be mentioned Mr. Thomas Dyer, who signed from 1805 
 to 1835; Mr. J. Lovett, 1819 to 1855; Mr. Wm. Cole, destined to 
 be represented to the third generation, 1823 to 1841 ; Mr. W. 
 Dobson, 1836 to 1848 ; and Mr, Wm. Pegler Sanigear, 1824 to 
 1 87 1. The last mentioned was associated with the fortunes of the 
 Grasshopper for over fifty-six years, having joined it a few weeks 
 before the Battle of Waterloo. There are many yet living by whom 
 he is still well remembered and esteemed. 
 
 The retirement of George Stone, the younger, left the business 
 entirely in the hands of the three brothers, John, James, and Robert 
 Martin ; and the firm became once more Martin & Co., after a lapse 
 of 133 years. John Martin had married in 1837, and was living at 
 14, Berkeley Square, The second partner, James, remained a 
 bachelor until his death. He lived with his widowed mother at 
 Camden till her death in 1862, when he moved across the 
 common to a house long occupied by Mrs. Labouchere, on whose 
 death, a short time previously; he had bought it. Before the intro- 
 duction of railways, and even after they gave increased facilities to 
 business men, he was in the habit of riding to London, and he was, 
 perhaps, one of the last to keep up this practice, over a distance of 
 eleven miles, when it had ceased to be a matter of necessity. 
 
 Robert Martin had also married in 1837, the year of his admis- 
 sion to the firm, and, after a brief residence in New Street, Spring 
 Gardens, made his home at 21, Eaton Square. Eaton Square was 
 at that time nearly the end of London ; it was not until a good 
 
( *°4 ) 
 
 many years after, at a period within the memorry of the writer, that 
 the western end of the square was completed. Robert Martin was 
 probably its oldest inhabitant when he gave upp the house in 1873, 
 in order to devote the remainder of a busy arnd well-spent life to 
 the interests of the family estate at Overbury. 
 
 Professor Max Miiller has remarked that: the obligations of 
 Indian caste, which to Western ideas appear intolerably irksome, 
 rind their counterpart in the unwritten law undier which the families 
 of English bankers, brewers, and so forth tend t03 close intermarriage. 
 It is illustrative of this rule that Robert Martiin had married Mary 
 Anne, the daughter of John Biddulph, of Ledboury and London, of 
 the banking firm of Cocks, Biddulph, & Co. HI is two sons, Richard 
 Biddulph Martin and John Biddulph Martin, who had both been 
 educated at Harrow, and, like their father, at Exeter College, 
 Oxford, joined the firm at the beginning of 1861 and 1864 re- 
 spectively. 
 
 At this period, the parliamentary connexion of the Martin family 
 with the borough of Tewkesbury was interrupted. In 1859 James 
 Martin was elected as representative of the borcough, in the place of 
 his elder brother John, the state of whose heealth had never been 
 robust, conjointly with Mr. Frederick Lygon (tlhe late Earl of Beau- 
 champ). In 1865-6 the changes were again ruing on familiar names, 
 and, instead of Dowdeswell and Yorke, the representatives of the 
 borough were Yorke and Lechmere. By the IReform Act of 1868, 
 :he borough w T as deprived of one of its members;, and was represented 
 by Capt. William Edwin Price up to 1880, when Richard Biddulph 
 Martin successfully contested the seat, and repiresented the borough 
 until it became, under the Representation of tthe People Act, 1885, 
 a parliamentary division of the county of Gloucester. Thus was 
 brought to a close a parliamentary connexion! which had existed 
 (Appendix D) with but few interruptions for wery nearly a hundred 
 and fifty years. 
 
 At the end of 1875, the senior partner, John Martin, retired 
 
( ios ) 
 
 through failing health. He survived until 1880, when he died on the 
 6th of March, at Upper Hall, Ledbury. In the meanwhile, his eldest 
 son, Waldyve Alexander Hamilton Martin, joined the firm at the 
 beginning of 1876. His younger brother, Hugo Hamilton Martin, 
 became associated with the firm for a few months, but did not 
 long continue his connexion with it. As has been stated above 
 (page 94, note), he subsequently joined the firm of Berwick, Lech- 
 mere, & Co., of the Old Bank, at Worcester, in which his cousin, 
 George Edward Martin was a partner. 
 
 On the 17th of August, 1878, James Martin, who since the retire- 
 ment of his brother John, three years previously, had been senior 
 partner in the firm, died very suddenly at Cannon Street station on 
 his way from business to his home at Chislehurst. The business 
 was thus left for two years in the hands of Richard Biddulph Martin, 
 John Biddulph Martin, and their cousin, Waldyve A. H. Martin. 
 The last-named did not continue long in the business : he retired, 
 owing to considerations of health, in 1880. 
 
 But a short time previously arrangements had been made for 
 the admission into the firm of Frederick Henry Norman, the son 
 of Mr. George Warde Norman, and his wife Sibella, who was the 
 daughter of Henry Stone, sometime a partner in the firm. 
 Frederick Henry Norman had been educated at Eton and Cam- 
 bridge, and had, up to the time of his joining the firm, been in 
 practice as a barrister. Four years later, in 1884, the partnership 
 was further reinforced by the inclusion in it of Edward Norman, 
 his younger brother, who had previously been one of the clerks in 
 the House of Commons, a post which he had resigned for an 
 appointment at the Public Works Loan Board. 
 
 The firm as thus constituted, reunited the families of Martin 
 and Stone in business relations, all the four partners having a 
 common ancestry through Richard Stone, the second of that name, 
 by his marriage with Mary Herring.* 
 
 * Appendix H. 
 
( io6 ) 
 
 Mr. G eorge Warde Norman, father of the two new partners, 
 lad iiimself been associated with banking, in that he was for many 
 \ears a director of the Bank of England. His eldest son, Charles 
 Loyd Norman, was a partner, until his death in 1889, in the firm of 
 Messrs. Baring Brothers & Co. The house of Baring had been 
 custcmers of the Grasshopper for nearly a century and a quarter, 
 vhile. as has already been mentioned (p. 92), a family connexion 
 had been established about the same time by the marriage of the 
 tvo sisters, Mary and Harriet Herring to Richard Stone and Sir 
 Fran:is Baring respectively. 
 
 ARMS OF MARTIN. 
 
 Paly of six or and az. on a chief engrailed gu. three martlets ar. 
 
 The arms granted 181 1 are described — Paly of six erminois and az. on a chief 
 eigrared gu. thiee martlets ar. Crest, on a wreath of the colours a mount vert 
 tlerecn a martin ppr. resting the dexter forepaw on a bezant. 
 
( io7 ) 
 
 DESCENT OF PARTNERS, 1890, FROM ANDREW 
 
 STONE. 
 
 Andrew Stone, d. 171 1. 
 
 . I 
 
 I I I 
 
 Andrew Stone, Richard Stone (1731-1761). George Stone (Archbishop). 
 
 Richard Stone (1760-1802) m. Mary Herring. 
 
 Geo. Stone m. Mary Urry. Henry Stone (18 24-1 844) Frances Stone Mary Stone 
 
 m. m. 
 Mary Roxburgh. John Martin. 
 
 Geo. Stone Georgiana 
 (1830-185 2) Stone 
 I 
 
 Mary Henry 
 Claudet. Norman. 
 
 Mrs, Geo. 
 
 Warde Norman. John James Robert 
 Martin. Martin. Martin. 
 
 Henry J. Norman. Herbert G. H. Norman. 
 
 R. B. Martin. J. B. Martin. 
 
 W. A. H. Martin. Husro H. Martin. 
 
 Chas. Loyd Norman. F. H. Norman. Edward Norman. 
 I 
 
 Archibald C. Norman. 
 
BOOK II. 
 THE BUSINESS. 
 
 O fortunati mercatores ..." 
 Beatus ille, qui procul negotiis. . . . 
 
( III ) 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 EARLY BANKING AND MONEY-LENDING. 
 
 Early banking — At Babylon, at Athens, at Rome — The Norman Conquest — The Jews 
 and the Lombards — Bills of exchange — Attempted regulation of capital mder 
 Edward VI. — Development of credit and capital under the Tudors — Early con- 
 tinental banks — The Caursines — Story of Ralph Cornwaille — Plate, jewels, and 
 cash under Elizabeth — The early goldsmiths — Pepys on State banks— His 
 transactions with goldsmiths — State of the coinage — Profits of the goldsmiths. 
 
 T^HE scope of the present work, no less than the dimensions 
 which it has attained, prohibit any attempt to discuss at 
 length the history of money-lending. Man has been described as 
 a clothes-wearing animal and as a cooking animal ; he might with 
 equal propriety be denned as a borrowing animal. There were 
 brave men before Agamemnon, and no doubt there were lenders 
 and borrowers before the time of Messrs. Egibi & Son, of Babylon, 
 whose accounts, preserved on terra-cotta tablets, are still extant in 
 the British Museum. Dealing in exchanges has been a practice of 
 immemorial antiquity in the East, and the money-changer played his 
 part in the social life of Greece and of Rome. It was a humbler part 
 than that of the modern magnate of finance, and the difference is 
 sketched by Horace Walpole with his usual vivacity : — 
 
 " If the Romans were beat, they were beat; they repaired their 
 "walls, and did as well as they could ; but they did not lose every 
 " sesterce, every talent they had, by the defeat affecting their ' Change 
 " ' Alley.' Crassus, the richest man on t'other side their ' Temple Bar,' 
 
( ) 
 
 "lost his army and his life, and yet their ' East Imdia Bonds ' did not 
 "fall an obolus under par. I like that system better than ours. If 
 " people would be heroes, they only suffered theimselves by a mis- 
 " carriage ; they had a triumph, or a funeral oratiion, just as it hap- 
 " pened ; and private folk were entertained with tme one or the other, 
 " and nobody was a farthing the richer or poorer ; but it makes a 
 " strange confusion now that brokers are so muclh concerned in the 
 "events of war. How Scipio would have stared iif he had been told 
 "that he must not demolish Carthage, as it would ruin several alder- 
 " men who had money in the Punic ' actions.' " * 
 
 It is clear that the Greek and Roman mioney-dealers were 
 bankers, in that they took money on deposit, aind gave drafts on 
 their correspondents abroad, though in transaction's of the latter class 
 the exact modus operandi is not perfectly clear. The case of Cicero's 
 inquiry as to whether his son could buy a draft on Athens is well 
 known, no less than the allusions to similar ttransactions in the 
 comedies of the later Roman dramatists. 
 
 Britain became a Roman colony ; and in course of time the 
 Roman civilization was swept away by successive; tides of barbarian 
 invasion. The incursions of Saxons, Danes, aind Northmen left 
 England politically, no less than geographicallly, isolated. The 
 Norman Conquest broke down this barrier, and acdded Britain to the 
 comity of European nations. The Hebrew moniey-lender followed 
 close in the footsteps of the Norman invader ; aind he successfully 
 pursued his calling, in spite of royal persecution, and of adverse 
 public and ecclesiastical opinion. It is doubtful whether their ex- 
 pulsion in 1290 was complete; possibly a (certain proportion 
 remained behind, and, under the style of Lombards, continued to 
 carry on their business.^ 
 
 It has been said that the invention of bills of exchange is due 
 to the Jews, who were thus enabled, in spite <of disabilities and 
 
 * H. Walpole to Sir H. Mann, December 28th, 1761. 
 
 \ Cunningham, "Growth of English Industry, etc.," p. 267.. Cambridge, 1890. 
 
( H3 ) 
 
 banishment, to effect the transfer of their property from one country 
 to another. Their successors, the Lombards, among other things, 
 were the collectors of the papal revenues, and drew bills on Italy 
 against the consignments of wool by which payment of Peter's 
 pence was made in kind. At the same time, they were engaged 
 in the purely mercantile business of buying English wool for export 
 to Italy, and they drew bills of exchange in the ordinary way against 
 such consignments; but up to the beginning of the sixteenth 
 century, it may be said that neither credit nor capital existed. So 
 late as the reign of Edward VI., the accumulation of capital was 
 distinctly discouraged. It was then thought desirable that the 
 wealth of any individual merchant, farmer, or artificer should be 
 kept within very narrcow limits ; that no merchant should have more 
 in land than ^"ioo ; no farmer to be worth more than ^ioo or 
 /200, or should have more than one farm or two thousand sheep ; 
 and no labourer muc:h more than was necessary for his expenses. 
 At the same time, thie main bulk of transactions was in coin ; and 
 when the nobleman had occasion to follow his sovereign on military 
 service abroad, or to meet the exigencies of some sudden demand 
 in the way of taxatiom, the pressing necessity was one which had to 
 be met by a supply of" actual coin. 
 
 Lending was, therefore, on a far different footing from that 
 on which it rests at: the present day; credit as now understood 
 may be said to havei been non-existent. Borrowing was not a 
 matter of mutual convenience, but an expedient resorted to in cases 
 of emergency by thosei who were in sore need. The borrower was, 
 therefore, almost invairiably at a disadvantage; the lender was in 
 the position of one who took advantage of his distress. Hence 
 the animosity against msury and usurers, which found its expression 
 in ecclesiastical ordinaances * and severe legislation. The force of 
 popular opinion acted and reacted on these two factors, so that it is 
 
 Cf. " Christian Opinicon on Usury," by the Rev. William Cunningham D D 
 Macmillan and Co., 1884. 
 
( H4 ) 
 
 hard for us in the present day to ascribe either to the one or to the 
 other the due proportion as a co-efficient. 
 
 By the middle of the sixteenth century, the consolidation of the 
 European powers and the enlargement, for practical purposes of 
 trade, of the boundaries of the habitable globe, hacd caused a revolu- 
 tion in public opinion to which ecclesiastical and legislative sanction 
 were constrained to fall into accord. In 1545 (37tlh of Henry VIII.) 
 the rate of interest was fixed at a maximum of tten per cent. ; and 
 the endless discussions of ecclesiastical casuists ats to the legality of 
 usury were thus finally closed by legislative enactmient. 
 
 On the Continent the system of banking had its origin at a 
 much earlier date. The Bank of St. George, at Venice, was founded 
 in 1 1 57, and banks were established at Geneva in 1345, Barcelona 
 1401, Genoa 1407, and Amsterdam 1607. The Venetian Bank of 
 St. George was originally a transfer office of the debt due from the 
 State to various merchants, which it was found, desirable to con- 
 solidate, and the word "bank" is in English, as originally in Italian, 
 a metaphorical expression signifying a piled-up meap. This idea is 
 also conveyed in the equivalent word " monte," off mound (which still 
 survives in Monte di Pieta), the obvious signification being the heap 
 of accumulated deposits .which constituted the bank. The Bank of 
 England, founded five centuries later, in 1694, had a similar origin 
 in a loan of £1,200,000 subscribed by the public tto the Government. 
 The Bank of St. George, however, was from its foundation also a 
 bank of deposit ; and the Italian merchants or Lcombards carried the 
 traditions of banking from their own country to England. 
 
 No doubt that before the time when the statmte of Henry VIII. 
 legalized interest, money was lent and borrowed. Thus the sum 
 of 104 marks was borrowed of certain merchants called Caursines 
 (Cahorsines, merchants of Cahors, in Guienne) om the 24th of April, 
 to be repaid in full without interest on the 1st of August. If, how- 
 ever, the money was not forthcoming at that dlate, interest at the 
 rate of ten per cent, every two months— sixty perr cent, per annum— 
 
( us ): 
 
 besides other chairges, was to begin. This interest was nominally 
 payment for expemses incurred in sending for the money again and 
 again, and throughi this excuse various canons and enactments against 
 taking interest we^re evaded. 
 
 Matthew Paris?, who tells the story, expresses the feeling of the 
 time thus : — " The? Caursines circumvented the needy in their neces- 
 " sities, cloaking tlheir usury under the show of trade, and pretend- 
 " ing not to know that whatsoever is added to the principal is 
 " usury, under whatever name it is called. For it is manifest that 
 "their loans lie mot in the path of charity, inasmuch as they do 
 "not hold out a Ihelping hand to the poor to relieve them but to 
 " deceive them, ncot to aid others in their starvation but to gratify 
 " their own covetoiusness." * 
 
 Another interessting story is told in the " Liber Albus " of the City 
 of London. In the 49th of Edward III. (1376), when it was especially 
 enjoined on the aiuthorities of each City ward to make inquisitions 
 whether there be,, among other evil-doers, any usurers dwelling 
 among them, and when usury was clearly defined as the placing of 
 money in the hand's of another for the sake of gain, a case of usury 
 occurred which is; related with the most instructive minuteness. 
 Ralph Cornwaille groes to John de Saint Mariemount and Aldebrande 
 Gascoigne, a Lormbard, correctors (brokers legally appointed to 
 record bargains macde), praying them to render him aid, he promising 
 them a sufficient rreward for their trouble. The correctors find a 
 lender in Walter Southrous, who advances £10 in cash, taking a 
 bond for £12 from the borrower, and one of a similar amount from 
 his friend, a tanner;. When the loan matures, said Ralph goes to 
 said Walter with ,£\o and tenders repayment, but cannot obtain 
 return of his bond except on condition of paying its nominal amount, 
 and refusing to do eso is sued, as is his surety, by the creditor. He 
 accordingly appeals;, " that the horrible vice of usury by such evil 
 
 * Cunningham, "Grcowth of English Industry, etc." (1890), p. 195. Cf. Dante, 
 " Inferno," xi. 51. 
 
( n6 ) 
 
 "devices may not run its course; and the case being heard before 
 " a jury, judgment is delivered as follows : — 
 
 " That the said Walter should be committed to prison without 
 "mainprise, etc., until he should have made full restitution unto the 
 « aforesaid Ralph for such loss in this behalf, and until he should have 
 " released the said Ralph of all and every obligation touching the said 
 "contract, and until he should have paid a fine for his contempt, etc. ; 
 " that is to say, a sum equal to that which by usury he would have so 
 " falsely gained if the said bargain had remained in force." 
 
 Now, as the first proceedings are taken on January 22nd in the 
 following year, it may be assumed that he gave a bill at 3 months, 
 and interest at the rate of £2 on £10 for that time, equal to eighty 
 per cent, per annum, is no doubt excessive. But this is not the point ; 
 the debtor objects, and successfully, that any charge for interest 
 is usurious, 
 
 There is another amusing feature in the case, that the creditor 
 averred that he was acting for a third party and got a friend— one 
 Bartholomew Boscham, also a Lombard— to do the bill, a circum- 
 stance which suggests the possibility that the mysterious "party" 
 conventional in cases of bill-discounting of a certain class, may have 
 had his origin in times when the practice was illegal. 
 
 By the time of Queen Elizabeth the old order was giving place 
 to the new. There was an immense development of foreign com- 
 merce : credit and capital were recognized, and were exerting their 
 influence, while at the same time the regulations affecting the coinage 
 of the precious metals, and the restrictions imposed on traffic in them 
 and on their export and import, betrayed a very imperfect acquaint- 
 ance with the laws affecting their exchange. There is evidence of 
 this in the correspondence of Sir Thomas Gresham, who, while ably 
 manipulating the course of exchange in the interests of his country, 
 was driven to various expedients, not always of the most blameless 
 description, in the bullion operations that the success of his financial 
 measures rendered possible. 
 
( "7 ) 
 
 It was at this periiod that the craft of the goldsmith in England 
 attained an increasing importance. The nobility of Elizabethan 
 times held a large proportion of their ready money in the form of 
 jewellery and plate. Contemporary art, no less than contemporary 
 literature, testifies to ithis fact. The dresses of the courtiers of the 
 Tudor age are stiff with pearls and other jewels, while the inven- 
 tories of their household plate bear witness in the same direction. 
 Under these circumsttances the goldsmiths of the time must have 
 had at all times in their possession property of great value, for which 
 secure custody was essential, and the safes of the goldsmiths 
 gradually became the place of safe keeping for the cash of the 
 wealthy. 
 
 There was one official place of safe keeping for such deposits, 
 namely, the Royal Mint, on Tower Hill ; but in 1640 Charles I. 
 laid violent hands on ithe money thus entrusted to the safe keeping 
 of the Crown, and thirew the business still more into the hands of 
 the goldsmiths. On the other hand, those merchants who pre- 
 ferred to keep their cash in their own custody found themselves 
 exposed to the dishoinesty of their apprentices ; or, in cases where 
 the apprentices were not actually dishonest, they employed their 
 master's money to their own advantage. In an old tract entitled 
 " The Mystery of the new-fashioned Goldsmiths or Bankers dis- 
 " covered — 1676," it is alleged that " Such merchants' servants as still 
 " kept their masters' rumning cash had fallen into a way of clandes- 
 " tinely lending the same to the goldsmiths at \d. per cent, per diem 
 "(=six per cent, per annum)." Much about the same time the 
 goldsmiths began to receive the rents of gentlemen's estates remitted 
 to town, and to allow some interest on the amount if it remained a 
 single month in their lhands, or even a lesser time. 
 
 A still earlier tract, called " An Appeal to Caesar" (1660, page 22), 
 says : " The Merchants of London have transported all the Gold and 
 "most of the Silver out of England, principally by the confederation 
 "and assistance of the Goldsmiths in Lombard Street, who are just in 
 
( "8 ) 
 
 " the nature of the Bankers at Amsterdam . . . some Goldsmiths 
 " in Lombard Street keeping at this day many great Merchants' of 
 " London cashes (sic) and some noblemen's cash : by this credit of 
 " other men's monies, the Goldsmiths of Lombard Street are in the 
 " nature of Bankers, and have a great stock of treasure by them 
 " always of gold, forraigne coines, and silver." 
 
 The Bank of St. George at Venice, as already mentioned, had 
 from its foundation been a bank of deposit, and an extremely obscure 
 passage in Pepys' Diary refers both to the Bank of Amsterdam above 
 mentioned, and to the high-handed action of Charles I. : — 
 
 " Then to Sir W. Batten's, where Sir Richard Ford did, very 
 " understanding^ methought, give us an account of the originall of the 
 " Hollands Bank, and the nature of it, and how they do never give 
 " any interest at all to any person that brings in their money, though 
 "what is brought in upon the public faith interest is given by the 
 " State for. The unsafe condition of a Bank under a Monarch, and the 
 " little safety to a Monarch to have any ; or any Corporation alone (as 
 " London in answer to Amsterdam) to have so great a wealth or credit, 
 " it is, that makes it hard to have a Bank here. And as to the former, 
 " he did tell us how it sticks in the memory of most merchants how 
 "the late King (when by the war between Holland and France and 
 " Spayne all the bullion of Spayne was brought hither, one-third of 
 "it to be coyned; and indeed it was found advantageous to the 
 ".merchant to coyne most of it), was persuaded in a strait by my 
 " Lord Cottington to seize upon the money in the Tower, which, 
 " though in a few days the merchants concerned did prevail to get it 
 "released, yet the thing will never be forgot" (17th August, 1666). 
 
 Pepys, in his Diary, enlightens us as to the financial condition of 
 affairs and the transactions of the goldsmiths in one or two pages 
 that are worth quoting. He says — 
 
 " Singled out Mr. Coventry in the matted Gallery, and there I 
 " told him the complaints I meet every day about our Treasurer's or 
 " his people's paying no money, but at the goldsmiths' shops, where 
 
( "9 ) 
 
 "they are forced to pay 15 or sometimes 20 per cent, for their money, 
 "which is a most horrid shame, and that which must not be suffered. 
 " Nor is it likely that the Treasurer (at least his people) will suffer 
 " May well the goldsmith to go away with ,£10,000 per annum, as he 
 " do now get, by making people pay after this manner for their money" 
 (22nd January, 1662-3). 
 
 " Thence home, in my way had the opportunity I longed for, of 
 " seeing and saluting Mrs. Stokes, my little goldsmith's wife in Pater- 
 " noster Row, and there bespoke a silver chafing-dish for warming 
 "plates, and so home"(ioth January, 1665-6). 
 
 "I out to Lumbard Streete, and there received £"2200, and 
 "brought it home ; and, contrary to expectation, received £"35 for the 
 "use of ,£2000 of it for a quarter of a year, where it hath produced 
 " me this profit, and hath been a convenience to me as to care and 
 " security of my house, and demandable at two days' warning, as this 
 "hath been" (30th March, 1666). 
 
 " Thence to Lumbard Streete, and received ,£2000 and carried 
 "it home; whereof ^"iooo in gold. The greatest quantity not only 
 " that I ever had of gold, but that ever I saw together, and is not 
 "much above half a 100 lb. bag full, but is much weightier. This 
 " I do for security sake, and convenience of carriage ; though it 
 "costs me above £70 the change of it, at 18^ per piece" (6th 
 July, 1666). 
 
 "... I shall get in near ^'2000 into my own hands, which is in 
 " the King's, upon tallys * ; which will be a pleasure to me, and satis- 
 " faction to have a good sum in my own hands, whatever evil disturb- 
 " ances should be in the State ; though it troubles me to lose so great 
 " a profit as the King's interest of ten per cent, for that money " (nth 
 July, 1666). 
 
 " And thence to Stokes the goldsmith, and sent him to and again 
 
 * Tallies. — The lender received a lath, notched to represent the amount of his 
 advance, and this was held as a lien on the revenue of the year next ensuing. The 
 lath was split, one half being retained by the Exchequer and the other by the lender. 
 
( 120 ) 
 
 " (sic) to get me ^iooo in gold ; and so home to dinner. . . . After 
 "dinner, I abroad to Stokes, and there did receive ^"iooo worth in 
 "gold, paying i8f</. and igd. for others' exchange" (13th August, 
 1666). 
 
 " This day I received 450 pieces of gold more of Mr. Stokes, but 
 "cost me 22^d. change; but I am well contented with it, I having 
 "now nearly ,£2800 in gold, and will not rest till I get full ^"3000" 
 (12th November, 1666). 
 
 " To my goldsmith's to look after the providing of £60 for Mr. 
 " Moore, towards the answering of my Lord Sandwich's bill of 
 "exchange, he being come to be contented with my lending him 
 " £60 in part of it, which pleases me, I expecting to be forced to 
 " answer the whole bill ; and this, which I do, I hope to secure 
 " out of the plate, which was delivered into my custody of my 
 " Lord's, which I did get Mr. Stokes, the goldsmith, last night to 
 "weigh at my house, and there is enough to secure ^100" (16th 
 December, 1667). 
 
 The defective and mutilated condition of the silver coinage was 
 at this time attracting serious attention. Pepys bears witness 
 that it was already at a considerable discount, but it was not until a 
 generation later that the deterioration of the coin of the realm 
 became so lamentable as to render a heroic remedy imperative. 
 The more serious diarist Evelyn is in accord with the garrulous 
 Pepys in holding the goldsmiths responsible for the lack of currency, 
 and for the defective state of such of it as there was — 
 
 " Money still continuing exceeding scarce, so that none was paid 
 " or received, but all was on trust, the Mint not supplying for common 
 "necessities" (13th May, 1696). 
 
 " Guineas lower'd to 22 shillings, and great sums transported to 
 " Holland where it yields more, with other treasure sent to pay the 
 " armies, and nothing considerable coined of the new and now onely 
 " current stamp, cause such a scarcity that tumults are every day 
 " feared, nobody paying or receiving money ; so imprudent was the 
 
( 121 ) 
 
 "late Parliament, to condemn the old, tho' dipt, and corrupted, till 
 " they had provided supplies. Add to this the fraud of the goldsmiths, 
 " who having gotten immense riches by extortion, keepe up their 
 "treasure in expectation of enhancing its value. Duncomb, not long 
 " since a mean goldsmith, having made a purchase of the late Duke of 
 " Buckingham's estate at neere .£90,000, and reputed to have neere as 
 "much in cash. Banks and lotteries every day set up" (nth June, 
 1696). 
 
( I2 3 ) 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 GOLDSMITHS AND MODERN BANKING. 
 
 The goldsmiths of the Restoration — Nature of their business as silversmiths and 
 jewellers — Accumulation of cash in their hands — Transactions generally effected 
 in coin — Pepys and his anxieties as to his money — Goldsmiths' deposit notes — 
 Their evolution into the modern bank-note — The cheque — Cheques originally 
 in the terms of bills of exchange — Earliest specimens of the latter and former 
 — Goldsmiths had become bankers by 1694 — Foundation of the Bank of 
 England — Opposition of the goldsmiths — The South Sea Bubble, 1720 — Earliest 
 ledgers and books of the Grasshopper — First general balance, 17 31 — The 
 liabilities and assets — Composition of the reserve of cash — Current accounts 
 and interest on deposits — The cheque system — Pass-books — These probably in 
 use before the foundation of the Bank of England — The " Note-Book " — Nature 
 of goldsmiths' notes — Disappeared in 1807 — Continued in the case of Messrs. 
 Coutts & Co. till 1843 — Legislation as to bank-notes — The assets — Investments 
 • — Navy and Victualling bills — Bank Circulation — The Million Bank — Lotteries — 
 Transactions in the books of the Grasshopper — Lottery Blanks — Malt Lottery 
 Prizes — Malt Lottery Tickets — Malt Lottery Blanks — Lottery Tickets — Blanks 
 and Prizes — Reversions — Loans — Respondentia Bonds — Historical sketch of 
 Marine Insurance — References to public events from 1758 to 1826. 
 
 ' I ^HE quotations cited in the preceding chapter give some idea of 
 
 the goldsmith of the time of the Restoration and of his business. 
 He kept what is now called a silversmith's shop, though this shop was 
 probably in many cases little larger than the stall of a silversmith in 
 the Eastern bazaars of the present day. In the lease of the Grass- 
 hopper dated the 28th of September, 1678, there is a description — 
 " All that brick messuage or tenement lately new built by 
 " the said Edward Backwell, commonly called or known by the 
 
( i2 4 ) 
 
 " name or sign of the Grasshopper and Exchange ... the shop 
 " storey containing in front from east to west 20 ft. 5 in. of assize, 
 "or thereabouts, be it more or less ... the counting house con- 
 staining from north to south 8 ft. 6 in. of assize, or thereabouts, 
 " be it more or less, and from east to west 6 ft. 2 in. of assize, or 
 "thereabouts, be it more or less." 
 
 H ere he displayed his wares, and carried on his craft. Messrs. 
 Child & Co. have in their possession an inventory (of the date 1676) 
 giving sketches of articles of jewellery and precious stones with their 
 value, and a memorandum of the parties to whom they were sold, and 
 also an invoice to themselves from an engraver to whom they had 
 entrusted the emblazoning of armorial bearings on certain articles 
 of plate. The surviving records of the Grasshopper do not go back 
 so far, but there is evidence that Alderman Duncombe combined 
 the trade of a jeweller with that of banking. The London Gazette 
 of the 23rd to 27th of April, 1685, has a full descriptive account 
 of the coronation of James II., on the first- mentioned date; and 
 in another part of the same issue the following advertisement 
 appears : — 
 
 " Advt. — Lost the 23 inst. near the Busseler's * Head in King's 
 " Street Westminster, a little Drap containing one large Stone weigh- 
 ting about 16 Grains and three little faucets weighing about two 
 " grains and half each. Whoever gives notice unto Alderman Dun- 
 " combe at the Grass-hopper in Lombard Street London, shall have 
 " Ten pounds for their pains." 
 
 In addition, he bought and sold foreign coins from travelling 
 merchants and others. Further, he dealt in the coin of the realm, 
 exchanging gold coins for silver, and vice versa. Moreover, the 
 goldsmith of the day was gradually acquiring the habit of taking in 
 for safe custody the spare cash of his patrons ; this last department 
 
 * Busseler, Bussell, ox Bus shell = Bossell, dim. of Boss. The "print" or orna- 
 mental medallion fixed in the bottom of a " mazer " or drinking-bowl (New English 
 Dictionary, 1888). A simpler derivation is suggested in Wedgwood's " Etymology of 
 the English Language," Basse, a cask. Sorte de grand tonneau, Littre's Dictionary. 
 
( »5 ) 
 
 of his business gradually superseded the operations of the goldsmith 
 properly so called. This end was not achieved without considerable 
 opposition. Readers of Macaulay are familiar with his account of 
 the development of the goldsmith.* 5 " So late as the time of the Revo- 
 lution it was a complaint that the usurious goldsmiths were obtaining 
 control of the whole wealth of the City, and were employing for 
 their own speculations the hard-earned gains of the mercantile 
 community.f As Macaulay epigrammatically puts it, the represen- 
 tation was that if the dice turned up well the knave who kept the 
 cash became an alderman, if they turned up ill the dupe who 
 furnished the cash became a bankrupt. 
 
 But these allegations did not avail to counterbalance the obvious 
 conveniences that attended the practice of keeping a banking 
 account. Pepys experienced the disadvantages of the old plan. 
 All readers of his Diary will remember the anxieties which he under- 
 went, not only in the acquisition, but in the custody of his money. 
 The year 1677 brought with it calamities that were more formidable 
 than either the Plague or the Fire. The Dutch would probably 
 never have sailed up the Thames if money had been forthcoming 
 to pay our sailors. Their invasion aggravated financial difficulties. 
 No more promises to pay would attract men to a service in which 
 they had been dishonestly dealt with on previous occasions ; and 
 Pepys was put to great straits to raise a little ready money for the 
 public service, and to take care of his own. He says — 
 
 "W. Hewer J hath been at the banker's, and hath got ^"500 out 
 " of Backewell's hands of his own money ; but they are so called upon 
 " that they will be all broke, hundreds coming to them for money." 
 
 * The story of this development, and one side of contemporary opinion in the 
 matter, is set forth in " The Mystery of the New-Fashioned Goldsmiths or Bankers," 
 etc., 1676. The scarcity of this most interesting Tract amply justifies its reproduction 
 in extenso (Appendix E). 
 
 \ Macaulay, " History of England," ch. xx. 
 
 I In 1 73 1 there was an unclaimed balance of seven shillings standing in the books 
 of the Grasshopper to the credit of Hewer Edgley Hewer (p. 50). 
 
( "6 ) 
 
 The bankers, however, seem to have emerged from the crisis 
 with honour, as Pepys himself allows — 
 
 " Did mightily wonder at the growth of the credit of bankers 
 " (since it is so ordinary a thing for citizens to break out of knavery). 
 " Upon this we had much discourse, and I observed therein, to the 
 "honour of this City, that I have not heard of one citizen of London 
 " broke in all this war, this plague, or this fire, and this coming up of 
 "the enemy among us" (27th September, 1667). 
 
 To have obtained the money from the banker was but the 
 beginning of troubles. On more than one occasion Pepys suffered 
 no less anxiety of mind from the actual custody of his gold than he 
 could have experienced from fears as to the solvency of his gold- 
 smith. He records more than once his tremors and anxieties when 
 he had an unusual amount of coin on his premises. On one occasion, 
 in particular, having withdrawn a considerable sum from his bankers 
 he was constrained to send it for safety by his wife to Brampton. 
 The fortunes of this treasure are amusingly told. We learn. how 
 Mrs. Pepys took the money down ; how Pepys became "mad" at 
 learning that she and his father-in-law had buried the treasure in the 
 garden one Sunday morning in broad daylight, under the possible 
 observation of a hundred pair of eyes, in reliance on the hope that 
 all the neighbours were at church ; how he himself subsequently had 
 to travel to Brampton to bring his store back ; what anxieties he 
 underwent lest the precise spot should have been forgotten ; how he 
 fared forth with his father-in-law, and, having discovered the spot, 
 dug up the treasure by the light of a dark lantern ; how in excavating 
 the treasure he broke into it, and lost nearly a hundred pieces in the 
 dirt; how he sallied out again at midnight and recovered part of 
 what was lost ; and how, on the following day, with the aid of W. 
 Hewer, a pail, and a sieve, he washed out the earth, "just as they 
 " do for dyamonds in other parts of the world ; " and how in the end 
 he was fain to leave off with the loss of about twenty or thirty of 
 what he thought the true number should be, saying, " I am pretty 
 
( i27 ) 
 
 " well satisfied that my loss is not great, and do bless God that it 
 " is so well." 
 
 The advantages of being able to settle a transaction without the 
 use of actual coin were many and obvious. In this way the modern 
 system of banking had its origin, but the precise order of its evolution 
 is not absolutely clear. The cheque and the bank-note both took 
 their rise in the system of cash deposits with the goldsmith, and the 
 bank-note in its original form is probably the older of the two. 
 The customer on depositing his cash naturally required a receipt. If 
 part only of the deposit was subsequently required, the receipt was 
 presented at the same time, the amount repaid by the goldsmith was 
 deducted from the face value, and the receipt continued to hold good 
 for the reduced amount. By an improvement on the original system 
 the receipt for the gross deposit might be subdivided ; it was only 
 one step further on the part of the goldsmith to give, instead of a 
 single promise to pay the entire sum, a series of promises to pay a 
 number of smaller sums making up the total of his customer's deposit. 
 
 The last step in the evolution of the bank-note was the discovery 
 by the goldsmith that, as his promises to pay on demand passed from 
 hand to hand as the equivalent of coin supposed to be behind them, 
 so he might, on the faith of his own credit, issue promises to pay on 
 demand that had no foundation of the precious metals as their basis. 
 Nevertheless the traditions of the goldsmith's deposit-note survived 
 in the more modern bank-note until a comparatively recent period ; 
 and it was not until well into the present century (1855) that the 
 Bank of England discontinued the practice of making out its bank- 
 notes to " So-and-so, or bearer." But for some time prior to the 
 discontinuance of this practice, the Bank of England made out its 
 notes to its chief cashier " or bearer," the notes of various denomina- 
 tions being signed by different deputy-cashiers. This practice seems 
 to be very much in the nature of a survival from old times, when the 
 goldsmith's note was made out to the depositing customer. 
 
 The early goldsmith's deposit note passed on the credit of the 
 
( "8 ) 
 
 goldsmith only, but neither in its entirety, nor when subdivided into 
 smaller amounts, could it always exactly meet the requirements of 
 the holder. This difficulty was, no doubt, aggravated by the pre- 
 vailing scarcity of coin to which reference has already been made, 
 and it must soon have become obvious that it was more simple to pay 
 an obligation by a letter of demand on the goldsmith, drawn by the 
 depositor, than by the undertaking to pay of the goldsmith himself. 
 On the other hand, it was practically a matter of indifference to the 
 goldsmith whether he discharged a debt, for payment of which he 
 was bound to hold himself constantly prepared, on presentation of 
 his own promissory note, or on the demand of his customer. The 
 consequence was the invention of the cheque system, which grew 
 up side by side with, but ultimately outstripped, the deposit or 
 bank-note system, on which it was originally founded. The 
 earliest drawers of cheques found a model ready to their hand 
 in the bill, or, more correctly, letter of exchange, whereof two 
 early specimens may here be given. The first is said by Macleod 
 ("Theory and Practice of Banking," vol. i. p. 197) to be the 
 earliest extant. 
 
 "Al nome di Dio. Amen. A primo di Februario, mccclxxxi, 
 " pagate per questa prima lettera ad usanza, da voi medesimo libre 43 
 "de' grossi, sono per cambio de' ducati 440, che questi chi hone 
 " ncevuto da Sejo el Compagni altramente le pagate." 
 
 Another is quoted by Capmany : — 
 
 " Al nome di Dio, Amen. A di Aprile xxvni., 1404. Pagate 
 " per questa prima di camb. a usanza a Pietro Gilberte e Pietro 
 "Olivo, scuti mille sold. x. Barcelonesi per scuto : e quali scuti 
 "mille sono per cambio che con Giovanni Colombo a Gressi xxn 
 " de £ resso P er scut °> et. Pon. a nostro conto ; et Christo vi guardi. 
 
 " Antonio quart. Sab. di Brugis." 
 
 With these may be compared some early cheques, in the pos- 
 session of Messrs. Child & Co., of the Marygold. 
 
( I2 9 ) 
 
 "Bolton, 4th March, 1684. 
 "At sight hereof pray pay unto Charles Duncombe, Esq., or 
 " order, the sunn of four hundred pounds, and place it to the accompt of 
 
 " Your assured friend, 
 
 " Winchester. 
 
 " To Captain Francis Child, near Temple Barre." 
 
 In this case the payee was a brother goldsmith, Mr. Duncombe, 
 of the Grasshopper. 
 
 "To Mr. Child! and Mr. Rogers. July 20th, 1698. 
 
 " Pray pay to the honorable Dudley North or bearer, the sum 
 " of one thousa nd pounds, and be pleased to place it to the account of 
 
 "Your friend and servant, 
 
 " Yarmouth." 
 
 In the hurry of mo>dern business, the courteous terms of these 
 letters of requ est have dropped out of use, no less than the pious 
 aspiration with which the drawer of the early bill of exchange 
 rounded off his request. 
 
 While the told order was thus giving place to the new, and the 
 craft of the goldsmith was undergoing a change from that of a 
 silversmith, or money-changer, to that of the modern banker, the 
 seventeenth ce:ntury was drawing to a close. The business of the 
 " mean goldsmiith " Duncombe had passed to Richard Smith, when 
 an event happened that convulsed the political world no less than 
 the fraternity of goldsmiths. This was the establishment of the 
 Bank of England in 1694. The story of its foundation, and of its 
 struggle with the rival and Tory scheme of the Land Bank, is 
 graphically told in Macaulay's " History" (chapter xx.). At West- 
 minster the two schemes were made a party question between Whig 
 and Tory, but in the City party differences were sunk, and, in the 
 words of Macaulay, " all the goldsmiths and pawnbrokers set up a 
 " howl of rage. " The Tories pointed out that though republics like 
 
 K 
 
( 130 ) 
 
 Genoa, Amsterdam, and Hamburg might maiinitain banks, no one 
 had ever heard of a Bank of France or a Biaink off Spain. The 
 Whigs denounced a State bank as an instrmiment by which the 
 control of the public purse would be transferred fronn the House of 
 Commons to the governor and directors of the mew company. This 
 danger was provided against ; but when the Biill reached the House 
 of Lords, an appeal was made to the personal im.tereslts of that body. 
 It was suggested that the money which migmit have been lent at 
 moderate rates to landed proprietors would be diverted to the Bank, 
 and that the necessitous land-owners would be; .delivered over more 
 than ever to the rapacity of the usurer. 
 
 Unfortunately, the annals of the Grasshopper afford no evidence 
 of the attitude which it assumed towards thiss new rival, or of the 
 effect which the foundation of the Bank of" England had on its 
 fortunes. Nor is there any record of how the Grasshopper fared in 
 the momentous year 1720, when the South Sea Buibble convulsed 
 every stage of society, and the speculation whiitch attended it raged 
 in Change Alley at the very doors of the Grasshopper. The ruin 
 which the collapse of the South Sea Bubble emitailed has been often 
 described, and is referred to by Gay in his lettter to Snow the gold- 
 smith, as follows : — 
 
 " When credit sank and commerce gasping lay, 
 Thou stoodst, nor sent one Bill unpaid aaway ; 
 When not a guinea chinked on Martin's s boards, , 
 And Atwell's self was drained of all his Ihoards." 
 
 Whether the house was really reduced to thiis desperate condition 
 or no, the above lines allow the inference that g-uinea.s were in those 
 days to be looked for at the Grasshopper as Long as they were to 
 be found anywhere. A number of the early books of the Grass- 
 hopper are said to have been stored in one of the vaults of the 
 Royal Exchange, and they perished when the bbuiilding was destroyed 
 by fire on the 10th of January, 1838. Conisequenitly the earliest 
 ledgers go back no farther than 1770 ; but the annual balance-sheets 
 
( i3i ) 
 
 are continuouss fromi 1731. At this date the business was that of 
 banking pure and siimple, and the earliest surviving balance-sheet 
 has, at any ratce, the 3 merit of simplicity. 
 
 Drs. to Severall. Crs. by 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 In the Ledger .. . ... 139,995 3 
 
 In the Note-Book ... 19,476 16 9 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 Discount Book ... 83,177 4 n 
 
 Ledger out of cash ... 1,724 7 3 
 
 Bailee, in cash ... ... 74,570 7 9 
 
 1 59>47i 19 11 
 
 Xmas 1731. 
 
 I 59,47i 19 11 
 
 "The befoDre-writtten accounts in Fol. 1, 2, 3, & 4, containe the 
 " perticulers off Debtes owing by Mr. James Martin & Company on 
 "the 24th of Decemiber last, when Mr. Robert Surman came in a 
 "partner. Amd in Wo\io 5 & 6 is an account and Valuation of the 
 "effects to ansiwer thae same in our hands. 
 
 "James Martin. 
 " R. Surman. 
 
 "Witness. "Jo. Leaver. 
 
 "Jnoo. Margin. " Richd. Stone." 
 
 This earliest recorded balance-sheet embraces no liability in 
 respect of capital. 'The deficiency is made good two years later 
 (1733), when tlhe capital is entered at an amount which, both rela- 
 tively and in view of the value of money at the time, was consider- 
 able. Until miodern years this item ranged between narrow limits, 
 and its distribiution v/aried also from time to time. In 1731 it was 
 apportioned im one-ftmndred parts, and subsequently into either 
 twelfths or twfenty-fo^urth parts ; but since the early years of the 
 present centurry it hias been recognized as divisible into twenty 
 shares. 
 
 The above liabilitties are made up of balances due to depositors 
 on current acccount, amd of sums due in respect of deposits against 
 which goldsmitths' nottes had been issued. On the other side, the 
 
( !32 ) 
 
 assets are composed of sums receivable in the " Discount Book," 
 which included also advances by way of loans, and investments ; of 
 sundry over-drawn accounts, trifling in amount ; and of the balance 
 of " cash." 
 
 The " Making-up Book," which still survives, shows in some 
 measure how this proportionately large amount of " cash " was made 
 up. 
 
 Deer. 24th, 1731. 
 
 £ 
 8,000 
 
 2,300 
 
 2,000 
 
 216 
 35 
 
 723 
 
 s. 
 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 
 9 
 4 
 
 Vault. 
 
 (John Leaver ?) 
 ? 
 
 13,274 13 n 
 45,256 9 0 
 16,039 4 10 
 
 74,57o 7 9 
 
 From other entries (the " Making-up Books " are continuous from 
 1722) it is clear that the initials denote the cashier or partner who 
 was responsible for the till-money. The two last entries probably 
 are the amount of what would still be called cash-notes, i.e. the 
 cheques drawn on or the promises to pay of other bankers, in- 
 cluding the Bank of England. 
 
 It has been shown by the evidence of Pepys, as well as from 
 other sources, that the practice of the goldsmiths was to allow 
 interest at the rate of six or eight per cent, on money deposited with 
 them. The Bank of England in its early days adopted the same 
 method. It is not clear when this practice fell into disuse, but a 
 distinction appears to have been drawn between the sealed bills of 
 the Bank which were issued against deposits, and its unsealed notes ; 
 the former of these bore interest, while the latter did not. Though 
 the analogy is not quite complete, it may be worth while to recall the 
 fact that, in the crisis of the American Civil War of 1 861-1865, the 
 
( T 33 ) 
 
 Government of the Umited States issued interest-bearing notes,* as 
 well as its ordinary ntotes which bore no interest. It would seem 
 that, in proportion as tthe cheque system began to prevail over the 
 earlier system of goldsmiths' notes, the balance left by the customer 
 in the hands of his banker insensibly accommodated itself to the 
 amount of services rendered. The convenience to the customer of 
 adjusting his payments by a cheque on his banker, and the advantage 
 to him of having his acccounts to some extent kept for him, obviously 
 made good to him amy disadvantage which he might suffer by 
 keeping a balance with his banker. In course of time the practice 
 of allowing interest on deposits was discontinued. It was revived 
 in modern days by thte joint stock banks, and, by force of com- 
 petition, has been re-imtroduced into the practice of the majority 
 of private banks, both iin the provinces and in London. 
 
 In proportion as the cheque system came into vogue, it became 
 more and more necessary to the customer that he should have an 
 opportunity of knowings how he stood with his banker, and, for the 
 purposes of verification, it was an obvious suggestion that he should 
 have a copy of his account. A practice existed, until recently, in a 
 good many, if not all, old-fashioned banks, agreeably with which some 
 customers were in the hiabit of making a present at Christmas to the 
 banker's clerks in the sshape of money proportioned to the volume 
 of the account. This was for a long while the case with the Grass- 
 hopper ; and the total armount of these Christmas-boxes, which passed 
 officially by the name off " Perquisites," reached an amount not many 
 years ago, when it was; thought best, for various reasons, that it 
 should be discontinued, (of from ^"iooo to ^"1200 a year. 
 
 In early days the ctustomer examined the ledger account, and 
 either initialed the totalis, or signed it " Allowed by me," from time 
 to time, in token that hei admitted it to be correct. Mr. Price finds 
 this practice in Backwell's ledgers of 1663, and it is on record in one 
 
 * Cf. " United States Notees," by John J. Knox, p. 80. Scribner and Co. : New 
 York, 1884. 
 
( 134 ) 
 
 or two stray leaves of the ledgers of the Girasshopper of the year 
 1732 that survive. It has been supposed thait the custom of giving 
 a Christmas-box to the banker's clerk had its (origin in the reasonable 
 wish of the customer to have a copy of his account, and that, as this 
 was extra work, it was paid for as such. But this does not appear to 
 be correct, since the Minute Book of the B;ank of England shows 
 that, at the very first meeting of the Directors iin 1694, it was resolved, 
 after debate, that copies of customers' accountts should be kept either 
 in books or on paper of their own. The mcodern pass-book, or its 
 equivalent, was therefore already recognizedl as a necessity. This 
 practice was either taken from or copied by the goldsmiths, for on 
 the 8th of February, 17 10, the Daily Couranit announces that a book 
 of accounts was lost of Stone & Martin. 'The earliest pass-book 
 known to Messrs. Child & Co. in connexion with their own business 
 is of the date 1709. Mr. Price records in " Y<e Marygold" that Lady 
 Carteret, writing in 171 5, asks for " a Book, ais I used to have at Mr. 
 " Mead's with an account of all you have recei' ved ; " another customer 
 writes in 171 3 in the same strain. 
 
 The liability in respect of sums "due to sundries in the Note- 
 book" is specially interesting. Some of the entries under this 
 head show that a part of the original deposit had been repaid ; in 
 other cases a series of promissory notes was issued to the customer, 
 varying in amount as might suit his convenience. The system may 
 best be illustrated by the following extract frcom the General Balance 
 of the 25th of December, 1746 : — 
 
 DUE TO SUNDRYS IN THE NOTE-BOOK .AT CHRISTMAS, 1746. 
 
 Folio To 
 
 1 Rich d Harris 
 Henry Sedgwicke 
 Abigal Wyatt 
 S r George Downing 
 John Harwood 
 
 Dat d 27 July 1737 
 16 May 1739 
 
 23 J ul y *74° 
 13 Octo. 1741 
 19 May 1744 
 
 rerm r 70 
 rerm r 425 
 remi r 300 
 
 remv 
 
 £ s- 
 19 10 
 
 47 0 
 
 50 o 
 127 10 
 66 11 
 
 d. 
 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 
 Carried forward ^310 n o 
 
( i35 ) 
 
 Folio To 
 
 1 Lord Montfort 
 Bryan Cook 
 John Harwood 
 
 William Petre 
 
 John Harwood 
 
 2 Moses Lowman 
 
 Soame Jenyns 
 
 Richard Wright 
 Richard King 
 S r Nich° Carew 
 
 3 John Spelman 
 
 i o Eliz a Scrimshire 
 
 ii David Clayton 
 
 15 David Clayton 
 Sarah Pocock 
 
 19 Sr Mathw. Decker 
 
 Thomas Badger 
 
 Richard Maitland 
 Robert Cliffe 
 
 21 July 1744 
 27 May 1745 
 
 3 Mar. 1745 
 
 22 Do 
 
 22 April 1746 
 
 29 Do 
 
 23 May 
 
 27 Do 
 18 July 
 
 30 Do 
 11 Aug 3t 
 
 27 Octo r 
 
 1 Nov r 
 
 8 Do 
 8 Nov r 
 
 15 Dec. 
 
 19 Do 
 
 23 Dec 1 
 23 Do 
 
 Brought forward 
 
 rem r 
 
 94 
 
 10 
 
 0 
 
 rem r 
 
 5° 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 rem r 
 
 165 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 
 3° 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 
 29 
 
 16 
 
 6 
 
 
 5° 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 
 25 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 rem r 187 
 rem 1 ' 400 
 100 
 
 55 
 
 rem r 10,000 
 
 £ d. 
 
 310 11 o 
 
 26 5 o 
 2900 
 
 65 o o 
 
 59 16 6 
 
 168 10 o 
 
 25 o o 
 
 75 o o 
 
 70 o 
 
 57 o 
 
 13 18 
 
 100 o 
 
 300 o 
 
 225 o o 
 
 150 o o 
 
 150 o o 
 
 395 0 0 
 
 210 o o 
 
 132 7 o 
 
 5^76 9 7 
 
 Total £ 14,815 13 3 
 
 The Bank of Englaind lost no time in adapting itself to the habits 
 of the age. The miniutes of the very first meeting of the Court of 
 
( 136 ) 
 
 Directors record that provision was made for the issue of " running 
 " cash-notes," on which were endorsed any sum or sums that might be 
 repaid on account. In the case of the Grasshopper the amount owing 
 on these notes was relatively small, and from the year 1750 to 1800 
 the total liability in this respect exceeded ,£10,000 on only thirteen 
 occasions, an exceptional maximum being on one occasion reached 
 in a total of £"31,000. The annual entry, however, "Due to 
 Sundries in the Note-Book" was kept up until 1807, when it appears 
 for the last time. The liabilities on notes then outstanding, amount- 
 ing only to a few hundred pounds, seem then to have fallen into the 
 category of unclaimed balances. The practice of issuing promissory 
 notes payable on demand was maintained in the case of Messrs. 
 Coutts & Co. to a later date. There are in the possession of that 
 firm promissory notes dated — 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 1836. 23 Dec. John Smith or bearer on demand ... ... ... 4 8 6 
 
 1838. 23 Jan. Mrs. Harding ,, ,, ... 1 1 o 
 
 27 April „ „ „ lip 
 
 1843. 24 Mar. Messrs. Thomson or order „ ... ... ...280 
 
 12 June Charles Webb ,, „ ... ... ...400 
 
 18 Aug. Messrs. Todd & Mackay or order on demand ... ...050 
 
 Up to this time there was no legal impediment to the issue of 
 bank-notes by private bankers. The issue of a promise to pay on 
 demand was the right of any one at common law, until it was curtailed 
 by the statute of Anne (7 Anne, c. 30, s. 66), by which no body 
 politic, or any corporation other than the Bank of England, exceed- 
 ing six persons in number, was permitted to issue such notes. The 
 effect of this statute was to prohibit a powerful firm or company from 
 issuing bank-notes, but it left the power, for the most part, in the 
 hands of small firms and of individuals. The right was freely exer- 
 cised by small tradesmen and others, more or less legitimately called 
 bankers, and very serious disasters occurred from time to time owing 
 to the over-issue of these bank-notes. By the Act of 7 George IV. 
 c. 46 (1826) a partial remedy of this evil was contrived, while the 
 
( 137 ) 
 
 monopoly of the B;ank of England was still protected, it being 
 enacted that partnerships of more than six persons should be allowed 
 to issue bank-notes, provided their sphere of business was outside 
 a radius of sixty-five miles from London. It may be mentioned 
 that the precise spot in London from which the measurement should 
 be taken was never specified, and disputes have been known to arise 
 as to whether a certain point was to be considered within or without 
 this magic circle. The bank-note circulation of the country was 
 finally placed on its present basis by the 7 and 8 Victoria, c. 32 (1844), 
 in the terms of what lhas ever since been known as Sir Robert Peel's 
 Bank Act, and by somewhat similar Acts of 1845 affecting Scotland 
 and Ireland. 
 
 In the early balance-sheets of the Grasshopper it has been seen 
 (p. 131) that the assets consisted of " cash," and of sums receivable 
 in the Discount Book. In this book the investments, as well as the 
 advances made by the firm, are recorded. Of the former the follow- 
 ing list from the general balance of 1749 may be taken as a fair 
 sample : — 
 
 South Sea Stock 
 
 Bank Stock 
 
 East India Stock . . . 
 Four p. Cent. Annys 1749 
 London Assurance Shares 
 Bank Circulation 
 East India Bonds ... 
 Salt Loan anno 1741 & if^. 
 Navy & Victualling Bills . * 
 Reversions ... 
 Three p. Cent. Exqr Orders 
 Peices of Eight 
 French Luidores 
 
 two oi them may require special explanation. The "Salt Loan" 
 refers to certain loans,, repayable after the lapse of a few years, which 
 
 ^10,000 sold for Febry 
 
 £",475 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 10,000 at 133 
 
 i3>3°° 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 ^3000 sold for Febry 
 
 5,73° 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 ,£1237 12s. \d. at 103 
 
 1,274 
 
 14 
 
 10 
 
 100 at 11^- 
 
 1,150 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 ^12,000 at 40/- 
 
 1,224 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 .£15,000 at 35/- 
 
 15,412 
 
 10 
 
 0 
 
 ^12,000 at par, 3 mo. int. being due 
 
 12,000 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 ^1886 IOS. IO*f. 
 
 1,837 
 
 8 
 
 10 
 
 £Z9 p. ann. at 8 yrs. 
 
 312 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 £100 at 971 
 
 972 
 
 10 
 
 0 
 
 41 18 oz. at 5/4 
 
 1,098 
 
 2 
 
 8 
 
 85 at 21/- 
 
 89 
 
 5 
 
 0 
 
 s Lane bought of Mr. John Marke for 
 
 500 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 investments speak for themselves, but one 
 
 or 
 
( 138 ) 
 
 were made on tallies on the security of the tax imposed on salt in 
 1696.* These loans, as it appears from the records of the Bank of 
 England, bore interest at 31 per cent., and the foregoing entries 
 show that they were valued at par. 
 
 The "Navy and Victualling bills" are at a slight discount— a 
 state of things which is at least an improvement on that which 
 existed in the time of Charles II. 
 
 It is curious to notice in the record of " Peices of Eight," and 
 " French Luidores," a survival of the exchange business carried on 
 by the early goldsmiths. 
 
 The item "Bank Circulation" is a little difficult to explain. It 
 is accounted for in the following way. So early as the year 
 1694 (5 Will, and Mary, c. 5) an Act was passed, entitled, "An 
 " Act to supply the Deficiency of the Money raised by a former Act, 
 " Entituled, An Act for granting to Their Majesties certain Rates 
 " and Duties of Excise upon Beer, Ale, and other Liquors, for securing 
 " certain Recompences and Advantages in the said Act mentioned, to 
 " such persons as shall voluntarily advance the Sum of Ten Hundred 
 " Thousand Pounds towards Carrying on the War against France." 
 The transaction is thus described in the " Return of Public Income 
 " and Expenditure, 1869." " The first lottery annuities were granted 
 "in 1694, under the Act 5 Will, and Mary, c. 5 : ,£1,000,000 was 
 " authorised to be raised by lottery in shares of £10 each. Annuities 
 "of 14 per cent, for 16 years from 25th March, 1694, variously 
 "proportioned, viz. £10 per cent, on every share, and a larger 
 "proportion for 2500 fortunate tickets, of which the principal prize 
 " was £1000 a year, were to be paid to the contributors, and for this 
 "purpose ,£140,000 a year for 16 years was appropriated out of the 
 "salt and other duties granted by the Act. This operation was 
 "called the Million Lottery, and the Annuities the Salt Lottery 
 "Annuities. The annuity of ^140,000 expired in 17 10." 
 
 Lawson, in his " History of Banking," p. 206, without citing his 
 * Macaulay, vol. iv. p. 692. 
 
( 139 ) 
 
 authority, says, "About the latter end of the year 1693, there 
 " appeared a scheme for a bank, commonly called ' The Million Bank.' 
 "It took its rise from a number of London bankers, who lent out 
 "money on pledges, agreeing to purchase tickets in King William's 
 " Million Lottery, and from thence they were called ' The Company 
 "'of the Million Bank.' 
 
 " The Bank was finally established, and its affairs were conducted 
 " by a Board of Directors consisting of twenty-four members, in- 
 cluding a Governor and Deputy-Governor. They subsequently 
 "purchased many reversions of the 14 per cent. Annuities, and per- 
 "mitted many proprietors of annuities to purchase their joint stock, 
 " which amounted to .£500,000. 
 
 " They were a partnership by deed enrolled in Chancery with 
 "a joint stock fund. They at first divided 5 per cent, interest, 
 " which they subsequently reduced to 4 per cent, and again raised 
 " it to 5 per cent., at which it continued till the dissolution of the 
 "bank." 
 
 This system appears to have been maintained until the middle of 
 the century. Francis, in his " History of the Bank of England," 
 describes a transaction of the same kind in 1750: "Another re- 
 duction of the interest on the national debt was effected in 
 " 1750; a meeting of the Corporation was called at Merchant Tailors' 
 " Hall, at which the proposals of the ministry were acceded to, and 
 " three instead of four per cent, agreed to be received on £"8,486,800 
 " of the Government debt. In addition, the Company consented to 
 "advance a sufficient amount to pay off the dissentients; and to 
 "raise this they established a 'Bank Circulation.' As the amount 
 " to be required was uncertain, books were opened to the public, and 
 " any individual was allowed to enter the sum he proposed to lend in 
 "case it should be called for. When the books were closed, the 
 " Bank had the power of calling for all or any part of the sum so 
 " subscribed. Two shillings per cent, was to be paid on the amount 
 "proposed, and four pounds per cent, on the sum advanced." 
 
( HO ) 
 
 The " Bank Circulation" referred to in the books of the Grass- 
 hopper can be explained by the light of these facts. The amount 
 held was valued on the basis of ten per cent, paid, plus a premium 
 varying from year to year, as will be seen by the following entries 
 in the books from 1746 to 1752 : — 
 
 Bank Circulation. 
 
 25. By Bank Circulation. ^20,000 at £2 prem. 10 %| 
 
 1746. Dec. 
 
 1747. Dec. 25. By Bank Circulation 
 
 paid in J 
 
 ^14,000, 2 per cent, on ^1400,] 
 being 10 p. ct. paid in J 
 
 1748. Dec. 25. By Bank Circulation. ^£9000 at 17/6 
 
 1749. Dec. 25. By Bank Circulation. ^12,000 at 40/- 
 
 1750. Dec. 25. By Bank Circulation. ^12,000 at 35/- 
 
 175 1. Dec. 25. By Bank Circulation. ^12,000 at 35/- 
 
 1752. Dec. 25. By Bank Circulation. ^12,000 at £1 2s. 6d. 
 
 £ 
 
 2040 o 
 1428 o 
 
 907 17 
 
 1224 o 
 
 1221 O 
 1221 O 
 1213 IO 
 
 s, d. 
 
 The item " Bank Circulation " occurs in the earliest surviving books 
 of the Grasshopper, and disappears after 1760. An extract from 
 the books of 1742 will best show the nature of the transactions 
 under this head ; it being borne in mind that a larger call than £10 
 per cent, was occasionally made. Thus an account was opened in 
 the books of the Bank of England in 1 739, entitled — 
 
 " Circulation Notes for the call of £20 per cent, and for such 
 " part of the remaining £70 as was voluntarily paid into the 35th 
 " Subscription — the subscription was for ,£1,800,000." 
 
( H' ) 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 
 . o 
 
 <-5 H 
 
 o 
 
 H 
 
 
 00 
 
 < lo 
 On 
 
 
 ice 
 
 
 
 Pr 
 
 
 
 *Q o 
 
 O 
 
 
 o 
 
 O 
 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 o 
 o^ 
 
 ON 
 
 
 1 on 
 
 1 off 
 
 paic 
 
 paic 
 
 CJ 
 
 pq 
 
 pq 
 
 On 
 
 Er a 
 
 o 
 O 
 
 ^3 
 
 o 
 
 O 
 
 o 
 
 o o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o o 
 
 o 
 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 Hi 
 
 o o 
 
 M IH 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 M 
 
 o O 
 
 W M 
 
 o 
 
 
 r-~ 
 
 M 
 On 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 On 
 
 00 
 
 IO00 
 00 LO 
 00 ON 
 
 HH 
 
 M 
 ON 
 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 
 00 
 
 to 
 
 LOCO 
 
 oo i_o 
 
 OO On 
 
 M 
 
 On 
 
 Price 
 
 CO 
 
 
 
 
 to 
 
 
 
 Co Co 
 
 CO 
 
 ^' 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 
 o o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 
 o o 
 
 o 
 
 <-) 
 
 o 
 
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 o O 
 
 o 
 
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 o 
 
 
 o 
 o 
 o^ 
 
 On 
 
 ooo'6 
 
 
 ooo'6 
 ooo'gi 
 
 o 
 o 
 o^ 
 
 on 
 
 ooo'O 
 
 
 18,000 
 9,000 
 
 o 
 o 
 o^ 
 
 On 
 
 a 10 
 
 §■8 
 
 pq 2 
 e2° 
 
 cd 
 
 t/3 G 
 
 3 PQ 
 
 CO „ 
 O 
 
 o 2 
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 <«<o 
 
 o 
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 coco 
 
 to 
 
 pq 
 o 
 
 h p 
 
 On 
 
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 U . 
 
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 cs 
 
 OS 
 
 pq 
 o 
 
 p 
 
 ON 
 
 CJ 
 CD 
 
 n 
 
( 142 ) 
 
 As regards the Million Bank, the extract from Lawson implies 
 that it was founded with a view of dealing in this Bank Circulation. 
 Little is known of its fortunes, and its business probably never 
 attained any great dimensions. Lawson includes the Million Bank 
 among the Bubbles of 1720, but the Million Bank known to the 
 Grasshopper was less ephemeral in its existence. Its stock was 
 held as an investment, from time to time, from 1733 onwards. The 
 account was closed in 1 769, when the holding of the firm was sold 
 in various parcels at the price of 131 per £100, or thereabouts. It 
 was subsequently reopened, and is finally closed in 1 796. The firm 
 then held ^5500 stock, valued at 1 15. A memorandum is appended 
 to the account in the following terms : — 
 
 "N.B. — On the 30th Nov., 1796, the Million Bank Society 
 " was dissolved, and a division of the property among the Proprietors 
 "took place, which amounted to ^52 15s. $d. 3 p. c. Consd. Bank 
 " Annys., £60 redd. Bk. Annys., & ^51 4 p. c. Bank Annys., for 
 " which credit is given in this account at the prices at which they 
 "were severally transferred." 
 
 These stocks were taken over at the following valuations, which 
 indicate that the stock of the Million Bank was practically paid off 
 at par : — 
 
 £ s. d. £ s. d. 
 
 £\oo ) (52 15 3 Cons d 3%@56i = 29 12 3 cash. 
 Million Bank V = 1 60 o o Red d „ @ 55^ = 33 1 8 „ 
 Stock J (51 o o 4% B k Ann 3 @ 7 if = 36 11 10 „ 
 
 99 5 9 n 
 
 with a consequent loss of the premium at which it had been valued 
 a year before. 
 
 The list of investments (1749) on which comment has been made 
 does not mention the lotteries which played so great a part in City 
 affairs during the eighteenth century. The lottery system and the 
 lottery mania must be studied elsewhere than in the present work, 
 in which there is not space for so much as a sketch of its origin and 
 
( H3 ) 
 
 development.* In the days of Evelyn, as has been already seen 
 (p. 121), banks and lotteries were classed together, and were in full 
 swing in 1696. The early State lotteries did not include the 
 element of chance to a much greater degree than do the Government 
 loans of foreign states issued at the present day at a discount, and 
 repayable by drawings at par. Nor were these early lottery loans 
 profitable to the Government ; it was only as experience proved that 
 the gambling element was attractive, that its seductions were brought 
 into greater and greater prominence. Round the system of lotteries 
 there grew up an organization for the subdivision of risks, and for 
 insurance against loss, that brought dealings in the lotteries almost 
 within the domain of legitimate affairs. It is at all times a very fine 
 line that separates the speculation from the sagacious investment- 
 The surviving books of the Grasshopper record transactions in 
 " Lottery Tickets," in " Malt Lottery Tickets," in " Blanks and 
 Prizes," etc., etc., from the year 1722, shortly after the collapse of the 
 South Sea Bubble. It may seem strange to find such records in the 
 books of a firm that seems to have been in every respect cautious 
 and prudent in its dealings, but it is clear from the frequency of the 
 entries that they acted rather as dealers than as speculators. The 
 accounts show that transactions were constantly taking place, and that 
 the Blanks and Prizes, or Lottery Tickets, were dealt in at prices of 
 not much, if any, wider range than those of the Funds. A copy of 
 the account of Lottery Blanks of 1722 will best show the modus 
 operandi. 
 
 * Cf. inter alia the "Journal of the Institute of Bankers," vol. vi. (1885), Part II., 
 p. 71, "Lotteries ; the part they have played in State Finance," a paper read by the 
 late Mr. Cornelius Walford, and discussion thereon. 
 
( H4 ) 
 
 Lottery Blanks of 1722 
 
 Dr. 
 
 £ 
 
 
 d. 
 
 1 1,840 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 70 
 
 J 9 
 
 9 
 
 80 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 493 
 
 1 0 
 
 6 
 
 4° 
 
 0 
 
 
 126 
 
 8 
 
 0 
 
 1,190 
 
 12 
 
 6 
 
 532 
 
 13 
 
 0 
 
 7 
 
 17 
 
 6 
 
 5°4 
 
 
 0 
 
 2,019 
 
 6 
 
 0 
 
 126 
 
 15 
 
 0 
 
 920 
 
 15 
 
 0 
 
 802 
 
 T 9 
 
 0 
 
 39 5 
 
 
 f. 
 0 
 
 2 3 
 
 18 
 
 6 
 
 119 
 
 5 
 
 0 
 
 7 
 
 r 9 
 
 0 
 
 486 
 
 9 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 J 9 
 
 0 
 
 797 
 
 10 
 
 0 
 
 144 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 200 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 43 
 
 12 
 
 3 
 
 20,984 
 
 15 
 
 0 
 
 16,208 
 
 15 
 
 0 
 
 4,776 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 104 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 4,880 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 To Ball ce fr. old 
 book p. 27 1 
 
 To Da Costa 
 To Cash 
 To Sev 1 Milford 
 J. Blake 
 To Testard 
 To Da Costa 
 To Gael Morris 
 To Stead 
 
 To Dixon 
 To Owen 
 To Sev 1 
 
 To Sev 1 
 
 To Loubier 
 To Gumley 
 To Falconbridge 
 To Milford 
 To Da Costa 
 
 To Lovell 
 To Cater 
 To Tower 
 To Colt 
 To Sev 1 
 
 To do. 
 
 DC 
 
 To P. & L. DC 
 
 DC 
 
 To Cash 
 
 Blanks 
 1,480 
 
 10 
 
 33 
 29 
 
 5 
 
 16 
 150 
 67 
 
 1 
 
 63 
 254 
 10 
 6 
 
 116 
 101 
 
 5° 
 3 
 
 1 
 61 
 1 
 
 100 
 18 
 
 25 
 
 2,624 
 2,027 
 
 597 
 
 13 
 610 
 
 at 7 17 9 
 
 @ 7 18 6 
 
 Blanks @ 7/18 
 @ 7/i8 9 
 @ 7 19 o 
 
 @ 7 17 6 
 
 @ 7 19 
 @ 7 19 
 
 @ 7 1 
 @ 7 18 9 
 @ 7 19 
 
 |i,7o6 
 
 at 7 19 
 
 970- 
 
 DC 
 DC 
 
 DC £ 
 
 £ 
 11,840 
 
 72 
 80 
 
 496 
 
 40 
 128 
 1,200 
 536 
 
 8 
 
 5°4 
 2,032 
 
 128 
 
 928 
 808 
 400 
 
 24 
 120 
 
 800 
 144 
 
 200 
 
 20,992 
 16,216 
 
 4,776 
 
 104 
 
 4,880 
 
 DC 
 DC 
 
 DC 
 
( H5 ) 
 
 P. Contra Cr. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 £ 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 Feb y 12 
 
 By Cash 
 
 469 
 
 
 3,752 
 
 
 3,752 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 13 
 
 By Cash 
 
 3 
 
 
 24 
 
 
 24 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 
 By do 
 
 62 
 
 
 496 
 
 
 496 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 14 
 
 By Danber 
 
 116 
 
 
 928 
 
 
 920 
 
 15 
 
 0 
 
 
 ~U.1T Cnc-U 
 
 Joy uasn 
 
 43 6 
 
 
 3,488 
 
 
 3,488 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 19 
 
 By do 
 
 88 
 
 
 704 
 
 
 704 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 
 By do 
 
 12 
 
 
 96 
 
 
 96 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 2 1 
 
 By do 
 
 7 2 
 
 
 57° 
 
 
 57° 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 2C 
 
 By do 
 
 76 
 
 
 l>UO 
 
 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 26 
 
 By do 
 
 ICC 
 
 
 1,240 
 
 
 1,240 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 28 
 
 By do 
 
 Co 
 
 
 400 
 
 
 400 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 
 By do 
 
 437 
 
 
 o>49° 
 
 
 3,496 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 March 9 
 
 By Cash 
 
 J I 
 
 
 88 
 
 
 00 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 IC 
 
 By Cash 
 
 34 
 ot 
 
 
 272 
 
 
 272 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 
 By do y e 14 
 
 6 
 
 
 40 
 
 
 45 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 
 DC 
 
 2,027 
 
 
 16,216 
 
 DC £ 
 
 16,208 
 
 15 
 
 0 
 
 16 
 
 By Cash 
 
 2 5 
 
 
 200 
 
 
 200 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 18 
 
 By Towers 
 
 78 
 
 
 624 
 
 
 624 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 TO 
 
 By Cash 
 
 41 
 
 
 328 
 
 
 328 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 20 
 
 By do f Sev 1 
 
 96 
 
 
 768 
 
 
 768 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 
 By Owen 
 
 62 
 
 
 496 
 
 
 496 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 21 
 
 By Mead 
 
 26 
 
 
 208 
 
 
 208 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 
 By Cash 
 
 70 
 
 
 5 6 ° 
 
 
 560 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 22 
 
 By Cash 
 
 12 
 
 
 96 
 
 
 96 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 2 3 
 
 By Cash 
 
 113 
 
 
 904 
 
 
 904 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 By do 
 
 20 
 
 
 160 
 
 
 160 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 
 By do f 22 
 
 6 
 
 
 48 
 
 
 48 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 2 S 
 
 By do 
 
 61 
 
 
 488 
 
 
 488 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 
 
 610 
 
 
 4,880 
 
 
 4,880 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
( H6 ) 
 
 Malt Lottery Prizes of 1722 
 
 Dr. 
 
 1722 
 Janry 24 
 
 Feb. 15 
 
 1723 
 Mar; 26 
 
 To Sev 1 
 
 To Sev 1 
 
 (Ann Watts 
 Seq 
 amu 
 Do. 
 
 rplja. Sequira 
 Samuda 
 
 May 2 
 
 25 
 
 June s 
 
 Aug; 14 
 24 
 
 Jan" 14 
 
 i723 
 Aug. 28 
 Sep. 30 
 
 Oct. 8 
 
 10 
 
 2 5 
 
 Nov. 12 
 24 
 
 To S. Sea Co. 
 f Da Costa 
 
 To Milford 
 
 To Aron Senier 
 f Barrett 
 
 To Ja s Camp- 
 bell 
 
 To Edw d Owen 
 
 No. 
 
 33 
 58 
 5i 
 33 
 3i 
 
 No. 
 5° 
 
 40 
 4i 
 
 15 
 22 
 
 5i 
 
 93 
 36 
 
 30 
 3i 
 
 Course 
 
 *9 
 42 
 10 
 
 3i 
 
 62 
 
 Princi- 
 pall. 
 110 
 40 
 20 
 20 
 20 
 40 
 
 Date 
 8 Oct. 1722 
 
 11 7ber 
 do. 
 
 20 July 1722 
 
 8 Oct. 1722 
 
 19 Feb. 1722 
 li Sep. 1722 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 Pr. 
 
 115 11 3 
 
 197 16 4 
 
 1927 19 7 
 
 DC £ 
 
 To Carried to Account of) 
 T; & J. M. f° 156 J 
 To Sev 1 Gideon] 6 
 Milford 99 
 
 Carried to fo. 42 
 
 To Cash 
 To do 
 
 To do f Da 
 
 Costa 4 7 
 
 To do 3 Wale 21 39 
 To do 
 To Cash 
 To Carried to acct. of T. & 
 
 No. 
 
 Course 
 
 AS£ 
 
 500 
 80 
 
 500 
 500 
 54° 
 20 
 M. fo. 
 
 2140 
 
 2241 
 
 7 
 
 2 
 
 1747 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 871 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 891 
 
 8 
 
 3 
 
 958 
 
 16 
 
 
 223 
 
 1 
 
 9> 
 
 6932 
 
 18 
 
 9 
 
 3248 
 
 8 
 
 ;l 
 
 2167 
 
 17 
 
 
 3084 
 
 18 
 
 9 
 
 203 
 
 10 
 
 8 
 
 8704 14 
 
 10 
 
 atts^f disc 1 
 at 5I 
 at 5I 
 
 156 
 
 £ 
 
 @ 
 
 @ 
 
 29! 
 
 27i 
 
 27i 
 
 27 
 
 DC 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 192 4 o 
 38 5 o 
 
 230 9 o 
 
 1548 6 s 
 
 1242 9 11 
 
 643 10 10 
 
 658 11 10 
 
 911 1 10 
 
 24j_ 
 
 264 
 
 © 
 @ 
 
 25 
 25 
 
 RS£ 
 
 DC 
 
 £ 
 
 5004 o 10 
 
 4089 5 5 
 
 100 2 7 
 
 2314 18 8 
 
 159 o 1 
 
 6663 6 9 
 
 466 5 o 
 76 o o 
 
 473 15 
 47i 5 
 508 19 
 18 17 
 25 18 
 
 2040 19 o 
 
( 147 ) 
 
 P R Contra Cr. 
 
 Mar. 1 6 
 
 By Isaac Hixon 
 
 240 0 
 
 tl. 
 O 
 
 
 
 
 230 
 
 s. 
 9 
 
 a. 
 0 
 
 July 16 
 
 By Exq r % 
 
 
 
 
 46 
 92 
 
 13 6, 
 15 0 
 
 139 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 139 
 
 8 6 
 
 0 
 
 
 By John Gold 
 
 6932 18 
 
 9 
 
 
 2 6J 
 
 5290 
 
 9 
 
 0 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 5429 
 5004 
 
 15 
 0 
 
 8 
 10 
 
 
 Car d to T. & J. 
 
 M. fo. T56 
 
 
 
 
 
 425 
 
 14 
 
 10 
 
 Aug. 24 
 Jany. 14 
 
 By Colebrook & Co. 
 By Exq r to Xmas 
 
 2167 17 
 
 5 
 
 @ 26 
 
 f ct. 
 
 1647 
 97 
 
 8 
 9 
 
 0 
 0 
 
 1723 
 Nov. 21 
 
 
 2167 17 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 1744 
 
 17 
 
 0 
 
 By Hudson 
 
 Carr d to folio 42 
 
 2120 
 20 
 
 
 @ 4i 
 
 
 
 2021 
 19 
 
 19 
 0 
 
 0 
 0 
 
 
 
 2140 
 
 
 
 
 £ 
 
 2040 
 
 19 
 
 0 
 
 In the same year appear transactions in the " Malt Lottery Prizes 
 "of 1722," "Malt Lottery Tickets of 1723 and of 1724," and " Malt 
 "Lottery Blanks of 1723." The' following extract from Grellier's 
 " History of our National Debts and Taxes" will serve to show how, 
 in the early days of the lottery system, the estimated proceeds of 
 the taxes annually imposed were anticipated by their means : — 
 
 " The usual malt tax was continued for another year, and such a 
 " precarious Situation had our public Credit been reduced to by the 
 "'South Sea' Scheme, that, in order to borrow upon this Fund, as 
 "we have for many years done on all as soon as granted, a .£10 
 " lottery was established ; and if the Tax did not amount to ^730,000 
 "for paying the Adventurers in this Lottery, which was ^35,300 
 "more than advanced by them, the same was to be made good out 
 "of the next Aids granted in Parliament after September 29th, 1722, 
 " and the tickets, both Blanks and Prizes, were to carry an Interest 
 "of ^4 per cent, from June 25th, 1722, until paid off." 
 
 For several subsequent years the malt tax seems to have been 
 similarly anticipated by means of a lottery. 
 
( '48 ) 
 
 Malt Lottery Tickets of 1723 
 
 Dr. 
 
 £ 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 2 45 
 
 2 
 
 O 
 
 680 
 
 0 
 
 O 
 
 Co 
 
 
 0 
 
 344 
 
 J 9 
 
 0 
 
 500 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 250 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 105 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 474 
 
 i5 
 
 0 
 
 200 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 8 
 
 10 
 
 0 
 
 2613 
 
 4 
 
 0 
 
 99 
 
 13 
 
 0 
 
 2712 
 
 17 
 
 0 
 
 50 Haldanel 
 18 Monson ( 
 
 To Cash 
 
 To I st paym* on 
 To J. Rudge 
 
 To Sev 1 
 
 To W f" 1 fo. 14 
 To Cash 
 To Plumer 
 To S r D. Dulvy 
 To Haldane 
 To Crittenden 
 
 DC 
 
 Carried to T. & J. M. fo. 156 
 
 47 
 
 136 
 10 
 
 68 
 
 1 00 
 
 5° 
 10 
 
 45 
 20 
 
 439 
 
 250 \ 
 94 19/ 
 
 DC £ 
 DC £ 
 
 Malt Lottery Ticketts of 1724 
 
 To Thomas Edwards 
 
 
 80 
 
 To J° Scipio Hill 
 
 
 40 
 
 To W. Plumer 
 
 
 100 
 
 To Cash 
 
 
 5 
 
 To Blackwood 
 
 
 25 
 
 To Guilford from fo. 50 
 
 
 90 
 
 To Haldane do 
 
 
 200 
 
 To Da Costa do 560 
 
 
 20 
 
 To Lord Guilford 
 
 
 
 To Burridge fo. 50 
 
 
 65 
 
 To Joseph Barrett p. fo. 50 
 
 
 10 
 
 To do 
 
 184 
 
 49 
 
 To Bagley 
 
 
 5o 
 
 
 RS 
 
 734 
 
 To T. & J. M. fo, 1 
 
 56 
 
 
 
 
 129 
 
 To Cash ? Barrett 
 
 
 5° 
 
 To Sev. 
 To Cash 
 
 179 
 
 RS 
 
 RS 
 
 52 o 
 1 7 0/ 
 
 RS 
 
 Cd. to P.&L. fo. 39 RS 
 
 Dr. 
 
 840 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 420 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 1000 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 5o 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 250 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 900 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 2000 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 200 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 30 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 650 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 97 
 
 10 
 
 0 
 
 536 
 
 16 
 
 0 
 
 500 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 7474 
 
 6 
 
 0 
 
 5o7 
 
 19 
 
 0 
 
 7982 
 
 5 
 
 0 
 
 1370 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 576 
 
 17 
 
 6 
 
 83 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 53 
 
 7 
 
 0 
 
 2083 
 
 7 
 
 0 
 
 2037 
 
 13 
 
 6 
 
 45 
 
 13 
 
 6 
 
( 149 ) 
 
 P B Contra 
 
 Cr. 1722/3 
 
 
 
 
 
 r 
 «£> 
 
 s. 
 
 11. 
 
 Feb 13 ' 7 
 
 Jt>y Jn° Lambert 
 
 20 
 
 
 106 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 Q 
 O 
 
 By Jos. Paice 
 
 J 5 
 
 
 75 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 2 I 
 
 By Towers 
 
 1 2 
 
 
 04 
 
 2 
 
 0 
 
 
 
 47 
 
 £ 
 
 245 
 
 2 
 
 0 
 
 March 13 
 
 By Cash 
 
 345 
 
 
 1817 
 
 5 
 
 0 
 
 jjy J-'dllUUr 
 
 
 I 
 
 5 
 
 0 
 
 14 
 
 By Frederick 
 
 20 
 
 
 107 
 
 15 
 
 0 
 
 16 
 
 By Bayley 
 
 10 
 
 
 50 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 22 
 
 By Clement 
 
 2 
 
 
 20 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 25 
 
 By 2 d pay 4 on 1 i do 
 
 
 
 55 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 May 8 
 
 By Gurney 
 
 1 
 
 
 10 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 By Vere 
 
 5° 
 
 @ 10. 16. 6 
 
 54° 
 
 15 
 
 0 
 
 June 8 
 
 By Mary Snead 
 
 1 
 
 10 
 
 17 
 
 0 
 
 11 
 
 By Cash 
 
 10 
 
 
 100 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 
 DC 
 
 439 
 
 
 2712 
 
 17 
 
 0 
 
 
 Carried to T. & J. M. 156 
 
 
 
 
 P B Contra. 
 
 Cr. 1724. 
 
 Ap. 9 
 May 1 
 2 
 8 
 18 
 
 June 2 
 
 3 
 22 
 
 23 
 25 
 
 25 
 3° 
 
 July 2 
 
 10 
 15 
 
 22 
 
 24 
 
 Aug. 1 
 8 
 15 
 
 Sold Da Costa 
 
 By Lord Paisley 
 
 By Henry 
 
 By Cruttenden 
 
 By W. Frederick 
 
 By Waldo 
 
 By John Marke 
 
 By M. Harris 
 
 By Warren 
 
 By 
 
 By Car d other side 
 
 By Da Costa 
 By J. Marke 
 
 B Sev ^ a C° sta 
 y ' Weeler 
 
 By Saunders 
 
 By Mitchener 
 
 By Barrett 
 
 By Dunnidge 
 
 By Butterfield f Ledger 9 
 
 By Jn° Martin 
 
 i75 
 240 
 
 255 
 RS 
 
 By Hodge 
 By Cash 
 By Cash 
 
 Cd. to P. & L. fo. 39 RS 
 
 100 
 10 
 5 
 
 10 
 5o 
 15 
 5° 
 10 
 
 5 
 
 35° 
 80 
 
 49 
 
 734 
 
 80 
 1 
 
 20 
 1 
 1 
 3 
 
 5° 
 1 
 2 
 
 10 
 1 
 1 
 
 179 
 
 11 
 10 
 
 RS 
 
 ^113 10 01 
 IE. M. 10 o oj 
 g 11 7 
 
 RS 
 
 1030 
 100 
 
 5° 
 100 
 
 55o 
 150 
 547 10 
 100 o 
 56 o 
 3928 15 
 
 1370 o 
 
 7982 5 o 
 
 900 o o 
 IOOO 
 
 235 0 
 
 10 o 
 34 8 
 572 10 
 10 o 
 20 o 
 
 123 10 
 
 11 9 o 
 90 16 o 
 20 o o 
 
 2037 13 6 
 
( 150 ) 
 
 Malt Lottery Blanks of 1723 Dr. 
 
 
 
 Blanks 
 
 
 £ 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 
 £ 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 Sep. 30 
 
 To Cash 
 
 142 
 
 
 1065 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 
 1022 
 
 8 
 
 0 
 
 Octob. 23 
 
 To do f Dell 
 
 15 
 
 
 112 
 
 10 
 
 0 
 
 
 108 
 
 15 
 
 0 
 
 25 
 
 To do 
 
 1 3 
 
 
 97 
 
 10 
 
 0 
 
 
 94 
 
 5 
 
 0 
 
 Nov. 12 
 
 To Cash 
 
 136 
 
 
 1020 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 
 978 
 
 16 
 
 6 
 
 20 
 
 To Danbur 
 
 3° 
 
 
 225 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 
 219 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 2 5 
 
 To do 
 
 6 
 
 
 45 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 
 43 
 
 16 
 
 0 
 
 Dec. 9 
 
 To Cash 
 
 5i 
 
 
 382 
 
 10 
 
 0 
 
 
 372 
 
 6 
 
 0 
 
 11 
 
 To do DC 
 
 14 
 
 
 105 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 DC 
 
 101 
 
 17 
 
 0 
 
 Jan. 3 
 
 To Isaac Hixson 
 
 24 
 
 
 180 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 
 175 
 
 4 
 
 0 
 
 9 
 
 To Jackson 
 
 30 
 
 
 22? 
 j 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 
 219 
 
 15 
 
 0 
 
 Feb. 10 
 
 To Cash 
 
 22 
 
 
 I 6 5 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 
 160 
 
 19 
 
 0 
 
 17 
 
 To Loubier & Co. 
 
 37 
 
 
 277 
 
 10 
 
 0 
 
 
 275 
 
 3 
 
 9 
 
 20 
 
 To Cash 
 
 90 
 
 
 6 75 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 
 670 
 
 10 
 
 0 
 
 21 
 
 To do 
 
 93 
 
 
 697 
 
 10 
 
 0 
 
 
 692 
 
 17 
 
 0 
 
 24 
 
 To do 
 
 9 
 
 
 67 
 
 10 
 
 0 
 
 
 67 
 
 1 
 
 0 
 
 2 5 
 
 To do 
 
 16 
 
 
 I20 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 
 119 
 
 4 
 
 0 
 
 26 
 
 To do 
 
 107 
 
 
 802 
 
 10 
 
 0 
 
 
 797 
 
 3 
 
 0 
 
 27 
 
 To do 
 
 38 
 
 
 2%K 
 D 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 
 283 
 
 2 
 
 0 
 
 
 
 ^873 
 
 
 6,547 
 
 10 
 
 0 
 
 £ 
 
 6,402 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 
 To Bal. down 
 
 870 
 
 
 6,525 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 
 6,379 
 
 12 
 
 3 
 
 Feb. 28 
 
 To Cash 
 
 2 X 
 
 
 157 
 
 10 
 
 0 
 
 
 156 
 
 9 
 
 0 
 
 Mar. 2 
 
 To do 
 
 78 
 
 
 585 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 
 58i 
 
 2 
 
 0 
 
 3 
 
 To do 47 of Hall 
 
 75 
 
 
 502 
 
 10 
 
 0 
 
 
 561 
 
 2 
 
 0 
 
 4 
 
 To do 
 
 37 
 
 
 277 
 
 10 
 
 0 
 
 
 275 
 
 !3 
 
 0 
 
 5 
 
 To do 
 
 34 
 90 
 
 
 255 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 
 253 
 
 6 
 
 0 
 
 6 
 
 To do 
 
 
 675 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 
 670 
 
 10 
 
 0 
 
 7 
 
 To do 
 
 100 
 
 
 75° 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 
 745 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 9 
 
 1 0 do 
 
 49 
 52 
 80 
 
 
 367 
 
 10 
 
 0 
 
 
 365 
 
 1 
 
 0 
 
 10 
 
 To do 
 
 
 39° 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 
 387 
 
 8 
 
 0 
 
 11 
 
 To do 
 
 
 600 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 
 596 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 12 
 
 To do 
 
 49 
 
 
 367 
 
 10 
 
 0 
 
 
 365 
 
 1 
 
 0 
 
 13 
 
 To do 
 
 5° 
 
 
 375 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 
 372 
 
 10 
 
 0 
 
 16 
 
 To do 
 
 5 
 
 600 
 
 
 37 
 
 10 
 
 0 
 
 
 37 
 
 8 
 
 0 
 
 18 
 
 To La Coure 
 
 
 4>5°° 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 
 4,473 
 
 15 
 
 0 
 
 24 
 
 To Cash 
 
 284 
 
 
 2,130 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 
 2,123 
 
 16 
 
 0 
 
 
 Cd. to fo. 156 
 
 ^2,474 
 
 £ 
 
 i8,555 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 
 18,343 
 
 13 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 211 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 £ 
 
 i8,555 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
( i5i ) 
 
 Pr. Contra 
 
 By Cash 
 
 By Ball 6 carr d down 
 
 By Cash 
 By do 
 By do 
 By do y e 21 
 By do 
 
 By do 
 
 By do 
 By do 
 
 Cd. to fo. 156 
 
 123 
 
 ,£2,474 
 
 ,£6,547 10 o 
 
 £ * * 
 
 22 10 o 
 6,525 o o 
 
 Cr. 1 
 
 723/4 
 
 £ 
 
 s. d. 
 
 22 
 
 10 0 
 
 6,379 
 
 12 3 
 
 £H° 2 
 
 2 3 
 
 5 2 
 
 10 0 
 
 6,495 
 
 0 0 
 
 3,795 
 
 0 0 
 
 i,477 
 
 10 0 
 
 2,347 
 
 10 0 
 
 1,95° 
 
 0 0 
 
 922 
 
 10 0 
 
 1,515 
 
 0 0 
 
 £ 
 
 18,555 0 0 
 
 Some forty years later, transactions are recorded which are less 
 frequent, and in the account of " Blanks and Prizes, 1762," they are 
 finally merged in an investment in the National Funds.* 
 
 * "^600,000 was raised in 1761 by a lottery of 60,000 tickets, at ^10 each, 
 " attended with like 3 per cent, annuities, commencing from January 5,1762 " (Grelher, 
 " History of the National Debt "). 
 
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 fin 
 
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 00 
 
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 hi 
 
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 ■£ oj m o o o 
 
 tn (J 
 
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 Sts2 £«i ^ 
 
 >,L« g ^ >N^^ C 
 
 pq B B ffl 
 
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 T3 
 
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 PQ 
 
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 w g g 
 
 pq pq pq 
 
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 pq 
 
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 p d there- 
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 ckets 
 
 U 
 
 
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( 154 ) 
 
 The results of the operations of twenty years are given in the 
 following summary : — 
 
 Lottery Tickets. 
 
 
 
 Loss. 
 
 Profit. 
 
 1747 Dec. 25 
 !748 „ „ 
 r 749 „ „ 
 
 1750 „ „ 
 
 1751 „ „ 
 » » a 
 
 !75 2 » w 
 r 753 „ „ 
 !754 „ „ 
 
 1755 » .,, 
 
 1756 „ „ 
 » » » 
 
 J 757 » „ 
 1758 „ „ 
 
 J 759 ,, „ 
 !76o „ „ 
 
 1761 „ „ 
 
 1762 „ „ 
 
 1763 June 22 
 „ Dec. 25 
 
 ^64 „ „ 
 1765 » „ 
 J766 „ „ 
 
 By Lottery-tickets ... 
 By Lottery-tickets ... 
 
 To loss by Dutch Lottery-tickets 
 By Lottery Tickets... 
 „ Blanks and Prizes 
 
 „ Lottery-tickets ... 
 
 To Lottery-tickets ... 
 By Lottery-tickets ... 
 To Blanks & Prizes (transferred to a/c of 
 lottery-Tickets) ... 
 Lottery-tickets ... 
 
 To Lottery Tickets . . . 
 
 By Lottery-tickets ... 
 By Lottery-tickets ... 
 To Blanks and Prizes 
 
 By Lottery-tickets ... 
 To Lottery-tickets ... 
 
 By Lottery-tickets ... 
 
 Balance (Profit, average ^244 per ann.) 
 
 £ s. d. 
 5 13 6 
 
 14 14 6 
 
 10 6 9 
 
 15 13 6 
 
 67 15 0 
 12 ro 4 
 246 14 6 
 
 £ s. d. 
 777 13 6 
 30 0 0 
 
 987 15 p 
 40 12 6 
 
 1453 2 3 
 942 9 0 
 
 197 15 0 
 5 13 2 
 
 128 9 6 
 6 94 5 7 
 
 373 7 4 
 4884 8 2 
 
 5257 15 6 
 
 5257 i5 6 
 
 In the early part of this period (1751) the private accounts of 
 Ebenezer Blackwell show that he invested on behalf of Ann Higda, 
 his maid, £2 iys. "in respect of £ Lottery-ticket between her & 
 " Peter," her fellow-servant ; and that, the venture proving disastrous, 
 he recouped her " By what she & Peter lost by the Quarter-Ticket, 
 
 Some years later comes the following : — 
 
 " 1777. To lottery-ticket given to ye clerks ... £12 " 
 
I 
 
 ( 155 ) 
 
 It was not till the year 1801 that the word lottery finally dis- 
 appeared from the books. 
 
 It has been suggested that the entry " Reversions" may refer to 
 a practice, said to have obtained among bankers, of granting annuities 
 to individuals, but the imperfect records of the Grasshopper do not 
 offer any evidence that the reversions included among the invest- 
 ments were of this nature. 
 
 In May, 1720, Messrs. Colebrooke and Co., bankers, advertised 
 in the London Gazette that they, "being in possession of considerable 
 -parcels of Reversionary Annuities on the 14 per cent, and ^3700 
 "per week, give notice that they are ready to treat with the 
 " nominees or proprietors of the orders for life, it being the mutual 
 " interest of both to have them joined together." 
 
 One other asset deserves a passing comment, namely, "the free- 
 hold house in Clement's Lane, bought of Mr. John Marke for 
 
 John Marke had (pp. 86, 87) been a partner in the firm prior to 
 1 73 1. No deeds remain to identify the house in question, but it 
 seems to have been let for /15 a year, and to have been sold in 
 
 1752 at a small profit. 
 
 The schedule of investments is followed by the list of advances 
 to customers, by way of loan or discount, on various kinds of 
 security, such as "on mortgage," "on notes," "on East India 
 "Stock," "on Exchequer orders," "on bills," "on 295 casks of 
 "sugar." Here and there are some traces of the older craft of 
 the goldsmith— " on a diamond ring," "on a pearl necklace" 
 (1746). This last entry is closely followed by the following sug- 
 gestive entry : — 
 
 " By the East India Compy.— on their note ... .£10,000" 
 
 These were the days when the East India Company was an 
 association for trading purposes, struggling almost hopelessly against 
 the ascendant star of the French and of Dupleix. Clive was already 
 
( 156 ) 
 
 in India, the ill-paid writer of a struggling body of adventurers, his 
 restless spint seeking by attempted suicide to escape from the 
 ennui of clerical routine. It was not until five years later that 
 his genius and valour turned the tide at Arcot, and it may well 
 be imagined that the credit of the Company in ,746 stood at a 
 very different level from that at which we in this day are accustomed 
 to hold it. 
 
 A few years later, a new form of investment appears to have 
 become common, namely, the custom of making advances on 
 Respondentia Bonds." This system, which the changed conditions 
 of modern commerce have caused to fall into disuse, was one under 
 which advances were made to the captain of an outward-bound ship 
 on the security of her cargo, in contradistinction to the better-known 
 form of Bottomry Bonds, where the ship herself is pledged as 
 security. Personal character and credit must have entered largely 
 into the transaction, since the lender had no lien on the homeward 
 cargo, purchased with the produce of the goods upon which the 
 money was lent. That the security in these cases was not perfect 
 may be mferred from the fact that the practice arose of lending 
 money upon theme* hazard of the voyage, the condition being that 
 the loan should be repaid with extraordinary interest in case a 
 specific voyage named should be safely performed. But as this 
 species of respondentia opened a door to gaming and usurious con- 
 tracts especially in long voyages, the legislature introduced a clause 
 by which ,t was enacted that "all sums of money lent on bottomry 
 or respondentia upon ships belonging to His Majesty's subjects 
 bound to or from the East Indies, shall be lent only on the ship' 
 or on the merchandise, or effects, on board, or to be taken on 
 board, and shall be so expressed in the condition of the bond " 
 (19 Geo. II., c. 37, s. 55).* 
 
 The working of this system may best be seen by the following 
 extracts from the old books of the Grasshopper 
 
 * Park, "On Marine Insurance," p. 871. 
 
( i57 ) 
 
 , 8 Dr. 
 Dec 26 To the remainder of a Respondentia Bond for £$00 of Captain 
 Francis Fowler late commander of the Walpole in the 
 service of the East India Comp y & Isaac Staff Godsalve 
 his Pursar, Dated the 22 nd Day of January 1756 payable 
 to Eben r Blackwell with a respondentia at 30 f cent on the 
 return of the said ship from the East Indias, which ship did 
 return & came to her moorings in the River Thames on or 
 about the 10 Day of April 1757, on which Bond there has 
 been received the full money lent & one hundred twenty 
 three pounds in part of the respondentia and interest due on 
 the said Bond which has already been carried to the Partner- 
 ship Promt & Loss of M. S. & B. & there is still 
 remaining Due & unreceived on the said Bond about the 
 sum of £^0 
 
 Cr. 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 £9° 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 1759 , , c 7 12 o 
 
 Dec r - 25 By Cash by Godsalve 
 
 Mar^i By Godsalve f Flight & C° in full 
 
 In the next instance the principle of insurance comes in :— 
 
 m8 Dr. £ S ' d - 
 
 Dec 1 26 To our share of a Respondentia Bond for ^2,000.— of 
 Captain Robert Burdett Commander of the Elizabeth 
 in the service of the East India Company & Wright 
 Burdett of Henley upon Thames his Brother Dated the 
 xt-Day of March i 75 7, payable to Eben' Blackwell & 
 Toseph Salomons with a respondentia at 32 f cent, on 
 the return of the said ship from the East Indias which 
 ship is now arrived at Corke in Ireland in her passage 
 home, we having only one half part of the said Bond it 
 stands charged with 0 0 
 
 paid for Insurance of D° from Ireland ___^_±J_ £^__±_^ 
 
 This ship came to his moorings in the River Thames 
 13 Febry. 1759- 
 
 Cr. ^ S ' d ' o 
 June 2 2 By Cash reced. in full for the Principal 
 
 1760 ^ I.'--*- 11 - 400 9 10 
 April 27 By Cash in full ... ••• ••• . — 
 
 ^1409 9 i° 
 
 35 15 0 
 £93 7 0 
 
( 158 ) 
 
 The following ventures were less fortunate :— 
 
 1758 
 Decem r 26 
 
 1762 
 Decern' 2I 
 
 Br. 
 
 To a Bond for ^385 of Captain Edwin Carter Commander 
 of the Chesterfield in the Service of the East India 
 Company & now Bound to the East Indias dated the 
 18 Day of October 1758 payable to Ebenezer Black- 
 well one month after the date of the said Bond together 
 with Interest after the rate of 5 ? cent. $ ann. 
 
 Cr. 
 
 N B.-This Bond is the Ballance of a respondentia Bond 
 for his last voyage which was taken in this manner on 
 account of his bad voyage with a Declaration that it 
 would be put in Execution as soon as he arrives. 
 
 By Carters assignees the only & final Dividend 
 
 J759 
 Dec. 25 
 
 Dr. 
 
 To a Respondentia Bond for ^500-of Cap* Rich" Doveton 
 £7 °l ^f* 0 ™^ Cast] e & Fra* Russell his Chief 
 Mates Bond dated 26 th April I75 8 pay* to Eh' Blackwell 
 with a Respondentia at 32 * cent on the return of the 
 said ship from the East Indies which ship is now arrived 
 at Ireland in her passage home 
 
 Came to his moorings 20 feb. 1760. 
 
 1760 
 Dec r 20 
 
 1761 
 April 7 
 
 1768 
 March 23 
 
 Cr. 
 
 By rec d of Cap* Doveton's Assignees a Div d of \f- $ 
 pound on ^"682 8 5 
 
 By rec d of Cap* Doveton's Assignees a Div d of i/ Q $ 
 pound on ^"682 85 
 
 By rec d of Cap' Doveton's Assignees a Div d of -/ 7 | ^ 
 pound on ^682 8 5 deducting 1/- f or the 
 Clerks Fee being final Div d 
 
 £ 
 
 d. 
 
 ^385 
 
 ^24 16 8 
 
 d. 
 
 170 12 1 
 
 59 14 2 
 
 21 19 5 
 
 ^"252 5 
 
 It may be noticed that the rate of interest in the above trans- 
 
 TTT, ' y Same " that <*> P er -»*•) which was 
 permiss,ble by Greek law in ventures of a similar class 
 
( 159 ) 
 
 One more instance may be quoted which resulted in a total loss, 
 and from which it would appear that the system of marine insurance 
 on distant voyages was not yet fully developed, although it has been 
 already shown that the ship could be insured when she returned to 
 home waters. 
 
 i 61 Dr - ^ d ' 
 
 Dec' 25 To a Respondentia Bond for ^1000 of Cap 4 - W m - Tryon 
 Coram 1 - of the Denham & Joseph Bristoll his chief mate 
 dated 30 th Nov. 1758 pay a to Ebenezer Blackwell on the 
 Return of the said ship then bound to the East Indias 
 with wfC for the Risque thereof and which ship was 
 
 ... -£1000 o o 
 burnt ... ••• ••• ••• *^ 
 
 That marine insurance, as a principle, was known in far earlier 
 days there is no doubt. All the best authorities consider that, in 
 some form or other, it was coeval with maritime commerce itself, 
 which goes back to remote antiquity. 
 
 The Phcenicians-the great trading nation of old-the Greeks 
 and other ancient peoples were all, undoubtedly, in the habit of 
 guarding themselves against some of the risks of maritime enterprise 
 by various systems of insurance, whether by means of loans or ot 
 mutual guarantees. It was known to the Romans, at least as far 
 back as the reign of the Emperor Claudius, and it was made the 
 subject of a special provision in one of the laws of Justinian, 
 dated ad. 533, which, whilst restricting the legal rate of usury 
 to six per cent., made special exemption in favour of this « perilous 
 
 "adventure." . , u 
 
 Coming down to the Middle Ages, marine insurance was dealt 
 with in the sea laws of Oleron, in 1 194 i and it seems to have been 
 in use in England upon the revival of commerce, somewhat earlier 
 than on the Continent. Antwerp, though in its meridian glory, 
 learned it from England. "And whereas," says Mdyne's "Lex 
 "Mercatoria," "the meetings of merchants in London were held in 
 « Lombard-street (so called because certain Italians of Lombardy kept 
 "there a Pawn-house or Lombard, long before the Royal Exchange 
 
( i6o ) 
 
 "was built), all the policies of insurance at Antwerp, which then 
 "were, and now (1622) yet are made, do make mention, that it shall 
 "be in all things concerning the said assurances, as was accustomed 
 "to be done in Lombard-street, in London ; which is imitated also 
 " m other places of the Low Countries."* It was carried on regularly 
 in the Italian republics, which even went so far as to regulate by law 
 the depth beyond which each vessel should not be loaded while 
 operations of this nature were then becoming not unusual in 
 England.f 
 
 . In the y ear 1601 was enacted a statute of the forty-third of Queen 
 Elizabeth, cap. xii., for awarding commissions to hear and determine 
 policies of assurance made among merchants, in the preamble to which 
 statute are the following words: "Whereas it hath been time out 
 " of mind an usage among merchants, both of this realm and of 
 "foreign nations, when they make any great adventure (specially 
 "into remote parts), to give some consideration of money to other 
 "persons, which commonly are in no small number, to have firm 
 "assurance made of their goods, merchandizes, ships, and things 
 "adventured, or some part thereof, at such rates, and in such sort, 
 "as the parties assurers and the parties assured, can agree; which 
 "course of dealing is commonly termed a Policy of Assurance ■ by 
 " means of which, it cometh to pass, upon the loss or perishing of any 
 "ship, there followeth not the undoing of any man, but the loss 
 "lighteth rather easily upon many, than heavily upon few; and 
 " rather upon them that adventure not, than upon those that adven- 
 ture ; whereby all merchants, specially of the younger sort, are 
 "allured to venture more willingly and more freely. And whereas 
 « heretofore, such assurers have used to stand so justly and precisely 
 " upon their credits, as few or no controversies have risen there- 
 " upon ; and if any have grown, the same have from time to time 
 
 * Anderson's " History of Commerce," vol. ii. p 203 
 andU AnMlS ° f L1 ° yd ' S RegiSter '" PUbUshed f ° r thG Chairman and Committee, pp. l 
 
( '6' ) 
 
 "been ended and ordered by certain grave and discreet merchants, 
 " appointed by the Lord Mayor of London. Until of late years, 
 " that divers persons have withdrawn themselves from that arbitrary 
 " course ; and have sought to draw the parties assured to seek their 
 " monies of every several assurer, by suits commenced in her 
 " Majesty's courts, to their great charges and delays." For remedy 
 whereof, it was now enacted, " that the Lord Chancellor, or Keeper, 
 " do award one general or standing yearly commission, for the 
 " determining of causes on policies of assurance, such as now are, or 
 " hereafter shall be entered within the office of assurances within the 
 " city of London." 
 
 In America, as in Europe, the perils of the sea were the first in 
 point of time to call attention to insurance. Before the Pilgrim 
 Fathers had landed at Plymouth Rock (1620) or Captain Smith had 
 established himself in Virginia, the practice of marine insurance was 
 common among the merchants of England. Corporations for the 
 purpose were unknown until a hundred years later, but the business 
 was done by the merchants themselves subscribing or underwriting 
 the amount which they were willing to insure on each other's 
 ventures.* 
 
 It is a tradition that Sir Thomas Gresham was on one occasion 
 much embarrassed by the non-arrival of his ships. The same thing 
 happened to Antonio in " The Merchant of Venice." Insurance 
 seems to have been unknown to either of them as a matter of usual 
 practice. They ran their hazard for large profits or total loss. It 
 may be remarked that when Antonio invited Shylock to lend his 
 money 
 
 " . . . rather to thine enemy ; 
 Who, if he break, thou may'st with better face 
 Exact the penalty ; " 
 
 and when Shylock, taking him at his word, proposed his well-known 
 forfeit, the latter was but taking the power conferred by old 
 
 * " Encyclopaedia Americana," p. 446. 
 
 M 
 
( '62 ) 
 
 Roman law, under which creditors were empowered, in default of 
 other satisfaction, to cut up the body of the bankrupt. 
 
 Before leaving the subject of Respondentia Bonds it may be noticed 
 that one of the last entries dealing with securities of this class is : 
 
 £ * d. 
 
 "1771. By Interest on Capt. Cook's Respondentia 
 
 Bond for ^"750 to this day ... ... 73 13 5 " 
 
 This was the year when the well-known Captain Cook returned 
 from a three years' voyage, during which he had discovered New 
 Zealand, New Holland, and New Guinea, and it is, therefore, quite 
 possible that the entry is the record of an advance made to the great 
 navigator. 
 
 The following entries give a running commentary on some of 
 the most stirring events of the time : — 
 
 i75 6 
 
 
 £ 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 Dec. 6. 
 
 To Trustees of Hessian Forces now encamped 
 
 20 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 1758 
 
 
 
 
 
 Dec. 25. 
 
 By Subscriptions 1758 (Profit) 
 
 1892 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 
 1759 
 
 
 
 
 
 Dec. 25. 
 
 To D° 1759 (Loss) 
 
 5342 
 
 4 
 
 0 
 
 1760 ? 
 
 
 
 
 
 Dec. 25. 
 
 „ D° for supplies 1760 (Loss) 
 
 828 
 
 
 0 
 
 1761 
 
 
 
 
 
 Dec. 25. 
 
 By D° Annuities 1761 (Profit) 
 
 4349 
 
 2 
 
 0 
 
 1762 
 
 
 
 
 
 Dec. 25. 
 
 „ Four per cent, subscription annuity, 1762 (Profit) 
 
 4988 
 
 14 
 
 0 
 
 1769 
 
 
 
 
 
 Nov. 21. 
 
 ,, Sufferers by fire at Antigua 
 
 3 1 
 
 10 
 
 0 
 
 1775 
 
 „ Subscription to Forces in America {action at Lexington, 
 
 
 
 
 
 19 Apl.) 
 
 21 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 1777 
 
 „ Sufferers by fire at St. Kitts 
 
 3i 
 
 10 
 
 0 
 
 1782 * 
 Sept. 7. 
 
 ,, Subscription for relief of widows, &c, of sailors lost on 
 
 
 
 
 
 board the Royal George (29 Aug.) 
 
 3i 
 
 10 
 
 0 
 
 1793 
 
 ,, Gift to La Marquise de Brentonniere {Reign of Terror) ... 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 0 
 
 
 „ Parish subscription for relief of French clergy 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 0 
 
 * It will be observed that there is no reference either to the events of 1745, or to 
 the Gordon riots of 1780. 
 
( i63 ) 
 
 1794 
 
 June ig. 
 July 2. 
 
 1795 
 July 28. 
 
 1797 
 June 10. 
 
 Aug. 16. 
 Oct. 18. 
 
 1798 
 Mar. 9. 
 
 By Wounded seamen, &c., in the late action under the 
 
 command of Earl Howe {the Glorious 1st of /tine) ... 10 10 o 
 
 Subscription for manning the Navy ... ... 50 o o 
 
 „ D° Light Horse Volunteers ... ... 100 o o 
 
 „ D° on account of dearness of provisions 
 
 {Wheat = ^4 is. $d. per qr.) ... ... 10 10 o 
 
 „ D° for counteracting the mutiny in a part of the 
 
 Fleet {the Mutiny at the JVore, 27 May — 13 June) 10 10 o 
 „ Sermon on the late mutiny ... ... ... 110 
 
 „ Subscription for widows & children & wounded in an 
 engagement between Admiral Duncan and the Dutch 
 Fleet {nth Oct. 1797, Battle of Camperdown) ... 10 10 o 
 
 The Bank, a voluntary subscription to Government {Battle 
 of the Nile, 1 Aug. 1798) 
 
 1808 
 Dec. 19. 
 1815 
 
 July -3- 
 1826 
 May 4 
 
 500 
 105 
 
 i°5 
 
 „ Subscription to Spanish patriots 
 ,, Waterloo subscription {Battle of Waterloo, 18 June) 
 , Distressed manufacturers ... 
 
 Still, in the turbulent days of the eighteenth century, in times of 
 foreign levy and fierce civil strife, one or two entries show that 
 cakes and ale were not altogether unknown. Could John Wesley 
 have been aware that his disciple Ebenezer Blackwell was a party to 
 such expenditure as this ? — ■ 
 
 " 1758. Mar. 10. To Captain Cowie, a ball on Royal 
 
 George privateer ... ... ... £2$ o o." 
 
 Half a century later comes the following — 
 
 " 1803. Feb. 23. To Birch and Co. for dressing a 
 turtle 
 
 6." 
 
( i65 ) 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE GRASSHOPPER AND MODERN BANKING. 
 
 Clerical staff at the Grasshopper, 1752— Rate of salaries— Expenses and ledgers — 
 Old terms still in use — Machine-ruling — Crossed cheques — Printed cheques— 
 The Clearing House — Its origin — Originally conducted out-of-doors — First 
 clearing room, 1773— Removed to present Clearing House, 18 10 — Clearing 
 bankers in 1774, 1810, 1841; proprietors in 1852 and 1891 — Joint-stock banks 
 in the clearing, 1854 — Settlement by bank-notes discontinued, 1854 — Its effect 
 on the Bank of England circulation — The Bank of England in the Clearing 
 House, 1864— The country clearing, 1858— Growth of the Clearing House 
 operations — Large cheques — Country branches opened by the Grasshopper. 
 
 T N the earlier part of the period that has been under consideration, 
 the business of the Grasshopper was on what in the present 
 days would, after making allowance for the altered value of money, 
 be considered a most modest scale. It had probably outgrown the 
 counting-house 8 ft. 6 in. by 6 ft. 2 in. of its earlier days (p. 124), for 
 it required the services of the following staff, as appears by the books 
 of 1752, in which their names and salaries are set forth : — 
 
 £ s. d. £ s. d. 
 
 To servants wages ; viz. Thos. Hallifax 
 
 70 o o 
 
 45 0 0 
 
 30 o o 
 
 25 o o 
 
 Wm. Hurford . . . 
 Abm. Edlin ... 
 R. Stevenson ... 
 L. Thomas 
 Harbour (ye watch) 
 Dawling (ye porter) 
 
 25 
 6 
 
 2 ] 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 222 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 To servants board ... 
 „ Coals and candles 
 
 100 o o 
 17 o o 
 
 117 o o 
 
( i66 ) 
 
 Edlin was a clerk until at least 1755 ; later on he acted as broker 
 to the firm. 
 
 " 1763. July 26. By Comm. to be reallowed A. Edlin £0 7 6." 
 
 It is usual to speak of the broker's commission on purchases and 
 sales, which by custom is divided with the banker ; the above and 
 similar entries point to the more orthodox view that it is the banker 
 who makes the charge, and re-allows half to the broker. 
 
 In this same year, 1752, the stationer's bill amounted to ^49 Js. 
 The current accounts were kept in a single ledger, and this continued 
 to be the case until 1776. It must be said that the earliest surviving 
 ledger, that of 1770, is an exceedingly bulky and unwieldy tome; 
 but towards the end of the century the number of ledgers as 
 well as of the staff began to mount up rapidly. The case was the 
 same with other items of expenditure ; the rent originally paid to 
 James Martin was ^"160, and it appears to have remained at that 
 figure until the premises were rebuilt in 1 794, when it was raised to 
 
 From this period the business continued to develop, yet, in 
 spite of modern growth, many survivals of old times remained, and 
 some remain to this day. Thus the distinction between wages and 
 board-wages was kept up until quite recently, though it had lost all 
 real significance ; and, oddly enough, the rise in the salary was given 
 on the former and the latter in alternate years. The term " shop " 
 has fallen out of use, but the " Goldsmith's Book " still serves to 
 take down the cheques on other bankers that are paid in by 
 customers. The following entries also mark the transition from the 
 old order to the new : — 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 " 1 8 19. Payment for gas, one quarter ... ... 11 15 o 
 
 "1820. Cost of 600 pens ... ... ... 1 10 o 
 
 " 1821. To patent pens ... ... ... 1:0 o" 
 
 Till 1853 the letters were copied by hand ; in that year the 
 copying-press was first used, and in 1890 the type- writer came, 
 
( 167 ) 
 
 somewhat tardily, to the relief of the pen. One more survival may 
 here be recorded, namely, the rule, observed to the present day, that 
 requires one partner to be in attendance daily at 9 a.m., to " unlock." 
 Even this may be a concession to modern habits, for the Directors 
 of the Bank of England used originally to meet at 7 a.m. 
 
 It may here be mentioned that from a very early date the vertical 
 red lines for the date, and for cash entries — these last in a single 
 column only— seem to have been ruled professionally by the stationer, 
 but still evidently by hand. In 1823 the Letter Book, and in 1827 
 the Profit and Loss Book, are for the first time machine-ruled with 
 horizontal blue lines. 
 
 Mr. Price says that the practice of crossing cheques began to 
 come into use towards the end of the last century ; the earliest 
 cheque on the Grasshopper so dealt with is one drawn in 1806. It is 
 crossed " Bowles & Co." (Bowles, Brickwood, Ogden, & Wyndham, 
 11, Lombard Street, 1802-1808). The earliest surviving cheque on 
 the Grasshopper crossed by means of a stamp is one dated 1822 ; 
 the stamp is that of Messrs. Drummonds, who presented it for pay- 
 ment. 
 
 The early cheques were of course written by hand ; but Mr. 
 Price says that his firm, who had been in the habit of printing their 
 promissory-notes as far back as 1 729, adopted the same plan as regards 
 their cheques at least as early as 1762. A sheet of four unused 
 cheques on Messrs. " Martin, Stone, Blackwell & Co." points to a 
 date between 1749 and 1759. 
 
 The development of banking business in the last half of the 
 eighteenth century led to the introduction of a system which was 
 destined to exercise an enormous influence on the business trans- 
 actions of the country. This was the invention of the practice of 
 clearing. It is said that the system of clearing is of foreign origin, 
 and that it was known to the Lombards in Italy, but it may 
 have arisen independently in England. Where any number of 
 persons more than two are indebted to each other in various amounts, 
 
( i68 ) 
 
 it is evident that the account can be adjusted by a settlement of 
 differences. If A owes B ,£200, while B owes C £100 and C owes 
 A ^"ioo, the account can be settled by the transfer of /ioo from 
 A to B. The whole mystery of the clearing is nothing more than 
 an enlargement of this plan. If an old Guide to London is to 
 be believed, the clearing operations of the London bankers were 
 originally conducted in a primitive fashion : — 
 
 " The practice of clearing is said to be above a century old, the 
 " banks employing clerks called clearers, who used to settle their 
 " account on the top of a post, or on one another's backs, in Lombard 
 " Street, and very often resorted to one banking house, which had a 
 " large recess in the window, which they found very convenient, but 
 " the house in question found just the opposite, and the noise made 
 " such a hindrance to business that, as it is said, they were often 
 " summarily turned out. This led to a house being taken in 18 10, 
 " and organisation of a system admirable in its simple arrangements." 
 
 In 1810 the Inspector of the Clearing House* stated that the 
 system of clearing had been in existence about thirty-five years. 
 This agrees approximately with what we find in the books of the 
 Grasshopper, namely — 
 
 s. d. 
 
 " 1 773 To quarterly charge for use of the Clearing-room ... 19 6 " 
 
 The last entry under this head is in 1784, which was, perhaps, 
 the date when the clearing bankers subscribed to purchase premises 
 of their own. The first Clearing House was situated at the back of 
 Messrs. Smith, Payne, & Smith's bank. It was removed to its present 
 quarters in 18 10, the number of clearing bankers at this time being 
 forty-six. This number was reduced in 1852 to twenty-four mem- 
 bers. The following lists show approximately their names in 1774, 
 shortly after the establishment of the clearing system, and in 18 10, 
 when the Inspector of the Clearing House gave his evidence before 
 
 * " Bullion Report ; " evidence of Mr. William Thomas, Inspector of the Clearing 
 House Lombard Street, p. 151. 
 
( 1 69 ) 
 
 the Parliamentary Committee of that year. The lists of 1841 and of 
 1852 are from contemporary manuscripts and Clearing House lists. 
 The last-mentioned list shows the steps by which the proprietors 
 have been reduced in number to six. But since 1854 the number of 
 members has been recruited by the admission of the joint-stock 
 banks, and the total number of clearing banks, including the Bank of 
 England, is now 27. 
 
 Probable List of Clearing Bankers in 1774- 
 
 Asgill, Nightingale, Wickenden, and Nightingale, 70, Lombard Street. 
 Ayton & Co., 71, Lombard Street. 
 Batson, Stephenson, and Hoggart, 69, Lombard Street. 
 Bland, Barnett, and Hoare, 62, Lombard Street. 
 5. Boldero, Carter, Barnston, Snaith, and Carter, 5, Mansion House Street. 
 Boldero, Kendall, Adey, and Kendall, 7 7, Lombard Street. 
 Brown and Collinson, 38, Lombard Street. 
 Bull, John, & Co., 50, Bartholomew Close. 
 Castell, Whateley, and Powell, 66, Lombard Street. 
 10. Chater and Rivers, 5, Lombard Street. 
 
 Colebrooke, Sir George, Leffingham, and Binns, 62, Threadneedle Street. 
 Cornewall, Sir George, Staples, and Watts, 50, Cornhill. 
 
 Dimsdale, Archer, Hyde, Dimsdale, & Co., 2, White Hart Court, Grace- 
 church Street. 
 
 Dorien, Ruckers, and Carleton, 22, Finch Lane. 
 15. Fuller, William, and Son, 24, Lombard Street. 
 
 Fuller, Halford, and Vaughan, 84, Cornhill. 
 
 Gines and Atkinson, 50, Lombard Street. 
 
 Halliday, Flight, Halliday, & Co., 34, Lombard Street. 
 
 Hallifax, Sir Thomas, Mills, Glyn, and Mitton, 18, Birchin Lane. 
 20. Hanbury, Taylor, Lloyd, and Bowman, 14, Lombard Street. 
 
 Hankey, Joseph Chaplin, Thomas Hankey, and Stephen Hall, 7, Fenchurch 
 Street. 
 
 Ladbroke, Rawlinson, and Porker, 73, Bank Buildings. 
 
 Lemon, Buller, Furley, Lubbock, & Co., 14, Abchurch Lane. 
 
 Lowry, Newton, & Co., 54, Lombard Street. 
 25. Marlar, Lascelles, Pell, and Down, 10, Lombard Street. 
 
 Mason, Currie, James, and Yallowby, 29, Cornhill. 
 
 Martins, Stone, Blackwell, and Foote, 68, Lombard Street. 
 
 Prescotts, Grotes, Culverden, and Hollingsworth, 57, Threadneedle Street. 
 
 Raymond, Williams, Vere, Lowe, and Fletcher, 22, Birchin Lane. 
 30. Reade, Moorhouse, & Co., 75, Lombard Street. 
 
 Smith, Bevan, and Bening, 50, Lombard Street. 
 
( i7o ) 
 
 Smith, Payne, and Smith, 18, Lombard Street. 
 Smith, Wright, and Gray, 21, Lombard Street. 
 Walpole, Clarke, and Bourne, 28, Lombard Street. 
 35. Welch, Rogers, & Co., 80, Cornhill. 
 
 Probable List of Clearing Bankers in 1810. 
 
 ? Anderson, John and Alexander, & Co., 17, Philpot Lane. 
 Barclay, Tritton, Bevan, & Co., 56, Lombard Street. 
 Bolderos and Lushington, 30, Cornhill. 
 Bond, John, Sons, and Pattisale, 2, Change Alley, Cornhill. 
 5. Bosanquet, Beechcroft, and Reeves, 73, Lombard Street. 
 
 ? Brickwood, J. Rainer, Morgan, and Starkey, 11, Lombard Street. 
 Brown, Cobb, & Co., 66, Lombard Street. 
 Chatteris, Yapp, & Co., 24, Lombard Street. 
 Denison, Joseph, & Co., 16, St. Mary Axe. 
 10. Dimsdale, Baron, Barnard, Son, and Dimsdale, 50, Cornhill. 
 Dorrien, Magens, Dorrien, and Mello, 2, Finch Lane, CornhilL 
 Down, Thornton, Free, and Down, 1, Bartholomew Lane. 
 ? Elton, Hammond, & Co., 24, Milk Street. 
 
 Esdaile, Sir James, Knt, Esdaile, Esdaile, Hammett, and Hammett, 21, 
 Lombard Street. 
 
 15. Forster, Lubbocks, Forster, and Clark, 11, Mansion House Street. 
 Fry, W. S., and Sons, 4, St. Mildred's Court, Poultry. 
 Fuller, Richard, George Fuller, & Co., 84, Cornhill. 
 ? Gill, Thomas, & Co., 42, Lombard Street. 
 
 Glyn, Sir Richard Carr, Bart., Charles Mills, T. Hallifax, & Co., 12, Birchin 
 Lane. 
 
 20. Hankey, Hall, Hankey, and Alers, 7, Fenchurch Street. 
 
 Harrisons, Price, Kay, and Chapman, 1, Mansion House Street. 
 
 Hoare, Barnetts, Hoare, & Co., 62, Lombard Street. 
 
 ? Jackson, Goodchild, & Co., Couzen Lane, Upper Thames Street. 
 
 Jones, Lloyd, Hulme, & Co., Lothbury. 
 25. Kensingtons & Co., 20, Lombard Street. 
 
 ? Kinloch, G. F., and Sons, 6, Dyer's Court, Aldermanbury. 
 
 Ladbrokes, Watson, and Gillman, Bank Buildings, Cornhill. 
 
 Langstons, Towgood, Cazalet, & Co., 29, Clement's Lane. 
 
 Lees, Satterthwaite, Brassey, and Farr, 71, Lombard Street. 
 30. Lefevre, Curries, Raikes, and Lawford, 29, Cornhill. 
 
 Mainwaring, Son, Chatteris, & Co., 80, Cornhill. 
 
 Martins, Stone, and Martin, 68, Lombard Street. 
 
 Masterman, Peters, Walker, Mildred, & Co., 2, White Hart Court, Lombard 
 Street. 
 
 Newnham, Everett, and Everett, 9, Mansion House Street. 
 35 ? Pares and Heygate, 63, Aldermanbury. 
 
( i7i ) 
 
 Prescott, Grote, and Prescott, 62, Threadneedle Street, 
 
 Ramsbottoms, Newman, Ramsbottom, & Co., 72, Lombard Street. 
 
 Robarts, Curtis, Robarts, and Curtis, 15, Lombard Street. 
 
 Rogers, Olding, and Rogers, 3, Freeman's Court, Cornhill. 
 40. Sansom, Blake, and Postlethwaite, 65, Lombard Street. 
 
 Sikes, Snaith, &Co., 5, Mansion House Street. 
 
 Smith, Payne, and Smiths, George Street, Mansion House. 
 
 Spooner, Attwoods, & Co., 40, Fish Street Hill. 
 
 Stein, Smith, & Co., 32, Fenchurch Street. 
 45. Stephenson, Batson, Remington, and Smith, 69, Lombard Street. 
 
 Stevenson and Salt, 80, Lombard Street. 
 
 Taylor, Hanbury, Bowman, Lloyd, & Co., 60, Lombard Street. 
 
 Veres, Smart, Bacon, Hawkins, and Turnbull, 77, Lombard Street. 
 
 Were, Bruce, Simpson, & Co., 2, Bartholomew Lane. 
 50. Weston, Pinhorn, Newsome, and Weston, 37, Borough. 
 
 Williams, Son, Moffatt, and Burgess, 20, Birchin Lane. 
 52. Willis, Wood, Percival, & Co., 76, Lombard Street. 
 
 Note. — Those marked ? are considered doubtful, on account of either their 
 situation, recent establishment, or insignificance. There were forty-six clearing 
 bankers only in this year. 
 
 List of Clearing Bankers in 1841. 
 
 Barclay, Bevan, Tritton, & Co., 54, Lombard Street. 
 Barnard, Dimsdales, Barnard, and Dimsdale, 50, Cornhill. 
 Barnetts, Hoare, & Co., 62, Lombard Street. 
 Bosanquet, Anderdon, and Franks, 73, Lombard Street. 
 5. Brown, Janson, & Co., 32, Abchurch Lane. 
 Curries, 29, Cornhill. 
 
 Denison, Heywood, Kennard, & Co., 4, Lombard Street. 
 
 Dorrien, Magens, Mello, & Co., 22, Finch Lane, Cornhill. 
 
 Fullers & Co., 65, Moorgate Street. 
 10. Glyn, Sir Richard Carr, Bart, Hallifax, Mills, & Co., 67, Lombard Street. 
 
 Hanburys, Taylor, and Lloyds, 60, Lombard Street. 
 
 Hankeys & Co., 7, Fenchurch Street. 
 
 Jones, Lloyd, & Co., 43, Lothbury. 
 
 Ladbrokes, Kingscote, & Co., Bank Buildings. 
 15. Lubbock, Sir John Wm., Bart, Forster, & Co., 11, Mansion House Street. 
 
 Masterman, Peters, Mildred, Masterman, & Co., 35, Nicholas Lane. 
 
 Prescott, Grote, Ames, Cave, and Grote, 62, Threadneedle Street. 
 
 Price, Marryat, & Co., 3, King William Street, City. 
 
 Robarts, Curtis, & Co., 15, Lombard Street. 
 20. Rogers, Olding, & Co., 29, Clement's Lane. 
 
 Smith, Payne, and Smiths, 1, Lombard Street. 
 
( 172 ) 
 
 Spooner, Attwoods, & Co., 27, Gracechurch Street. 
 
 Stevenson, Salt, and Sons, 20, Lombard Street. 
 
 Stone, Martins, and Stones, 68, Lombard Street. 
 25. Vere, Sapte, Banbury, Muspratt, & Co., 77, Lombard Street. 
 
 Weston and Young, 6, Wellington Street, Borough. 
 
 Whitmore, Wells, and Whitmore, 24, Lombard Street. 
 
 Williams, Deacon, Labouchere, & Co., 20, Birchin Lane. 
 29. Willis, Percival, & Co., 76, Lombard Street. 
 
 Proprietors of the Clearing House in 1852, and those remaining 
 
 ist January, 189 i. 
 
 1852. jggT. 
 
 Barclay ... 1 ... ... ... ... j 
 
 Barnett ... 1 Joined Lloyd's Bank, 1884. 
 
 Bosanquet ... 1 „ „ 
 
 Brown ... 1 ... ... .. ... ... 1 
 
 Dimsdale ... 1 Registered under Companies Acts, 1890. 
 
 Fuller ... 1 ... ... ... ... ... j 
 
 Glyn ... 1 Registered under Companies Acts, 1885. 
 
 Hanbury ... 1 Joined Barnett & Co., 1864. 
 
 Hankey ... 1 Joined Consolidated Bank, 1865. 
 Heywood ... 1 
 
 Jones ... 1 Joined London and Westminster Bank, 1864. 
 
 Lubbock ... 1 Joined Robarts & Co., i860. 
 
 Martin ... 1 ... ... ... ... ... i 
 
 Masterman... 1 Joined Agra Bank, 1866. 
 
 Olding ... 1 Joined English Joint-Stock Bank, 1866. 
 
 Prescott ... 1 Registered under Companies Acts, 1890. 
 
 Price ... 1 Failed 1866. 
 
 Robarts ... 1 ... ... ... ... T 
 
 Sapte ... 1 Joined Fuller & Co., 1859. 
 
 Smith ... 1 ... ... ... ... j 
 
 Spooner ... 1 Joined Barclay & Co., 1863. 
 
 Stevenson... 1 Joined Bosanquet & Co., 1867. 
 
 Williams ... 1 Joined Manchester and Salford Bank, 1890. 
 
 Willis ... i Failed, 1863. 
 
 24 6 
 
 It is unnecessary to say that when the Clearing House was 
 
 established its members consisted of private banks only. The legal 
 disabilities in the matter of issuing bank-notes, under which any firm 
 laboured whose members were more than six in number, hindered 
 
( 173 ) 
 
 the establishment of joint-stock banks until it was discovered, in 
 1834, that the issuing of bank-notes was not of the essence of 
 banking. It was not until 1854 that a joint-stock bank was admitted 
 to the Clearing House. The consequence is, of necessity, that there 
 is as regards the Clearing House a kind of dual control. The private 
 banks are the proprietors of the freehold, and divide among them- 
 selves the rents, which are paid at so much per seat by their tenants, 
 namely, the joint-stock banks. But the working expenses are shared 
 by all, and every clearing bank, whether private or joint-stock, has 
 a representative on the committee of the Clearing House, by which 
 matters of general policy are controlled. 
 
 For many years the balance due at the end of each day to or 
 from the clearing bankers was paid at the Clearing House in bank- 
 notes, which were sent down to or brought home from the Clearing 
 House, as the case might be. On the 1 ith of May, 1854, this practice 
 was discontinued, and the accounts were settled for the first time by 
 a cheque on the Bank of England, drawn by or paid to the clearing 
 banker, as the case might be. The risks attendant on the transport 
 of actual bank-notes from the Clearing House to the banks, and 
 vice versa, were thus eliminated, and a marked diminution, amounting 
 to two millions, at once took place in the average circulation of the 
 bank-notes of the Bank of England ; but it is said that when this 
 change was decided on, the representative of the Grasshopper voted 
 in the minority, on the ground that no settlement was so good as one 
 that was effected in bank-notes. 
 
 In 1864 the Bank of England itself was admitted to a partial 
 enjoyment of the advantages of the Clearing House. While the 
 clearing bankers continue to pay in to their credit at the Bank, at 
 any time during the day, all cheques or bills drawn on or payable 
 at the Bank itself, the Bank of England presents to the clearing 
 bankers, through the Clearing House, all drafts payable by them.^ 
 
 The last development of the clearing system was the establish- 
 ment, in 1858, of the country clearing— a system under which, after 
 
( 174 ) 
 
 making allowance for local clearings by provincial banks, no small 
 proportion of the retail transactions of our home trade pass through 
 the London Clearing House. This extension of the system of 
 clearing has given, no doubt, a great impetus to the extension of 
 banking throughout the country, while the restrictions and prejudices 
 against drawing cheques for small amounts have disappeared, and 
 the number of individual transactions has been greatly increased. 
 The consequence has been that, while the average amount of each 
 cheque that passes through the country clearing has tended to 
 become smaller, the increased business of the country and the 
 greater resources of the banks have tended in the opposite direction. 
 
 In connexion with foreign loans or international exchange opera- 
 tions, cheques are drawn for amounts that were unheard of not many 
 years ago. A cheque for anything over a million was, until recently, 
 phenomenal, but this amount is now not infrequently reached or 
 exceeded. The two largest cheques as yet on record are for 
 ,£2,012,680 and £2,062,937 1 or., both of which passed through the 
 books of the Grasshopper on the 4th of July, 1888, while the largest 
 paid total yet reached on one day was £"72,310,000, on the 13th of 
 June, 1890. The total operations of the Clearing House have 
 similarly increased. The figures were first published in 1868, when 
 the total paid was £3,425,000,000. Subsequent figures are as 
 follows : — * 
 
 £"3,914,000,000 
 5,794,000,000 
 7,801,000,000 
 
 To this increased work the Grasshopper has contributed some- 
 thing more than its proportionate share. It has had this peculiar 
 characteristic, that, having from the first been strictly a London 
 bank with but a small country connexion, it has established a new 
 
 * The annual totals and analysis of them are annually published on the 1st of 
 January by the Secretary of the Clearing House. 
 
 1870 ... 
 1880 ... 
 1890 ... 
 
( >75 ) 
 
 departure by organizing country branches of its own. The district 
 of West Kent is one with which all the present partners are 
 intimately related, and a few years ago it was decided to take 
 advantage of this association. The suburban districts of Chislehurst 
 and Sidcup were the first occupied. Shortly afterwards a third 
 branch was opened at Bexley Heath, and not long after a fourth at 
 Bromley. On the expiration of the partnership existing between 
 Messrs. Vallance & Payne, at Sittingbourne, that firm was dissolved, 
 and a fifth branch was opened at Sittingbourne, under the manage- 
 ment of Mr. Henry Payne. The chronological order of these events 
 is shown in the following table : — 
 
 Branch. 
 
 Opened. 
 
 Agency. 
 
 Opened. 
 
 Bexley Heath 
 
 23rd Oct., 1886 ... 
 
 Bexley 
 
 ist Mar. 1887 
 
 Bromley 
 
 ist Jan., 1888 ... 
 
 Hayes 
 
 1 2th April, 1889 
 
 Chislehurst... 
 
 ist Jan., 1886 
 
 St. Mary-Cray . . . 
 
 20th April, 1886 
 
 Sidcup 
 
 ist Jan., 1886 ... 
 
 Eltham 
 
 19th April, 1886 
 
 Sittingbourne 
 
 12th Oct., 1888 ... 
 
 
 
BOOK III. 
 THE PREMISES. 
 
 MaKapit,ofi4v <re t€tti£. 
 
 "Long life and prosperity and honour to the grasshopper— at least in Lombard 
 'Street— we call it a very mischievous animal in the country."— From a private letter. 
 
 N 
 
( 179 ) 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 LOMBARD STREET AND THE KING'S EXCHANGE. 
 
 Lombard Street — The Jews and the Lombards— The name Lombard Street as early 
 as Edward II. — The King's Exchange between Lombard Street and Cornhill— 
 Business carried on in the open air until temp. Elizabeth — Richard Clough's 
 design — His letter to Gresham — Change Alley the site of the King's Exchange 
 — Sailing of ships advertised here. 
 
 HPHE date at which the name of Lombard Street was given to 
 
 the present thoroughfare is uncertain. The Florentines and 
 other Italian merchants, who gained the name of Lombards, 
 probably did not lag far behind the Jewish invaders, who followed 
 hard on the Norman conquerors. On this point Stowe has an oft- 
 quoted sentence : 
 
 " Then you have Lombard Street, so called of the Longobards, 
 " and other Merchants Strangers of divers Nations, assembling there 
 " twice every Day, of what Original, or Continuance, I have not any 
 " record, any more than that Edward the Second, in the twelfth of 
 "his reign (13 19), confirmed a Messuage, sometime belonging to 
 " Robert Turke, abutting on Lombard Street to the South, and 
 "towards Cornhill on the North, for the Merchants of Florence; 
 "which proveth that Street to have had the name of Lombard 
 " Street before (?) the reign of Edward the Second. 
 
 "As the Merchants formerly met here for traffic, so the Pope's 
 " Merchants also traded here for their commodities, and had good 
 
( i8o ) 
 
 " Markets for their Wafer-cakes, sanctified at Rome, their Pardons," 
 etc.* 
 
 The above passage shows that Lombard Street was so called as 
 early as the time of Edward II. (1307-1327). Isabella of France, 
 the mother of Edward III., rented a house in Lombard Street in 
 1357, and probably much earlier.f In the reign of Richard II. 
 (1379) J the King's Exchange in Lombard Street was granted upon 
 certain terms to William Salesburie, a goldsmith. § Either this King's 
 Exchange was open to the weather, as indeed our Royal Exchange 
 was up to 1884, or the building was less in favour than the open 
 street, for when, in 1534, King Henry VIM. proposed that the citizens 
 should remove their place of meeting from Lombard Street to 
 Leadenhall,[j the proposal was negatived at a meeting of the 
 Common Council by a show of hands. But the want of an ex- 
 change was much felt, and Richard Clough, the factor of ' Sir 
 Thomas Gresham, urges this point in a letter to his master dated 
 December 31, 1561 : "for in dede it is marvell that wee have so 
 "gude orders as wee have, consyderyng what rulers wee have in 
 " the sittey of London ; suche a company that do study for nothyng 
 " ells butt for their own profett. As for insampell : consyderyng 
 "■whatt a sittey London ys, and that in so many yeres they have 
 " nott founde the menes to make a Bourse ! but must wallke in the 
 " raine, when ytt raineth, more lyke pedlers then marchants ; and in 
 " thys countrie, and all other, there is no kynde of pepell that have 
 " occasyon to meete, but, they have a plase meete for that pourpose." 11" 
 
 There can be little doubt but that the King's Exchange of the 
 
 * Stowe (Strype, 1754), vol. i. p. 475, book ii. ch. 9. 
 
 f Loftie's "History of London," vol. i. p. 421, appendix M., from Riley, p. 14, 
 Letter Book E, fol. lxxxi. 
 J Stowe, vol. ii. p. 142. 
 § Ruding, vol. ii. p. 142. 
 
 || Burgon, "Life of Gresham," vol. i. p. 31; and Stowe's "Survey," ed. 1720, 
 book ii. p. 152. 
 
 % Burgon, vol. i. p. 409. 
 
( 'Si ) 
 
 fourteenth century must have occupied some part at least of the area 
 now intersected by the series of passages known under the common 
 name of Change Alley ; and the Grasshopper may, therefore, claim 
 to be situated on what has been the very centre of the business life 
 of London for at least five hundred years. It was here that 
 merchants met daily for the transaction of their affairs, and here 
 publication was made of the sailing of ships ;* and during this period 
 Lombard Street has been a phrase synonymous with the London 
 money market. 
 
 Note. — The grasshopper appears to associate itself by a kind of destiny with things 
 ancient and legendary. The Athenians wore golden grasshoppers in their hair, as an 
 emblem of the autochthonic descent that they claimed. The myth of Tithonus, the 
 immortal bridegroom of the Dawn, doomed, under the guise of a grasshopper, to the 
 curse of immortality, is akin to' this conceit. But it was a pure accident that the 
 grasshopper should have been the crest of the Gresham family, and that it should 
 thus have given a name to the subject of the present memoir. Visitors to Boston 
 (U.S.A.) may notice a grasshopper serving as a vane on the summit of Faneuil Hall, 
 the cradle of liberty venerated by all Americans, and one of the oldest buildings in that 
 city. It is usually supposed that the device perpetuates the armorial bearings of Peter 
 Faneuil. But the more correct version denies this, and asserts that the case is one of 
 mere plagiarism, the emblem having been taken from the one that adorned the pinnacle 
 of the Royal Exchange in the old country. (See Sargent, " Dealings with the Dead," 
 Boston Transcript, February 22, 1851, vol. ii. p. 495; also Drake,. "History of 
 Boston," p. 612, note). 
 
 * Cunningham, " Growth of English Industry and Commerce," p. 435. 
 
( i »3 ) 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 CHANGE ALLEY THE GRASSHOPPER — THE UNICORN. 
 
 Change Alley— Stowe's description— Maps of 1604, 1666, and 1775 — Alderman Back- 
 well's alterations — He lays out the passages, and makes entrances into Cornhill — 
 Complete destruction by the Great Fire of 1666 — Backwell builds his "little 
 town" — Early documents of the Grasshopper^Sir Richard Stappleton and Sir 
 Martin Bowes, 1553— Thomas Taylor, 1602 — Morgan Aubrey, 1608 — James 
 Cambell, 16 19— Paul ffouree, 1619 — Paul Furre of the Dutch ordinary — Pepys at 
 the ordinary — Reney Augier, 1651 — Charles Everard — Everard and Cutler— 
 Everard the younger, 1665 — Everard and Backwell, 1668 — Backwell's leaseholds 
 — Leases to Duncombe and Kent — The heirs of Backwell and Nathaniel Turner, 
 1700 — Everard and Procter, 1700 — Details of costs and charges — Lease from 
 Procter to James Martin, 1737 — Alterations and details of expenses — The con- 
 veyance from Procter to James Martin, 17 41 — Recapitulation of title — Charles 
 Everard's inheritance — The Palsgrave's Head — Alderman Backwell at the 
 Unicorn — Backwell's failure. 
 
 Change Alley. 
 
 A S to the exact distribution of the plot of ground on which so 
 many associations have centred, it is not easy to speak with 
 precision. 
 
 Stowe's description is as follows : — 
 
 "Stepping over the way again, to the North Side (of Lombard 
 "Street), Westward of Birching Lane, are these following places. 
 " Exchange Alley, which passeth straight through into Cornhil ; 
 " here are divers eminent Coffee Houses,* as Garways, Jonathan's, 
 
 * The author may be allowed to observe that the first Englishman to mention 
 coffee was named Biddulph. He found it in use at Aleppo, in 1603. 
 
( i§4 ) 
 
 "Baker's, Elmer's, chiefly frequented by Brokers, Stock-jobbers, 
 "Frenchmen, Jews, as well as other Merchants and Gentle- 
 men. * 
 
 A map published by Ryther in i6o4,f giving a bird's-eye view 
 of the City, shows an alley, not named, opposite Abchurch Lane and 
 leading to Cornhill, with, apparently, an archway at either end. On 
 the other hand, a map, or ground-plot of the City of London, 
 published by Ralph Agas,J in 1666, showing the area devastated by 
 the Great Fire, gives only Pope's Head Alley and Birchin Lane§ as 
 thoroughfares between Lombard Street and Cornhill. This was in 
 all probability the case up to that date ; the present arrangement is 
 perhaps due to the enterprise of Alderman Edward Backwell. 
 
 A hundred years later (1775), Maitland || gives the existing 
 ground -plan, save that the present semi-private covered way leading 
 direct from Garraway's to Cornhill is not marked. Maitland says 
 respecting the ward of Cornhill: "As for Exchange Alley and 
 " Popes Head Alley further to the South-west in Cornhill, only their 
 " entrances and front houses are in this ward : the former is very 
 " well built with a freestone Pavement, and three passages, two into 
 " Lombard Street, and one into Birchin Lane ; and is known all over 
 " the mercantile World on account of the Business transacted there 
 "in money affairs, this being the grand Market, for buying and 
 "selling stocks, Lottery tickets, &c, so that the Houses Jonathan's, 
 " Garraway's, &c. y on this site are contrived for the Reception and 
 "Entertainment of Merchants, Brokers, and others, who assemble 
 "here daily in great Numbers from all Parts, not only of these 
 " Kingdoms, but from distant Nations, in Pursuit of Riches." 
 
 Change Alley is said to have acquired special popularity in the 
 reign of William III., owing to the crowded condition of the Royal 
 Exchange. This was found so vexatiously thronged that the 
 
 * Book ii. chap. ix. p. 163. f Loftie's "London," vol. i. p. 282. 
 
 % Ibid., p. 359. § Burchover Lane ; from the first builder or occupier. 
 
 I Vol. ii. p. 994. 
 
( i8 5 ) 
 
 money-dealers in 1698 betook themselves to Change Alley, then 
 an unappropriated area (it is hard to reconcile this description with 
 the " little town " that Backwell had in contemplation, unless it is to 
 be supposed that his ambitious design was never fully completed). A 
 writer of the period says : " The centre of jobbing is in the kingdom 
 " of Change Alley. You may go over its limits in about a minute- 
 " and-a-half. Stepping out of Jonathan's into the Alley, you turn 
 " your face full south ; moving on a few paces, and then turning to 
 " the east, you advance to Garraway's ; from thence going out at 
 " the other door, you go on still east, into Birchin Lane, and then 
 "halting at the Swordblade Bank, you immediately face to the 
 " north, enter Cornhill, visit two or three petty provinces on your 
 "way to the west; and thus having boxed your compass, and 
 " sailed round the stock-jobbing globe, you turn into Jonathan's 
 " again."* 
 
 Shortly previous to the Great Fire, Backwell, whose shop was at 
 the Unicorn, in Lombard Street, next door to the Grasshopper, 
 conceived the idea of developing the considerable block of property 
 over which he had acquired an interest, by opening passages through 
 it from Lombard Street to Cornhill. Pepys says (2nd July, 1636), 
 "Thence to the Change, and meeting Sir J. Minnes there, he and I 
 " walked to look upon Backwell's design of making another Alley 
 " from his shop through over against the Exchange door which will 
 "be very noble, and quite put down the other two." Possibly the 
 " other two " here mentioned may mean Pope's Head Alley to the 
 west, and the alley opposite Abchurch Lane to the east. Back- 
 well's designs had suffered delay by the occurrence of the Plague, 
 which on the 26th of July, 1665, carried off, during the absence of 
 Backwell himself in Flanders, Robin Shore, his right-hand man. A 
 little more than a year afterwards, the Great Fire of London, 2nd 
 of September, 1666, involved the whole of Backwell's estate in utter 
 ruin. Pepys records, under date of the 5th of September, that " I 
 Thornbury's "Old and New London," vol. i. p. 473. 
 
( 186 ) 
 
 " walked into the town, and find Fanchurch-streete, Gracious-streete,* 
 "and Lumbard-streete all in dust. The Exchange a sad sight, 
 " nothing standing there, of all the statues or pillars, but Sir Thomas 
 " Gresham's picture in the corner." Evelyn, under date of the 7th 
 of September, says, " Sir Thomas Gresham's statue though fallen 
 "from its niche in the Royal Exchange remained entire when all 
 "those of the Kings since the Conquest were broken to pieces." 
 
 Backwell possibly took advantage of the catastrophe of the fire 
 to enlarge his designs, for Pepys has the following entry: "This 
 "evening (13th April, 1669), coming home, we overtook Alderman 
 " Backwell's coach and his lady, and followed them to their house, 
 " and there made them the first visit, where they received us with 
 " extraordinary civility, and owning the obligation. But I do, con- 
 trary to my expectation, find her something a proud and vain- 
 glorious woman, in telling the number of her servants and family 
 " expences : he is also so, but he was ever of that strain. But here 
 " he showed me the model of his houses that he is going to build in 
 " Cornhill and Lumbard Street ; but he hath purchased so much 
 "there, that it looks like a little town, and must have cost him a 
 "great deal of money." 
 
 The Grasshopper. 
 
 Alderman Backwell figures largely in the City history of his 
 time, and was certainly eminent among the goldsmiths of the 
 Restoration ; but it seems that the " little town " whose erection 
 he contemplated was built on land in which he had a leasehold 
 interest only. The Great Fire of London destroyed not only the 
 City itself, but also most of its records. It has opposed an almost 
 insuperable obstacle in the way of research into local history previous 
 to its occurrence. So it is that, in the case of the Grasshopper, no 
 
 * Gracious-streete, which we now call Gracechurch Street, should apparently be 
 called Grasschurch Street, from the Grass or Hay Market which was formerly held 
 there. 
 
 ■ 
 
( i87 ) 
 
 title-deeds remain of earlier date than the Fire. That they were 
 then destroyed appears the more probable from the fact that the 
 first now extant bears date not long subsequently, namely, the 9th 
 of December, 1670. On that date it was declared, by a decree of 
 the Court of Judicature for the determination of matters touching 
 houses demolished by the Fire of London, that the freehold of the 
 premises was vested in the infant son of Charles Everard, goldsmith, 
 deceased. 
 
 But a document of somewhat later date carries us back over a 
 period of nearly one hundred and fifty years. On the 18th of 
 November, 1700, Charles Everard, citizen and goldsmith, and Mary 
 his wife, granted to William Proctor, citizen and fishmonger, in con- 
 sideration of ^"2000, all that messuage in the occupation of Andrew 
 Stone, and also all that messuage known as the " Cross Daggers," 
 subject to but with the benefit of a lease to the Backwells of the 
 3rd of August, 1700, of the same premises. On this occasion 
 Charles Everard entered into a covenant to produce " when, where, 
 " and as often as occasion should require," certain deeds mentioned in 
 a schedule of even date, which still survives, and is headed, " A Per- 
 " ticular of writeings which Mr. Everard produced and shewed to 
 "Mr. Proctor upon his purchaseing the two houses in Exchange 
 "Alley."* 
 
 This schedule shows that Sir Richard Stappleton was, in 1553, 
 possessed of what is called the great tenement, and he appointed 
 his son Bryan, jointly with John Beverley, Esq., as his attorneys to 
 sell his lands. Bryan Stappleton accordingly sold to Sir Martin 
 Bowes, in 1554, for ^400 the great messuage and two tenements 
 adjoining. Sir Martin Bowes, by his will, gave to his son, Martin 
 Bowes, the said great messuage as it was then joined together, as 
 well that bought of Bryan Stappleton and that purchased otherwise, 
 with the garden thereto belonging. Sir Martin Bowes was buried 
 on the 19th of August, 1566, and in the next year Sir Richard 
 
 * Appendix F. 
 
( i88 ) 
 
 Stappleton confirms the sale to Martin Bowes. Martin Bowes in 
 this year did "give, grant, bargain, sell and confirm (without the 
 " word enfeoffe) " the aforesaid messuage and messuages to Sir 
 Thomas Ramsey, alderman. 
 
 By the year 1602 the premises appear to have passed to one 
 Thomas Taylor, who, by will, gave to his sister Sisley the aforesaid 
 capital messuage wherein the Lady Mary Ramsey did lately dwell, 
 and one tenement in the occupation of Giles Simpson, goldsmith, 
 and a shop "then late of ye said Giles Simpson." Sisley Taylor 
 and Thomas Taylor, the son of the above Thomas Taylor, deceased, 
 in consideration of ^1500, sold, in 1608, "the aforesaid capital 
 " messuage and tenement, and the house or tenement in Simpson's 
 " tenure, and a shop both on the west side of the entrance into the 
 " said great messuage to Morgan Awbrey." 
 
 In the year 1619 Samuel Awbrey, son of Morgan Awbrey, and 
 Joyce his wife, in consideration of ^1600, sold to James Cambell 
 the aforesaid great house, and the said other house in Simpson's 
 possession. James Cambell and Rachell his wife, in 1619, "for a 
 " competent sum of money," conveyed all right, title, and interest in 
 the said premises to Paul ffouree." * Paul ffouree by his will gave 
 
 * This name, very clearly so written in the original manuscript, does not occur in 
 the parish registers j but some clue to his identity is afforded by the following entries :— 
 
 Burials. 
 
 " 1620/1. Feb. 15. James Sixty, out of Mr. Furrey's house, being a stranger and 
 
 " borne at Hagh in the low Countries." 
 " 1630/1. Mar. 1. Paul Furre, of the Dutch Ordinary." 
 
 "1633. Dec. 17. Anne Sheveleare (Chevalier?), a stranger who came out of 
 " Mrs. Furre's house." 
 
 ffouree was possibly one of the many who sought a refuge in England from the 
 troubles that vexed the Netherlands in those days. His house was presumably the 
 house of call of the many Dutch and Flemish merchants whom business brought to 
 London. Thirty years later, Pepys praised the " ordinary " as being a very convenient 
 institution, and specially mentions one which must have been at least hard by that of 
 ffouree. " He (Creed) carried me to an ordinary by the Old Exchange, where we come 
 "a little too late, but had very good cheer for our 18^. apiece, and an excellent droll 
 " too my hoste, and his wife so fine a woman, and played and sung so well that I staid 
 
( i8 9 ) 
 
 one moiety of the rents of these premises to his wife Josina for life, 
 and the other moiety to his daughter Jane, the wife of Reney Augier, 
 with remainder to her children. Reney and Jane Augier appear 
 to have had three children, one of whom was baptized on the 15th of 
 January, 1628-29, at the church of St. Mary Woolnoth, under the 
 name of Maudlin. She married John Jamott* and in 1651 a deed 
 was executed between John and Maudlin Jamott and John Burrell 
 (or Burwell) which, after certain recitals, granted to John Burrell, for 
 £200, one third part of the messuage in the possession of Charles 
 Everard on lease for one year ; and by an indenture of the same 
 date, and for the same consideration, conveyed the property to the 
 said John Burrell for ever (" with warranty and covenants generally 
 executed by entry, livery, and seisin endorsed "). By deeds of even 
 date of lease and release, John and Maudlin Jamott conveyed to the 
 same John Burrell, for ^300, one third part of the said messuage in 
 Mr. Everard's tenure, and also a third part of the messuages, ware- 
 houses, and shops in the tenure of Richard Bunckley Rowland, 
 knight, John Phipps, Stephen Hill, Thomas Mason, and Edward 
 Springer. 
 
 It may be remarked that Mrs. Jamott here puts in a certificate 
 that she was baptized on the 15th of January, 1628, in the parish of 
 St. Mary Woolnoth, and at the same time she puts in a paper in 
 writing, under the hand and seal of herself and husband, in which 
 she declares that "notwithstanding Magdalen is writ Maudlin, she is 
 " ye same person." This formality having been completed, John 
 Burwell makes a declaration of trust that the aforesaid purchases 
 made by him were for the use of Charles Everard. 
 
 " a great while and drunk a great deal of wine " (May 7th, 1661). Ten days later, he 
 went again " to an ordinary over against the Exchange, where to our dinner we had a 
 " fellow play well upon the bagpipes and whistle like a bird exceedingly well, and I had 
 " a fancy to learn to whistle as he do, and did promise to come some other day and 
 " give him an angel to teach me." But on the third visit there was a " great wrangling " 
 over the reckoning, and the ordinary over against the Exchange appears to have lost 
 Pepys's custom. 
 
 * Or Jamett ; the name is given in both forms. 
 
( 190 ) 
 
 In the year 1660 Paul and James Augier, in consideration of a 
 competent sum of money, grant to William Cutler the aforesaid 
 premises to hold to him, his heirs, and assigns, for ever. 
 
 In 1662 an indenture between the following parties: (1) William 
 Cutler; (2) Charles Everard ; (3) Stephen Thornley, Joseph Neale, 
 and John Downes ; (4) Wm. Cutler, junr., Nicholas Burrell, and 
 Henry Mosse, after certain recitals as to carrying on and perfect- 
 ing the design of making an alley or passage between Lombard 
 Street and Cornhill, declares that all charges should be equally borne 
 between them, and that the profits should be equally divided ; and in 
 the following year, in consideration of ^8500, William Cutler con- 
 veyed all his interest to Everard. In the same year an indenture 
 between (1) two sons of the above William Cutler, Nicholas Burwell, 
 and Henry Mosse ; (2) William Cutler the elder and Charles Everard'; 
 and (3) R. Vyner and John Morris, recites the improvement of 
 Change Alley by Cutler and Everard, and in consideration of 53-. 
 paid by the parties of the first part, Vyner and Morris undertake to 
 hold the same in trust for Cutler and Everard. At the same time, 
 Cutler the elder and his wife, of the one part, and Everard of the 
 other, undertake to levy a fine to Everard of the full moiety of all 
 those seven old and new erected messuages and tenements, and a 
 moiety of thirty shops, little and great, late the inheritance of Paul 
 ffouree, for the use of Charles Everard. A receipt is given by 
 Cutler for ,£8500, and a deed is executed by Jeffery Burwell, brother 
 to John Burwell, now deceased, whereby all accounts are admitted 
 to be closed, and the whole interest is conveyed to Everard. 
 
 Charles Everard dies on the 28th of October, 1665, bequeathing 
 by his will his estate to his son Charles (born 12th of July, 1658); 
 and Robert Vyner, Rowland Dee, John Morris, and Henry Mosse 
 are appointed trustees during the minority of the son. In the next 
 year occurred the Great Fire, and two years later the Court of 
 Judicature, on the petition of Edward Backwell v. Rowland Dee, 
 trustee to Charles Everard, an infant, after reciting a lease from 
 
THE WHITE HORSE 
 
 Jas. St. John 
 Pelican Insurance Co. 
 
 L 0 M B A R 
 
 THE UNICORN 
 
 Bachiuetl 
 Buncombe 
 Snagg 
 Knight & Jackson 
 Remington & Go. 
 
 THE GRASSHOPPER: ! 
 
 
 5 Jno. Wright 
 
 4 — -13'. 10'-— 
 
 Baohwell j 
 
 a 
 
 THE PLOUGH 
 
 Duncombe 
 
 o 
 
 Sam! Dye 
 
 
 Math! Cook 
 
 A.Stone 
 
 s 
 
 Jos. h Wilson 
 
 Martin "« 
 
 < 
 
 1709 
 Chris! Corral 
 1776 
 
 
 
 Jas. Martin 
 1792 
 
 < 26'. 2" 
 
 u 
 
 Glijn & Co. 
 
 
 1874 
 
 Blackford 
 Lacemen 
 
 Everard's Estate. 
 
 and 
 
 \ The GRASSHOPPER & neighbouring 
 premises from Title Deeds and Plans 
 attached thereto. 
 
 Names of premises taken from deeds &c. 
 
 arc shewn thus:- THE UNICORN 
 
 Names of Occupants shewn lhus:-BacHuiell 
 
 EVERARD'S ESTA TE bounded by 
 
 a dotted line thus: 
 
 Scale of Feet 
 o io 20 30 40 5c 
 
Back of 
 Foldout 
 Not Imaged 
 
( i9i ) 
 
 Charles Everard the father, of the 3rd of September, 1662, to John 
 Watson, goldsmith, for eleven years, at £20 per annum, and reciting 
 another lease from Rowland Dee to Joseph Hornby, also a gold- 
 smith, dated 20th of August, 1666, for twelve years, at ^120 per 
 annum ; and, after reciting further that the above leases had been 
 lawfully assigned to Edward Backwell, decreed that Edward Back- 
 well should rebuild the premises (the Unicorn), and have a new 
 lease of forty-five years from Michaelmas, 1666, at £70 per annum. 
 Two years afterwards, another decree of the Court of Judicature, 
 after reciting that Everard was possessed in fee of a plot of ground 
 containing 6576 square feet, decreed that Backwell should have a 
 lease for fifty-on« years of the site of the Grasshopper at £130 
 per annum. 
 
 Duncombe's place of business was at the Unicorn, but from 
 the following it appears that he was at some time at the Grass- 
 hopper : — 
 
 « The creditors of Edward Backwell Esq. are desired to take 
 " notice that the said Edward Backwell hath published his proposals, 
 " and that they will be delivered to them or any they shall please 
 " send for them by Mr. Richard Snagg or by some other person at 
 " Mr. Valentine Duncombe's shop, where the said Edward Backwell 
 " formerly dwelt in Lombard Street." * 
 
 Perhaps, after the disaster of 1672, Backwell associated himself 
 with his more fortunate apprentice, Duncombe, who, by timely 
 warning of a friend at court, had saved his money when the Ex- 
 chequer was closed. 
 
 But before Backwell had settled with his creditors, on the 28th 
 of September, 1678, he granted a lease to Charles Duncombe, 
 citizen and goldsmith, at that time partner with Richard Kent, of the 
 Grasshopper and Exchange, then in the occupation of the said Mr. 
 Duncombe, for the term of twenty-one years from Lady Day, 1677, 
 in consideration of a fine of ^"200, and at the yearly rent of ^"ioo. 
 * London Gazette, June 1st, 1682. 
 
( 192 ) 
 
 This lease gives the dimensions of the premises, which it may be 
 worth while here to place on record : — 
 
 " All that brick Messuage or Tenement lately new built by the 
 " said Edward Backwell commonly called or known by the name or 
 " sign of The Grasshopper and Exchange lying and being on the 
 " North side of Lombard Street in the Parish of St. Mary Woollnoth 
 " London and then in the occupation of the said Charles Duncombe 
 " or his assigns which said Messuage or tenement thereby demised 
 " did contain the several dimensions hereinafter particularly men- 
 " tioned and expressed that is to say, in front from East to West 
 "27 feet of assize or thereabouts be it more or less and to the 
 " North from East to West 30 feet of assize or thereabouts be it 
 " more or less And to the East from North to South 26 feet 
 " 6 inches of assize or thereabouts and to the West from North to 
 " South 27 feet of assize be it more or less, the back Cellar of the 
 "said house in front to the South from East to West 22 feet of 
 " assize or thereabouts be it more or less and to the North from 
 " East to West 22 feet of assize or thereabouts be it more or less. 
 " And to the East from North to South 12 feet 9 inches of assize or 
 " thereabouts be it more or less And to the West from North to 
 " South 13 feet of assize or thereabouts be it more or less. And the 
 " rest of the Storeys above the Shop of the said Messuage or 
 " tenement containing the same dimensions with the Cellars. The 
 " Shop Storey containing in front from East to West 20 feet 5 inches 
 " of assize or thereabouts be it more or less And on the West from 
 " North to South . . . feet of assize or thereabouts be it more or 
 " less and on the East from North to South 39 feet 3 inches of assize 
 " or thereabouts be it more or less. The Counting house containing 
 "from North to South 8 feet 6 inches of assize or thereabouts be it 
 " more or less a?id from East to West 6 feet 2 inches of assize or 
 " thereabouts be it more or less." 
 
 December 24th, 1678. — Mr. Edward Backwell assigned to Francis 
 Moryson, for a consideration of ,£2000 (which he appears to have 
 
( 193 ) 
 
 previously borrowed on mortgage) the Grasshopper, in such deed 
 stated to be then or formerly in the occupation of Charles Duncombe, 
 for a term, from Christmas, 1678, of forty-one years. 
 
 June 5th, 1695.— The next lease is from Richard Green and Eliza- 
 beth his wife, who was a daughter of Francis Moryson, and Edward 
 Moryson, a son of Francis Moryson, as the legal representatives of 
 the said Francis Moryson,— to Richard Smith, afterwards called 
 Richard Smyth, of Lombard Street, goldsmith, of the other part, one 
 of the then partners in the firm ; whereby the Grasshopper, 
 formerly in the occupation of Charles Duncombe, but then in the 
 occupation of himself and Elmes Spinks, his partner, was demised 
 (after the expiration of the then existing lease to Mr. Duncombe 
 for twenty-one years, from Lady Day, 1677) to Mr. Smith, for a term 
 of thirteen and a half years, on payment of a fine of ^300, and at a 
 yearly rental of threescore pounds. 
 
 May 1 8th, 1697. — Henry Moryson, Edward Moryson, and Richard 
 Green, and Elizabeth his wife, children of Francis Moryson, deceased, 
 assigned the above-mentioned leasehold premises to Thomas Jenkins 
 and Robert Herbert, to hold the same as trustees for them in equal 
 third shares. 
 
 June 2nd, 1698. — By deed of this date between Edward Moryson, 
 Richard Greene and Elizabeth his wife, Henry Moryson, Thomas 
 Jenkins, and Robert Herbert of the one part, and Nathaniel Turner 
 of the other part, the said Edward Moryson sold his one-third share 
 of the Grasshopper, stated to be then in the occupation of Richard 
 Smyth, to the said Nathaniel Turner for the remainder of the term 
 of forty-one years. 
 
 June 22nd, 1698. — Henry Moryson and Richard Green and 
 Elizabeth his wife assigned their two-thirds in the premises for 
 the residue of the term of forty-one years to the said Nathaniel 
 Turner. 
 
 August 3rd, 1700. — Charles Everard, the son of the before- 
 mentioned Charles Everard, late citizen and goldsmith, the free- 
 
 o 
 
( 194 ) 
 
 holder of the said premises of the one part, leased to Richard 
 Backwell and Leigh Backwell, two of the sons and the only executors 
 of Edward Backwell, Esq., a house stated to be then in the occupa- 
 tion of Mr. Andrew Stone, and the house adjoining at the rear, then 
 empty, and known by the sign of the Cross Daggers, for the term 
 of fourteen years from Michaelmas then last past, at the rent of £ 70. 
 There is attached to this deed a valuable plan of the houses adjoin- 
 ing Change Alley.* 
 
 November 18th, 1 7 oo.-Charles Everard, citizen and goldsmith, 
 and Mary his wife, granted to William Procter,! citizen and fish- 
 monger, in consideration of ^2000, all that messuage in the occupa- 
 tion of Andrew Stone, and also all that messuage known as the 
 Cross Daggers, subject to, but with the benefit of, the before- 
 mentioned lease to the Backwells of the 3rd of August, 1700, of the 
 same premises. 
 
 April 14th, 1 704.— Richard Backwell and Leigh Backwell assigned 
 to Jeremy Bright, as trustee for William Procter, the before-mentioned 
 lease of the 3rd of August, 1 700. 
 
 The Everards, therefore, from this period cease to have any 
 connexion with the Grasshopper and Cross Daggers. 
 
 December 20th, 1703.— The aforesaid Nathaniel Turner assigned 
 to Richard Backwell, Barnaby Backwell, and Leigh Backwell, in 
 consideration of 19*. the Grasshopper for the unexpired 
 
 term that the said Nathaniel Turner had therein. 
 
 August 14th, 1704.— And by deed poll the said Richard Backwell, 
 Barnaby Backwell, and Leigh Backwell assigned the last-mentioned 
 leasehold interest to the said William Procter, in consideration of 
 ^245. 
 
 * It is difficult to reconcile this last-mentioned lease with the other leases mentioned 
 in this chapter, but the compiler affects to give not a technical legal abstract of title, 
 but simply a brief account of the documents in the possession of the firm. 
 
 + The name appears both as Procter and Proctor; the former seems to have been 
 the older rendering, used in legal documents, the latter is most frequent in tradesmen s 
 accounts, etc. 
 
( 195 ) 
 
 By the foregoing it would appear that William Procter got in all 
 interests in the Grasshopper, and now became absolute owner. 
 
 These various deeds of lease and release, of mortgage, of 
 bargain, and of sale, must have entailed considerable legal expense ; 
 some of these charges are on record, of which the following are 
 samples : — 
 
 Mr. Proctor 
 & 
 
 Mr. Everard t 
 Dr. pr a Contand (sic) 
 Indre. 
 Caption 
 
 Writt of Covenant 
 Duty ... 
 
 Alienation & other fees there 
 
 Warrant of Attorney 
 
 Inrollment 
 
 Custos Brinm ... 
 
 Kings Silver 
 
 Chyrographer ... 
 
 Indentures 
 
 Prosecution 
 
 d. 
 
 ffine Michaelmas 12 0 D ni - nri. Regis 
 
 3 
 1 
 
 12 
 2 
 
 5 
 10 
 o 
 2 
 
 3 
 1 
 6 
 5 
 
 10 
 
 6 
 10 
 o 
 o 
 
 4 4 3 
 
 23rd Jany. 1700.— Received then of Mr. Proctor the full of this bill 
 
 Robt. Hansman. 
 Paid to Mr. Edward Smith for enrolling the deed £o\ 06s. od. 
 One in Exchange Alley, in Possession of Mr. Stone, ye other adjoyning in Lombard 
 Streete. 
 
 D Willo Proctor p lie cone cu Carolo Everard do ij mess in poch See Marie Wool- 
 noth - ij lb.* 
 
 September ye nth 1701. 
 
 Received ye Postfines above menconed for ye uses of his Majtie. by order of Mr. 
 Secondary Trotman p me 
 
 Samll. Taylor. 
 
 Acquittance is. 
 
 * Translation : " Of William Proctor for licence to agree with Charles Everard con- 
 cerning two messuages m the parish of S. Mary Woolnoth, £2." 
 
( 196 ) 
 
 Bill of Mr. Proctor. 
 
 Ingrossing 2 pr. of Indentures ... ••• ... 01 oo o 
 
 Indorsing an assignment on a Deed ... ... oo 05 o 
 
 Ccppys of ye Drafts ... ... ••• ••• 00 06 8 
 
 Pd. for parchment stamps & a sheet of stamped paper 00 06 7 
 
 £01 18 3 
 
 26th Aprill 1704. 
 Received of Mr. Proctor the full contents Ja. Brace. 
 
 Recorder 
 Chamberlaine . . . 
 Town Clerk 
 Common Cryer ... 
 Inrolling 2 processes 
 Cognition 
 (nisst) (?) 
 
 May 20, 1737. — The next document is a lease of this date from 
 Mr. George Procter, probably a son of William Procter, to James 
 Martin, of "all that messuage or tenement known by the name 
 "or sign of the Grasshopper in such lease stated to be formerly 
 " in the tenure or occupation of Edward Backwell, Esq. deceased, 
 "afterwards of Charles Duncombe, Esq., since in the tenure or 
 " occupation of Richard Smith and Elmes Spinkes, then of Thomas 
 " Martin, Esq.,* and now in the tenure or occupation of the said 
 "James Martin," for 6\ years from Lady Day, 1737, expiring at 
 Michaelmas, 1743, at the yearly rent of ^130, and subject to the 
 covenants therein contained. 
 
 Previous to, but possibly in connexion with, the granting of the 
 lease of May, 1737, Mr. George Procter appears to have put the 
 
 * Mr. Andrew Stone's occupation is not mentioned ; it was, no doubt, omitted by 
 inadvertence. 
 
 Proctor adv. Everard. 
 
 £ s. d. 
 068 
 
 o 1 8 
 o o 10 
 004 
 
 o 13 4 
 028 
 008 
 
 Total 
 
 .£1 06 2 
 
( 197 ) 
 
 premises into a state of thorough repair. The original bills still 
 survive, and they show a total expenditure of ^44 1 is. $\d. y made 
 up as follows : — 
 
 £ s. 
 
 Arthur Stanley, Plaisterer ... ... ... 6 10 
 
 William Freeman, Carpenter 
 Daniel Norfolk, Bricklayer 
 Thos. Powell, Painter 
 Jos. Haslop, Carpenter ... 
 
 Jos. Hawkins, Glaizer 
 
 o 13 
 13 3 
 4 3 
 17 15 
 2 5 
 
 d. 
 2 
 4 
 
 9* 
 10* 
 1* 
 
 ^44 11 5£ 
 
 The bills themselves are here given in detail as a contribution to 
 the history of the prices of labour and materials a century and a 
 half ago. 
 
 Plaisterers work done for George Proctor, Esq., in Change Alley by order of Mr. 
 Troughton March ye 26th 1736 per Arthur Stanley 
 
 To larths and nails 
 To 30 hods of lime and hair at gd. 
 To a plaisterer & labourer 3 days each 
 To 449 yds of washing and scraping and whiteing at id. 
 To 31 yds of colour and varnish at 3d. ... : 
 To 34 yds of blewing ye shop ceiling at gd. yd. 
 
 £ 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 0 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 0 
 
 r 5 
 
 0 
 
 2 
 
 16 
 
 r 
 
 0 
 
 7 
 
 9 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 £6 
 
 10 
 
 2 
 
 Received 21st August 1736 of George Proctor, Esq., by the hands of Mr. Troughton 
 six pounds four (sic) shillings In full of this bill by me 
 
 Arthur Stanley. 
 
 George Proctor, Esq., by Mr. Samll. Throton, May 18th 1736, 
 
 Dr. to Freeman jQ 
 For 8 window bars & nailes & putting them up for 
 ye seller window in Change Alley at wt. qr. 1. lbs. 12 
 at 4^. lb. ... ... ... ... 013 
 
 Received 21st August 1736 of George Proctor, Esq., by the hands of Mr. Samuel 
 Troughton, Thirteen shillings and four pence in full of this bill by me 
 
 John Freeman for the use of my father Wm. Freeman. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 4 
 
( 198 ) 
 
 2 6 
 
 i 6 
 9 
 
 026 
 
 Bricklayers work done for Mr. Proctor by order of Mr. Troughton in Change 
 Alley by me Danl. Norfolk 
 atop 
 
 house ^ ' * 
 
 For 13 hods of mortar ... • • ••• 066 
 
 For 100 of plane tills & 4 rid g e tills ■•: 0 3 8 
 
 For a bricklayer 3 days & a quarter ... 099 
 
 May 7. For a labourer 3 days & quarter ... ... 066 
 
 Pulling doune wall & clening 
 
 For 8 load & half of rubrish carrid away ... o 17 o 
 
 For 3 labourers 2 days ... ••• ••• o 12 o 
 
 For 396 foot & 3 inchs of reduste brick- 
 work in ye party wall at 6d. per foot ... 9 18 ** 
 12. For underpinning in seller & coube for 5 
 hods of mortar 
 
 For 50 bricks & till head 
 
 For a bricklayer 1 day & quarter ... . . , 03 
 
 For a labourer one day & quarter ... 
 
 £ 13 3 9^ 
 
 Received 19th August 1736 of Wm. Proctor, Esq., by the hands of Mr. Samuel 
 Troughton Thirteen pounds three shillings in full of this bill and all accounts. 
 
 6 Per Danill. Norfolk. 
 
 August ye Painting work done for Mr. Proctor in Change Alley by order of Mr. 
 10th 1736. Troughton per Thos. Powell £ s. d. 
 
 For painting 37 'yds. of outside work in the back & 
 
 fore front three times done in oyle att $d. per yd. ... 015 5 
 For painting 47 outside window lights outside twice done 
 
 in oyle att $d. per light ... ••• ■ ■ • on 9 
 
 For painting 5 sash frames twice in oyle att 6d. per 
 
 r ..O20 
 
 frame 
 
 For painting =5 dozen & 8 shash sqrs. twice done m oyle 
 
 att gd. per dozen ... ■ • • • • • ^ 0 
 
 For painting 16 casements twice done in oyle att 3d. per 
 CciscmGnt ... * * * ■ * * * * * 
 
 For painting 143 yds. of work in the parlour kitchen and 
 staircase up to the one pair of stairs done clerecold 
 & finished att 3H per yd. ... ••• •■■ 21 
 
 For painting 16 shash squares inside twice done m oyle 
 
 7 ■ j ...010 
 att gd. per dozen 
 
 For painting 13 window lights inside twice done in oyle 
 att 3d. per light 
 
 £4 3 IO * 
 
( 199 ) 
 
 Received 19th August 1736 of Wm. Proctor, Esq., by the hands of Mr. Saml. 
 Troughton four pounds three shillings & sixpence in full of this bill and all accounts 
 by me 
 
 Thos. Powell. 
 
 Troughton Dr. to Jo 8 . Haslop for Carpenters work done in Change 
 
 Alley 
 
 
 
 £ 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 may 3. 
 
 ror the use of 12 shoars & bases & 2 neadles 
 
 1 
 
 10 
 
 0 
 
 
 For half a days work 4 men 
 
 0 
 
 5 
 
 A 
 
 4- 
 
 For half a days work 3 men 
 
 0 
 
 4 
 
 
 5- 
 
 For one hole deall ... ... ... 
 
 0 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 
 For one Cwt. of 20 nails... 
 
 0 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 For 4 men a days work ... 
 
 0 
 
 10 
 
 8 
 
 0. 
 
 For 12 foott of 4 in. oak plank 
 
 0 
 
 12 
 
 0 
 
 
 For 1 2 foott of 3 inch ditto 
 
 0 
 
 9 
 
 0 
 
 
 For 40 foott of oak 8x6 
 
 2 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 
 For 512 foott hole dealls ... .;. 
 
 0 
 
 8 
 
 A 
 
 
 For 2 paire of oake wedges 
 
 0 
 
 2 
 
 O 
 
 7« 
 
 For a days work 4 men For a days work 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 men 1 0/8 ... 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 A 
 *T 
 
 Q 
 O. 
 
 For 4 ten foott hole dealls . . . 
 
 0 
 
 6 
 
 O 
 
 
 tor 3 foott of 4 mch plank 
 
 0 
 
 3 
 
 O 
 
 
 For 1 1 foott of oake 8x6 
 
 0 
 
 11 
 
 
 
 For a days work 5 men ... 
 
 0 
 
 13 
 
 A 
 
 I O. 
 
 For 5 leaves of slitt deall 
 
 0 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 
 For quarter a Cwt. 20 & quarter Cwt. 6 nails 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 J a 
 
 
 For 18 paire of oake wedges ... • 
 
 0 
 
 18 
 
 O 
 
 
 For 7 foott of oake 5x4 
 
 0 
 
 3 
 
 O 
 
 
 tor a hole deale & halfe 
 
 0 
 
 2 
 
 ■2 
 0 
 
 
 -Tur 10 leaves 01 snt c oeau ... ... 
 
 0 
 
 x 3 
 
 4 
 
 
 For a days work 3 men ... 
 
 0 
 
 8 
 
 0 
 
 I I. 
 
 For 46 foott of firr 4 x 3 for bond timber . . . 
 
 0 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 
 For one pound of glew ... . ; . 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 6 
 
 
 For a days work 5 men ... 
 
 0 
 
 13 
 
 4 
 
 12. 
 
 For 40 foott of 2 in. plank 
 
 1 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 
 For 18 in. of 4 in. ditto ... 
 
 0 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 
 For one pound of glew ... 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 6 
 
 
 For quarter Cwt. of 2od. & do of xod. nails .. 
 
 » 0 
 
 0 
 
 6 
 
 
 For a days work 5 men ... 
 
 0 
 
 13 
 
 4 
 
 
 For a days work 4 men ... 
 
 0 
 
 10 
 
 8 
 
 
 For 3 foott of oake 5X4 
 
 0 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 
 For 6 foott of firr 4 x 3 • 
 
 0 
 
 1 
 
 0 
 
 
 For 6 pounds of pitch ... . 
 
 0 
 
 1 
 
 0 
 
 
 For half Cwt. of 6d. hails 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 3 
 
 
 Carried forward ^14 
 
 19 
 
 6i 
 
( 200 ) 
 
 
 
 r 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 
 jjiOugni iurwcuu. 
 
 T A 
 A 4 
 
 
 
 
 For a days work 4 men ... 
 
 
 10 
 
 8 
 
 
 For 8 foott of firr 6 X 2 . . . 
 
 O 
 
 I 
 
 4 
 
 For one hole deall 
 
 O 
 
 I 
 
 5 
 
 
 For 2 paire of wedges ... 
 
 
 2 
 
 O 
 
 
 For half Cwt. of lod. & Cwt. of 2od. nails ... 
 
 O 
 
 I 
 
 Q 
 O 
 
 
 For one pound of spikes ... 
 
 O 
 
 O 
 
 KJ 
 
 
 For 3 Cwt. of 3d. brads ... 
 
 O 
 
 O 
 
 9 
 
 
 For a days work 3 men ... 
 
 O 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 For a quarter day one man 
 
 
 0 
 
 8 
 
 
 For 2 hole deals 
 
 
 •2 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 For half Cwt. of 6d. nails 
 
 
 0 
 
 1 
 0 
 
 
 For a days work 2 men ... 
 
 O 
 
 5 
 
 A 
 
 4 
 
 1 8. 
 
 For half a day one man .. . 
 
 
 1 
 
 f 
 
 
 For half Cwt. 2od. and half Cwt. lod. nails ... 
 
 
 
 0 
 
 
 For a days work 2 men .. . 
 
 O 
 
 c 
 
 D 
 
 
 19. 
 
 For half a Cwt. 2od. & half Cwt. xod. & half 
 
 
 
 
 Cwt 6d. nails 
 
 O 
 
 I 
 
 3 
 
 20. 
 
 For a days work one man 
 
 O 
 
 2 
 
 8 
 
 21. 
 
 For a days work one man 
 
 O 
 
 2 
 
 8 
 
 
 For a days work one man 
 
 O 
 
 2 
 
 8 
 
 June 2. 
 
 For quarter Cwt. of iod. nails 
 
 O 
 
 O 
 
 2 
 
 For half a days work a man 
 
 O 
 
 I 
 
 4 
 
 
 For one hole deall 
 
 O 
 
 I 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 £*1 
 
 15 
 
 1* 
 
 Received 19th August 1736 of Wm. Proctor, Esq., by the hands of Mr. Samuel 
 Troughton seventeen pounds fifteen shillings in full of this bill and all accounts. 
 
 Per me Joseph Haslop. 
 
 Glaizers work done in Exchange Alley by order of Mr. Troughton for George 
 Proctor, Esq., per Joseph Hawkins 
 
 17 36 June 22nd. ^ ' ' 
 
 26 foot of glass new leaded at 3d. ... ... ••• 0 ? 
 
 172 ft. do. new leaded at i$d. ... ••• ••• 1 1 
 
 16 casements pind. in at 3d. ... ••• ••• 040 
 
 72 squares at \\d. ... ••• ••• y 
 
 5 sash windows cleaned 
 
 For mending and fitting the iron casements .. 
 
 o 2 
 
 £* 5 
 
 Received 21st August 1736 of George Proctor, Esq., by the hands of Mr. Samuel 
 
 Troughton two pounds five shillings in full of this bill by me 
 
 5 ^ Joseph Hawkins. 
 
( 201 ) 
 
 In the year 1741, Mr. George Procter, in consideration of ^2890 
 paid to him by Mr. James Martin, conveyed to Mr. James Martin— 
 "All that messuage or tenement formerly in the occupation of 
 " Andrew Stone but then of the said James Martin his undertenants 
 " and assigns, and also that other tenement late in the occupation of 
 "George Piggott, stationer, his undertenant and assigns, but then 
 "empty, formerly known by the sign of the 'Cross Daggers,' and 
 "adjoining to the north part to the before-mentioned tenement." 
 
 James Martin, by a codicil to his will (proved on the 18th of 
 December, 1744), devised the premises which he had purchased of 
 Mr. George Procter to his brother John ; and John Martin, by his 
 will (proved on the 3rd of April, 1767), devised them to his son, 
 James Martin, from whom they have passed to the present owners. 
 
 From the study of these perplexing legal documents, the con- 
 clusion is reached that Charles Everard had, at the date of the 
 Restoration, acquired the freehold of a considerable estate in Lom- 
 bard Street and Change Alley. A contemporary deed shows its 
 limits, and gives its superficial area, which agrees closely with the 
 description given in a deed of lease dated the same year, 1 700 — 
 
 "Which said 6576 sq. ft. of ground is the ground, or part thereof 
 "on which a great messuage or tenement called or known by the 
 "name of the Palsgrave's Head* or some part thereof, or the 
 "gardens, outhouses or buildings thereto belonging formerly stood, 
 
 * The sign of the Palsgrave's Head is not mentioned in the " History of Signs and 
 Signboards." Stowe, in his " Survey" (Strype, book iv. ch. vii. vol. ii. p. 118, 6th edit. 
 1755), has the following :— " The Cock Alehouse, adjoining to Temple-Bar, is a noted 
 " Public-House. Thence passing Westwards is Cross-Key Alley, very small. The next 
 "place that offers itself is Palgrave's-Head-Court, very handsome, large, well-built, and 
 " inhabited, with a freestone pavement, which causeth it to lie high and dry. It hath an 
 " outlook into the Temple, with a door to it." Palgrave's Place, marked on recent maps, 
 no longer exists. It has disappeared with Temple Bar, and in its place are the 
 Law Courts, The Griffin, and the Courts Restaurant. This last used to be the 
 Palsgrave, a name still to be read on the tesselated pavement of the entrance. The 
 name was probably given in honour of the great Palatine " Pfalz Graf," the husband of 
 the Princess Elizabeth, only daughter of James I. 
 
( 202 ) 
 
 " and which, before the said fire was, or great part thereof was, built 
 " into shops and tenements by the said Charles Everard the Father, 
 " and William Cutler the elder, Esq., and laid into a new Alley then 
 "called Exchange Alley." 
 
 Alderman Backwell in the days of his prosperity took building 
 leases of a part at least of this estate, including the site of the 
 Grasshopper and of the Unicorn. The former is traced, through 
 successive owners, from Everard to Procter in 1700 for ^2000, and 
 from Procter to James Martin in 1741, at the price of ^"2890. 
 
 The Unicorn. 
 
 The Unicorn was occupied by Backwell himself, who seems, 
 though it does not so appear from the deeds under review, to have 
 acquired the freehold later on. But evil days came not long after, 
 when, on the 2nd of January, 1672, the king laid hands on 
 ^295,994 16s. 6d. of Backwell's money, which, with that of other 
 goldsmiths, had been deposited in the Exchequer. 
 
 A deed of bargain and sale, now in the possession of Mr. Hilton 
 Price, dated the 5th of January, 1702, between John Backwell, 
 Richard Backwell, Barnaby Backwell, and Leigh Backwell (sons of 
 Edward Backwell, deceased) ; Sir John Mordaunt, of London, 
 knight ; Shem Bridges, of London, Esquire ; Thomas Lefield, of 
 London, Esquire ; Richard Mountney, of Kew, co. Surrey, and 
 Anne (his wife), sole daughter and heiress of John, brother of Edward 
 Backwell, of the first part ; Nathaniel Syms, of London, gentleman, 
 of the second part ; and William Melnoth, of Lincoln's Inn, co. 
 Middlesex, of the third part, witnessed, that in consideration of ^170 
 duly paid by the said William Melnoth to Richard Snagg,* Joseph 
 
 * Richard Snagg was probably an apprentice of Alderman Backwell. In 1682 he 
 received at the Unicom the claims of Backwell's creditors. In 1683 he was at the 
 Exchange, and in 1691 at the Flying Horse in Lombard Street. In 1708 he was 
 ruined by the defalcations of his clerk, Robert Yate. 
 
( 203 ) 
 
 Moore, Thomas Paine, Charles Shales* and William Atwill.f in 
 pursuance of an order of the Court of Chancery in a cause depending 
 between Sir Edmund Turner, knight, and others, creditors of the 
 said Edward Backwell, the Backwells and parties of the first part 
 gave a discharge in full to Melnoth ; and at the same time, for a 
 nominal consideration, they conveyed to Melnoth — 
 
 " All that messuage or tenement with the appurtenances situate 
 " and being in Lombard Street, in the parish of St. Mary Woolnoth 
 " London commonly called or known by the name or sign of the 
 " ' Unicorne ' now or late in the occupation or tenure of Henry Lambe 
 "or his assigns abutting on a messuage now in the possession of 
 " Andrew Stone called ye ' Grasshopper ' on the East, upon another 
 " messuage late in the possession of James St. John called ye ' White 
 "'Horse' on the west, upon Lombard Street aforesaid on the south, 
 " and upon part of Garraway's coffee-house on the north, which said 
 " messuage . . . contains these several rooms following, that is to say 
 " a cellar on the first story, a shop and backshop with drawing room 
 " on the second story, a dyning room a little parlor with kitchen on 
 " the third story, 2 chambers on the 4th story, 4 garret chambers on 
 "the 5th story, and a little room or turrett upon the leads over the 
 "same. . . ." 
 
 From this date the history of the Unicorn is partially obscure. 
 The plan of the houses destroyed by the fire of 1748 places " Knight 
 "and Jackson, Bankers," west of " Martin, Banker," on a site carved 
 out of that of the Grasshopper, but this is certainly incorrect. 
 There is no evidence in the title-deeds of such a subdivision of the 
 frontage to Lombard Street. Mr. Price is no doubt right in saying 
 
 * Charles Shales was apprentice to Chas. Duncombe. He carried on business at 
 the Unicorn after Duncombe's retirement, under the style of Shales and Smithin. 
 (Cf. p. 28.) 
 
 t William Atwill (or Atwell). In 17 12 Atwill and Hamond's premises occupied 
 what is now the north-west angle of Messrs. Glyn & Co.'s bank (p. 223). In 1720 
 Gay says that " Atwell's self was drained of all his hoards." They failed two years after, 
 in April, 1722. 
 
( 204 ) 
 
 that Knight and Jackson originated at the Unicorn, at a date 
 previous to 1729. After various changes, they became Remington 
 and Co., who were brought down in 1828 by the frauds of their 
 
 LOMBARD S'TREET 
 
 Scale of Feet 
 10 s o 10 20 30 40 50 
 I. I 1 1 1 1 
 
 THE GRASSHOPPER, GARRAWAY's, EXCHANGE TAVERN, BAKER'S COFFEE-HOUSE, AND UNICORN, 189O. 
 
 partner, Rowland Stephenson, of unhappy memory. A Rowland 
 Stephenson had been a clerk at the Grasshopper in 1752. 
 
 In 1890 the premises were acquired by Messrs. Martin and Co. ; 
 
( 2 05 ) 
 
 but no ancient deeds survive. The earliest document of title is a 
 deed of lease and release, dated 18th of February, 1830, between 
 William Way Burne and William Remington of the first part ; 
 Will iam Strachan, George Robertson, William Soltau, and William 
 Crawford of the second part ; the said William Remington and 
 Margaret his wife of the third part; John Allison of the fourth 
 part ; and Charles Allison of the fifth part ; wherein the Unicorn 
 is described as follows : — 
 
 " All that messuage or tenement and hereditaments situate lying 
 "and being in Lombard Street in the parish of St. Mary Woolnoth, 
 " London, and numbered 69 in the said street, formerly called or 
 "known by the name or sign of the ' Unicorn ' and formerly in the 
 " tenure or occupation of Edward Bowman (? Backwell) afterwards 
 "of William Knight and Joseph Jackson and since of the said 
 "M essrs. Stephenson Remington and Company, Bankers, abutting 
 "on a messuage formerly in the possession of Andrew Stone and 
 " then called The Grasshopper, and now in the occupation of Messrs. 
 " Martin Stone Stone and Martin on the East, another messuage 
 "formerly in the possession of James St. John, and afterwards of 
 " , and called the Star and now of the Pelican Life In- 
 surance Company West, upon Lombard Street aforesaid South, 
 "upon part of Baker's Coffee house on the North. . . ." 
 
 Thus, after a lapse of over two hundred years, the fortunes of the 
 Grasshopper and the Unicorn, which parted company in the time of 
 Backwell and Duncombe, have come together in the hands of their 
 successors of the same craft. 
 
( 207 ) 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 garraway's and baker's coffee-house. 
 
 Change Alley and the South Sea Bubble— Mr. Ward's picture— Garraway's Coffee-house 
 — Swift and the South Sea Bubble— Garraway's originally divided between Back- 
 well and Everard— Its boundaries in 1700— Conveyed to Jeremiah Stokes, 1700— 
 To Stephen Skinner, 1775— To Nathaniel Wright, 1793— To Messrs. Glyn & Co., 
 1866— To Messrs. Martin & Co. 1884— The Crown Alehouse— Langley the 
 hatter— Baker's Coffee-house— Called the Rummer Tavern in 1700— Known as 
 Baker's Coffee-house, 1712— A mart for clothing, wool, and woollen goods- 
 Conveyed in 1789 by Benjamin Bond Hopkins to Richard Pugh— In 1884 to 
 Messrs. Martin & Co.— BackwelPs melting-house and the kitchen of Baker's 
 Coffee-house. 
 
 HP HE fortunes of Alderman Backwell had culminated and waned, 
 
 and the business of his apprentice, Duncombe, had passed from 
 Richard Smith and Andrew Stone to Thomas and James Martin 
 before Change Alley for the second time became the centre of 
 financial activity. Up to the period when Gresham founded the Royal 
 Exchange, Lombard Street and Change Alley had been the open- 
 air meeting-place of the mercantile community. If contemporary 
 annalists may be believed, the space afforded by the Royal Exchange 
 had, by the end of the seventeenth century, become too limited to 
 accommodate the traders who frequented it. They again resorted 
 to Change Alley, and this spot became the very centre of the 
 speculation which culminated, in 1 720, in the collapse of the South 
 Sea Bubble. Here the leaders of the City, and of what was then 
 the West End, met, and here, under the walls of the Grasshopper, 
 
( 208 ) 
 
 were enacted those scenes that have furnished so prolific a theme to 
 the authors and painters of a later date. 
 
 It may be that many transactions that are now done through the 
 intervention of a broker by means of post-office and telegraph facili- 
 ties, then necessitated personal attendance, and that, if the truth were 
 known, the gambling in the days of the South Sea Company was not 
 
 garraway's coffee-house, prior to demolition, 1874. 
 From Thornbury's " Old and New London," (Cassell & Co.) 
 
 much more reckless than it has been in modern days ; but of the 
 fact there can be little doubt, and the offices and coffee-houses, with 
 which Change Alley then abounded, swarmed with crowds of specu- 
 lators of every rank from all parts of the town. 
 
 The scene has been portrayed in a well-known picture by the 
 late E. M. Ward, R.A., now in the National Gallery. Its chief 
 
( 209 ) 
 
 interest for present purposes lies in the buildings which are delineated. 
 Mr. Ward presumably did not set out his representation of Change 
 Alley without warrant. This is the more likely, since his picture 
 appears to show the angle of an isolated block marked in early plans, 
 which is now completely absorbed in the premises of Messrs. Glyn, 
 Mills, & Co. Singularly enough, the artist, with a prophetic eye, 
 has drawn Garraway's Coffee-house very much as it appears since 
 its rebuilding in 1874, but entirely unlike the building as it was in 
 1842, when the picture was painted. His view is obviously taken 
 from the arm of the Alley that extends to Birchin Lane, his stand- 
 point being more or less identical with that from which the sketch 
 reproduced on the preceding page was drawn. But he has laid full 
 claim to the licence which Horace accords to painters as well as 
 to poets, in that he has placed a coach and horses in the western 
 branch of Change Alley, which from all time has been a footway 
 only, with a low covered entrance at either end. 
 
 The South Sea Bubble had its day ; the contemporary books of 
 the Grasshopper have perished ; it must be a matter of mere con- 
 jecture whether Gay equally assumed the poet's licence when he 
 declared, in the lines already quoted (p. 130), that the general collapse 
 of credit consequent on the bursting of the Bubble, had the effect of 
 draining the Grasshopper of its last guinea, and of leaving the 
 brethren of the craft in no better plight. 
 
 No notice of the South Sea Bubble would be complete without 
 some reference to Garraway's Coffee-house, which figures as largely 
 in the traditions of the day as it does in Mr. Wards picture. 
 Thomas Garraway, or Garway, is said to have established here, 
 shortly after the Restoration, the first tea-house in England, and to 
 have made the following announcement : — 
 
 " Tea in England hath been sold in the leaf for six pounds, and 
 " sometimes for ten pounds the pound weight, and in respect of its 
 " fo rmer scarceness and dearness it hath been only used as a regalia 
 "in high treatments and entertainments, and presents made thereof 
 
 p 
 
( 2IO ) 
 
 "to grandees and princes, till the year 1657. The 'said Thomas 
 " Garway did purchase a quantity thereof and first publicly sold the 
 " tea in leaf, and drink made according to the directions of the most 
 "knowing merchants and travellers into those eastern countries; and 
 "upon knowledge and experience of the said Garway's continued 
 "care and industry in obtaining the best tea, and making drink 
 « thereof, very many noblemen, physicians, merchants, and gentlemen 
 « of quality, have ever since sent to him for the said leaf, and daily 
 " resort to his house, in Exchange Ally aforesaid, to drink the drink 
 "thereof. . . . These are to give notice that the said Thomas 
 " Garway hath tea to sell from 16s. to 50s. a pound." 
 
 The name occurs in the parish registers of St. Mary Woolnoth, 
 in the following entries : — 
 
 " 1672. Sep. 28. Dyed Suzan Smith servant to Garroway, bur. 
 
 " Sep. 29." 
 
 « 1674. April 4. Elizabeth Graunt at Mr. Garrowaye's, bur. 
 "April 5." 
 
 "1679. Dec. 10. Dyed Francis Partridge manservant to 
 "Thomas Garway, bur. Dec. 10." 
 
 Swift, in a rather prosy poem entitled " The South Sea Project," 
 gives Change Alley a bad name — 
 
 " There is a gulf, where thousands fell, 
 " Here all the bold adventurers came, 
 " A narrow sound, though deep as Hell : — 
 " Change Alley is the dreadful name j" 
 
 and makes Garraway's the head-quarters of the dealers who found 
 their profit in the reckless speculation of the public — 
 
 "Meantime secure on Garraway cliffs, 
 " A savage race by shipwrecks fed, 
 " Lie waiting for the founder'd skiffs, 
 " And strip the bodies of the dead." 
 
 After the collapse of the South Sea Bubble, Defoe speaks in 1722 
 of Garraway's as the haunt, at mid-day, of people of quality who had 
 
( 211 ) 
 
 business in the City. Later on, it became a noted auction room, 
 especially for the sale of timber, wine, and real property ; and up to 
 the close of its separate existence, the voices of the auctioneer and 
 of the bidders at these sales were plainly audible in the counting- 
 house of the Grasshopper. 
 
 The title-deeds of Garraway's commence at the year 1 700, when 
 the site was divided into two unequal portions, distinguished as 
 Backwell's inheritance and Everard's inheritance respectively. At 
 the end of this year John Backwell and others, the sons of Alderman 
 Edward Backwell, conveyed to Jeremiah Stokes, citizen and haber- 
 dasher, the portion described and delineated as Backwell's inherit- 
 ance for ^447 12*. 6d. The site conveyed by this deed is described 
 thus : — 
 
 " Containing in front on the North side thereof from East to 
 " West^i2. 4", and at the South end thereof from East to West 
 ''12. 4", and in depth from North to South on the East side 
 "thereof 34. 6" and on the West side thereof 34. 6". Which said 
 "piece of ground abuts North on Exchange Alley, West in part on 
 " the Crown Alehouse, in the occ. of John Welling, and in the other 
 "part on the backside of the Rummer Tavern in Exchange Alley. 
 " South on the shedds built over a yard heretofore the Melting 
 " House or used with or belonging to the Melting House of the said 
 " Edward Backwell, and now used with the said Rummer Tavern, 
 "and East on the ground of Charles Everard whereon the rest of 
 "the said messuage or Coffee house is built and standeth, and 
 "which said Jeremiah Stokes hath bought of the said Charles 
 Everard." 
 
 At the same time, Charles Everard and his wife similarly con- 
 veyed to Stokes the portion known as Everard's inheritance for 
 £1 102 7 s. 6d. The whole site, therefore, passed to Stokes for /1550 
 The -Little London Directory" of 1677 shows that Humphrey 
 Stocks was a goldsmith at the Black Horse in Lombard Street 
 This was, perhaps, little Stokes the goldsmith, with whom Pepys 
 
( 2T2 ) 
 
 had many dealings, and whose wife the Diarist so much admired ; 
 but the London Gazette of June, 1700, records the name of the 
 successor of Humphrey Stokes as Robert Stokes of the Black 
 Horse. Jeremiah Stokes died in 1677, and by his will created a 
 rent-charge on Garraway's of ^120 a year, in favour of his son Basil 
 Stokes. 
 
 At the end of 1720, perhaps in consequence of the events of 
 the South Sea Bubble, the property was charged by way of 
 mortgage for ^5155, and it presently passed, in 1775, to Stephen 
 Skinner, whose successor, Thomas Skinner, sold it, in 1793, to 
 Nathaniel Wright. Two houses in Shire Lane, as well as Garra- 
 way's, passed by this Conveyance ; and as the total consideration was 
 only /2860, the mortgage of 1720 would seem to have been based 
 on an excessive estimate of value. From Nathaniel Wright it passed 
 to his nephew, Samuel Acton, by Whose representatives, after his 
 death, it was conveyed, in 1866, to Messrs. Glyn & Co. It was 
 destined to change hands yet onCe more; in 1884 it was absorbed 
 into the domain of the Grasshopper under circumstances to be 
 narrated further on (p. 227). 
 
 The Crown, etc. (Herman's or 1 Exchange Tavern). 
 
 Garraway's Coffee-house in 17O0 abutted westwards on the 
 Crown Alehouse. Beyond the Crown, and occupying the corner of 
 the block, was a building which seems to have had at that date no 
 distinguishing sign. The following advertisement appears in the 
 London Evening Post of the 1 5th and 1 7th of May, 1 735 :— 
 
 " To be Lett. 
 " In Exchange Alley. 
 " The house late in the occupation of Mess. Richard and Thomas 
 " Woodward, Bankers ; the shop on the Right Hand of the Passage 
 " going into the Jerusalem Coffee house, and offices next Bakers 
 " Coffee-house." 
 
( 2I 3 ) 
 
 The site is marked in the map of 1748 as " Langley, Hatter," 
 and then abutted on the south on Baker's Coffee-house. Langley's 
 was destroyed by the fire of 1748, while Baker's was slightly 
 damaged. The same thing happened in the fire of 1778, which is 
 
 LOMBARD STREET 
 
 Scale of Feet 
 
 THE GRASSHOPPER, GARRAWAY's, AND EXCHANGE TAVERN, 1882-1884. 
 
 said to have damaged Baker's Coffee-house and "the house adjoin- 
 " ing late a hatters." The freehold of this last property was vested 
 in the Earl of Bridgewater. In 1849 it was sold under the trusts of 
 the will of the Earl of Bridgewater to Mr. H. C. Bose for ^3930. 
 
( 214 ) 
 
 By this time the Crown Alehouse had been absorbed, and, in 1882, 
 the joint properties, which were known under the name of the 
 Exchange Tavern, or Herman's Coffee-house, were bought by 
 Messrs. Martin & Co. 
 
 Baker's Coffee-house. 
 Next adjoining on the south to this property lies Baker's Coffee- 
 
 LOMBARD 
 
 10 5 0 
 
 I " " 1 " " I 
 
 STREET 
 
 Scale of Feet 
 10 20 30 
 _J I 1L 
 
 40 
 
 5° 
 
 THE GRASSHOPPER, GARRAWAY'S, EXCHANGE TAVERN, AND BAKER'S COFFEE-HOUSE, li 
 
( "5 ) 
 
 house. None of the numerous entries under the name of Baker 
 in the registers of St. Mary Woolnoth are associated with the spot. 
 An advertisement in the London Gazette of March 12th, 1695, 
 announces : 
 
 " Lost. — On Thursday the 1 2th instant, between Exchange 
 " Alley and Lothbury, a Gold Ring, the Posie was, Our contract 
 "Was heaven's Act. Whoever brings it to Mr. Baker, Clockmaker 
 " in Exchange Alley, London, shall have the value of the Ring." 
 
 When Alderman Back well's sons transferred (1700) to Jeremiah 
 Stokes their interest in a part of Garraway's, the plot of ground was 
 described as abutting south on the sheds built over a yard used in 
 connexion with the Melting-house of Backwell, and now used with 
 the Rummer Tavern. 
 
 A few years later it had acquired its present name. The Post- 
 boy from Saturday, February 14, to Tuesday, February 17, 171 2-13, 
 has the following : — 
 
 " Original Gown Ware-House at Baker's CofTee-House, in Ex- 
 change Alley, Cornhill. 
 
 " Gowns for Men, Women, Boys, Girls, and Children in Arms, 
 " are continued to be sold both by Wholesale and Retail, made up 
 " of rich Brocaded Silks, Italian Silks, with Gold and Silver Flowers, 
 " stained Silks, Damask, Sattins, Scotch-Pleds, Stuffs, and fine 
 " Calicoes ; All made very large, and suitable Linings ; the like was 
 " never exposed to Sale by any Man in England before, where Caps, 
 " Sashes, and quilted Petticoats, are sold, they being Goods bought 
 " of Persons that fail'd. The Price being set on each Gown." 
 
 Later on, Baker's took somewhat higher rank, and became the 
 recognized mart and rendezvous of dealers in wool and woollen 
 goods, in the days before each class of produce had its own special 
 sale-rooms. 
 
 In 1789 Benjamin Bond Hopkins, by deed of lease and release, 
 conveyed the property to Mr. Richard Pugh for ^1010. The 
 premises are described as follows : — 
 
( m ) 
 
 " All that messuage or tenement heretofore used for a tavern 
 "and then called or known by the name or sign of the Rummer 
 " Tavern,* but now used for a Coffee-house and called Baker's Coffee- 
 " house situate in Exchange Alley sometime called Ruller's Court 
 " in the parish of Saint Mary Woolnoth London and the wine vault 
 
 baker's coffee-house from change alley. 
 
 " behind and the cellars under the same And also an accompting 
 " house up the passage on the South side of the said Coffee-house 
 " and the ground whereon the same stands and also the passage 
 
 * There was a celebrated tavern, so named, in Charing Cross before 1750, kept by- 
 Prior, uncle of Matt. Prior the poet. Ruller's Court must have been only a cant 
 name ; it has entirely passed out of use and remembrance in connexion with Change 
 Alley. 
 
( 2I 7 ) 
 
 " leading thereto as the said several premises were heretofore in the 
 " tenure or occupation of Stephen Wiggin after that of Samuel 
 " Purney and Richard Sillitoe Cofifeemen and now of the said 
 " Richard Pugh." 
 
 THE GRASSHOPPER, GARRAWAY's, EXCHANGE TAVERN, AND BAKER 's COFFEE-HOUSE 
 (Baker's kitchen included in Bank premises), 1886. 
 
 The map of 1748 (p. 220) clearly shows a passage very narrow at 
 the entrance, and leading into an irregular quadrangle, both of which 
 have now entirely disappeared. Evidently the sheds which Backwell 
 had erected in the courtyard at the back of the Unicorn, for the 
 
( 218 ) 
 
 purposes of his Melting-house, and which had passed into use in 
 connexion with the Rummer Tavern, had, by degrees, been per- 
 manently roofed in, and had become the kitchen of Baker's Coffee- 
 house. There were some disadvantages to the Grasshopper in this 
 arrangement. The cooking apparatus of Baker's Coffee-house 
 adjoined the party wall, and the pass-books and vouchers of the 
 Grasshopper, which happened to be ranged against it, suffered from 
 the heat. This gave occasion for constant vigilance, and was the 
 cause of some little anxiety. It was, therefore, with some satisfac- 
 tion that in 1884, at the cost of a very "competent sum of money," 
 Baker's Coffee-house was acquired from the successors of Richard 
 Pugh, and was added to the domain of the Grasshopper. No time 
 was lost in transferring the kitchen of Baker's Coffee-house to the 
 attic of the premises, and the old kitchen became part of the banking 
 premises. 
 
( 2I 9 ) 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE THREE CROSSED DAGGERS AND THE PLOUGH. 
 
 James Martin at the Grasshopper, 1741 — -Ebenezer Blackwell his tenant at the Crossed 
 Daggers — The fire of 1748 — Blackwell's house destroyed — The fire of 1778 — The 
 Plough purchased in 1792— Former owners of the Plough — The distribution of 
 the sites east of Change Alley — Atwill and Hamond — The Grasshopper, Plough, 
 and Crossed Daggers rebuilt in 1794 — Disappearance of the sign of the Grass- 
 hopper — Later occupants of the premises — Alterations of 1852 — The Plough 
 exchanged for Garraway's, 1 884 — Garraway's rebuilt — The cellars of Garraway's — 
 Internal alterations — Baker's kitchen — The firearms. 
 
 The Three Crossed Daggers. 
 
 T T may be assumed that when James Martin settled down to the 
 enjoyment of his freehold in 1741, the excitement that twenty 
 years previously raged in the Alley had entirely died away. He 
 had become possessed of an empty house adjoining the Grasshopper, 
 and he soon found a use for this by letting it, at thirty guineas a 
 year, to Ebenezer Blackwell, who, from the position of a clerk, had 
 risen to that of junior partner. In January, 1 747, Blackwell's 
 accounts show that he was a tenant on these terms : the partnership, 
 the tenancy, and the account book very probably commenced at the 
 same date. 
 
 But the Change Alley of Backwell and of the South Sea Bubble 
 was swept away by a second conflagration, only inferior in magnitude 
 to the Great Fire of 1666. On the 25th of March, 1748, a fire broke 
 out at 1 a.m., which destroyed the whole of the area from the west 
 
( 220 ) 
 
 passage of Change Alley to St. Michael's Church on the north-east, 
 and to the church of St. Edmund the King on the south-east. The 
 entire frontage to Cornhill was destroyed, but the houses facing 
 Lombard Street escaped. The fire raged so impetuously that before 
 10 a.m. one hundred houses were burnt. This fire involved Gang- 
 way's Coffee-house and the Three Crossed Daggers (between 
 Garraway's and the Grasshopper), of which Ebenezer Blackwell was 
 the tenant ; but the Grasshopper itself escaped. 
 
 The Bath Journal, Monday, March 28th, 1747-8, gives the 
 following minute topographical description of the ravages of this con- 
 flagration : — 
 
 "Garraway's, the Jerusalem, and Jonathan's Coffee- Houses, the 
 " Swan-Tavern, with the Rest of the Houses in Change-Alley, are 
 " destroyed, except Baker's and Sam's Coffee- Houses, which are 
 " greatly damaged. The Flames extended themselves into Cornhill, 
 " and burnt down the Houses of Mr. Walthoe, Mr. Strahan, Mr. 
 " Meadows, and Mr. Brotherton, Booksellers ; Mr. Deputy Cleve, a 
 " Pewterer ; Mr. Warner, a Stationer; Tom's and* the Rainbow 
 " Coffee- Houses, the Fleece and Three-Tuns Taverns, a Millener's 
 " next the Three-Tuns, and a Cabinet-Maker's the Corner of Birchin- 
 " Lane ; Mr. Legg's, a Woollen-Draper, the other corner, a Shoe- 
 " maker's, with another Wollen-Draper's adjoining ; the London 
 " Assurance-Office, the Widow Harrison's, Mr. Vaughan's, a Haber- 
 " dasher, Mrs. Sarrazin's, the Corner of St. M ichael's- Alley ; in the 
 " said Alley, Knight's Shoe- Warehouse, the Cock and Lion a 
 " Publick-house, the House of Mr. Gayther a Peruke-maker, Mr. 
 " Oldis, a Sadler; the Jamaica Coffee-House was not consumed, 
 " but greatly damaged, as was likewise St. Michael's Church : The 
 " Houses in Castle-Court, and White-Lion Court, Birchin-Lane, were 
 " all consumed ; the George and Vulture Tavern, Elford's Coffee- 
 " House, and the House of Mr. Willimot, a Hosier in George- Yard 
 " was consumed, and great Damages done to other Houses in the 
 "said Yard; the Pensylvania, Carolina, the Sword-Blade, and Cole's 
 
Back of 
 Foldout 
 Not Imaged 
 
( 221 ) 
 
 " Coffee-Houses, with Part of Old Tom's, the House of Mr. Shaw a 
 " Shoe-maker, Mr. Wilson a Stationer, and all the others in the said 
 " Lane, except eight towards Lombard-street, were likewise con- 
 " sumed." 
 
 The London Magazitie for March, i 74S, gives a 1 plan illustrative 
 of this description* which, though not absolutely accurate in minute 
 details, is exceedingly interesting. Pennant (1777, v °l- & P- 9° 2 )> 
 while lamenting this misfortune, says that the spacious and com- 
 modious buildings erected upon the ruins proved a great advantage 
 to the public* and an ornament to the City. 
 
 Thirty years later, a third conflagration devastated the area from 
 Pope's Head Alley to Baker's Coffee-house arid the present 
 Exchange Tavern, then a hattef's. This event is recorded in the 
 books of the Grasshopper : — 
 
 " 1778, Dec. 9th. — To gifts to sundry persons who 
 
 assisted at the late fire in Exchange Alley ... £7 4 6" 
 
 and in a contemporary chronicle as follows : — 
 
 " Yesterday morning, about 3 o'clock, a terrible fire broke out 
 " near Pearce's lottery office, Pope's Head Alley, Cornhill, and soon 
 " consumed the same* with several other offices and Seyrriour's 
 " Coffee-house over them* and all the houses on that side the way ; 
 " it also consumed the Pope's Head Eating-house, Johnson's Lottery 
 " Office, and Mr. Ogier's office, a notary public, a cabinet maker's, 
 " the corner of the Alley, and Mr. Fourdrinier a stationer's adjoin- 
 " ing, in Lombard Street, were entirely consumed ; the back part of 
 " Messrs. Lee's & Co. bankers, in Lombard-Street, was much 
 " damaged ; it burnt through into Change-alley, consumed the house 
 " of Mr. Webster, watch-maker, Mr. Aubury, breeches-maker, Mr. 
 " Wilkinson, cabinet-maker, late Sam's Coffee-house, with all the 
 " furniture, and stock in trade of the several houses. The flames 
 " reached the lottery office, late Jonathan's Coffee-house, which was 
 " consumed, and part of the house adjoining, late the King's Arms 
 
( 222 ) 
 
 " Tavern. It likewise damaged Baker's Coffee-house, and the house 
 " adjoining, late a hatter's ; the back part of several houses in 
 " Cornhill were much damaged. The Aunt and maid-servant of a 
 " gentleman, and his wife, perished in the flames, and others narrowly 
 " escaped. Two firemen are missing. The damage done is very 
 "considerable. The great fire which happened on the 25th of 
 " March, 1748, was partly on the same spot."* 
 
 The Plough. 
 
 In 1792 James Martin bought for ^"2500 from Ann Corrall, 
 widow, Charles Wright, and Rawson Aislabie, the executors of 
 Christopher Corrall, deceased, the house divided from the Grass- 
 hopper by the eastern passage from Change Alley into Lombard 
 Street. The history of these premises appears from the abstract of 
 title furnished to James Martin to be this. — Previous to the Great 
 Fire of 1666, they consisted of two distinct properties. The 
 premises, known originally as No. 67, but later as 68a, Lombard 
 Street, extended as far up the Alley as the end of the present covered 
 way ; and they were in the occupation of one Samuel Dye. After 
 the fire of 1666 they were rebuilt by Nathaniel Cock, and, under the 
 style of the Plough, they were in the occupation of Joseph Wilson, 
 goldsmith,j from whose heirs Christopher Corrall bought them in 
 1776. North of the Plough was a small property having a frontage 
 of 8 ft. 3 in. westward on Change Alley, in the occupation, about 
 1 71 2, of John Wright. In the plan of the houses destroyed by the 
 
 * "Annual Register," December 1st, 1778. 
 
 f The title-deeds make no mention of an occupancy which we find recorded else- 
 where. The "Little London Directory" of 1677 gives among the goldsmiths that 
 keep running cashes Peter White and — Churchill, at the Plough in Lumbard street. 
 The registers of St. Mary Woolnoth give the births and deaths of several of his children 
 and of his widow, and also the following : — 
 
 " 1674. Nov. 26. Did through himself from the top of his masters house, Thomas 
 " Browne, aprentice to Mr. Peter White, Goldsmith, the corner house next Exchange 
 ' Alley, against Abchurch Lane." 
 
( 223 ) 
 
 fire of 1 748 it is marked as a fruit-stall. This was the property of 
 one John Hopkins, from whom it passed, in 1772, to his nephew, 
 Benjamin Bond, who took the name of Hopkins. In 1788 it was 
 sold to Henry Hoare, being then in the occupation of Christopher 
 Corrall. In 1792 James Martin contracted with the widow of 
 Christopher Corrall and her co-trustees, for the sale of the premises 
 for ^"2500. At the same time he acquired the interest of Henry 
 Hoare in what appears to have been by this time a part of the 
 premises occupied by Mrs. Corrall, and thus became possessor of the 
 entire freehold. 
 
 The memorandum of agreement of 1792 for the sale to James 
 Martin for the first time specifies the property as "a house No. 67 
 " situate on the North side of Lombard Street." The numbering of 
 the houses took place between 1766 and 1770; Kent's Directory 
 for the former year contains no mention of numbers, but that of 1 770 
 (their publication was not then annual, and there are no intermediate 
 ones in the British Museum) states on the title-page that it contains 
 " the numbers, as they were affixed to their houses agreeable to the 
 " late Acts of Parliament." 
 
 The abstract of title prepared for the purposes of this conveyance 
 shows the distribution of the site now forming the north-west angle 
 of Messrs. Glyn & Co.'s bank. It formed the south-eastern angle of 
 Everard's property, and in 171 2 it was sold to the above-mentioned 
 John Hopkins. It consisted of a large block on the west that 
 formerly had been two distinct premises, at that time in the occupa- 
 tion of William Atwill and William Hamond. Eastward, with a 
 frontage of 2 1 ft. to Change Alley on the north, were premises once 
 occupied by William Cowley Cook, and afterwards by Benjamin 
 Cole; and southward the small premises, fronting the Three Crossed 
 Daggers, already mentioned (p. 219). 
 
 In 1793-94 a further transformation in the aspect of Change 
 Alley took place, this time under less deplorable circumstances — the 
 Grasshopper was pulled down and rebuilt. Its external appearance 
 
( 224 ) 
 
 on the Lombard Street side is of this date. The occurrence is 
 marked in the books by an entry — 
 
 "1794. Dec. 13. — Sundry expenses in removing from 
 
 Change Alley ... ... ^5 6 o" 
 
 Which points out the locality of the premises temporarily occupied 
 during the alterations. Another record of the rebuilding lies in the 
 fact that the rent paid by the firm to the owner was raised, the cost 
 of rebuilding having been borne by him. Tradition has it that it 
 was during this rebuilding that the emblem of the house disappeared. 
 A brazen grasshopper was suspended ovdr the door until the time 
 of Pennantj who says, " The shop of the great Sir Thomas 
 " Gresham stood in this street; it is now occupied by Messrs. Martin 
 " & Co.j Bankers, who are still in possession of the original sign of 
 " that illustrious person, the Grasshopper. Were it mine, that 
 " honorable memorial of so great a predecessor should certainly be 
 "placed in the most ostentatious situation I could find." 
 
 The disappearance of the sign is not, however, attributable to 
 any want of reverence on the part of its owners, but to the dishonesty 
 of the workmen who rebuilt the house in 1 794-5 ; it is said that it 
 was carefully put away during the rebuilding, but was not forthcoming 
 at the completion of the works. An alternative tradition, that it was 
 carried off by Mr. Porter to adorn his residence at Leytonstone, has 
 been already recorded. It may be hoped that the Grasshopper was 
 not the only insect to disappear : this tutelary guardian had its 
 parasites, as we see from the following entry in 1751 — 
 
 " To Bridges, for killing the Buggs in the shop ... £1 15 o" 
 
 And again in Ebenezer Blackwell's accounts — 
 
 " 1 750. Aug. 28. — Paid Mr. George Bridges for 
 
 destroying the Buggs ... ... ... ... £1 1 o." 
 
 The building operations comprised the sites of the Grasshopper, 
 the Three Crossed Daggers, and the Plough. On their completion the 
 
( 2 25 ) 
 
 new premises presented a frontage of five windows towards Lombard 
 Street. Subsequent events have modified this arrangement, which 
 is, however, unaltered as regards the upper stories. 
 
 The Plough retained its separate existence ; and was used, from 
 time to time, as a residence by various members of the family, and 
 later on as the residence of Messrs. Dobson, Norton, Chandliss, and 
 Cole, members of the staff. Subsequently the ground floor was 
 occupied as the office of Mr. Bartholomew Forbes— a relative of the 
 Martins and Stones— and after him by his clerk, Mr. Harry Tom- 
 kins, who, until a few years ago, was a well-known presence on the 
 Stock Exchange and at the Grasshopper. The Three Crossed 
 Daggers remained distinct as the private entrance to the residential 
 portion of the premises, being approached, as before, from Change 
 Alley. 
 
 The business of the Grasshopper continued to be conducted 
 within its own limits. The little window facing northward 
 towards Change Alley still survives to mark the boundary 
 between the premises of the Grasshopper and the Three Crossed 
 Daggers. As time went on, and customs changed, the City ceased 
 to be in use as a residence for business men, and at the same 
 time the business of the bank required larger space. In 1852, 
 accordingly, a very material change was effected in the interior 
 •arrangements of the premises. The ground floor of the Crossed 
 Daggers was thrown into the Grasshopper, and was devoted to 
 ledgers and pass-books ; the entrance to Change Alley was blocked 
 up and replaced by a large window, the house ceased to have a 
 private entrance, and access to the upper floors was given by a steep 
 and rather dark staircase. The original front office or "shop" 
 was increased in size, by the inclusion of what had been the 
 partners' room; the new partners' room was now placed between 
 the "shop" and the back office, or ledger-room, communication 
 being maintained by a narrow passage. At the same time additional 
 height was given to the new partners' room by the removal of an 
 
 Q 
 
( 226 ) 
 
 entresol, in which space had been found for a passage and one or 
 two small bedrooms. This arrangement continued for twenty-two 
 years, and must be in the recollection of many. By the end of 
 this period the requirements of the business were again in excess 
 
 68 LOMBARD STREET 
 
 Scale of Feet 
 ; o 10 20 30 
 
 r 1 1 1 — 
 
 40 
 1 
 
 THE GRASSHOPPER, THE THREE CROSSED DAGGERS, AND THE 
 PLOUGH, 1794-1874. 
 
 of the space at command. Messrs. Glyn, Mills, & Co. found 
 themselves in like case. The fortunes of Garraway's have been 
 followed until the time when they passed into Messrs. Glyn's posses- 
 sion ; the consequence was that, at this time, Messrs. Glyn & Co. 
 
( 227 ) 
 
 were the owners of a site separated from their own premises by 
 Change Alley, "a narrow sound" which it was neither easy to 
 bridge over nor to tunnel under; while on the other hand, Messrs. 
 Martin & Co. owned a smaller plot which was useless for business 
 purposes for the same reasons. An exchange was the obvious 
 method of relieving either party from their embarrassment, and 
 terms were eventually arranged by which Messrs. Martin & Co. 
 
 THE INTERIOR OF THE "SHOP," 1852-1874. 
 From a sketch by Mr. W. E. Williams. 
 
 surrendered the smaller site, with its Lombard Street frontage, in 
 exchange for the much larger plot at the back of their premises in 
 Change Alley. It is probable that neither party to this friendly 
 deal has regretted the bargain. 
 
 The Grasshopper was at once enlarged, under the advice of 
 Mr. R. Norman Shaw, R.A., and the partners' room now occupies 
 
( 228 ) 
 
 the ground floor of the classical site of Garraway's Coffee-house. 
 The external appearance, it need hardly be said, is much more 
 in harmony with the traditions of Jacobean architecture than was 
 that of the building (p. 208), erected after the fire of 1748, and 
 
 LOMBARD STREET 
 
 Scale of Feet 
 
 THE GRASSHOPPER, THE THREE CROSSED DAGGERS, AND 
 
 garraway's, 1874-1882. 
 
 known as Garraway's to the present generation of living men. 
 In the course of reconstruction the foundations were carried down 
 to Roman London, but very little of interest was discovered, 
 except the rim of a mortar with a lip, much of modern shape : 
 
( 22 9 ) 
 
 though the base of the mortar was missing, and the rim was broken, 
 it contained a mixture in which the remains of wheat and of beans 
 were clearly to be identified. This relic, with its contents, has been 
 preserved, but the substance that it contained entirely ceased to be 
 recognizable when the action of the air dried up the moisture which 
 had preserved the contents unaltered. A few fragments of Samian 
 ware, and a few bones of sheep, goats, and of the English ox (Bos 
 longifrons), were the only other relics that came to the surface. 
 
 The cellars of Garraway's and of the adjacent premises present a 
 remarkable peculiarity. The old plans of Garraway's show cellars 
 extending eastwards under the walls of the opposite houses ; these, 
 under the agreement with Messrs. Glyn & Co., were cut off at the 
 western side of Change Alley. On the north the present vaults of 
 the Grasshopper extend under Change Alley, and, for a certain 
 distance, under the walls of the house opposite. The case is the 
 same in the cellars of the Exchange Tavern, which are further 
 remarkable in being of two stages. The vaults adjacent on the north 
 side are still known as the " Old Priory Vaults," and possibly this 
 singular arrangement may be found to have its origin in the structural 
 details of some religious establishment antecedent in date to the 
 Palsgrave's Head. 
 
 A further alteration in the internal arrangements of the Grass- 
 hopper has been recorded, namely, the inclusion, in 1885, of what 
 was previously the kitchen of Baker's Coffee-house, and, in still 
 earlier days, the melting house attached to the premises of Alder- 
 man Backwell at the Unicorn. It only remains to mention one 
 more feature that has long been the distinguishing mark of the office, 
 namely, the firearms which adorn the walls. There is an entry in the 
 books — 
 
 " 1767, Dec. 25. To Cleaning ye firearms to Xmas ... 155." 
 
 and it has always been a tradition that they were a souvenir of 
 the days when the citizens armed themselves in the '45 to resist the 
 
( 230 ) 
 
 invasion of the Young Pretender. The Armoury Keeper of the 
 Tower made an examination of them in 1890, and furnishes the 
 following : — 
 
 " Memorandum. 
 
 " Four Muskets. 
 
 " George III. about the time of the Gordon Riots. 
 
 " Similar arm to the Brown Bess. 
 " Two blunderbusses. 
 
 " George III. & IV. Mail Guard. 
 " Two bell-mouth pistols. 
 " Two brass barrel do. 
 " Four iron barrel do. 
 
 "George III. & IV." 
 
 The books of the Grasshopper bear no testimony to the events 
 of the Gordon Riots (1780), though the troops are said to have 
 bivouacked within sight of its windows in Abchurch Lane. 
 
 THE BLUNDERBUSSES. 
 
BOOK IV. 
 THE CUSTOMERS. 
 
 ws ov&ev iaTLv ovre irvpyos ovtc vcujs 
 
( 2 3 3 ) 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE OLD CUSTOMERS. 
 
 Introductory — Foreign names among the early customers probably connected with 
 Alderman Back well— List of names from 173 1 to 1799 that still survive— 
 Celebrities — Philanthropic institutions — Thomas Papillon — J. Fullerton — Sir Geo. 
 Downing — Mr. A. G. Fullerton, present representative of the Downing family — 
 John and Francis Baring, 1764 — World-wide reputation of Baring Bros. — Reverses 
 of fortune— Their pedigree — Humorous letter from Mr. John Baring, 188 1 — 
 Connexion of the Barings and the Grasshopper, 1764— Mr. Francis Baring and 
 Mr. Smith — Their agreement respecting the borough of Ilchester, 1789 — Sub- 
 sequent connexions between the families of Baring, Labouchere, Thornton, Stone, 
 etc. — Peter Floyer, 1770 — Survival of a singular unclaimed balance — Two similar 
 cases— John Aislabie, 1748, connected with Messrs. Standring— Benjamin Aislabie 
 —His reputation as a cricketer— The West Kent Cricket Club— His rhyming 
 alphabets. 
 
 ^pHE quotation from the Greek dramatist that has been placed at 
 ^ the head of this book has been already plagiarized by Love- 
 lace. Stone walls, says the one, do not make a citadel, nor, according 
 to the other, do they constitute a prison. Just so the banker and 
 his bank are incomplete without the customer; and it is to the 
 customers that the concluding portion of this work must be devoted. 
 From what has been already stated, it may seem that the books of 
 Alderman Edward Backwell might appropriately have remained 
 with his apprentices, Duncombe or Shales, who carried on his 
 business after the disaster brought on him by the closing of the 
 Exchequer, and on whose premises his estate was administered. At 
 the same time, it is possible that had Backwell's ledgers found this 
 
( 2 34 ) 
 
 resting-place, they might have shared the fate of the books of 
 earlier date than 1 731, whose loss has placed so many difficulties 
 in the way of the present compilation. The large proportion of 
 foreign names in the earlier General Balances of the Grasshopper 
 furnish evidence of the days when the wharves of the Thames were 
 crowded with Dutch sailors, and when the Dutch merchants thronged 
 the Royal Exchange, and gave their custom to the " Dutch 
 "ordinary" of Paul Furre (p. 188). The following list is taken from 
 the General Balance of 1 73 r : — 
 
 Alveringa, Joseph. 
 Bevois, Thos. 
 Bolwerk, Gerard. 
 Cardozo, Jos. 
 
 Chevaly, J. (sic, Chevalier ?) 
 
 Charnier, D. 
 
 Cortiss, J. 
 
 Crellius, J. 
 
 Creuza, Jas. de la. 
 
 Da Costa. 
 
 Demetrius, Ab. 
 
 Depuller. 
 
 De Vries. 
 
 Fauquier, Wm. 
 
 Guion. 
 
 Jansenns, Abraham. 
 
 Le Blanc, Simon. 
 Lethulier (sic). 
 Lopez, Gab. 
 Loubier, Cha. 
 Nunes, J. 
 Oudenard, John. 
 Papillion, Mr. 
 Pereira, Wm. 
 Seixas, Ab. Mend. 
 Swazzo, A. Lopez. 
 Toche, Nath. 
 Torriano, N. 
 Van Neck, Geo. Jos. 
 Van Notten (sic). 
 Wymondesold. 
 
 A rough analysis of these thirty-one names gives the following 
 result : — 
 
 Dutch ... ... ... 7 
 
 Flemish or French ... ... ... I2 
 
 Greek ... ... ... ... r 
 
 Italian ... ... ... T 
 
 Portuguese or Jewish .. . ... ... ... I0 
 
 3i 
 
 and it may well be that the relations of Sir Charles Duncombe, or 
 even of his more distinguished predecessor, Sir Thomas Gresham, 
 with the Low Countries, may afford the clue to this extensive foreign 
 connexion. 
 
( 235 ) 
 
 At the same time, it must be admitted that the records of the 
 Grasshopper do not contain names so distinguished as those which 
 Mr. Price is able to enumerate in his annals of the Marygold. 
 But the following list will serve as evidence of the strong conser- 
 vatism that characterizes the relations which, for the most part, exist 
 between banker and customer : — 
 
 I73 1 - 
 
 James Jenner. 
 
 Rob. Hadsley. 
 
 
 Edward Lovibond. 
 
 
 — Skinner. 
 
 
 Henry Lovibond. 
 
 
 Mr. Papillion (sic). 
 
 
 Thomas Colclough 
 
 
 Francis Woilaston. 
 
 
 Nicholas Woilaston. 
 
 
 William Woilaston. 
 
 
 Van Notten (sic). 
 
 1732. 
 
 James Buchanan. 
 
 1743- 
 
 J. Peter Burrell. 
 
 
 J. Fullerton. 
 
 1744. 
 
 ^UdllCb jnd.1110. 
 
 
 Pont f^KarlAc "Rr^rlrl^m 
 
 I74». 
 
 T/~»Vin A icla Kip 
 
 jonn r\ibid.uic. 
 
 1749. 
 
 Van Voorst and Boon. 
 
 1 7 6 1 • 
 
 Gonville and Cams Coll. 
 
 Dr. Thomas Heberden. 
 
 1763. 
 
 George Gostling. 
 
 1764. 
 
 John and Francis Baring & Co. 
 
 1770. 
 
 Charrington Moss & Co. 
 
 Thomas Boddington. 
 
 
 Samuel Brandram. 
 
 
 Peter Floyer. 
 
 17 7 1. 
 
 Jane Buchanan. 
 
 Richard Butler. 
 
 
 Thomas Boddam. 
 
 
 Archibald Buchanan. 
 
 
 Joseph Banks. 
 
 
 Joseph Chambers. 
 
 
 John Fullerton. 
 
 
 Jere. Rayment Hadsley. 
 
 
 Dr. William Heberden. 
 
 
 Samuel Lloyd. 
 
 1 1 7 1. Richard Myddelton. 
 Richard Maitland. 
 Maitland and Boddingtons. 
 Hibbert, Purrier and Horton. 
 Thomas Powys. 
 David Papillon. 
 Dame Jane Riddell. 
 Soame Jenyns. 
 
 1772. Neave and Aislabie. 
 
 1773. Admiral Francis Geary. 
 Dering and Gore. 
 Neave and Willett. 
 Lazarus Venables. 
 
 1774. Richard Neave. 
 
 1775. Exors. Henry Brouncker. 
 
 1776. Lady Ann Boswell. 
 Taylor and Guitton. 
 William Lock. 
 
 1777. Peter Aubertin. 
 Hugh Price. 
 
 1778. General W. Belford. 
 
 1780. John Rutter. 
 Henry Burmester. 
 Rev. Thos. Hutcheson. 
 
 1 781. Wm. Dixwell Grimes. 
 Abraham Grimes. 
 
 1782. Sir Francis Geary, Bart. 
 John Hartley. 
 Cuthbert Collingwood. 
 John Nesbitt. 
 
 1783. Henshaw Russell. 
 
 1784. Nesbitts & Co. 
 G. W. Soltau. 
 
 1785. Martha Mann. 
 
 1786. Gustavus Belford. 
 R. and T. Neave. 
 
( 2 3 6 ) 
 
 1787. 
 
 1788. 
 
 1789. 
 
 1790. 
 
 1792. 
 1794. 
 
 !793- 
 
 1795. 
 
 1796. 
 
 Sarah Fisher. 
 Nath 1 Fisher. 
 Richard Bruce. 
 Oxley & Co. 
 Elizabeth Guitton. 
 William Mount. 
 William Lechmere. 
 Sir John Temple, Bart. 
 William Agnew. 
 Samuel Bilke. 
 William Tidd. 
 H a Floyer. 
 Assur Keyser. 
 Major J. Vignoles. 
 Grellet. 
 Hugh Baillie. 
 Wm. Upton. 
 Thomas Lovell. 
 Wm. Hamilton. 
 Rev. Dale Lovett. 
 P. P. Barraud. 
 Smith and Atkins. 
 John Sayer. 
 J. B. Tippetts. 
 
 1796. Isaac Cooper. 
 Thomas Howard. 
 
 1797. Mary Fletcher. 
 John Atkins. 
 
 John and Abram Atkins. 
 Lord Lilford. 
 Thomas Lovett. 
 Mathew Marshall. 
 J. J. Skilbeck. 
 Peter Cherry. 
 
 1798. Angerstein and others. 
 M. L. Bensusan. 
 John Corbett. 
 Clutton and Sons. 
 Thomas Hare. 
 Henry Minchin. 
 Captain Wm. Wells. 
 Samuel Wallace. 
 John Wild. 
 
 1799. Atkinson & Co. 
 Lewis Corkran. 
 Ralph Fenwick. 
 Mary Larkin. 
 James Carey. 
 
 Almost all the names in the above list are, or were till quite 
 recently, extant in the books of the Grasshopper. Some few have 
 quite recently dropped out by death, while the traditions of others 
 are kept alive under other names, either through marriage, in the 
 case of private accounts, or through change of style, in the case of 
 partnerships. In like manner, some of the names recorded may be 
 entitled to still greater antiquity, owing to connexions of which the 
 record has by this time been effaced through lapse of time. Among 
 other names that have left their mark, the following occur : — 
 
 1771. 
 
 Nassau Senior (Nassau William Senior was of later date). 
 Lord Viscount Howe (of the Glorious First of June). 
 John Grattan (Henry Grattan was born 1750). 
 Thomas Kemble (?) 
 Soame Jenyns (born 1704; died 1787). 
 
( 237 ) 
 
 T779- 
 
 The Earl of Chesterfield (this was not the letter-writer). 
 Thomas Porteus (name suggestive of " The Heart of Mid- 
 " lothian "). 
 
 1 781- 
 
 Jeremiah Bentham (born 1747; died 1832). 
 
 The following indicate sympathy with some of the philanthropic 
 movements of the day, which may have been stimulated by the 
 association of Ebenezer Blackwell with the propaganda of Wesley 
 and Whitfield. In 1748 there is the account of the Hospital for 
 Exposed Children — no doubt the foundation of Thomas Coram, since 
 better known as the Foundling Hospital. The Rev. Dr. John 
 Wallace, late chaplain of the Magdalen Hospital, kindly supplies an 
 extract from the minute-book of that institution, dated at Batson's 
 Coffee-house, 19th of April, 1758. It was then reported by Mr. R. 
 Dingley, the founder, that numerous contributions had been re- 
 ceived, at the head of which is a donation of ^100 from Messrs. 
 Martins, Stone, and Blackwell. The names that follow in this list 
 afford evidence that then, as now, the promoters of benevolent 
 institutions laid siege, in the first place, to Lombard Street. A few 
 years later, in 1789, an account appears in the name of "Sunday 
 Schools," the origin of which, in 1 780, has recently been perpetuated 
 by the erection of a statue to the founder, Robert Raikes, in the 
 gardens of the Thames Embankment. The name Papillon, one of 
 the first in our chronological list, carries us back to the days of 
 Alderman Edward Backwell. Major Alexander F. W. Papillon 
 suggests that the " Mr. Papillion " of this list was the grandson of 
 Thomas Papillon, a London merchant, who banked with Backwell 
 of the Unicorn, Lombard Street. It may also be noted that this 
 Thomas Papillon was a Master of the Mercers' Company, a corpora- 
 tion with which, as has already been shown, Sir Thomas Gresham 
 was connected.* 
 
 * " Memoirs of Thomas Papillon," by A. F. W. Papillon. Beecroft, Reading, 1887. 
 
( *3« ) 
 
 It has been recorded that, at the end of the last century, one of 
 the partners of the Grasshopper made Downing Street his residence. 
 This name is connected with that of Fullerton, which appears in the 
 books in 1743. Sir George Downing was the Finance Minister of 
 Charles II., and he is entitled to the credit of having passed the 
 Appropriation Act, the palladium of constitutional finance, in the 
 teeth of the other ministers, having in this instance the support of 
 the king himself. The bankers had cause to rue the Appropriation 
 Act passed by the king on his own account in 1672, when he 
 confiscated the deposits of the goldsmiths in the Treasury, to the 
 discomfiture of Backwell and most of his fellow-craftsmen. The 
 irrepressible Pepys does not spare Sir George Downing ; he gossips 
 about his private character, and on public affairs relates how Sir 
 W. Coventry " tells me that they (the Lords of the Treasury) have 
 " chosen Sir George Downing as their Secretary, who will be as fit 
 " a man as any in the world, and he said, by the by, speaking of the 
 " Bankers being fearful of Sir George Downing's being Secretary, 
 " he being their enemy, that they did not intend to be ruled by their 
 " Secretary, but to do their business themselves." 
 
 This passage, in any case, is a tribute to the general estimate of 
 the ability of Sir George Downing. 
 
 Later on, in 1735, under Sir Robert Walpole's administration, 
 the Downing Street property was sold to the Government, in order 
 to provide a site for the official residence of the First Minister of 
 the Crown. The name of Downing still survives in the books of the 
 Grasshopper, and Downing College, Cambridge, should serve to 
 keep the name of its founder in everlasting remembrance. At the 
 beginning of the present century the father of Mr. Alexander George 
 Fullerton, the present representative, inherited the family estate 
 through the female line, and took the name of Fullerton. 
 
 In the General Balance of 1764 there figures for the first time a 
 balance, of less than four figures, in the name of John and Francis 
 Baring. Under the disguising forms of Behring, Behrend, Berens, 
 
( 239 ) 
 
 etc., the name is widely spread ; but in the more purely English 
 form of Baring it has achieved a world-wide reputation. No name 
 during the present century has stood higher in the commercial or 
 financial world, or has shed a greater lustre on the honour of the 
 English trader, than that of Baring Brothers ; and though during 
 the writing of the present pages it has suffered an eclipse, it may 
 well be hoped that this eclipse may prove to be but temporary. 
 
 The pedigree of the Baring family is duly recorded in the British 
 peerage, to which it has contributed members, both spiritual and 
 temporal. Its origin and growth have been narrated with more or 
 less accuracy (or inaccuracy) in every gossiping handbook of the 
 history of banking and finance. All these concur in referring the 
 Baring family to its origin in Francis Baring, the Lutheran pastor of 
 Bremen, and his son, John Baring, the cloth manufacturer of Lark- 
 beer, in Devonshire ; another version is given by the late Mr. John 
 Baring, in a private letter written in 1881 : — 
 
 " There was a joke against one of the family who wanted to 
 " show that we had good blood in our veins. He traced us back 
 " (he had not far to go) till he came to the clerk of the kitchen to 
 "the Elector of Hanover; — we came from Hanover. He thought 
 " then it was time to stop, for fear he should find himself in the 
 " scullery." 
 
 This passage, being interpreted, presumably means that the 
 ancestor in question held the post of Hereditary Grand-Master of 
 the Household to some Serenely Transparent Archduke of Pumper- 
 nickel ; and Mr. John Baring merely adds a voice concurrent to that 
 of Juvenal, and of others after him, in the warning not to attempt 
 to press the claims of ancestry too far. 
 
 The present sketch must be limited to points where the fortunes 
 of the Grasshopper and of the Baring family came into contact. In 
 the year 1767 Mr. (afterwards Sir Francis) Baring married Harriet, 
 the niece of Archbishop Herring (the Red-Herring of York in the 
 45), and in the year 1766 Richard Stone married her sister 
 
( 240 ) 
 
 M ary. It is therefore probable that social relations and family ties 
 had to do with the opening of business relations between the Barings 
 and the Grasshopper in 1764. And these relations extended yet 
 further ; in 1 789 Mr. Francis Baring was ambitious of Parliamentary 
 honours, and he entered into an agreement with Mr. Samuel Smith 
 for contesting the representation of the borough of Ilchester at the 
 next general election. The original document survives, and may here 
 be placed on record in evidence of the Parliamentary methods of the 
 time : — 
 
 "London, Septr. ye sixteenth 1789. 
 
 " Mr. Smith agrees with Mr. Baring to give him his Interest in 
 " the Borough of Ilchester at the next General Election upon re- 
 ceiving as a compensation for Loss of Rent & other expences 
 "the sum of Fifteen Hundred Pounds subject to the undermentioned 
 " conditions vizt. for one Seat. 
 
 " Mr. Smith is to pay all expences attending the Election Treat 
 " &c. of every kind to be ordered by Mr. Smith or his Agent named 
 "to manage the same. In case Mr. Baring is not seated the sum of 
 "Two Hundred & fifty Pounds is to be returned to him by Mr. 
 "Smith. 
 
 " In case a petition is presented against Mr. Baring Mr. Smith is 
 " to direct the proceeding & pay the expences attending the same. 
 " In case Mr. Baring should think proper to Petition Mr. Smith is 
 "jointly with Mr. Baring to direct the proceedings & pay one 
 " fourth of the expence, one half of course to be paid by the other 
 " Candidate. 
 
 " In case Mr. Smith should desire to petition, Mr. Smith is to 
 " bear the whole expence. 
 
 " The Seat is to be for the Parliament, the expence attending a 
 " re-election, to be defrayed by Mr. Baring. 
 
 " Mr. Baring is to have the power of substituting in case of ill 
 " health & a wish to retire, but the Person so substituted is to be 
 " a friend to Administration if Mr. Smith desires it. 
 
( 2 4i ) 
 
 " Mr. Smith engages to give every assistance & support in 
 " every matter relating to this Transaction. 
 
 " This paper to be opened in the presence of Mr. Baring & 
 " Mr. Smith by Mr. Stone or Mr. Foote who is to deliver the 
 " inclosed Note for Fifteen Hundred Pounds on receiving two 
 " Hundred & fifty Pounds from Mr. Smith, which they are to seal 
 " up, & deliver to Mr. Smith in case he shall ultimately be entitled 
 " to the same, the Twelve Hundred & fifty Pounds he is to be 
 "entitled to out of the Note of ^1500 from this time, but not to 
 " receive the same till the event of a dissolution happens, as the 
 " arrangements necessary take effect from this time. 
 
 " This agreement to remain secret & no mention made of any 
 " thing, till the dissolution. 
 
 " In case of a very short Parliament say less than four years Mr. 
 " Baring to have the option of renewing this written agreement upon 
 " the same Terms. 
 
 " In case of Mr. Baring's death (which God forbid) previous to 
 "the general election Mr. Smith is to be paid three Hundred pounds 
 "& the inclosed Note to be destroyed. Mr. Smith's friends in 
 " every event to give Mr. Baring their full support, or this engage- 
 " ment to be void at his option. 
 
 " F. Baring. Sam. Smith, Junr. 
 
 (Enclosure.) 
 
 " On demand I promise to pay Samuel Smith junr. Esqr. or 
 "bearer Fifteen hundred pounds for value received London 16 Sep- 
 " tember 1 789. 
 
 "^1500. " F. Baring." 
 
 The sitting members in 1789 were Peregrine Cust, Esq., and 
 George Sumner, Esq. ; and history shows that this friendly deal 
 between Mr. Baring and Mr. Smith came to naught, for at the 
 general election of 1790 John Harcourt, Esq., and Samuel Long, 
 
 R 
 
( 242 ) 
 
 Esq., were elected. The official returns show that at the time of 
 this agreement Francis Baring, Esq., of Mincing Lane, in the City 
 of London, was associated with John Sommers Cocks, Esq., in the 
 representation of the borough of Grampound, in Cornwall. In 1794 
 Sir Francis Baring, having been defeated at the general election, 
 consoled himself by contesting successfully the representation of 
 Chipping-Wycombe, co. Bucks. 
 
 The marriages of Harriet and Mary Herring not only united the 
 families of Baring and Stone, but also brought about a connexion 
 between the Grasshopper and other names of the banking fraternity. 
 Of the daughters of Harriet Herring (Lady Francis Baring), one 
 became Mrs. Labouchere, the mother of Henry (Lord Taunton) and 
 of John Labouchere ; while the other, Mrs. Dealtry, was the mother 
 of Mrs. Henry Sykes Thornton. The friendly, social, and business 
 relations between the Barings and the Grasshopper continued for 
 fully a century, when, by a curious coincidence, the two firms were 
 linked together by a new tie. Charles Loyd Norman, the great- 
 grandson of Mary Herring, had joined the well-known firm of 
 Finlay, Hodgson, & Co. In 1867 this firm became united with that 
 of Messrs. Baring Bros. & Co. (both had kept their accounts with 
 the Grasshopper) ; and when, some years later, Frederick Henry 
 Norman and Edward Norman, brothers of Charles Loyd Norman, 
 became associated with the Grasshopper, a new bond of union was 
 formed between the two houses. 
 
 The name of Peter Floyer appears in the books in 1770, and in 
 connexion with this name a singular entry survives to the present 
 time. At the beginning of the present century Mrs. Henrietta 
 Floyer borrowed ^50 on the security of £100, 3 per cent, consols, 
 transferred into the name of one of the partners. In 1803 the 
 claims of the bankers were satisfied by the sale of a portion of this 
 sum (at the price of 63I). There remained ^33 13s. $d. stock under 
 the control of the firm, and, from that day to this, the above amount 
 of consols has been shown in the annual balance-sheets as held in 
 
( 2 43 ) 
 
 trust for Mrs. Henrietta Floyer. In the meanwhile the dividends 
 have been collected, and show the amount of £%6 Js. to the credit 
 of current account, but all trace of the owner has been lost. 
 
 Akin to the above are two cases where Exchequer bills have 
 been left in joint names in the custody of the firm. In the one case 
 the current account ceased to be active in 1832, and since that time 
 the interest on £500 Exchequer bills has amounted to ^800. In 
 the other the interest on £200 Exchequer bills has accumulated since 
 1824 to the sum of ^275. It is a peculiarity about one of these 
 cases that the firm were long under the impression that one of their 
 customers was interested in these Exchequer bills ; but when, after 
 some lapse of time, his attention was called to the account, he dis- 
 claimed any knowledge of it. 
 
 In 1748 occurs the name of John Aislabie, destined to be 
 associated with that of Standring. The firm of Standring had its 
 origin in Benjamin Kenton, whose monogram still adorns the fan- 
 
 uenjamin kenton's monogram. 
 
 light over the door of the premises, 152, Minories. Kenton was 
 originally the drawer at the Crown and Magpie, in Aldgate, and the 
 bottled porter of the Crown and Magpie obtained as much celebrity 
 in his day as has the port of Messrs. Standring, whose cellars, 
 extending in all directions under their own, as well as other adjacent 
 premises, are most interesting, not only in their extent, but from 
 the fact that they disclose, here and there, portions of the old 
 Roman wall of London. Kenton died worth about ,£300,000, and 
 left his business to his apprentice, Watts. Watts took into partner- 
 ship Aislabie, who in course of time entered into partnership with 
 Standring. 
 
( 244 ) 
 
 But in the days when cricket was a game confined to the home 
 counties, and was hardly known beyond the borders of Kent, Sussex, 
 and Surrey, the name of Aislabie was as well known in the cricket- 
 field as in the City. The name of Benjamin Aislabie is a household 
 word in the West Kent Cricket Club. This club claims to be one 
 of the oldest, if not the oldest, in England, and is certainly the only 
 one whose liberties are protected by Act of Parliament, and the 
 partners in the Grasshopper have, almost without exception, devoted 
 part of their leisure to playing in its matches during the whole 
 course of its history. At these matches Aislabie was a constant 
 attendant. This was in the good old days, before the facilities 
 afforded by railways had changed the conditions of cricket, when the 
 game began at ten punctually, and an hour's adjournment took place 
 for dinner. The allowance per head at these dinners was a pint of 
 port (there were giants in those days), and a fine of a bottle of port 
 was imposed on every player who had missed a catch. It is not on 
 record whether Aislabie supplied the port, but it is certain that 
 he supplied much amusement to the club, and contributed essentially 
 to the good-fellowship which distinguished it. He had a way of 
 putting his impressions on record under the guise of rhyming 
 alphabets, and he took his revenge for an unsuccessful innings at 
 the famous Vine Club at Sevenoaks, in the following couplet : — 
 
 U is umbrageous, and so is Knole Park ; 
 
 V is the "Vine," where they play in the dark. 
 
 Reminiscences of " auld lang syne " in reference to the Grass- 
 hopper and its customers might be protracted ad infinitum ; but a 
 modicum of space and attention must yet be devoted to a genus 
 subdivisible into species of varying attributes, but essentially distinct 
 from all to whom reference has as yet been made. 
 
( 2 45 ) 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE QUEER CUSTOMERS. 
 
 Eccentric customers and their requirements — Memorandum by Mr. Richard Stone- 
 Henry Fauntleroy — Forgeries on the Grasshopper since 1853 — How perpetrated — 
 " Raised " cheques — Forged cheques — Forged endorsements — Anecdotes and 
 instances — The confidence trick — The thief pure and simple — An unsuccessful 
 raid — Fraudulent operations — Two instances of ill-directed ingenuity — Anonymous 
 communications — " Overwork in Banks " — Queer addresses — A remarkable 
 application for shares — Business risks incurred for conscience sake — An illus- 
 trative letter. 
 
 T3ESIDES the customers of a bank distinguished by the length 
 of time for which their names have been borne on the books, 
 or by their personal eminence, there are customers of another 
 class, who may be comprehensively grouped as belonging to the 
 genus of " Queer Customers." Every bank must have customers 
 notable by slight personal peculiarities or idiosyncrasies, and it is 
 quite possible that the customers make the same observation 
 respecting their bankers. There are various little services and 
 attentions which a customer occasionally requires of his banker 
 that are by no means strictly of a banking nature. Services of 
 this kind were, perhaps, even more numerous in former days 
 than they are at present, if the following memorandum be a 
 truthful witness. 
 
( 2 4 6 ) 
 
 THE PARTNERS, FROM THE CUSTOMER'S POINT OF VIEW. 
 
 From the original sketch by M. F. C, 1873. 
 
( 247 ) 
 
 " Pleasureable Parts of a Banking Business. 
 " Looking for the little books. 
 
 " Writing names & dates upon the 40s. & 20s. Notes.* 
 
 "Complying with applications for money when there is none to lend. 
 
 " Reading letters from Mrs. Berkin. 
 
 Do. Michael Woodhull. 
 
 " Do. John Yorke. 
 
 " Do. George Hardinge. 
 
 " Answering Do. Do. Do. & Do. 
 
 " Making alterations the day after a blunder. 
 
 " Flirting with Mrs. Beyland. 
 Do. Mrs. Levy. 
 Do. Mrs. Rayner. 
 
 " Do. Mrs. Hester Patterson. 
 
 " Hunting for an old voucher that has been mislaid. 
 
 " Do. for a letter on an old file wanted in a hurry. 
 
 " Talking to Edward Willes & his Brother Sir Francis. 
 
 " The consequence of a great arrival of Colliers in the river on 
 " John Blunt's account. 
 
 " Making a prompt payment at India House for Thomas Powell. 
 
 " Advising with Dale Lovett upon the Purchase of Stock. 
 
 " Advising Mr. Mainwaring how to employ his money upon con- 
 " tinuation with proper security. 
 
 " Hinting to Do. in the back room the situation of certain houses. 
 
 " Having a dozen letters to write all coming in a quarter of an 
 " hour before dinner. 
 
 " A visit from friend Johnson to enquire after ' thee ' good Father 
 " & friend Foote's Health, & to know whether thee wo'dst lend 
 " £1000, at 10 per Ct. & evade the law. 
 
 " Ordering fish oranges &c. &c. &c. for Mrs. Knipe. 
 
 * This is obscure, unless we place the date of the document so late as 1797, when 
 £1 and £2 notes were first issued by the Bank of England. 
 
( 2 4 8 ) 
 
 " Drawing out the Revolution Mill Comy's. account ten times over. 
 
 " Writing- with the counter pens. 
 
 " Getting Mr. Peeyer's (?) Box of pills. 
 
 " Having the balance wrong id. at night when in a hurry to go out. 
 
 " Deciding concerning Mr. Wade's drafts in the clearing. 
 
 " Talking with Tim. Nucella concerning the tobaccoes. 
 
 " Bowing to & receiving a Bow from Mr. Maze & shrugging with 
 " his partner Mr. Le Chevallier upon the state of the nation & upon 
 " the probability of peace. 
 
 "Assisting to find the W. S.* book in 3 pr. Ct. Office at the 
 " Bank to facilitate a transfer. N.B. Sir Francis Willes to make 
 " the same." 
 
 By collating the names mentioned with the old books, this 
 memorandum seems to have been compiled between 1 780 and 1 790, 
 and it is probably the handiwork of Richard Stone, in whose family 
 a sense of humour was never deficient. The classification of the 
 items is by no means perfect in I point of method, but indicates 
 that it was struck off impromptu. . The memorandum is in singular 
 contrast with the grave aphorisms of Thomas Martin (p. 46). An 
 apology is due to the shades of the parties mentioned for reproducing 
 their names in extenso> and for raising a smile at their expense by 
 some harmless jest which lapse of time has robbed of its point. 
 
 It is not to this species of the genus queer customer that 
 reference is made, but rather to the variety to which the epithet is 
 applied in a more special and peculiar sense. First among the queer 
 customers of the Grasshopper must be ranked Henry Fauntleroy, of 
 the firm of Marsh, Stracey, & Co., of Berners Street, who kept an 
 account with the Grasshopper. The failure of this firm was perhaps 
 the greatest disaster and disgrace that has befallen private bankers, 
 
 * The Chief Accountant of the Bank of England states that in 1797 some transfer- 
 books labelled "W's." came into use; perhaps the reference is to the difficulty of 
 finding the book containing Sir F. W.'s account in a heap of other transfer-books. This 
 difficulty has been known to occur in modern times. 
 
( 249 ) 
 
 unless the forgeries of Rowland Stephenson, of Remingtons, may be 
 held to bear comparison with it. 
 
 The story of Fauntleroy's forgeries has often been told, and the 
 books of the Grasshopper, fortunately perhaps, throw no new light 
 on it. The active current account ceased abruptly on the 15th of 
 September, 1824. The firm was in no way indebted to the Grass- 
 hopper, and there is consequently no light thrown on the course of 
 the liquidation ; but it was at the Grasshopper, one Sunday morning, 
 that the partners of Fauntleroy disclosed the situation of affairs 
 that had come to their knowledge, and there is still in existence a 
 voluminous letter from Mr. Stracey to Mr. John Martin, dated 
 nearly two years afterwards, in which he, at great length, throws the 
 responsibility of all that had occurred on Fauntleroy, who appears 
 from his indefatigable industry and attention to business to have 
 had the entire control and knowledge of the affairs of his firm. The 
 writer of the letter does not seem to recognize that responsibility 
 attached to him and his other partners for permitting such a state 
 of things to exist. Fauntleroy's forgeries were, fortunately, not per- 
 petrated at the expense of the Grasshopper ; but such untoward 
 accidents must necessarily be within the experience of all bankers ; it 
 is only surprising that, considering the thousands of items that are 
 paid daily, fraud and falsification is, relatively, so exceedingly rare. 
 As George Sand says in one of her novels that if domestic animals 
 only knew their strength they would overmaster man, so it may be 
 said that if the fraudulent classes knew their opportunities they might 
 almost paralyze banking. 
 
 The Grasshopper has, perhaps, been in this respect singularly 
 fortunate. In the last thirty-seven years only sixteen cases of 
 forgery have been successfully carried out at its expense, to a total 
 amount of ^6000, of which nearly ^2500 has been recovered. These 
 fraudulent operations may be ranked under three heads : first, cases 
 of what in America are called " raised " cheques, a word which 
 explains itself ; next, signatures of cheques and acceptances forged ; 
 
( 2 5o ) 
 
 and, lastly, forged endorsements. Of raised cheques there have 
 been only two instances. In one of them the familiar device of 
 altering 8 to 80 was successfully carried out. It may well be 
 doubted whether, in cases such as this one was, where the filling in 
 of a cheque was entrusted to a boy whose pay was 14.S. a week, the 
 customer was not guilty of gross contributory negligence. But in 
 this particular instance the amount did not justify the expensive 
 luxury of settling the point by litigation. 
 
 The other case of this class was the most serious of all ; and it 
 must have been carried out by parties possessed of some knowledge 
 of the business, and of considerable capital. The modus operandi 
 was as follows : — Two drafts, one for ,£1700 and the other for £21, 
 were obtained in Paris from a correspondent of the Grasshopper. 
 They were drawn, as was then the practice, on ordinary paper, and 
 were payable to bearer on demand. The draft for ^"1700, was pre- 
 sented late one afternoon, and was duly paid in gold. Early the 
 following morning the draft for £21, of which the writing and figures 
 had been washed out by chemicals as far as was necessary, and which 
 had been filled up again in writing and figures for ^2100, was pre- 
 sented, and also paid. It was noteworthy that the pass-book 
 containing the first entry was made up and went to the customer 
 that very morning, while the altered cheque was not submitted in 
 the pass-book for a fortnight. This apparently intimate knowledge 
 of the working of the account gave the operator a start which it was 
 impossible to overtake. 
 
 It is a bolder step to forge an actual signature, and a forged 
 acceptance is naturally rarer than a forged cheque in proportion as a 
 bill of exchange (commonly so called) is a more complicated docu- 
 ment than a cheque. Only three cases of a forged acceptance 
 occurred during the period under review, as compared with eight 
 cases of forged signatures to cheques. One or two of the latter 
 presented exceptional features. In one case the signature to the 
 cheque was challenged by the paying cashier as being suspicious. 
 
( »5i ) 
 
 The difference was very minute, consisting in the omission of a 
 private mark used by the customer in signing cheques, but not used 
 in his ordinary signature. The question was referred to one of the 
 partners, who called for other cheques that had already been paid. 
 Comparison disclosed the same peculiarity in a cheque that had been 
 paid some time previously, and the signature was allowed to pass. It 
 was subsequently denounced as a forgery ; and it proved that, un- 
 fortunately, the cheque chosen for comparison was also a forgery, 
 being, as ill luck would have it, the only forged signature among the 
 parcel from which it was selected. 
 
 Another instance was specially remarkable. One of the cashiers 
 was asked verbally for a cheque-book in the name of a customer. 
 He looked up, and recognizing, as he supposed, the customer, 
 handed him the cheque-book without hesitation. Not long after the 
 customer objected to an entry on his account, and repudiated the 
 cheque against which it had been paid. Enquiries followed, and in 
 a short time the fraud was traced to a personal friend of the customer. 
 It was uncertain whether he had traded on a real resemblance, or 
 whether he had, in theatrical phrase, made himself up for the occa- 
 sion. But he had provided against the contingency that his disguise 
 might be incomplete by writing a forged order for the cheque-book, 
 which, no doubt, he had in his pocket in reserve. This he had 
 imprudently failed to destroy ; and, no less rashly, he had kept a 
 large number of cheques which he had not succeeded in signing to 
 his satisfaction. In this case discovery was quickly made, and 
 the proceeds of the fraud were recovered almost entire. The whole 
 amount had been converted into gold, and had been packed in a box 
 marked " cartridges " — a device by which the weight of the package 
 was ingeniously accounted for. In another twenty-four hours these 
 cartridges would, with the sportsman, have been on their way to 
 Australia. 
 
 The forgeries which have been ranked in the third class are those 
 of endorsements. The wisdom of legislature has determined that in 
 
( 2 52 ) 
 
 the case of forgery of the endorsement of a cheque — a document which 
 circulates for the most part in the United Kingdom, and where the 
 verification of an endorsement would be comparatively simple — the 
 banker shall not be responsible ; but in the case of an endorsement 
 on a foreign bill of exchange, which may for three, or even for six 
 months, have been passing from hand to hand through every corner 
 of the civilized world, and which may bear endorsements in any 
 written language under the sun, the paying banker shall be respon- 
 sible. The banker must, therefore, either be a universal linguist, or 
 must take, as in fact he has to take, a good many endorsements for 
 granted ; but forged endorsements of bills of exchange are, in point 
 of fact, rare. 
 
 In the three cases that have come within the experience of 
 the Grasshopper during the thirty-seven years under review, the 
 amount has been unimportant. In the case of the largest amount, 
 the endorsement had been forged to five drafts, which had been 
 remitted through the post to Paris, and which had been negotiated 
 by a money-changer of that city. On discovery of the fraud, inquiries 
 were made, and it was ascertained that the drafts had been stolen in 
 transit, being afterwards negotiated by the letter-carrier, not without 
 some suspicion of guilty knowledge on the part of the money-changer. 
 In view of the difficulty of contesting the matter in the courts of a 
 foreign country, the idea suggested itself at the Grasshopper to 
 attach, on the morning of the ist of January, any money that might 
 be to the credit of the Paris money-changer in the hands of his 
 London banker, the day being selected as one on which that balance 
 would probably be at its maximum. The device was successful, and 
 sooner than contest the matter, the claim was compromised for seventy 
 per cent, of the amount. The establishment in question has since 
 stopped payment. 
 
 In another case of forged endorsement, the offence was traced to 
 an official of the English Post-office. He was a professional at 
 this business, and carried it on for some time successfully ; but at 
 
( 253 ) 
 
 last his career came to an end, and he was arrested on a similar 
 charge, tried, and convicted. A considerable amount of money was 
 recovered, which was divided among the parties whom he had 
 defrauded, and the Grasshopper had the satisfaction of receiving in 
 this way a dividend of some five shillings in the pound — perhaps the 
 most remarkable dividend on an insolvent estate that is recorded in 
 its books. 
 
 It may be mentioned that, in addition to frauds such as these, the 
 Grasshopper has, once at least, fallen a victim to the confidence 
 trick. A young man presented himself late one evening and 
 represented that he was connected by birth, though he disclaimed 
 any business connexion, with a highly respectable firm on the 
 Continent, customers of the Grasshopper. He had been detained 
 in Manchester by sickness, his funds had run low, and he was short 
 of money. He asked for five pounds, but would willingly wait 
 while inquiry was made by telegraph or otherwise. Had he asked 
 for more there might have been some hesitation, but the sum 
 required was so insignificant that his representations were accepted, 
 and he drew a draft on the firm of his relatives abroad, which, in 
 due course, came back dishonoured. It soon appeared that he was 
 a practised hand, who made his way by the circulation of similar 
 ingenious stories ; and three weeks afterwards he was charged with 
 a similar offence and convicted. 
 
 For the prosecution of offences such as these, there has long been 
 established a Bankers' Guarantee Fund, and it used to be the 
 practice of the Grasshopper, as it was of other banks, to subscribe 
 fifty pounds a year, in consideration of which the prosecution in 
 criminal cases would be undertaken without further expense. But 
 experience showed that this was an expensive luxury. The sub- 
 scription was, therefore, withdrawn, and in its place fifty pounds a 
 year has been ever since annually invested in the Funds. The 
 wisdom of this course has, so far, been justified, for, after deduct- 
 ing the expenses attendant on prosecutions entailed by the cases of 
 
( 2 54 ) 
 
 forgery that have since occurred, the invested fund now yields an 
 annual interest in excess of the former subscription. 
 
 It only remains to mention another class of queer customer, that 
 is, the thief pure and simple. Of this class one notable specimen 
 presented himself in 1885. It was a Saturday afternoon, and the 
 clock pointed to the hour of closing. A man had been observed to 
 be partially screened from observation behind a cashier's desk, where 
 he was presumably engaged in filling up a credit slip. The cashier 
 in charge had gone to another part of the counter, leaving his ti 11- 
 money in temporary disorder. Among this was a bag of two hundred 
 and seventy-two sovereigns. The cashier, moving back to his place, 
 suddenly saw this bag transport itself under the bars that defend the 
 counter. The motive force was applied by a hooked wire at the 
 end of a stick, and before the cashier could precisely realize the situa- 
 tion, or start in pursuit, the judicious angler had disappeared with 
 his booty into the street. It was a special aggravation that the two 
 hundred and seventy-two sovereigns had been selected for a par- 
 ticular purpose as being all of exceptionally good weight. The 
 police were at once communicated with, and, without much hesita- 
 tion, gave the name of the probable operator. Their sagacity was 
 justified by the fact that the suspected individual failed to turn up at 
 his lodgings ; he had gone on a holiday at a very short notice. 
 
 It may here be mentioned that the railings which protect the 
 counter of the Grasshopper have their history. The space at com- 
 mand is unfortunately limited, and the counter is comparatively 
 narrow. Formerly these railings did not exist, and tradition has it that 
 on one occasion, while the cashiers were making up their till-money 
 after the close of business, an individual dashed into the bank, laid 
 sudden hands on a money-bag that was conveniently within reach, 
 and disappeared into the gloom of a London fog. But his raid was 
 not entirely successful, for the bag contained, not full weight of gold, 
 but a pair of chickens that the cashier had laid in for his private 
 consumption. After this warning, it was thought well to guard 
 
( 255 ) 
 
 against the possibility of invasion, and the present brass railings 
 were put up as a protection against similar filibustering expeditions. 
 
 It only remains to mention one or two cases of fraud which have 
 come under observation, although in regard to these the Grasshopper 
 has not incurred loss or risk. 
 
 The history of ill-directed ingenuity has few more remarkable 
 instances than the following. A certain gentleman, who shall be 
 called Mr. Sharp, was acquainted with one of the staff of the Grass- 
 hopper, Mr. Clark. Mr. Sharp went to pay a visit to a friend, by 
 whom he was left in possession during a temporary absence. Mr. 
 Sharp profited by the absence of his host to open his desk, whence 
 he abstracted a certificate representing railway stock of the value of 
 over ^4000. Thereupon he wrote in his host's name to Mr. Clark, 
 asking for the address of a respectable stockbroker, and he was, 
 according^, put in communication with a firm of stockbrokers with 
 whom the firm does business. He instructed the brokers to sell the 
 stock, and this was accordingly done. The transfer was made out, 
 and was sent down for signature, and it was returned in due course. 
 It went through in the ordinary way, and the broker sent to Mr. 
 Sharp a cheque for the proceeds. The cheque was crossed and 
 payable to order. To get over this impediment Mr. Sharp endorsed 
 it in the name of the payee, and paid it in to his host's account at a 
 local bank, thus actually placing to the credit of the true owner the 
 proceeds of the sale of his own property, effected by fraud and 
 forgery. The money was suffered to remain for some days, and it 
 was then drawn out by a forged cheque, payment being taken in 
 bank-notes. It was not until this point that the fraud was discovered. 
 The true owner paid a visit to Mr. Clark, who asked him if his 
 introduction to the broker had resulted in business. The question 
 naturally excited surprise and inquiry, and on the production of the 
 original letter to Mr. Clark asking for an introduction to the broker, 
 it was found to be a forgery. Investigation led to the discovery 
 that the securities were missing. In the interval the scheme 
 
( 256 ) 
 
 appeared to have been carried to a successful issue ; and the operator, 
 having converted his gains into bank-notes, and having withdrawn 
 himself from view, might have been deemed to have secured his own 
 safety. But with the infatuation that appears inseparable from the 
 last steps in operations of this class, the forger must needs call one 
 afternoon on the wife of Mr. Clark, who, by this time, was aware of 
 the fraud, for the perpetration of which her husband had unwittingly 
 given facilities. With considerable presence of mind she telegraphed 
 for instructions, and succeeded in detaining Mr. Sharp until the police 
 intervened. It fortunately happened that the money was recovered 
 almost in its entirety. 
 
 In the second instance, of comparatively recent date, the operator 
 was possessed of considerable capital, and some knowledge of busi- 
 ness. He bought in New York three drafts on demand in his own 
 favour addressed to an eminent London house, customers of the 
 Grasshopper, and also a similar draft on an Amsterdam bank. These 
 drafts, which were of considerable amount, were drawn in triplicate. 
 Letters addressed to the payee were forwarded to the care of the 
 bank at Amsterdam, which was advised in the usual course that such 
 a draft had been drawn on them. Armed with these drafts the 
 operator passed over to England, and presented the thirds of 
 exchange to the London firm on which they were drawn. They 
 were duly accepted, and domiciled at the Grasshopper, where they 
 were paid in ordinary course. He then proceeded to Amsterdam, 
 and presented himself at the bank there. The draft in his favour 
 had been duly advised, letters were waiting for him, and the draft 
 presented was perfectly in order. It was accordingly paid, and, on 
 the strength of this introduction, the suggestion was made that the 
 bank should also cash the firsts of exchange drawn on the firm in 
 London. This was accordingly done ; but when the drafts were 
 remitted for collection in London, they were dishonoured on the 
 ground that the thirds of exchange had already been paid. Needless 
 to say, by this time the enterprising operator had entirely disappeared. 
 
( 2 57 ) 
 
 Of a less pretentious type than the class whose operations are 
 apt to bring them within the meshes of the criminal law are those 
 who devote their energies to anonymous communications. These 
 are in most cases intended to be annoying or offensive, in some cases 
 they aim at being humorous. Of this class is the following, 
 which originated in a proposal that was pressed a few years ago with 
 some energy that banks should close at one o'clock on Saturday : — 
 
 "Overwork in Banks. 
 
 " It is proposed, in order that Bank Clerks may have ample time 
 " for recreation and study, 
 
 " r. That the Banks shall open on one day in the week only, viz. 
 "on Thursday, from 12 to 2 o'clock. 
 
 " 2. That all Bills be paid on the Thursday next following their 
 " maturity. 
 
 " 3. That when it is inconvenient to complete any business on 
 "that day, the Bank Clerks may postpone it until the following 
 "week." 
 
 The customer, of whatever bank it may have been, who thought 
 it worth while to put this composition into print, differed from the 
 rest of his class, for the great difficulty of bankers on the occasion in 
 question was to ascertain what was the feeling in the matter of their 
 customers, whose convenience, it was acknowledged, should, in the 
 first instance, be consulted. 
 
 It is difficult to know to what class to refer the individual who 
 addressed an envelope containing the bond-fide circular of an 
 industrial (Irish) company, as follows — 
 
 " Messrs. Cross Cheque Martin & Co., 
 
 " 68, Lombard St., 
 
 " London ; " 
 
 or the following — 
 
 " The Secretary, 
 
 " St. Martins Bank, 
 
 "68. Lombard Street, E.C." 
 
 s 
 
( 2 5 8 ) 
 
 Perhaps no more remarkable application was ever received by 
 a banker than the following. The occasion was the issue of a 
 prospectus of a brewery company by a firm of country bankers, 
 correspondents of the Grasshopper. 
 
 " Messrs. Martin an Co. 
 " Bankers, 
 
 " 68, Lombard Street, 
 
 "London. " 21st Jan. 1890. 
 
 " Gentlemen, 
 
 "it appears that you are seeking money fore carrying 
 " own a brewry business but I have nothing to offer you except you 
 
 " can get eleven pounds from my tennet at thare is one pound 
 
 " due to me last michelme for rent and at Christme thare is 10 pounds 
 " due to me fore A quarters rent 1 1 pounds if you can get it I will 
 " allow you sixpense in the pound that will be 55. 6d. and I would 
 "like to know if thare is any other expenses wether the 10 pounds 
 "will clear holl expenses fore A 101 pound share if it will you can 
 "take the 101 pouds and the 5*. 6d. and return the remainder to me 
 
 " with A security for my money my tennet is call Mr. 
 
 « Near Devon I would like to turn him out and to git 
 
 " some other person in he rents 9 acers and a quarter of land and 
 " A dwelling hous from me at 40 pounds a year by equel quarterly 
 " payment. I remain 
 
 " Mr. H. 
 
 It has* happened that the names of particular banks have been 
 associated with forms of political opinion or religious belief; but 
 these distinctions are nowadays tending to wear away. Never- 
 theless the following will show that, even at the present day, a 
 banker may incur some business risk for conscience sake. On 
 the 27th April 1882, the following letter was addressed to Messrs. 
 Martin & Co. :— 
 
( 2 59 ) 
 
 " Sirs, 
 
 " We have this day drawn a cheque for the sum of ^280, 
 "which closes our account with your firm. Our reasons for thus 
 " closing an account opened so very many years ago with your House 
 "are of so exceptional a kind that we are quite prepared to find that 
 " they are deemed wholly inadequate to the result, but this is a point 
 " which, of course, must remain with ourselves, and whilst regretting 
 " the necessity of the step, we do it with thanks for the convenience 
 " and assistance rendered in the course of business. 
 
 "Our reasons are entirely the presence of Mr. R. B. Martin at 
 " Westminster Abbey yesterday, not merely giving sanction to the 
 " scene as an individual, but appearing as one of the deputation from 
 " the Society which has especially become the endorsers and sustainers 
 "of Mr. Darwin's theories. . . . 
 
 " Yours respectfully, 
 
 " & Co." 
 
 It is unnecessary to say that the occasion referred to was the 
 funeral of Mr. Charles Darwin. 
 
APPENDIX A. 
 STYLE OF THE "GRASSHOPPER," 
 
 FROM 
 
 ENDORSEMENTS, RECEIPTS, Etc., 1688-1770. 
 
( 263 ) 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 Style of the "Grasshopper," from Endorsements, Receipts, etc., 
 
 1688-1770. 
 
 1688, 
 
 May 26. 
 
 Vail. Duncombe. 
 
 1704, 
 
 Apr 7. 
 
 Charles Duncombe. 
 
 1706/7, Jan 18. 
 
 Stone & Co. 
 
 >> 
 
 Feb 4. 
 
 Thomas Martin & Co. 
 
 1706, 
 
 May 26. 
 
 Stone & Martin. 
 
 1712/1, Feb 19. 
 
 Thomas Martin. 
 
 
 Apr 29. 
 
 Thomas Martin & Co. 
 
 » 
 
 Oct 15/4. 
 
 Thomas & James Martin. 
 
 1718, 
 
 Dec 22. 
 
 Thomas Martin & Co. 
 
 1728, 
 
 Oct 19. 
 
 James Martin & Co. 
 
 1754, 
 
 Feb 9. 
 
 John Martin & Co. 
 
 1762, 
 
 Oct 9. 
 
 Joseph Martin & Co. 
 
 1769, 
 
 Jun 27. 
 
 Martin, Stone, & Co. 
 
 >, 
 
 Jun 30. 
 
 Martins, Stone, Blackwell, & Co. 
 
 1770, 
 
 Jan 19. 
 
 Joseph Martin & Co. 
 
 >, 
 
 Oct 24. 
 
 Martins, Stone, Blackwell, & Co. 
 
APPENDIX B. 
 
 SIGNATURES ON RECEIPTS, CHEQUES, Etc., DRAWN 
 ON MESSRS. CHILD & Co., 1688-1770. 
 
( 26; ) 
 
 APPENDIX B. 
 
 Signatures on Receipts, Cheques, etc., drawn on Messrs. 
 Child & Co., 1688-1770. 
 
 1688, May 26. Receipt to account for on demand of Rt. Hon. Thomas 
 Lord Viscount Weymouth, signed " p. Vail. Duncombe." 
 
 1704, Apr 7. Receipt to Sir Francis Child and Mr. Rob. Child, signed by 
 Cha Duncombe. 
 
 1706/7, Jan 18. Cheque on Sir Francis Child & Compy. in favour of Mr. 
 Bradley or order, endorsed " Witness John Colling for Stone & Co." 
 
 1706, Feb 4. Cheque on Sir Francis Child and partners, endorsed " Wit- 
 ness Tho Martin & Co." 
 
 1706, May 28. Cheque on Sir Francis Child and partners, endorsed " Wit- 
 ness John Child (?) servt. to Stone & Martin." 
 
 171 1, Aug. 27. Cheque on Mr. Hon. Rogers, endorsed "Witness Joseph 
 Hill for Messrs. Stone & Martin." 
 
 1712/11, Feb 19. Cheque on Sir Francis Child & Compy., endorsed 
 " Witness Rob. Knight, for My Mr. Thomas Martin." 
 
 1 7 17, Apl 29. Cheque on Sir Robert Child & Partners, Goldsmiths at 
 Temple Bar, endorsed " Witness David Pringle, for my Masrs. Thos. Martin 
 & Co." 
 
 17 1 7, Octr y e 15/4. Cheque on Sir Robert Child & Company, endorsed 
 " R. Knight, for my mr. Thos. & James Martin." 
 
 17 1 8, Apl 30. Cheque on Sir Robt Child & Comp., endorsed " Received 
 the contents for Messrs Thos and James Martin, David Pringle." 
 
 17 1 8, Dec 22. Cheque on Alderman Child & Compy., endorsed " D. 
 Pringle, for Mr. Thos. Martin & Co." 
 
 1728, Oct 19. Cheque on Francis Child Esq. and partners, endorsed 
 " Pay Mr. James Martin & Comp. or order, Bath Oct 26, 1728 Thos. Martin. 
 James Martin & Co. Witness for Mr. James Martin & Coy. Saml. Thome." 
 
( 268 ) 
 
 I73i> Nov 19. Prom. Note of Fras. Child Esq. self & Co., endorsed " E. 
 Blackwell, for Mr. James Martin & Co." 
 
 1732, Mar 1. Do. do. of Sir Francis Child & Compy., Barny. Backwell, 
 endorsed " Caleb Robinson, for Mr. James Martin & Co." 
 
 1754, Feb 9. Cheque on Messrs. Child & Company, endorsed "witness to 
 John Martin Esq. & Co., E. Porker. " 
 
 1754, Feb. 11. Cheque on John Cay Esq. in Essex Street, endorsed 
 " Witness for John Martin Esq. & Co. A. Edlin." 
 
 1754, Apl 10. Cheque on Messrs Child & Backwell, endorsed "Witness 
 for John Martin Esq. & Co. J. Porker." 
 
 1754, May 4. 3 days dft on Messrs Child and Backwell, " witness for 
 John Martin Esq. & Co. A. Edlin." 
 
 1754, May 6. Cheque on the Heirs and Exectrs. of the late Sir Francis 
 Child, Bankers at Temple Bar, London, endorsed " Witness John Martin." 
 
 1762, Octr 9. Cheque on Francis Child Esq. & Compa., endorsed 
 " Witness for Joseph Martin Esq. & Co., James Porter." 
 
 1762, Nov 6. Cheque on Do. do., endorsed Do. do. 
 
 1769, June 27. Cheque on Robert Child Esq. & Co., in favour of Messrs 
 Martin, Stone & Co. 
 
 1769, June 30. Receipt " for Messrs Martins, Stone, Blackwell & Co., J 
 Starkey." 
 
 1770, Jan 19. Prom. Note of Robert Child Esq. & Co., endorsed " For 
 Jos. Martin & Co., Thos Herring Jun." 
 
 1770, Oct 24. Cheque on Messrs Martins, Stone, Blackwell & Co. 
 
APPENDIX C. 
 NAMES OF THE PARTNERS, WITH THE WITNESSES, 
 
 AS 
 
 APPENDED TO THE ANNUAL BALANCE-SHEETS. 
 
( 271 ) 
 
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 mvo CO Q\ O w n ^O u->vo r— 
 
( 272 ) 
 
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( 273 ) 
 
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( 274 ) 
 
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APPENDIX D. 
 
 TEWKESBURY. REPRESENTATIVES 
 PARLIAMENT, 1734-1885. 
 
( 279 ) 
 
 APPENDIX D. 
 Tewkesbury. Representatives in Parliament, i734- i88 5- 
 
 1734. Viscount Gage and Robert Tracy. (John Martin not elected.) 
 
 1741. John Martin and Viscount Gage. 
 
 1747. Viscount Gage and William Dowdeswell. 
 
 1754. John Martin and Nicholson Calvert. 
 
( 28o ) 
 
 1761. 
 1768. 
 
 1774- 
 1776. 
 1780. 
 1784. 
 1790. 
 1796. 
 1802. 
 1806. 
 1826. 
 1807. 
 
 1813. 
 1818. 
 1820. 
 1830. 
 
 1831. 
 1832. 
 
 1833. 
 i835. 
 1837. 
 1841. 
 1847. 
 1852. 
 
 1857- 
 1859. 
 1864. 
 1865. 
 1866. 
 1868. 
 1874. 
 1880. 
 1880. 
 1885. 
 
 Nicholson Calvert and Sir William Codrington. 
 
 Nicholson Calvert and Sir William Codrington. 
 
 Joseph Martin and Sir William Codrington. 
 
 James Martin {vice Joseph Martin, deceased). 
 
 James Martin and Sir William Codrington. 
 
 James Martin and Sir William Codrington. 
 
 James Martin and Sir William Codrington. 
 
 James Martin and William Dowdeswell. 
 
 James Martin and Christopher Codrington. 
 James Martin and Christopher Codrington. 
 John Martin and John Edmund Dowdeswell. 
 Chas. Hanbury Tracy and Christopher Codrington. 
 
 (John Martin not elected.) 
 John Martin and John Edmund Dowdeswell. 
 John Martin and John Edmund Dowdeswell. 
 John Martin and John Edmund Dowdeswell. 
 John Martin and John Edmund Dowdeswell. 
 John Martin and John Edmund Dowdeswell. 
 Charles H. Tracy {vice John Martin, deceased). 
 John Martin and Charles H. Tracy. 
 Charles H. Tracy and William Dowdeswell. 
 John Martin and William Dowdeswell. 
 John Martin and William Dowdeswell. 
 John Martin and Humphrey Brown. 
 John Martin and Humphrey Brown. 
 John Martin and Frederick Lygon. 
 James Martin and Frederick Lygon. 
 John Reginald Yorke {vice Frederick Lygon). 
 William Edward Dowdeswell and John Reginald Yorke. 
 Sir Edmund Lechmere {vice William E. Dowdeswell, resigned). 
 William Edwin Price. 
 William Edwin Price. 
 William Edwin Price. 
 Richard Biddulph Martin. 
 
 (Became the Tewkesbury Division of Gloucestershire, under the 
 Representation of the People Act, 1885.) 
 
( »8i ) 
 
APPENDIX E. 
 
 THE MYSTERY OF MODERN GOLDSMITHS OR 
 
 BANKERS, 1676. 
 
 REPRODUCED IN FACSIMILE. 
 
( 285 ) 
 
 THE 
 
 Myftery of the New Fafhioned 
 
 GOLDSMITHS 
 BANKER S 
 
 THEIR 
 
 Rife, Growth, State, and Decay, 
 
 Difcovered in a 
 
 Merchant's Letter 
 
 To a 
 
 Country Gent. 
 
 Who defired to bind his Son Apprentice to a 
 
 GOLDSMITH 
 
 Printed in Year i 6 1 6. 
 
( »»7 ) 
 
 The Myftery of the New Fafliioned 
 
 GOLDSMITHS, *c 
 
 SIR, 
 
 Since you are pleafed to demand my advice in the difpofal of your 
 Son to the Goldfmiths Txadt y and my opinion of the Trade it 
 felf 5 I muft trouble you more than I was willing to fet down 
 what I have obferved of the. Goldfmiths Gnce I have Traded , and the 
 ftepsof their Rife andProgrefs, and leave the judgment of the whole 
 to your Self j tis but fit that a Son fhould owe the good choice of his 
 imploymentand way to his fortunes to the prudence and love of his Fa- 
 ther. 
 
 If I could now difcourfe you , I ought to be fatisfied whether you 
 have thoughts to put your Son to a Goldfmuh of the Old or New Fa- 
 fhion , thofe of that profefilon having of late years wholly changed their 
 way of Trading. In my time their whole imployment was to make and 
 fell Plate, to buy forreign Coyns and Gold and Silver imported to melt 
 .and cull them , and caufe fome to be coyned at the Mint , and with the 
 reft Jo furnifti the Refine rs , PI ate -makers, and Merchants , as they 
 ibund the price of gold and filver to vary , and as the Merchants had oc- 
 .cafion for Forreign Coyns. 
 
 But about Thirty years firice , the Civil Wars giving opportunity to 
 Apprentices to leave their Mafters at will , and the old way having been 
 for Merchants to truft their Cafh in one of their Servants cuftody , ma- 
 ny fuch Cafhiers left their Matters in the lurch and went to the Army, 
 and Merchants knew not how to confide in their Apprentices j then did 
 fome Merchants begin to put their Cafh into Goldfmiths hands to receive 
 and pay for thern , ( thinking it more fecure ) and the trade of Plate be- 
 ing then but little worth , moft of Ihe Nobility and Gentry , and others 
 melting down their old Plate rather then buying new , and few daring 
 to ufe or own Plate , the Goldfmiths fought to be the Merchants Cafh- 
 keepers to receive and pay for nothing , few obfrrving or conjecturing 
 their profit they had for their pains. 
 
 A 2 ** 
 
( 288 ) 
 
 r At) 
 
 It Happened about that time that the then Parliament had coyned out 
 of Plate, andotherwife feven Millions in Half-Crowns , and &o Mills 
 being then ufed in the Mint , the Money was'of a very unequal weight, 
 fometimes two pence or thiee pence in an ounce difference, & tht French 
 and others then changing the value of their Coins often , which, made 
 filver and gold of much greater value abroad then at our Englifo Mint t 
 The Goldfmiths found a new Mifcheivous trade to fend all the money 
 trufled in their hands into their Cccklofis , where they had Scales and 
 various Weighis adapted for their pourpofe , and fervants conftantly 
 weighed every half-crown ( at leaft ) and forted them to melt for Two 
 pence or three pence , or fometimes lefs-gain by the ounce , and fome- 
 times their advantage being greater by the accidents of the rile or fall of 
 the exchange , thofe hcavieft Coins were: fern way infpecie, feveral 
 French men and other. Merchants making it their whole and only bu- 
 (inefs weekly to transport the gold and diver fo culled , eitber tnelted> 
 down or infpecie 5 and from hence the GoUfmiths fet up another- new 
 Trade of buying the old Englifh gold coin at a rate much above its Law- 
 ful coyned value, buying and felling it at five y . feven , eight and ten 
 pounds in the hundred more then it wascoyned for , ftill fending it away 
 fofaft, or fupplying thofe.with.it whofe- hufinefs was to Tranfpoit it, 
 that by a modeft'computationeight parts ol ten of thecoyn'd Gold was 
 fudctenly confumed i and two Hiillings a piece was commonly given for 
 gold , when a penny a piece was often given before to exchange gold in* 
 to filver i the Seven Millions alfo oi filver new Coyned , was apparantly 
 reduced to lefs then one Million, and the people foabufed in their mo^ 
 ney, ihat there was little Coin paffed in trade but overworn, wa<- 
 ihed, and elipt , to the great vexation and lofs of the Traders. 
 
 Thefe unlawful practices and profits of the GoU/mths 9 made them 
 greedy to ingrofs all the Caih they could , and to combine with all menss 
 lervahts who continued to keep any Cadi ,. to bring their moneys to 
 them to be culled , and to remain wiih them at four pence the day inteiv. 
 eft per centum without the Maftcrs privity : And having thus got Money 
 into their hands, they prefumed uponfome to come as faft as others 
 was^paid away and upon that confidence of a running Calh (as they 
 calLit) they begun to accommodate men with moneys for Weeks and 
 Moneths upon extraordinary gratuities , andfupply all necefltous Mer- 
 chants that,over traded their Stock , with prefent Money for their Bilk, 
 of Exchange , difcountingfomtimes.double , perhaps, ti eble inter eft for 
 the time as they found the Merchant moi e or lefs pinched* 
 
( 289 ) 
 
 ( * > 
 
 Profit arifing by this Trade , feme of i km who had t he bigheft Cre- 
 dit, undertook to receive Gcnilemc-ns Rents as they were returned to 
 Town , and indeed any Man's money , and to allow them feme intreft 
 for it though it lay foi a month onJy , orlefs, the Owners calling for 
 it by a hundred or fifty pounds at a time as their occalicns and expenccs- 
 wanted it 5 .this new p/a&ice giving hopes to every body to make Pro- 
 fit, of their money uhlil tl e hour they fptnt it, and the conveniency 
 as they thought, to command their mcnty when tl ey pleafed , which 
 they could not do when lent at intreft upon perioral or reaj] Security - t 
 Thefe hopes I fay , drew a great Cam into thefe new Goldfaiihs 1 ands* 
 and feme of them ftuck to their oid Trade , but every of them that had 
 friends and credit, afpiredto this new Myftery to become Bankers or 
 Cajheers.y ai d when CVf»wc# ufurred the Government , the greateft 
 of them began do deal with him to fupply his wants of Money upon 
 great Advantages efpecialiy after they had bought thofe Dollers where-- 
 of he robb'd the Spaniards to about the value ©f 300000 1. 
 
 After the King s return he wanting money , fome of thefe Bankers 
 undertook so lendnim not their own but other mens money, taking 
 , barefaced of Him ten pound for the hundred , and by private contracts 
 many Bills , Orders, Tallies, and Debts ot the King's, above twen- 
 ty, and fomitmestbirty imtbc hundred,. to the great diihonor of.the 
 Government. 
 
 ^ This Prodigious unlawful Gain induced all of them that could be cre- 
 dited with moneys at iwr tft to become lenders to the King to anticipate? 
 all the Revenue , to take evei y Grant of the Parliament in.o pawn as 
 foon as it was given , I had almoft faid , before the A& was paffed for 
 it , and to outvie each other in buying and taking to pawn , Bills , Or- 
 ders , andTallies, ineffeft, all the King's revenue parted their hands, 
 and if Solomon be in the right, that the Borrower u a Slave to the Len- 
 der, the King and Kingdom became Slaves to thefe Farthers, and the 
 Kingdom gave no fmali lhare of their Taxes <o them, paying double 
 and tr eble Intreft , as if rhey had not been able to raile Money for the 
 publick Service at the times h was requifite. 
 
 But the number of thefe Bankers \ncreakd fo faff, and the money at- 
 Intereft come fo much into their hands , that the King and Mrs Farmers , 
 and all Tallies ot Anticipation and Orders, could not feture aJl the mo- 
 ney they bad to lend .Hereupon they fought out according to their feveial 
 natural wiisand capacities, how to difpofe cf money for more then 
 
 lawful 
 u 
 
( 2QO ) 
 
 (6) 
 
 lawhiltntreft, either upon Pawns or Bottom, Reafon or unreafonabfc 
 difcounts of Intreft for Bilis^ or upon notorious ufurious Contrary, 
 or upon pcrfonal Securities from Heiis whofe Eftatesare in expectancy, 
 or by fudden advance of money to Projectors , who drawn into Pro- 
 jefts many Refponfible Men to the ruin of their Families ; Thefe Gol£- 
 fmiths however getting iol. or 15 1. per Centum , andfometrmes more, 
 only for the prefent advance of the money , befides the future Intreft-, 
 Thefe and a hundred other practices they have ufed and do ftilt continue 
 in contempt of Law and Joftice , whereof they are fo confeious to them- 
 felves , that moft of them do once a year ( at leaft ) fue out their general 
 Pardon to avoid the penalty of thofe wholfom Laws made to prevent fuch 
 Frauds , Oppreflions , contempt of Government , and mifcheives to 
 the Publick as they are dayiy guilty of : Tis alfo fufpefted that their 
 original Trade of culling the heavy Money is not defertedfcy fome of 
 them > alfo how come all dipt and waiht money to pafs fo currant at their 
 Shops , and fo little appearance in payments of all the new coyned Mo- 
 ney fince the King's return , fo many jooodo ls. of the Parliaments 
 Coin , befides Bullion imported having been new coyned, a n d how com^s 
 Cuinies alfo to be bought and fold by them fo much above the Coynage 
 rate > that upon their account only , and by their means , they pais cmv 
 rant in payments for more rhen they are really worth from fome of their 
 Shops j I am fure fome Merchants arefuppfyed with Gold andSilvtr 
 Englijh Coyn, to tranfport upon the advantage of the exchange r or 
 making their prefent Bargains in France and eifwhere, for importing 
 Prohibited Goods. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 T Have given you my Rtmarques upon the Rife and growth of thefe 
 1 new kjnd of Goldfmiths , and I take them to have been in their highefi 
 Jifcendant or State about the time that our Ships were burnt at Chatham 
 by the Dutch : that cold Storm of the Peoples fears that their money was 
 not fafe in the Bankers hands blighted them ', and fince being tn their de- 
 clenfon , the Famous fop upon the Exchequer almofl bldfed their very 
 root , men being unwilling to trufl money in their hands to lend his JVLa- 
 jefiy i fo long as they hear the deplorable Cryes of the WiddoW and the 
 Fatherlefs , whofe money they fay at Feafs , they lent the King , and 
 cannot repay them, nq not their Intref to buy them Dread* 
 
 Now 
 
( 2 9i ) 
 
 ( 7 > 
 
 Now admitting that all the Creditors of the Bankers can no more 
 Chink irikie that their money mould be lent tc the King, fince Tallies* 
 Orders , and the Great Seal it felf , are found-to be no feturity-, \ can- 
 not imagine how Bread incutd be got by their trade of borrowing mo- 
 ney upon lawful Intreft to lend upon unlawful to private perfons, though 
 they can filence their consciences and forget Cfcriftiamty , and neither" 
 regard their neighbors welfare , nor the good of the whole Kingdom, 
 but feck by Ufurious unlawful Bargains , and opprefftvc Exa&ions from 
 the needy and men in ftreigfits, and by hook and by crook to make the 
 moftof the* Cafh; 
 
 I dare take it for granted that the men nowx>! that Trade are not men 
 of greater natural Abilities nor acquired parts, then other Tradefmen 
 of their age and degree , nor are they better inftru&ed then others to im- 
 ptoy greater Stocks in an advantagious Trade , nor have they greater 
 Stocks of trfeir owntobazzard to remote places, from whence moft pro- 
 fit may be hoped for 5 Neither have thefe men greater skill in taw then 
 other Citizens , tojudgof Securities to be takenfor Money , nor have 
 they.moreknowledgof Men to guefs at the value of their Bonds-, how 
 then fliould they be able to make more Intreft of money then other Tra- 
 ders ^ yet the profit tjiat may fatisfy other Traders, cannot be fuffieient 
 for them to keep open* ttieir Shops j they muft have a great dead flock 
 of Cafti to anfwer all Payments , and be always ready occafionally to 
 advance great Somrrfs: their Servants and Shops muft be maintained f or 
 no ufe but Payments and Receipts , and deducting dead Stock and 
 Charges , it they do not take nine per Cent, mtreft for what they Lend 
 and difpofe of, they cannot make one ot one, much Iefs fubfift. Befides 
 there muft be allowance for Charges to defend themfelves againft In- 
 formers for their ufurious Contracts, and procuring frequent Par- 
 dons , and for hazard of lofs of their Money lent upon unlawful Intreft r 
 every borrower having it in his power to plead their ufury againft them 
 in lue of their Debts. All thefe things , and many more being duly con- 
 fidered, I fuppofe people will fuddenly come to their wits, and begin 
 to examine why a Goldfrnith-bdnkcr mould be better Security then ano- 
 ther man, or fitter to be trufted for ten times nj ore then he is worth; 
 They givxonly perfonal Security , and many times theii Notes for^ool. 
 joool. or more, When they owe before they give that Note,tweBty times 
 the value of their own Eftates, and yet thefe free Lenders will fiarce be 
 fatisfied with two or three MensJB6nds for 1000 1, that are known to be 
 worth 5000 1. a Man j doubtlefs 1 fay , People will think at laft that a 
 
( 292 ) 
 
 ( 8 / 
 
 Banker ought to give as good Security for money he borrows as anoihef 
 man, efpecwlly fince he runs the greateft hazards in. his dirpofing of 
 Money for exceilivc Gain or intreft. 
 
 I. Jeave ic then to your felf tojugd whether Banking be like to con- 
 tinue half your Son's Apprenticelhip, and whether all the Arts chat they 
 can teach him can be worth one ol the 2op l. you deiign to give with 
 him ; I prefurae upon your Pardon for my ptainnefs and tedioufnefs i 
 Yet \ am prompted to fay fomthing more in point of Conference , doubt- 
 ing whether^ it be Lawful toexercife any Trade in. a conftant avowed 
 breach of the Laws or the Kingdom , as all Bankers do, thefe Laws being 
 made for the good of the Society ., to which the Scripture commands 
 obedience for Confcience fake , rehire they are wet contrary to the Laws 
 
 of God' ... 
 
 Perhaps it is worlh the inquiry upon that account , whether any man 
 that hath exercifed the Myftery of Banking t hath living or dying, 
 gone off the Stage with a clear good Eftate , all his Creditors being paid, 
 tally paid. But I judg no Man. / fnb mit thefe thoughts and my Self t» 
 Xwr tr*dm Cenfurs , md remain , 
 * Sir , 
 
 Your Humble Servant 
 
 FINIS. 
 
APPENDIX F. 
 
 A PERTICULAR OF WRITEINGS W CH M* EVERARD 
 
 PDUCED & SHEWED TO M* PROCTOR 
 UPON HIS PURCHASEING THE TWO HOUSES IN 
 
 EXCHANGE ALLEY. 
 
( 295 ) 
 
 APPENDIX F. 
 
 A Perticular of Writeings w ch M? Everard PDUCED & SHEWED TO 
 m? Proctor upon his purchaseing the two Houses in Ex- 
 change Alley. 
 
 It appeares y* S? Rich 1 ? Stappleton was possed of y e great Tenem* for that by 6o N ^^ , 
 his Letter of Attorney he authorizeth Bryan Stappleton his Son & heir & 2 P. & M. 
 apparent & Jn? Beverley Esq? to sell all his Lands. 
 
 Exemplificacon of a ffyne of One Messuage Two Shopps & Garden & of . ^/ 2 } 2 ^y 1z 
 half a Messuage in London Between Jn*? Beverly and Christopher Twisleton 
 PI* 3 & y e said Bryan Stappleton & Eliz: his Wife Def. 3 
 
 Bryan Stappleton by Indre Inrolled in y e Hustings Munday next before N? (3) 
 the ffeast of S* Katherine y e Virgin 6°- Eliz: made Between him on y e one 7 ' 6? Eliz. in 
 part & S* Martin Bowes Kn*. & Aldran of y e Citty of London of the other 
 part for 400'! the great Messuage & 2 Tenem*. 3 adjoineing are by him 
 bargained & sold unto the S? Martin Bowes & his heires and Assignes 
 for ever w l ? Coven*. 8 y e same shall be enjoyed (after y e death of S" Rich? 
 Stappleton) ag*. y e s? Bryan & Eliz: & all claimeing under them. 
 
 The last Will & Testam*. of the said S- Martin Bowes und r . seal wherein N? (4) 
 y e si S- Martin gives unto Martin Bowes his Son The said great Messuage IO ° E iif.' 7 
 as it was then joyned together as well that bought of Bryan Stappleton as 
 that purchased otherwise w*? the Garden thereto belonging To hold to him 
 y e s. d Martin the Son & his heires Males of his body for ever and for lack of 
 such Issue Male Remainder to Tho. Bowes Son of S* Martin for his life & to 
 y e heires Males of his body for ever. 
 
 The afores? S? Rich? Stappleton by ffeoffm*- not executed by Livery for a n N? (5) 
 Sume of Money doth remise release & confirm the p r misses unto the s? 1 9 E i iz / 9 
 Martin Bowes his heires & Assignes for ever. 
 
 The said Martin Bowes Esq 1 : in performance of y e Coven*. 3 for further N? (6) 
 
 April ( 
 
 Assurance doth give grant bargain sell & confirm (w*. h out y e word Enffeoflfe) 
 
( 2 9 6 ) 
 
 Exemplifi- un to T ha Ram sey Ald. r n the afores? Messuage & Messuages with the ap- 
 caroii. purtences To hold to y e s<? Tho. Ramsey his heires & Assignes for ever 
 Inrolled in y e Hustings on Monday next after y e ffeast of S*- Jn? Port 
 Lateran 9? Eliz: 
 
 220^^440 A Coppy of Tha Taylors' last Will & Testam* pved in y e Prerogative 
 Eliz.' ' Co. r t by w c ? he gives unto Sisley Taylor his wife The aforesaid Capitall 
 Messuage wherein the Lady Mary Ramsey did then lately dwell And one 
 Tenem* w 1 ! 1 the appurtences then of Giles Simpson Goldsmith and a Shopp 
 then late of y e said Giles Simpson To hold to the s d . Sisley her heires and 
 Assignes for ever. 
 
 2 2 o N M£r ) 50 ° ne Indre ( Inrolled in the Hustings Monday after y e ffeast of S*. Bone- 
 Jac? ' face y e B p . p 5 0 Jac) made Between the s d Sisley & Tho. Taylor Son & heir of 
 Tho. Taylor deced & Rob*. Bowyer & Henry Elseing of th'one part & Morgan 
 Awbrey of the other part The said Sisley Taylor Tho. Taylor the Son Rob* 
 Bowyer & Henry Elseing in Consideracon of 1500I 1 paid to y e s? Sisley & 
 Tho. Taylor & of 10? to y e said Bowyer & Elseing Have granted bargained 
 sold released enffeoffed & confirmed the aforesaid Capitall Messuage & 
 Tenem* & the house or tenem* in Simpsons' tenure & a Shopp both on y e 
 Westside of th'Entrance into the said great Messuage To hold to y e said 
 Awbrey his heires & Assignes for ever w*. h Coven*? against Sisley & Tho. 
 Taylor & all claimeing under them. 
 
 ir/'D^l 16? Coppy of an Indre (Inrolled in y e Hustings Monday after y e ffeast of 
 Jac. Epiphany 16? Jac.) Between Sam 1 . 1 Awbrey Esq r . & Joyce his wife of th'one 
 pte And James Cambell, Esq 1 : of th'other pte The said Sam 11 Awbrey & 
 Joyce for y e Consideracon of I6001 1 . grant bargain & sell to y e said James 
 Cambell y e afores? great House & y e s? other house in Simpsons possion To 
 hold to y e s d Ja. Cambell his heires and Assignes for ever w*? Coven 1 . 8 ag*. 
 Morgan Awbrey his ffather. 
 
 co? N jai!°x7? The said J ames Cambell & Rachell his wife (by Deed Poll Inrolled in the 
 The JaC ' Hustin g s Monday next before y e ffeast of S*. Matthias y e Apostle 17? Jac.) 
 e oS.y PP7 for a competent Sume of money did remise release & quitt claim unto Paul 
 pduced. ffouree & his heires all their Estate right title & interest in & to y e s d 
 p r misses To hold to y e said Paul ffouree his heires & Assignes for ever w th 
 warr*? of y e same ag*. y e said James Campbell & his heires & all Claimeing 
 under them. 
 
 Ul N April 6? . A Co P?y in p aper of y e last Will & Testam 1 ?* of y e said Paul ffouree where- 
 Car 1. in y e said Paul gives the one Moyety of y e Rents of y e p r misses supra to his 
 wife Josina for her life & y e other Moiety to his daughter Jane Wife of Reney 
 Augier for her life & after y c deceases of his s d Wife & daughter he therein 
 bequeathes his Messuages Lands & tenem*. 5 in London unto & amongst all y e 
 
( 297 ) 
 
 Children of his s? daughter then borne & w c . h should be borne equally to be 
 divided amongst them To have & to hold y e same unto y m their heires & 
 Assignes for ever. 
 
 Indre Between Jn° Jamett (sic) & Maudlin his wife of th'one pte & Jn° ^pj 12 ^, 
 Burrell Gent of th'other pte reciteing y* Paul ffouree at y e time of his decease 
 was seized in ffee of y e p r misses supra & being so seized did by his Will as 
 afores? give and bequeath y e same after y e deceases of his Wife & Daughter 
 to y e Children of his said daughter equally And reciteing also y* y e Wife of 
 Paul ffouree was dead & y* the said Reney Augier & Jane had levyed a ffine 
 of y e s? p r mises by reason whereof they had forffeited their Estate therein 
 And reciteing further y l before y e Sealeing of these p r sents the s^ Jn? Jamott 
 & Maudlin had made their Entry & Claim of in & to y e same p r misses & 
 haveing soe recited The said Jn? Jamott & Maudlin for 200 1 . 1 grant demise 
 bargain & sell unto y e s? Jn? Burrell & his Assignes one 3? pte of y e Messuage in 
 y e possion of Cha. Everard for y e Term of one yeare from thenceforth w^ 
 Entry Livery & Seisin Endorsed. 
 
 One other Indre Between y e same pties in y e last menconed Deed whereby N? (13) 
 y e said Jn? Jamott & Maudlin for 200 u Cons, give grant enffeoffe & confirm 2 "" Dec " 1651 
 unto y e s? Jn? Burrell y e afores? 3? pte of y e Mess, in Everards tenure To 
 hold to y e said Jn? Burrell his heires & Assignes for ever w* h Warranty & 
 Coven*f generally executed by Entry & Livery & Seizin Endorsed. 
 
 One other Indre Between y e same pties & for y e same Cons, supra y e s? N? (14) 
 Jn? Jamott & Maudlin thereby alien grant bargain & sell unto y e s? Jn? Burrell 229 Dec ' 1651 
 y e afores*? 3? pte of &c ut supra To hold to y e Jn? Burrell his heires & 
 Assignes for ever. 
 
 A Receipt from y e said Jn? Jamott & Maudlin for y e s? 200!' Cons money. N? (15) 
 
 One other Indre between y e same parties [after reciteing as in y e former of 229 ^ ec " 1651 
 
 them) The s? Jn? Jamott & Maudlin in Cons of 5? grant barg ain sell & demise 22 o y>q C . 1651 
 
 unto y e said Jn? Burrell one 3? pte of y e Messuage in the s? M • Everards 
 
 tenure And also a 3? pte of y e Messuages Warehouses & Shopps in y e tenure 
 
 of Richard Bunckley Rowland Knight Jn? Phipps Stephen Hill Tho. Mason 
 
 Edw? Spring &c To hold y e same to y e s? Jn? Burrell & his Assignes for y e term 
 
 of one yeare from thenceforth. 
 
 One other Indre between y e same pties for y e Cons of 300 1 . 1 The s? Jn? n? (17) 
 
 Jamott & Maudlin his wife grant enfeoffe release & confirm unto y e s? Jn? 229 Dec. 165 1 
 
 Burrell ye afores? 3? pte of all y e p r misses supra. To hold to y e s? Jn? Burrell his 
 
 heires & Assignes for ever w l . h generall Warranty & Coven* 3 Executed by 
 
 Livery & Seisin Endorsed. 
 
 One other indre between y e same pties & for y e same Cons of 300" The N? (18) 
 
 — 22 0 Dec 16^ I 
 
 said John Jamott & Maudlin bargain & Sell y e said last menconed p'misses to 
 
( 2 9 8 ) 
 
 2° 
 
 y e s d John Burwell To hold to him his heires & Assignes for ever This Deed 
 is acknowledged before y e late Cheife Justice John to be Inrolled but 
 is not. 
 
 N? (19) Receit for ye s d 300I 1 Cons money. 
 
 22? N ^ e ( C 2o l651 A Paper in Writeing under the hands & seales of y e s d Jn? Jamott & 
 20 Magdalen his Wife declareing y* notw th standing Magdalen is writt Maudlin She 
 is y e same pson. 
 
 TI ^ ? < 2I) Two Chiragraphs of a ffyne Between y e said Jn? Burwell PI 1 - & the said 
 
 Hill. Terme x , T n , , _ „, . J J 
 
 ri S i John Jamott & Magdalen Def'. s off y e 3 d pte of 5 Messuages in the Parish of 
 S- Mary Woolnoth in Lombardstreet. 
 N? (22) A Certificate y t Magdalen was baptized y e 15*? Jan. 1628 in S* Mary 
 
 Woolnoth Parish. 
 
 N? (23) A Declaracon of Trust from y e said Jn? Burwell y* the aforesaid Purchases 
 April 1652 made hy him were the Use of y6 gaid Charles Everard. 
 
 25 N Nov 4 i66o Co PPy of an Indre (Inrolled in Chancery 10^ Jan 1660) made between Paul 
 & James Augier of_th'one pte and W? Cutler of th'other pte The s d Paul & 
 James in Consideracon of a Competent Sume of Money grant bargain & Sell 
 unto W 1 ? Cutler y e afores d p r misses To hold to him his heires & Assignes 
 for ever. 
 
 One Indre Triptite between y e s d W? Cutler & Eliz: his wife of y e 1* pte 
 The s d Cha. Everard & Mary his Wife of y e 2 d pte And W? Savage Benj^ 
 Cutler Rob^_ Vyner & W? Price of y e 3? pte The s? W? Cutler & Charles * 
 
 io?^A P ril 14? One Indre Quadriptite between the said W™ Cutler of y e I s .* pte the s? Cha. 
 
 Everard of the 2*? pte Stephen Thornley Geo. Neale & Jn? Downes of y e 3 d pte 
 and W m Cutler y e Younger Nicholas Cutler Nicholas Burrell & Henry Mosse 
 of y e 4^ pte Reciteing severall Leases &c And also reciting an Indre Triptite 
 of y e same date whereby_ all the afores d p r misses are pticularly setled & 
 limitted as therein is menconed And haveing so recited in order to y e Carrying 
 on & pfecting the design of makeing an Alley or passage between Lombard 
 Street & Cornhill It is declared by M T . Everard & W™ Cutler y e Elder that all 
 Charges (except for y e p r misses entirely limitted to y e s d Cha. Everard) should 
 be equally borne between them for carrying on y e same and y* y e pffitt thereby 
 ariseing should be for their equall benefitt. 
 
 26?Ffeb.i66 3 Articles of Agreem? made Between W? Cutler y e Elder of London 
 EsqT and y e s d Cha. Everard Goldsmith Reciteing y 4 y e Exchange Alley was 
 built by y e said Cutler & Everard at their equall Costs and Charges & was then 
 in Dividend between them in distinct Moyetyes settled by seidall Conveyances 
 In Consideracon of 8500 1 . 1 Cutler Coven*. 8 before y e End of March next to 
 convey all his interest to Everad & levy a ffine. 
 
 * This entry is incomplete, and is crossed out in the original manuscript. 
 
( 299 ) 
 
 1 8? Marcij 
 1663 
 
 18? Marcij 
 1663 
 
 One Indre Triptite between W 1 ? Cutler y e Younger of London Esq 1 : & 
 Nicholas Cutler Gent 2 of y e Sons of the said W» Cutler th' Elder Nicholas 
 Burwell Estf & Hen: Mosse Gent of y e 1* pte The s* W» Cutler Sen 1 : & 
 Charles Everard of y e 2? pte and Robert Vyner Esq 5 : & Jn? Morris Gent of 
 y e 3* pte Reciteing y* the severall Leases and Assignm 4 . 9 of Leases menconed 
 in y e s<? Quadriptite Indre of y e io*? Aprill 1662 were so bought sold & purchased 
 by y e s? W™ Cutler Setf & Chas. Everard in order to the pfecting & compleating 
 their design of building Exchange Alley and that the Inheritance in ffee simple 
 in revercon after y e Expiracon of y e Leases was vested in the s* W? Cutler 
 Sen & Charles Everard and that they were equally concerned The_s* W? 
 Cutler JunT Nicholas Cutler Nicholas_Burwell & Hen. Mosse in Cons of 5? 
 paid by Vyner & Morris and by direccon of y e said W 1 ? Cutler Sen & Cha. 
 Everard assign to y e s<? Vyner & Morris To hold for y e remainder of y e severall 
 Terms then to come In Trust for y e sole use & behoof of y e s d Cha. Everard 
 his Ex 1 : 8 Adm T . s & Assignes. 
 
 One other Indre between y e s? W? Cutler Sen & Eliz: his Wife of th'one pte 
 and y e s. Cha. Everard of th'other pte (Reciteing as therein is recited) Cutler 
 coven 1 ? for himself & wife before y e End of Easter Term then next to levy 
 a ffyne to y e s* Everard Of one full & equall Moiety of all those Seven old & 
 new erected Messuages or tenem ts & a Moiety of 30 Shopps little & great late 
 y e Inheritance of Paul ffouree & of all other his lands tenem? & p'misses 
 w* soever in y e Parishes of SS Mary Woolnoth & S* Edmund y e King or either 
 of them late y e Estate of Paul ffouree To the Use of y e s* Cha. Everard his 
 heires & Assignes for ever. A ffyne levyed accordingly. 
 Bargain & Sale (Inrolled) of the same p r misses. 
 A Receipt from Cutler for 8500V Cons money. 
 
 By Indre between y e s* Cutler & Everard All acco 4 * being settled between 
 them they mutually release. 
 
 One Indre betwee^S 1 : Jeffery Burwell Kn 4 Brother & heir of y e aforenam'd 
 Jn? Burwell then deced of th'one pte and y e said Cha. Everard of y e other 
 pte Reciteing severall Grants from Jn? Jamott & Maudlin his wife to y e s* 
 John Burwell & y e s* Burwells Decl of Trust to Everard and y 4 Everard had 
 bought Cutlers interest. S 1 : Jeffery Burwell releases to Everard— Inrolled. 
 
 The said Charles Everard makes his Will, charges his land w 4 . h the paym 4 289 Oc 1665 
 of his Debts & Legacies & gives his ffee simple Estate to his Son Charles And 
 makes S? Rob 4 Vyner Rowland Dee John Morris & Henry Mosse Trustees 
 for his Son Daughters & Creditors to receive his Debts, till his Debts & 
 Legacyes paid. 
 
 Coppy^of a Decree made at Cliffords Inn by y e CoU of Judicature for 
 determinacon of differences touching houses burn't downe or demolished by 
 
 18? Marcij 
 1663 
 
 18? Mar: 1663 
 
 18? Mar: 1663 
 
 6? Maij 1664 
 
 30? Dec. 1668. 
 
( 3°o ) 
 
 reason of y e late dreadfull fire of London upon y e Peticon of Edw? Backwell 
 Esq: ag* Cha. Everard an Infant & Rowland Dee his Guardian Reciteing a 
 Lease from Cha. Everardy e ffather to Jn? Watson Goldsmith dat 3? Sept. 1662 
 for 1 1 yeares from Michmas then next at 20 1 . 1 p Ann and also reciteing one 
 other Lease from y e s<? Rowl? Dee to Joseph HornbyGoldsmith dat 20 t . h Aug* 
 1666 of All y* Messuage or tenem* w*. h th'appurtences as y^same was then 
 divided in y e Occupacon of Hornby for 12 yeares from Midsomer then last at 
 I20 1 . 1 p Ann and Reciteing y* the Leases Termes of years & Interests of Watson 
 & Hornby of & in y e p r misses came by good Assignm ts &c unto y e said Edw* 
 Backwell And y* the s« Messuage Shopp &c in the time of y e s? fire were 
 burn't downe It was Ordered & decreed y* the s? Backwell should be the 
 Rebuilder thereof & have his Term made up therein 45 yeares from Miches 
 then last past at yd 1 } p Ann. for y e whole. 
 9° Dec. 1670. One other Coppy of a Decree made by y e s ? Co't of Judicature for 
 determinacon &c The s? Edw* Backwell Pet 1 : ag* S? Rob* Vyner Kn* y° 
 s* Dee & others Reciteing that Cha. Everard y e ffather deced being poised of 
 y e ffee or Inhitance of a peice or pcell of Ground whereupon before y e s d - fire 
 stood severall Messuages or tenem*. 3 w*. 11 passages waies & appurtences 
 containing 6576 Square feet or thereab* 3 scittuate in y e pish of S*. Mary 
 Woolnoth London The s* Cha. Everard by his Will dat. 28* October 1665 
 appoints s? Vyner Dee & other Trustees for his Children and further recites 
 that Everard dyedand y e p r misses were burn't downe and then for y e Consider- 
 acons therein menconed It is Decreed That Backwell should have a Term of 
 51 yeares of & in y e s* peice of Ground &_ y e Messuages & buildings to be 
 thereupon erected & built w* h all appurtences To hold to y e s* Backwell from 
 Midsomer then last past at 130 1 . 1 p Ann. 
 
 6? Maij. 1676 Qne Indre between y e g d Dee Q f th > one pte and EM p rogers £sq r of y6 
 
 other pte Reciteing y* the s<* Dee had obtained a Judgm* ag* y e s * Progers 
 for 2000 1 . 1 Debt besides Costs of Suite Nevertheless Dee coven* that in case 
 Progers should pform & observe y e s* Articles so farr as the same concerned 
 the s? Dee That then he y e said Dee would not take out Execucon upon the 
 said Judgm* &c. 
 
 289 car^i} A Decree made in Chancery Reciteing a Bill exhibited in Easter Term 
 1676 by y e s ? Progers & the Ex 1 ? of S 1 : ffrancis Cornwallis ag* S^ Paul 
 Painter y e s ? Backwell Dee & Everard the Son by his Guardian Barnaby 
 Tonstaffe Gent Declareing that Everard y e ffather in his lifetime was a Gold- 
 smith & a Banker in London & haveing great dealings contracted diverse 
 great Debts & being seized of some houses in London & possed of a psonall 
 Estate ab* November 1665 made his Will in Writeing & his Son Charles 
 Executor & appointed Sr Rob* Vyner Rowland Dee Jn. Morris & Henry 
 
( 30i ) 
 
 Mosse Trustees for his Son & Daughters & Credito? to receive his Debts & 
 Rents untill his Debts & Legacies should be paid and after satisfaccon thereof 
 made he willed his ffee simple Lands to his said Son and Vyner Morris 
 & Mosse disclaimeing y e Trust Dee alone tooke the same upon him & 
 administred And the houses being burn't downe It was Decreed as afore is 
 menconed by y e two Decrees of y e 30*? December 1668 & 9* December 1670 
 and y* Dee for atf four yeares had administred y e said Everards Estate & 
 reced the Rents & paid seidall Debts and Charles Cornwallis being in his life- 
 time entrusted by y e Lady Crofts to receive & lay out seidall sumes of money 
 for her did deposit in Everards hands as well of hers as his owne Severall 
 Sumes of money amounting to 20000 1 . 1 & tooke Notes under his hand for the 
 same And that Everard at his death was indebted to y e s* Charles Cornwallis 
 upon acco* stated 7395I 1 whereof 6500" was the propper Moneys of y e said Lady 
 Crofts besides 1350 1 : not brought to acco? And y* Everard at his death owe_d_to 
 S? Rich d Edgcombe 506? w*? interest at 4 1 ? p Cent w c ? Debt in Consideracon 
 of money paid by Progers was assigned to him by Edgcomb and y* in Trinity 
 Term in y e 22*? yeare of King Charles y e Second Cornwallisobtained Judgrrrf 
 in the Kings Bench ag^ Dee as Adm r . of Everard deced for y e s? 7395 1 - 1 
 besides Costs &c and y l for Want of Assetts Crofts reced no pte of her said 
 Debt But haveing made her Will in Writeing & Progers Ex^ dyed who 
 proved the Will & called upon y e said Charles Cornwallis to perfform y e trust 
 in him reposed by the Lady Crofts And to gett the Money out of the said 
 Everards Estate which could not welj_be effected (as advised) w^out Re- 
 pealeing the Letters of Administracon granted to Dee And in order 
 thereunto Cornwallis pmised to use all lawfull waies to_repeale the same & to 
 administer in his owne name And accordingly by Indre of 11^ of June in y e 
 s? 22*? yeare of King Charles the Second made between y e s? Cornwallis of 
 th'one part & Progers of th'other part Cornwallis Coven* 3 to pay all such 
 Moneys as should be raised out" of Everards Estate to Progers for satisfaccon 
 of the said Crofts her Debt Deduccons being to be made for Costs and 
 Damages w°? upon the accoV of Suites brought by or ag*. the said Cornwallis 
 or Dee should be expended And_that the s? Cornwallis haveing procured the 
 said Dees Letters of Administracon to be repealed & to be to him granted 
 Articles of Agreeing dat y e 18* June in y e 22* yeare of y e said King Charles 
 the Second were made between them as afores? &c It was Decreed that y e s? 
 Articles of Agreem*. should be perfformed by the pties thereunto according 
 to y e true meaning of the same &c. 
 
 Indre Triptite Between y e said Progers of the first part Everard the Son 25? Marcij 
 of the second part and Maurice Moseley of the third part Reciteing the s* 
 Articles And that Progers and Everard had that day settled all acco tt3 
 
( 302 ) 
 
 and Progers deliver'd up all Writeings to Everard And further Reciteing 
 that the said Moseley had at Everards request paid as after expressed 
 iooo 11 and that for secureing the repay m- thereof w*? Interest It was agreed 
 that all y^_Reall Estate of_the said Ch? Everard deceased therein menconed 
 in the possion or occupacon of the Ex r . s Adm r . s or Assignes of y e s? Edw? 
 Backwell deced should be_ assigned to the s? Moseley The said Progers by & 
 w?.the Consent & direccon of Everard) in Consideracon of 915! 1 6 s - g/? paid 
 him by Moseley (being the ballance of his acco 1 .* with Everard) assignes all his 
 Right & interest to Moseley And y e said Everard in Consideracon of 84'! 13? 3? 
 paid him by Moseley Grants & Releases to him as p Deed for 500I 1 (?) yeares 
 from the_Date at a Pepper Corn Rent Subject however to a Provisoe for 
 Redempcon on paym? of 11201* as therein is menconed. 
 23? Oct. 1700. The last menconed Mortgage to M r . Moseley was paid off, & y e same 
 surrendered by y e s* Moseley to y e s? Cha. Everard y e Son by Indorsem* 
 thereon. 
 
 I Charles Everard do hereby acknowledge that I have in my hands the 
 severall Deeds Evidences and Writeings menconed in this Abstract And I 
 promise to pduce the same every or any of them when where and as often as 
 occasion shall require pursuant to a Covent in a certain Indenture of Release 
 beareing even date w 1 ? the s? p r sents and made between me the said Charles 
 Everard and Mary my wife of the one part and William Proctor Cittizen and 
 fishmonger of London of the other part Witness my hand the Eighteenth 
 day of November Anno Dni 1700. 
 Wittness hereto 
 
 Ja. Brace ]un T - 
 
 Charles: Everard 
 
APPENDIX G. 
 
 EPITOME OF THE TITLE OF THE GRASSHOPPER, 
 1670-1741, AND OF THE PLOUGH, 1792. 
 
( 305 ) 
 
 APPENDIX G. 
 
 Epitome of the Title of the Grasshopper, 1670-1741, and of the 
 
 Plough, 1792. 
 
 1670, 9th Dec. (A) Freeholder — Everard, an infant, leases to E. Back well for 
 
 fifty-one years (1670-1721). 
 1678, 28th Sept. (B) E. Backwell leases to C. Duncombe for twenty-one 
 
 years (1677- 1698). 
 
 1678, 24th Pec. (C) E. Backwell assigns his interest in original lease to 
 
 Francis Moryson for forty-one years (1678-17 19). 
 1695, 5th June (D) Executors of Moryson lease to R. Smith (of Smith and 
 
 Spinks) for thirteen years after expiration of B (1698-1711). 
 
 1697, 1 8th May (E) Henry and Edward Moryson, Richard Green and his 
 Wife, assign to Trustees their one-third share of the lease C (1697-17 19). 
 
 1698, 2nd June (F) Trustees of Moryson's children sell to Nathaniel Turner 
 (1698-1719). 
 
 1700, 3rd Aug. (G) Charles Everard, son of original Everard, leases to 
 Richard and Leigh Backwell, two sons and only Executors of Edward 
 Backwell, the house in the occupation of Andrew Stone, for fourteen years 
 from Michaelmas, J699 (1699-1713). 
 
 1700, 18th Nov. (H) Charles Everard sells to Procter the Freehold for ^2000 
 (Grasshopper and Cross Daggers). 
 
 1703, 20th Dec. (J) Turner sells to Richard Barnaby and Leigh Backwell 
 balance of Moryson's lease F (-1719). 
 
 1704, 14th April (I) Richard and Leigh Backwell assign to Procter lease G. 
 (1713). 
 
 1704, 14th Aug. (K) Richard Barnaby and L. Backwell sell to Procter (J.) 
 (-1719). 
 
 1737, 20th May (L) Procter leases for six and a half years from Lady-day, 
 
 1737, at £130 (I737-I743)- 
 1741, 15th April (M) Procter sells to James Martin premises of Andrew Stone 
 
 and Cross Daggers, late in the occupation of Piggott (£2890). 
 1792, 14th July (N) Henry Hoare, of Grafton Street, sells to James Martin 
 
 premises, 67, Lombard Street (£340). 
 
 X 
 
APPENDIX H. 
 
 A TABLE SHOWING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN 
 THE HOUSES OF BARING, BIDDULPH, 
 LABOUCHERE, MARTIN, STONE, Etc. 
 
( 309 ) 
 
 X 
 
 Q 
 
 Z 
 
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 Ph 
 
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 Pn- 
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 K 
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 pq 
 
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 Pi 
 
 Q 
 
 Q 
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 pq 
 
 c5 
 S? 
 
 I-H 
 
 P4 
 
 pq 
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 w 
 
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 CO 
 
 o 
 
 l-H 
 
 H 
 
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 w 
 Pi 
 
 w 
 K 
 
 H 
 O 
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 O 
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 en 
 
 W 
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 PQ 
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( 3ii ) 
 
 L'ENVOI. 
 
 BETWEEN the writing and the printing of the foregoing pages, an alteration 
 of no small moment, albeit one marked by little outward sign, has taken place 
 in the constitution of the Grasshopper. 
 
 At each successive stage of the transformations that mark the evolution 
 of insect life, the morphologist can distinguish not only an advance from a 
 less fully developed phase of existence, but also the rudiments of the yet more 
 complex organization that is to follow. And so the fortunes of the Grass- 
 hopper have been traced from the primitive conditions of the " mean gold- 
 smith," through the " Mystery of the New Fashioned Bankers " to the modern 
 Banking Company. 
 
 But in order adequately to describe this last change, it would have been 
 necessary to enter at some length into the changed conditions of modern 
 sentiment and opinion in matters of business, and after all to drop the curtain 
 that had just been raised for the commencement of a new act. The narrative 
 may perhaps be better suffered to close, unmarked by any dramatic climax, 
 with the year 1890, and it must be left to some future historian to carry on 
 the annals of " Martin's Bank, Limited." 
 
INDEX. 
 
 A 
 
 Abchurch Lane, 184, 185, 230 
 Accumulation of cash in goldsmiths' hands, 
 125 
 
 Acton, Samuel, 212 
 
 Act to supply the Deficiency of the Money 
 (1694), 138 ; for granting to their Majesties 
 certain rates, 138 
 
 Acts of 1845 affecting note circulation in 
 Scotland and Ireland, 137 
 
 Act 7 George IV., affecting bank-notes, 136 
 
 Advantages of being able to settle a trans- 
 action without the use of actual coin, 127 
 
 Advertisement in London Evening Post, 212 
 
 Agas, Ralph, his map of London, 184 
 
 Aislabie, John, 243 
 
 , Benjamin, 243 ; and the West Kent 
 
 Cricket Club, 243 ; his rhyming alphabets, 
 244 
 
 , Rawson, 222 
 
 Albemarle, Duke of, 29 
 
 Allison, John, 205 
 
 America, marine insurance in, 161 
 
 American Civil War, interest-bearing notes 
 
 during, 132 
 Amsterdam, bank of, 130 
 " An Appeal to Caesar," 117 
 Anne of Cleves, 6 
 
 Annuities, 138 ; Salt Lottery , 138 
 
 Anonymous communications, 257 
 Antonio in " The Merchant of Venice," 161 
 Antwerp, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 159, 160 
 An unsuccessful raid, 254 
 
 Appropriation Bill (Ireland, 1753), 81 
 Arcot, 156 
 
 Arms of Gresham, 19 ; Of Sir Richard Martin j 
 47 ; of Blackwell and Ewer, 69 ; of Stone; 
 84 ; of Martin, 106 
 
 Armoury, keeper of the Tower, 230 
 
 Ashley, Lord {see Shaftesbury), 29 
 
 Ashton, John, Esq., 57 
 
 Assets, analysis of (i749)> I 37> seq. 
 
 Atwill, William, 203 
 
 — — and Hamond, 223 
 
 Augier, James, 190 
 
 , Jane, 189 
 
 , Paul, 190 
 
 , Reney, 189 
 
 Awbrey, Joyce, 188 
 
 , Morgan, 188 
 
 , Samuel, 188 
 
 B 
 
 Bacon, Sir Nathaniel, 14 
 
 , Lord, 14 
 
 ■, Nicholas, 25, 27 
 
 Backwell and Duncombe, 205 
 
 , Barnaby, 194, 202 
 
 , Edward (Alderman), 28, 30, 31, 123, 
 
 125, 184, 185, 194, 19 6 ) 202, 2 °3» 207, in, 
 
 233, 237 
 
 , at the Unicorn, 202, 229, 237 
 
 , John, 202, 211 
 
 , Leigh, 194, 202 
 
( 3 
 
 H ) 
 
 Backwell, Richard, 194, 202 
 Backwell's estate destroyed by the Great 
 Fire, 185 ; his "little town," 186; ledgers, 
 I 33> 233 ; leases to Duncombe and Kent, 
 191 ; leaseholds, 191, 192, 193, 194 ; failure, 
 202; inheritance, 211 ; melting-house, 218 
 
 Baker, Mr., clockmaker, 215 
 
 Baker's Coffee-house, 205, 213, 214, 215, 218 ; 
 kitchen of, 229 
 
 Balance sheets, missing, 89 ; earliest surviv- 
 ing, 131 
 
 Bank of Amsterdam, 118 
 
 of England, 114, 127, 129, 130, 132, 135, 
 
 r 36, 138, 140, 169; minute book of, 134; 
 monopoly of, 137 ; directors, 167 ; in the 
 Clearing-house, 173 
 
 Circulation, 139, 140 ; dealings in, 141 
 
 of France, 130 
 
 of Spain, 130 
 
 St. George at Venice, 114, 118 
 
 Banker and customer, list of latter, showing 
 the strong conservatism of relations be- 
 tween (1731-1799), 235, 236 
 
 Banker's business, pleasurable parts of, 247 
 
 guarantee fund, 253 
 
 Bankers at Amsterdam, 118 
 
 Banking, continental system of, 14 
 
 ■ crises, 125, 126 
 
 Bank-note system, evolution of, 127, 128 ; 
 
 circulation, 137, 138 
 Bank-notes, issue of, by private bankers, 136 
 
 , over-issue of by tradesmen, 136 
 
 Banks established at Geneva, Barcelona, 
 
 Genoa, and Amsterdam, 114 
 , overwork in, 257 
 
 Baring Bros., 105 ; world-wide reputation of 
 239 ; reverses of fortune of, 239 ; pedigree 
 of, 239 
 
 , connexion between the families of 
 
 Labouchere, Martin, Stone, etc., 242 
 , Francis and Mr. Smith and the 
 
 borough of Ilchester, 240 
 , Francis, of Mincing Lane, associated 
 
 with John Sommers Cocks, 242 
 , John and Francis, opened an account 
 
 at the Grasshopper, 92, 238 
 , John, humorous letter from, 239 
 
 Baring, Sir Francis, 106 
 
 Barings and the Grasshopper, family con- 
 nexion between, 240 
 
 Barley in Hertfordshire, 92 
 
 Barnard, Dr. 72 
 
 Barrington, Hon. Daines, 56 
 
 Batalhey, Mr., William, 30 
 
 Bath Journal, description of the fire in 1748, 
 220 
 
 Batson's Coffee-house, 237 
 Batten, Sir W., 181 
 Battisford, county Suffolk, 16 
 " Bavyer," Duke of, 6 
 Bedford, Duke of, 75, 78 
 Behring, Behrend, Berens, 238 
 Berkeley Square, 103 
 
 Berwick, Lechmere and Co., of the Old Bank 
 
 at Worcester, 105 
 Biddulph, John, of Ledbury and London, 
 
 104 
 
 , Mary Anne, 104 
 
 Bills of Exchange, 112, 113 ; early specimens 
 of, 129 
 
 Birchin Lane, 184, 185, 209 
 Bishopsgate Street, 17, 18 
 Blackheath, 55 
 
 Black Horse in Lombard Street, 211 
 Blackwell, Anne, married Rowland Pitt, 50 
 
 , Charles, married — Ewer, daughter of 
 
 Isaac Ewer, 50 
 Ebenezer, 46, 49, 89, 91, 93, 237 ; wit- 
 nesses the signatures, 49 ; birthplace, 
 50 ; becomes a partner, 50 ; private ac- 
 counts of, 50, 51 ; buys Mrs. Sparrow's 
 house at Lewisham, 52 ; his friendship 
 with John Wesley, 52 ; took up his resi- 
 dence at the Limes, 52 ; manages Wesley's 
 money matters, 52 ; benevolence of, 54 
 55 ; private liberality of, 55 ; bets of,55, 56 ; 
 house in Change Alley, 58 ; its destruction 
 by fire, 58 ; family affairs of, 59 ; Christ- 
 mas-boxes of, 60 ; wages of servants of, 
 60 ; cost of various commodities, 61 ; 
 personal habits of, 62 ; expenditure of, 
 62, 63, 163; father and mother of, 64; 
 second wife of, 65 ; connexion with 
 families of Pitt, Lowth, Sturges, Jarvis, 
 
( 3> 
 
 Knollys, and Martin, 65, 66 ; retirement 
 from business of, 68 ; death of, 68 ; burial 
 at Lewisham, 68 ; residence, there, The 
 Limes, 68, 69 ; at the Three Crossed 
 Daggers, 219 
 Blackwell, John, 50 
 
 , Mrs., and the revivalist movement, 53 ; 
 
 attempted robbery of, 61 ; death of, 54, 65 
 
 , Nathaniel Jos. James, 65 
 
 , Richard, 49 
 
 , Robert, 49 
 
 , Rev. Robert Edward, 65 
 
 , Sarah, 55 
 
 , Susan, married Sir William Parkyn, 
 
 49 
 
 and Ewer, arms of, 69 
 
 BlackwelPs house destroyed, 220 
 Blackwells of Bushey, Herts, 49 ; Gloucester- 
 shire, 50 ; Sprouston Hall, Norfolk, 50 
 Blanchard, 28 
 
 Blanks and Prizes (1762), 151 ; (1761), 152 ; 
 
 (1762), 152 ; (1763), I5 2 
 Bletchingly, in Surrey, 93 
 Blunderbusses, 230 
 
 Bonar, Thomson, murder of Mr. and Mrs., 
 101 
 
 Bond, Benjamin, 223 
 
 Boscawen, Hon. John, 88 
 
 Boscham, Bartholomew, 116 
 
 Bose, H. C, 213 
 
 Bowden, Mr. Henry, 98 
 
 Bowes, Sir Martin, 187, 188 
 
 Bowles & Co., 11, Lombard Street, 167 
 
 Bowman, Edward, 205 
 
 Bramley, Mr., 37 
 
 Bridges, Shem, of London, 202 
 
 Bridge water, Earl of, 213 
 
 Bright, Jeremy, 194 
 
 Bristol, John Wesley at, 52 
 
 Brockhampton, 50 
 
 Brode Street, 17 
 
 Bromley, Judith, 56 
 
 , William, 89 
 
 Buckingham, Duke of, sale of estate of, 33 ; 
 
 estate purchased by Duncombe, 121 
 Buckle. Sir Cuthbert, 22 
 Burgon, (Life of Gresham, by), 5, 6, 8, 12, 13 
 
 Burleigh, Lord William, 25, 27 
 Burne, William Way, 205 
 Burrell, John, 189 
 Burton, Bartholomew, 38 
 
 , Mr., 35, 36 
 
 Burwell, or Burrell, Jeffery, 190 
 , John, 190 
 
 Business risks incurred for conscience sake, 
 258 
 
 Busseler's Head in King's Street, West- 
 minster, 124 
 
 C 
 
 Caius College, 59 
 
 , Dr. John, 7 
 
 Calthrop, Sir Martin, 22 
 Calthropp, John, 12 
 Cambell, Rachel, 188 
 , James, 188 
 
 Camden Place, Chislehurst, 101, 103 
 Candellor, Richard, 12 ; code of signals, 12 
 Canning, Elizabeth, case of, 56, 57, 58 
 Capital, attempted regulation of, under Ed- 
 ward VI., 113 
 Carisbrooke, 39, 40 
 
 , Castle, 29 
 
 Carteret, Sir George, 29 
 Cash-notes, 132 
 
 Casimir, Prince Palatine of the Rhine, 17 
 Caursines, the, 1 14 
 Celie, Thomas, 14 
 Cely, Philip, 14 
 
 Chancery Inquisition as to estate of Sir 
 Richard Gresham, 9 
 
 Change Alley, 58, 59, in, 181, 183, 194, 197, 
 198, 199, 200, 201, 207, 208, 209, 219, 220, 
 221, 222, 223, 226, 227, 228, 229 ; Stowe's 
 description of, 183; maps of 1604, 1666, 
 and 1775, 184 ; Alderman Backwell's altera- 
 tions, 184 ; its popularity in the reign of 
 William III., 184; further alteration of, 223 
 
 Charles II., 42, 138 
 
 V., 11, 12 
 
 Chastillon, Cardinal, Count de Beauvais, 61 
 
( 3 
 
 16 ) 
 
 Cheques, early specimens of, 129 
 
 , the largest, 174 
 
 Cheque system, 127, 128, 133 
 Cheshunt, Herts, Thomas Martin buried at, 
 46 
 
 Child, Blanchard and, 28 
 
 and Co., 32, 37, 124 
 
 , Captain Francis, 129 
 
 , Sir Fras, 38 
 
 Chislehurst, 98, 105 
 Christmas boxes, origin of, 134 
 Circulation notes, 140 
 Clapham, 46, 61 
 
 Clearing bankers, list of, in 1774 to 1891, 
 169-171 
 
 Clearing house, list of proprietors in 1852, 
 and those remaining 1st Jan., 1891, 172 
 
 , settlement by bank-notes discontinued, 
 
 173 
 
 Clearing, origin of, 167 ; inspector of, 168 ; 
 
 extension of, 174 
 Clearing room, the first, 168 
 Clement's Lane, house in, 155 
 Clerical staff of the Grasshopper (1752), 165 ; 
 
 their names, 165 ; salaries, 165 
 Cliffe, Robert, 87 
 
 , Walpole and Clarke, 88 
 
 Clifford, Sir Thomas, 29 
 
 Clive in India, 155 
 
 Closing of the Exchequer, 31 
 
 Clough, Richard, 13, 17, 180 
 
 Cock-Lane ghost, 58 
 
 Cock, Nathaniel, 222 
 
 Cocks, Biddulph and Co., 104 
 
 Codrington, Sir William, 91 
 
 Coinage, state of, temp; Charles II., 120 
 
 Colebrooke and Co, 155 
 
 , James, jun., 55 
 
 Cole, Benjaminj 223 
 
 , Wm, 103 
 
 Coligni, Admiral, 16 
 Colwall, near Ledbury, 100 
 Commissioners on the coinage, 27 
 
 to inquire into Lonison's doings, 25 
 
 Composition of the reserve of cash, 132 
 Contemporary chronicle describes the fire 
 
 of 1748, 220 ; of 1778, 221 
 
 Continental system of banking, origin of, 
 114 
 
 Conway, Mr., 81 
 Cook, Captain, 162 
 
 , William Cowley, 223 
 
 Cope's defeat, 93 
 Copying-press first used, 166 
 Cornhill, 58, 184, 185, 186, 220 
 Cornwaille, Ralph, story of, 115 
 Corpus Christi, Cambridge, 92 
 Corrall, Christopher, 222 
 Costs and charges, legal (1700), 195 
 Cottington, Lord, 118 
 
 Country branches opened by the Grass- 
 hopper— Bexley Heath, Bromley, Chisle- 
 hurst, Sidcup, Sittingbourne, 175 
 
 clearing, 173 
 
 Courcelle, M. de, 74 
 
 Court of Chancery, Turner and others v. 
 
 Backwell, 203 
 r Judicature, re Fire of London (1666), 
 
 187 
 
 Coutts & Co., goldsmith's notes of, 136 
 
 Coventry, Mr., 118 
 
 ~* — , Siir William, 29, 30, 238 
 
 Coxe, " Pelham Administration," 75, 80 
 
 Craft of the goldsmiths in England, 117 
 
 Crawford, William, 205 
 
 Credit, non-existing in pre-Tudor times, 113 
 
 Cricket club, the oldest in England, 243 
 
 Crisis amongthe bankers, 125, 126 
 
 Cross, or Crossed, Daggers, the, 58, 194, 201 
 
 (see Three Crossed Daggers) 
 Crossed cheques, when first used, 167 ; 
 
 crossed by a stamp (1822), 167 
 Crown alehouse, 214 
 
 and Magpie, 243 
 
 Current accounts, 166 
 
 and interest on deposits, 133 
 
 Customers, celebrated, 236 
 
 , requirements of eccentric, 247, 248 
 
 , list from the general balance of 1731, 
 
 234 
 
 , list of, showing the strong conservatism 
 
 of relations with banker, 235, 236 
 Cust, Peregrine, 241 
 Cutler William, 190, 202 
 
( 317 ) 
 
 D 
 
 Daily Courant, 134 
 
 Danvers, Charles, 28, 259 
 
 Dee, Rowland, 190 
 
 Defoe, on Change Alley, 210 
 
 Denbighshire, R. Clough in, 13 
 
 Denmark (Winchester), 41 
 
 Deputy Tellers of the Exchequer, 35 
 
 Development of the goldsmith, 125 
 
 of banking business led to the system of 
 
 clearing, 167 
 Dewell, Hannah, 52, 59, 68 
 Dingley, Mr. R., 237 
 Directors of the Bank of England, 167 
 Discount book, 132, 137 
 Distribution of sites east of Change Alley, 
 
 223 
 
 Dobson, W., 103 
 
 Dockatt, Lyonell, 10, 14 
 
 Donkom, Mr., 37 
 
 Dorset, Duke of, 80 
 
 Dowdeswell and Yorke, 104 
 
 , John Edmund, 102 
 
 , William, 89 
 
 Downing College, Cambridge, 238 
 
 Street, 91 ; house required by Govern- 
 ment, 98 ; property, sale of, 238 
 
 ■ , Sir George, 238 ; Finance Minister of 
 
 Charles II., 237 
 
 ■ , name still survives in the books of the 
 
 Grasshopper, 238 
 
 Downton in Wiltshire, 35 
 
 Dowk, Job, 32 
 
 Drummonds, Messrs., 167 
 
 Duchetiana, 11 
 
 Duckett, Sir Lionel, 11, 14 
 
 , Sir George, 11 
 
 Due to sundries in the Note Book, 136 
 
 Dunbar, Earl of, 77 
 
 Duncombe, connexion with Gresham family, 6 
 
 , Alderman, 124, 192, 193, 196, 207, 233 
 
 , Char., 28 
 
 , Charles, of the Grasshopper, 30, 38 ; 
 
 apprenticed, 30 ; and his brother Valentine, 
 
 31 ; receiver of customs, 32 ; a Tory, 33 ; 
 and William of Orange, 33 ; committal to 
 the Tower, 34 ; impeachment of, 34 ; pur- 
 chases Helmsley from the Duke of Buck- 
 ingham, 34; elected Lord Mayor (1708), 
 36 ; elected sheriff and knighted, 36 ; 
 reputed to be the richest commoner in 
 England, 36 ; his death, 36 
 
 Duncombe family, 29 
 
 of the Grasshopper, 129 
 
 , Backwell's apprentice, 233 
 
 , Sir John, of Battlesden, 28 ; capacity 
 
 for business of, 29 ; Commissioner of the 
 Treasury, 29 ; knighted, 29 ; personal 
 qualities of, 29 ; character of, 30 ; Chan- 
 cellor of the Exchequer, 30 
 
 Vallentine, 31, 32 
 
 Dutch, the, at the Nore (1667), 125 
 
 Dye, Samuel, 222 
 
 Dyer, Thomas, 103 
 
 E 
 
 Earliest cheque on the Grasshopper crossed, 
 167 ; crossed by means of a stamp, 1822, 
 167 
 
 ledgers and books of the Grasshopper, 
 
 130 
 
 myth in connexion with Grass- 
 hopper, 3 
 
 specimens of bills of exchange, 129 ; of 
 
 cheques, 129 
 
 surviving balance-sheet, 131 
 
 surviving books of the Grasshopper, 87 
 
 140 
 
 Early banking, 1 1 1 
 
 — — continental banks, 1 14 
 
 documents of the Grasshopper, 187 
 
 goldsmiths, 117 
 
 State lotteries, 143 
 
 East India Bonds, 112 
 
 India Company, 155 
 
 Eden, Mary, 65 
 
 , Robert, 65, 66, 67 
 
 Edlin, a clerk, acted as a broker, 166 
 
( 3'8 ) 
 
 Edlmann, Frederick Joseph, of Hawkwood, 
 98 
 
 Edward I., originated Trial of the Pyx, 26 
 
 1 II., Lombard Street in time of, 180 
 
 III., regulated Trial of Pyx, 26 ; usury 
 
 in time of, 115 ; his mother in Lombard 
 Street, 180 
 
 Edward IV. and Jane Shore, 4 
 
 VI. and Gresham, 8, 11, 13; regula- 
 tions as to capital under, 113 
 
 Egibi and Son, of Babylon, in 
 
 Elizabeth, Queen, her silk stockings, 21 ; 
 visits Saffron Walden, 24 ; credit in time 
 of, 116 ; marine insurance under, 160 
 
 Elliot, John, 12, 13 
 
 Ely, Bishop of, 59 
 
 Emperor Claudius, marine insurance in time 
 
 of, 159 
 Essex, Earl of, 27 
 Esher, Dr. Barnard, rector of, 72 
 Etheridge, Mrs., of Tewkesbury, 5 1 
 Euclio, Duncombe satirised as, 37 
 Evance, Sir Ste, 38 
 Evelyn on banks, 120, 143 
 Everard and Backwell, 191 
 
 , Charles, 187, 189, 190, 193, 194, 201, 202 
 
 , Mary, 194 
 
 to Procter, 202 
 
 Everard's connexion with the Grasshopper 
 and Cross Daggers ceases, 194 
 
 inheritance, 211 
 
 Evesham, Martin family at, 44, 88 
 
 Ewer, Isaac, 50 
 
 Exchange Alley, 59, 202, 209 
 
 at Antwerp, 6 
 
 Tavern, 214, 229 
 
 Exchequer, closing of (1672), 233 
 bills, 243 
 
 Expenditure of Ebenezer Blackwell, 62, 63, 
 163 
 
 Expenses and ledgers, 166 
 
 Extension of the system of clearing, 174 
 
 Extract from the General Balance " Due to 
 sundrys in the Note-book at Christmas, 
 1746," 134, 135 
 
 Extracts from the old books of the Grass- 
 hopper, 156, 157, 158 
 
 F 
 
 Fanchurch Street, 186 
 Fauntleroy's forgeries, 249 
 Fawcett, Mr., 77 
 Feek, Mary, 26 
 Ferneley, William, 7 
 Fetter Lane, 54 
 Ffouree, Paul, 188, 190 
 Fielding, Mr., 57 
 Fire of 1748, 219 
 
 ■ of 1778, 222 
 
 First tea-house in England, 209 
 
 association of the name Martin with 
 
 Grasshopper, 27 
 Fish Alley in Barton Street, Tewkesbury, 50, 
 
 5i 
 
 Flanders, Gresham in, 6, 9, 10, 13 ; Back- 
 well in, 185 
 Fleet Street, 18 | 
 
 Fleetwood, Bishop, and Archbishop Herring, 
 92 
 
 Floyer, Peter, 242 
 
 , Henrietta, 242, 243 
 
 Foote, Eleanor, 91 
 
 , George, 95, 99 
 
 , John, 93 
 
 Footes, of Detling, 94 
 Forbes, Bartholomew, 225 
 Ford, Sir Richard, 118 
 Forged cheques, 250, 251 
 
 endorsements, 251, 252 
 
 Forgeries on the Grasshopper since 1853 
 249 
 
 " Foundery," John Wesley's, 54 
 Fowle, Mr., 38 
 Fox, Charles J., 83, 96, 97 
 Francis's " History of the Bank of England," 
 139 
 
 Fraudulent operations, 255, 256 
 Franknel, Susannah, 26 
 Freehold house in Clement's Lane, 155 
 Freeman, Elizabeth, 50 
 
 , John, 197 
 
 , Mary, 55, 65 
 
 French " Luidores," 138 
 Frobisher, Martin, 11 
 
( 319 ) 
 
 Froude, Mr. J. A., 83 
 
 Furre, Paul, of the Dutch ordinary, 188 
 
 , Josina, 189 
 
 Fullerton, Mr. Alexander Geo., 238 
 
 G 
 
 Gage, Viscount, 89 
 
 Galatine, Mrs., 55 
 
 Garraway, Thomas, 209, 210 
 
 Garraway's, 58, 59, 184, 185, 203, 209 
 
 Coffee-house involved by fire, 220 ; 
 
 rebuilt, 227 ; external appearance, 228 ; 
 
 foundations carried down to Roman 
 
 London, 228 ; cellars of, 229 ; internal 
 
 alterations of, 229 
 Gascoigne, Aldebrande, 115 
 Gatton, in Surrey, 90 
 Gay, on the " Grasshopper," 130, 209 
 Genealogical particulars of the Blackwell 
 
 family, 66, 67 
 General balances of the Grasshopper, foreign 
 
 names in, 234 
 Genoa, 130 
 George Yard, 58 
 Georgia, Whitfield in, 54 
 Gilbert, William, 14 
 Gilmore, Philip, 14 
 Glover, Mr., 50 
 
 Glyn, Mills, and Co., 97, 209, 212, 223, 226, 
 229 
 
 Goldsmiths as Mayors, 23 
 
 " Goldsmith's Book," 166 
 
 Goldsmith's Company, 21 ; minutes of, 22 
 
 deposit-note, 127 ; and the modern 
 
 bank-note, 127 
 
 Goldsmith's notes, nature of, 136 ; disappear- 
 ance of, 136; of Coutts & Co., 136 
 
 Goldsmiths that keep running cashes, 27 ; 
 become bankers, 29 ; transactions of, 118, 
 124 ; in Lombard Street, 118 : of the Res- 
 toration, 123, 186 ; development of, 125 ; 
 opposition of, to establishment of the Bank 
 of England, 129 
 
 Gonville Hall, Cambridge, 7 
 
 Government of the United States and their 
 notes, 133 
 
 Gracious-streete, 186 
 
 Grampound and Old Sarum, 90 
 
 Grasshopper, residence of Gresham at the 
 16; first Stone associated with the, 40; 
 annals of, and the Bank of England, 130; 
 early balance sheet of, 137 ; surviving books 
 of, 143 ; leases, 123, 196, 197, 201 ; plan of 
 204 ; and the Unicorn, 205 ; pulled down 
 and rebuilt, 223 ; sign, disappearance of, 
 224; premises enlarged, 227 ; books, loss 
 of, 209 ; no record of Gordon riots in, 
 230 ; no light on Fauntleroy's forgeries 
 in, 249 ; forgeries on the, 249 ; the con- 
 fidence trick, 253 
 
 Grasshopper, mythical and historical note 
 on the, 181 
 
 Graunt, Elizabeth, 210 
 
 Great Fire (1666), 185 
 
 Greek and Roman money-dealers, 112 
 
 Greeks, and marine insurance, 1 59 
 
 Green, Elizabeth, 193 
 
 , Richard, 193 
 
 Grellier, extract from "History of our 
 
 National Debts and Taxes," 147 
 Gresham, arms of, 9 ( 
 
 crest, origin of myth respecting, 5 
 
 House, 16 
 
 John, apprenticeship of, 6 ; appointed 
 
 royal financial agent, 6 ; served as Lord 
 Mayor, 6 ; death and burial of, 6 ; marriage 
 of, 28 
 
 , Sir Richard, accredited financial agent, 
 
 5 ; private business of, 6 
 
 , Sir Thomas, 4, 11, 116, 161, 180, 186, 
 
 224, 237 : pedigree of, 5 ; birth of, 7 ; 
 apprenticeship of, 7 ; admitted as a member 
 of the Mercer's Company, 7 ; marriage of, 
 7 ; royal agent to Edward VI., 8 ; royal 
 agent to Queens Mary and Elizabeth, 8 ; 
 private business of, 9 ; a financier, io ; 
 advised the raising of means to pay Her 
 Majesty's debts, 10 ; his association with 
 Sir Lyonell Dockat, 11 ; his factors, 13 ; 
 his private life, 14; his family, 14, 15; 
 new house in Bishopsgate Street, 15 ; 
 
( 3 
 
 entertains Queen Elizabeth, 16 ; his 
 country houses, 16; only son died, 17; 
 his own death, 19 ; his will, 14 
 
 Greshams of Limpsfield, 43 
 
 , origin of, 5 
 
 " Grizel, Lady," Andrew Stone a character 
 in, 79 
 
 Grub Street Journal, 61 
 
 H 
 
 Hallifax, Mr., 60 
 
 Ham Court, near Upton-on-Severn, 89 
 Hansard's " Parliamentary History," 35, 
 97 
 
 Harcourt, John, 241 
 
 , Lord, 75, 76, 77, 78 
 
 Hargrave$, 39 
 
 Harpe, the, in Goldsmith's Row, in Cheap- 
 side, 21 
 Haslop, Joseph, 200 
 Hastings, Andrew Stone, M.P. for, 73 
 Hatton, Sir Christopher, 25, 27 
 Hawkins, Joseph, 200 
 
 Hayter, Dr., Preceptor of Prince of Wales 
 
 (1750, 75, 76 
 Heberden, Mary, 91 
 
 Hebrew money-lender followed the Norman 
 invader, 112 
 
 Herbert, Robert, 193 
 
 Herman's Coffee-house, 214 
 
 Helmsley, Kirbymoorside, 33, 34 
 
 Henry VIII., 4, 6, 8 ; legalised usury, 114; 
 and the Exchange, 180 
 
 Herring, Thomas, 59, 92 ; his preferments, 
 9 2 > 93 > his political activity, 93 ; arch- 
 bishop, 93, 239 
 
 , Harriet, married Sir Francis Baring, 
 
 92, 106 
 
 , Mary, 106 
 
 Hewer, W., 125 
 
 Hill, Dr., 58 
 
 , Stephen, 189 
 
 Hoadley, Primate, 80 
 
 Hoare, Henry, 223 
 
 Hogan, Edmund, 9, 13, 14 
 
 Holbrookes of Titsey, 43 
 
 Holland, Gresham presents a bolte of, to 
 
 Queen Mary, 10 
 Hollands Bank, Pepys on the, 118 
 Holt, the Greshams of, 5 
 Hook's " Ecclesiastical Biography," 92 
 Hopkins, Benjamin Bond, 215 
 
 , John, 223 
 
 Hope, Mr., the brewer, 87 
 Hoskyns, Sir John, 33 
 
 Hospital for exposed children, founded by 
 
 Thomas Coram, 237 
 Houghton, Horace Walpole at, 79 
 Hurford, Mr., 60 
 Huysman, or " Hiseman," 38 
 Hyde Abbey School, Winchester, 71 
 
 I 
 
 Indian caste, and marriages of English 
 
 bankers, 104 
 Interest, rate of, legalised (1545), 114 
 Intwood, in Norfolk, 16 
 Investments, list of (1749), 137 
 Isabella of France in Lombard Street, 180 
 Isle of Wight and Richard Smith, 39, 40 
 Italian merchants, or Lombards, 114 
 
 J 
 
 Jackson, Joseph, of Sneed Park, 88, 205 
 -, Katherine, 88 
 
 James II, traditionally a customer of the 
 
 Grasshopper, 33 
 Jamott, John, 189 
 
 Maudlin, or Magdalen, 189 
 
 Jarvis, Colonel George Ralph Payne, 67 
 
 , Thomas, 65 
 
 Jenkins, Thomas, 193 
 
 Jerusalem Coffee-house, 212 
 
 Jews, said to have invented bills of exchange, 
 
 112 
 
 and Lombards, 179 
 
( 321 ) 
 
 Johnson, Mr., 38 
 
 Joint-stock Banks, admitted to the Clearing 
 House, 173 ; hindrance in establishing, 173 
 Justinian, laws of, 1 59 
 
 K 
 
 Kent, Richard, 28, 32 
 
 Kenton, Benjamin, 243 ; his monogram, 
 244 
 
 Kent's Directory (1766), 223 
 Kentt, Mr., 37 
 
 Kew, Andrew Stone resident at, 75, 76 
 Kildare, George Stone, Bishop of, 80 
 King William's Million Lottery, 139 
 King's Exchange, the, 180 ; site of, 181 
 Knight and Jackson, 203, 204 
 
 , John, 35, 36, 38 ; 
 
 , William, 205 
 
 Knollis, George, 67 
 
 ■ Sir William, 65 
 
 ■ , William, 65 
 
 L 
 
 Labouchere, Mrs., 103 
 
 Ladbrooke, Son, Rawlinson and Porker, 92 
 
 Lambe, Henry, 203 
 
 Land Bank, Tory scheme of the, rival to 
 
 the Bank of England, (1694), 129 
 Lamp tax, 61 
 Langley, hatter, 213 
 Larkbeer, Devonshire, 239 
 Lassels, Mr., 38 
 
 Lawson's "History of Banking," 138, 142; 
 
 includes the Million Bank among the 
 
 Bubbles of 1720, 142 
 Leadenhall, 180 
 Leaver, John, 131 
 
 Ledgers, earliest surviving, 131, 166 
 
 , stray leaves of the, 134 
 
 Leeds, Duke of, 35 
 
 Lefield, Thomas, of London, 202 
 
 Legh, Sir Thomas, 10 
 
 Lely, Sir Peter, 38 
 
 L'Estrange, Roger, 27 
 
 Letters copied by hand till 1853, 166 
 
 , remarkable, 258, 259 
 
 Leveson Gower, Mr. Granville, 5 
 
 Lewis, Mr., 32 
 
 Lewisham, 52, 54, 59, 62, 68 
 
 Leytonstone, James Porter at, 224 
 
 Liabilities and assets (1731), 131, 132 
 
 Liber Albus and usurers, 1 1 5 
 
 L'Histoire des Revolutions d'Angleterre, 76 
 
 Limpsfield, 5 
 
 Little London Directory (1677), 27, 211 
 
 Lygon, Hon. Frederick, 104 
 
 Loans, early, 155 
 
 Lok, William, 1 1 
 
 Lombards, 112, 113 
 
 of Italy, 167 
 
 Lombard Street, 3, 4, 6, 12, 15, 16, 28, 31, 32, 
 43, 59, 61, 63, 87, 92, 95, 97, 100, 101, 102, 
 117, 124, 159, 160, 179, 184, 186, 192, 193, 
 201, 203, 205, 207, 224, 227 ; early mention 
 of, 179 ; meeting place of merchants, 179 ; 
 plan of, 213, 214, 217 
 
 London, 5, 16, 103, 137, i6r, 174, 181 
 
 Assurance Corporation, 59 
 
 London Evening Post, 2 1 2 
 
 Gazette, 124, 155, 212; advertisement 
 
 in, 124, 215 
 
 Journal, 87 
 
 Magazine, 221 
 
 Long, Samuel, 241 
 
 Lonison, John, 24 
 
 Lord Chancellor's commission on marine as- 
 surance (1601), 161 
 
 Lottery, the word disappears from the books, 
 155 
 
 system, 142; tickets, 142, 153, 154; 
 
 blanks, 143, 144, M5 
 Lovelace, 233 
 Lovett, J., 103 
 Lowe, Richard, 46 
 Lowth, Martha, 65 
 
 , Margaret, 65 
 
 , Robert, 65 
 
 , William, 65 
 
 Luttrell's Diary and Chas. Duncombe, 33 
 
 Y 
 
( 3 22 ) 
 
 M 
 
 Macaulay, development of the goldsmith, 
 
 125 ; Bank of England, 129 
 Machine-ruling, 167 
 Macquarie, Charles, 67 
 Maitland, description of Change Alley (1775), 
 
 184 
 
 Making-up Book, 132 
 
 Malt Lottery tickets, 143 ; of 1723, 147, 
 148, 149 ; of 1724, 147, 148, 149 ; blanks of 
 1723, 147, 150, 151 ; prizes of 1722, 146, 147 
 
 Malton, Lord, 93 
 
 Malyne's Lex Mercatoria, 159 
 
 Mann, Sir Horace, 74, 75 ; the British Envoy 
 at Florence, 90 
 
 Mansfield, Earl of, 72, 78 
 
 Man wood, Mr. Justice, 14 
 
 Mariemount, John de Saint, 1 1 5 
 
 Marine Insurance, historical sketch of, 159, 
 160, 161 
 
 Marke, John, 86, 87, 155 
 
 Marriott, Reginald, 35 
 
 Marsh, Phillip, 30 
 
 , Stracey, and Co., failure of, 248 
 
 Martin and Co., 103, 131, 204, 224, 227 
 
 family, of Evesham, 44, 45 
 
 , family's parliamentary connexion with 
 
 Tewkesbury closes, 104, Appendix D 
 
 , George Edward, 105 
 
 , Hugo Hamilton, 105 
 
 , James, brother of Thomas, 45, 166, 
 
 196, 201, 219 ; M.P. for Cambridge, 45 ; 
 
 Lord of the Manor of Quy, 45 ; retirement 
 of, 45 ; death of, 89 
 
 , James, younger brother of Joseph, 93, 
 
 95 ; married Penelope Skipp, 95 ; personal 
 characteristics, 96 ; M.P. for Tewkesbury, 
 
 96 ; his political integrity, 96 ; nicknamed 
 " Starling," or " honest," Martin, 97, 101 ; 
 buys the " Plough," 223 
 
 , James, 99, 101, 102 ; last survivor but 
 
 one in a government tontine, 100 
 
 , James, 100 ; partner, 102, 103 ; dies 
 
 very suddenly, 105 
 John, executor of his brother James, 
 
 88 ; takes his place on his death, 88 ; 
 brings in his second son Joseph, 88 ; pur- 
 chases Overbury, 88 ; contests the borough 
 of Tewkesbury, 89 ; is defeated, but after- 
 wards elected, 89 ; dies, and is buried at 
 
 Overbury, 90 
 Martin, John, eldest son of above, marries 
 
 Judith Bromley, 89 
 
 , John, 100, 101, 104, 105 
 
 John and Joseph, 50, 55, 56, 58, 59, 60,65 
 
 , John Biddulph, 98, 104, 105 
 
 , Joseph, born 172!, 90 ; marries Eleanor 
 
 Torriano, 90 ; head partner, 90 ; becomes 
 sheriff of London, 90 ; retires from busi- 
 ness, 90 ; an exciting incident in the 
 family of, 90; M.P. for Tewkesbury, 91 ; 
 death, 91, 95 
 
 , Leaver and Stone, 86 
 
 ■, Marke and Leaver, 86 
 
 , Miss Peggy, 57 
 
 , Richard Biddulph, 104, 105, 259 
 
 , Richard, Warden of the Mint, 24 
 
 , Robert, 100; partner, 102, 103, 104 
 
 , Roger, 1 1 
 
 , Samuel, 97 
 
 , Sir Richard, 21, 24, 90 ; goldsmith by 
 
 profession, 22 ; armorial bearings of, 22 ; 
 
 knighted, 22 ; served as Lord Mayor, 22 ; 
 
 private history of, 23 ; family pedigree, 23 ; 
 
 impeachment and acquittal of, 25 ; death 
 
 of, 26 ; arms of, 47 
 
 , Stone and Blackwell, 87, 167, 237 
 
 , Surman, Leaver and Stone, 87 
 
 , Surman and Stone, 86 
 
 , Thomas, 40, 43, 57, 61, 62, 87, 196 ; 
 
 partner with Andrew Stone, 45 ; his 
 
 maxims, 46, 47 
 
 , Thomas and James, 86, 207 
 
 , Waldyve Alexander Hamilton, 105 
 
 of Saffron Walden, 23, 44 ; the name 
 
 in Accompt Book of Saffron Walden, 24 
 Martyn, Thomas, of Saffron Walden, 24 
 Martynne, Alderman, 10 
 Mason, Thomas, 189 
 Mauvillain, Hannah, 73 
 
 , Sarah, 78 
 
 Mayfield House, Sussex, 16 
 
( 323 ) 
 
 May well the goldsmith, 119 
 Meers, Mr., 37 
 
 Meeting of merchants in London held in 
 
 Lombard Street, 159 
 Melnoth, William, of Lincoln's Inn, 202, 203 
 Melting-house of Alderman Backwell, 217 
 Mercers' Company, 5, 6 
 Merchants' liability to high-handed measures 
 
 (1545), 11 
 
 , conference of, 1 1 
 
 Middleton, John, 5, 6 
 Mildmay, Sir Walter, 25, 27 
 Million Bank, the, 139, 142 
 Minnes, Sir J., 185 
 Moland, Elizabeth, 50 
 Mompessen, Edward, 38 
 Monnocks, Sir George, 6 
 Montagu, George, 58, 79 
 Moore, Joseph, 203 
 Mordaunt, Sir John, 202 
 Morris, John, 190 
 Moryson, Francis, 192, 193 
 
 , Edward, 193 
 
 , Henry, 193 
 
 Mosse, Henry, 190 
 
 Mountney, Richard, of Kew, co. Surrey, 202 
 Midler, Professor Max, 104 
 Murray, Mr., 72, 76, 77 
 
 " Mystery, the, of the New Fashioned Gold- 
 smiths," 117, Appendix E 
 
 N 
 
 Names of customers extant in the books of 
 
 the Grasshopper, 236 
 National Gallery, E. M. Ward's picture of 
 
 Change Alley in, 208 
 " Navy and Victualling bills," 138 
 Netherlands, gunpowder, etc., imported 
 
 from (1543), 8 
 New Alley, 17 
 
 Newcastle, Duke of, 72, 73, 74, 75 
 , Kecorder of, 77 
 
 New Guinea, Captain Cook's voyage to, 162 
 Holland, Captain Cook's voyage to, 162 
 
 New Street, Spring Gardens, 103 
 Newton, Bishop, and Andrew Stone, 72 
 New Zealand, Captain Cook's voyage to, 162 
 Nonconformists, Archbishop Stone's hatred 
 
 of the, 83 
 Norfolk, Daniel, 198 
 Norman, Charles Loyd, 106, 242 
 Conquest, economic effect on England, 
 
 112 
 
 , Edward, 101, 242, 
 
 , Frederick Henry, 101, 105, 242 
 
 , George Warde, 101, 106 
 
 Northbrook, Isle of Wight, 40 
 North, Dudley, 129 
 , Lord, 96 
 
 Northington, Lord Chancellor, 83 
 Northwood, Isle of Wight, 36, 40 
 Norwich, Bishop of, 75, 76, 77 
 "Note Book," the, 134 
 
 O 
 
 Old Bailey, trial of Elizabeth Canning at the, 
 57, 58 
 
 Guide to London, 168 
 
 Priory Vaults, 229 
 
 banking terms still in use, 166 
 
 Orphan tax, 91 
 
 House in Georgia, Whitfield's, 54 
 
 Osborn, Peter, 24 
 
 Osterley, residence of Sir Thomas Gresham, 
 15, 16 
 
 Overbury, 59, 88, 89, 95, 96, 104 
 
 P 
 
 Paine, Thomas, 203 
 Pall Mall, Miss Mauvillain of, 73 
 Palsgrave's Head, 201, 229 
 Papillon, 237 
 
 , Major Alexander F. W. 237 
 
 , Thomas, a London merchant, 237 
 
 Paris's, Matthew, story, 1 1 5 
 
( 324 ) 
 
 Parkyn, Sir William, 49 ; attainted of high 
 
 treason, 49 
 Parliamentary Committee on banking, etc. 
 
 (1810), 169 
 
 — — contests, 101, 102 ; original document 
 
 on electioneering methods, 240 
 Parry, Sir Thomas, 15 
 Partridge, Francis, 210 
 Paternoster Row, 119 
 Pau, James Martin's connexion with, 99 
 Peel's, Sir Robert, Bank Act, 137 
 " Peices of Eight," 138 
 Pelham, James, 72, 73, 74, 75 
 Pelican Life Insurance Company, 205 
 Pennant, 221 
 
 Pepys's Diary, 28, 29, 30, 50, 62,90, 118, 125, 
 
 132, 185, 186, 212, 238 
 Perquisites, or Christmas Boxes in banks, 
 
 133 
 
 Personal tax, 61 
 Peter's pence, 113 
 Philanthropic institutions, 237 
 Phipps, John, 189 
 
 Phoenicians and marine insurance, 159 
 Piggott, George, 201 
 
 Pilgrim Fathers and marine insurance, 161 
 Pitt, Mr., and Elizabeth Canning, 58 
 
 , Rowland, 50 
 
 , William, 83 
 
 Plague of 1666, 185 
 
 Plans of the Grasshopper, etc., 204, 213, 214, 
 
 217, 226, 228 
 Plate, jewels and cash under Elizabeth, 117 
 " Pleasureable parts of a banking business," 
 
 247 
 
 Plough, the, purchased by James Martin 
 from Ann Corrall, 222 ; former owners 
 of, 222 ; history of, 222 ; rebuilt after fire, 
 224; retained until 1852 a separate exist- 
 ence, 225 
 
 Plowden, on Archbishop Stone, 82, 83 
 Policies of Assurance, disputes on, 160 
 Pope's Head Alley, 184, 185 ; to Baker's 
 
 Coffee-house devastated by fire, 221 
 Porker, John, 92 
 Porter, James, 95, 224 
 Powell, Thos., 199 
 
 Price, Mr. F. G. Hilton, 87, 133, 167, 202, 
 203 
 
 Prince Edward, 77 
 
 of Wales (1751), 65, 75 
 
 Princess Augusta, 77 
 
 Priory Vaults, the old, in Change Alley, 229 
 Procter, George, 196, 201 
 
 , William, 187, 194, 195 
 
 Profit and Loss Book, 167 
 Profits of the goldsmiths, 120, 121 
 Promissory notes, 134, 136, 167 
 " Proper considerations for persons con- 
 cerned in the banking business," 46 
 Pugh, Richard, 215, 217 
 Pull Court, manor of, 89 
 Punic " actions," 112 
 Purney, Samuel, 217 
 Pyx, Trial of the, 26 
 
 Q 
 
 Queer addresses, 267 
 
 customers of the Grasshopper, 245, 
 
 248, 254 
 Quy, in Cambridgeshire, 59 
 
 R 
 
 Raid, an unsuccessful, on the Grasshopper, 
 254 
 
 Raikes, Robert, founder of Sunday schools, 
 237 
 
 "Raised" cheques, 249, 250 
 
 Ralph alludes to a fraudulent endorsement 
 
 of Exchequer bills (1697), 34 
 Ramsey, Lady Mary, 188 
 
 , Thomas, alderman, 188 
 
 Randyll, Sir Edward, of Chilworth, Surrey, 
 
 28 
 
 Raphoe and Derry, Bishop of, 72 
 Rate of interest legalised (1545), 114 
 Ravensworth, Lord, 77 
 Read, William, 7, 14 
 
( 325 ) 
 
 Reform Act and representation of Tewkes- 
 bury, 104 
 Remington and Co., 204 
 
 , William, 205 
 
 "Respondentia Bonds," 156, 162 
 Rettenden, in Essex, 92 
 Reversionary annuities, 155 
 " Reversions," 155 
 
 Richard II. and the King's Exchange in 
 
 Lombard Street, 180 
 Ringshall, Suffolk, 16 
 Robert, Earl of Leicester, 25, 27 
 Robertson, George, 205 
 Romans, the, and marine insurance, 159 
 Rome, dealing in exchanges at, 1 1 1 
 Rosemary Lane, 57 
 Rowland, Richard Bunckley, 189 
 Royal Exchange, 17, 18, 130, 159; founded 
 
 by Gresham, 207 ; became too limited, 
 
 207 
 
 Mint on Tower Hill, 117 
 
 foundation at Winchester, 72 
 
 Rudd, Dr., 55, 59 
 
 Ruding on the Coinage, 24 
 
 Ruller's Court, 216 
 
 Rummer Tavern in Exchange Alley, 211, 
 216, 217 ; known as Baker's Coffee-house, 
 216 
 
 Running cash-notes, 136 
 Rush, Samuel, 98 
 Ryther, 184 
 
 S 
 
 Sackville, Lord George, 80, 81 
 Sailing of ships advertised in Lombard Street, 
 181 
 
 Salesburie, William, 180 
 
 Salt Loan, 137 
 
 Sand, George, 249 
 
 Sanigear, William Pegler, 103 
 
 Schudamore, Phillip, 14 
 
 Scott, John, 39 
 
 Sea laws of Oleron, 159 
 
 Sealed bills and unsealed notes of the Bank 
 
 of England, 132 
 Settlement by bank notes in the Clearing 
 
 House discontinued, and its effect on the 
 
 Bank of England circulation, 173 
 Seville, business of Sir Thomas Gresham at, 
 
 13 
 
 Shaftesbury, 31 (see Ashley) 
 Shales, Charles, BackwelPs apprentice, 28, 
 203 
 
 Shares, remarkable application for, 258 
 Shire Lane, 212 
 Shoreditch, 4 
 Shore, Jane, 3, 4 
 
 , Matthew, 3 
 
 , Richard, 4 
 
 , Robin, 185 
 
 Sillitoe, Richard, 217 
 Silversmith's shop, 123 
 Simpson, Giles, 188 
 
 Site of the Grasshopper and of the Unicorn, 
 
 202 
 
 of the King's Exchange, 181 
 
 Sites of the Grasshopper, Three Crossed 
 
 Daggers and Plough, 224 
 Skinner, Stephen, 212 
 , Thomas, 212 
 
 Skipp, John, of the Upper Hall, Ledbury, 
 95 
 
 Soltau, William, 205 
 Somerset House, 18, 68 
 Southrous, Walter, 115 
 
 South Sea Bubble, 130, 207, 209, 212 ; col- 
 lapse of, 207, 211, 219 
 
 Sea Company, 87, 208 
 
 Smith, Captain, in Virginia, 161 
 
 , Kent, and Duncombe, names asso- 
 ciated (1575), 37 
 
 , Mr., at a council presided over by 
 
 King, 35 
 
 , Payne and Smith's bank, 168 
 
 , Richard, the first record of, 37, 38, 39, 
 
 40, 86, 193, 196, 207 ; credit entries occur 
 
 as paid in by, 37 
 
 , Samuel, 39 
 
 , Susan, 210 
 
 and Stone, 86 
 
( 326 ) 
 
 Smythe, John, 14 
 
 , Mr. George, 37 
 
 Snagg, Richard, 202 
 
 Snow, the goldsmith, 130 
 
 Sparrow, Mrs., Jane, ofLewisham, 51,64, 68 ; 
 died, appointing Mr. Blackwell her exe- 
 cutor, 51, 59 ; was on intimate terms with 
 John and Charles Wesley, 51 
 
 Spinks, Elmes, 193, 196 
 
 , Jane, 40 
 
 Springer, Edward, 189 
 
 Squires, Mary, 57 
 
 Standring, firm of, 243 
 
 Staple, the, at Calais, 5 
 
 Stappleton, Sir Richard, 187 
 
 , Bryan, 187, 188 
 
 State banks, reference to by Pepys, 119; 
 denounced, 130 
 
 Statute of Anne, regulating issue of bank- 
 notes, 136 
 
 St. Bartholomew lane, 17 
 
 St. Christopher's Alley, 17 
 
 St. Clement's Church, Winchester, 41 
 
 St. Edmund the King, church of, 220 
 
 St. John's House, Winchester, 41 
 
 St. John, James, 203, 205 
 
 St. Leonards, Harrow Weald, 102 
 
 St. Margaret, Lothbury, 37 
 
 St. Maurice, Winchester, parish register, 41 
 
 St. Mary Woolchurch-Haw, 4, 21, 38 
 
 oolnoth, 13, 39, 43, 71, 80, 88, 91, 189, 
 
 192, 203, 205, 210, 214 
 
 St. Michael's Alley, and the fire of 1748, 58 
 
 Church, 220 
 
 Stephenson, Remington and Company, 
 
 Bankers, 205 
 , Rowland, of Remingtons, forgeries of, 
 
 204, 249 
 
 Stirring events from 1758 to 1826, 162, 163 
 Stock of the Million Bank, value when paid 
 
 off*, 142 
 Stock Exchange, 226 
 Stokes, Humphrey, 212 
 
 , Jeremiah, 211, 212 
 
 , Mrs., 119 
 
 , Robert, 212 
 
 , the goldsmith, 119 
 
 Stone, Andrew, 40 ; keeper of the Westgate, 
 42 ; married Anne, daughter of Mrs. Hol- 
 brooke, 42 ; his children, 43, 71 ; his seal, 
 44 ; death and will of, 45 
 
 , Andrew, eldest son of Mr. Smith's 
 
 apprentice, 71 ; education of, 72 ; be- 
 friended by the Duke of Newcastle, 
 
 72 ; appointed Under-Secretary of State, 
 72; the Duke of Newcastle and Mr. 
 Pelham, 73 ; successive promotions of, 
 
 73 ; marries Miss Mauvillain, 73 ; referred 
 to by Horace Walpole, 74 ; appointed to 
 the Prince of Wales's household, 75 ; 
 becomes Treasurer of the Queen's house- 
 hold, 78 ; death and burial, 78 ; descent of 
 partners, 107 ; 187, 194, 201, 203, 205, 207 
 
 and Martin, 86 
 
 family extinct, 102 
 
 , Frances, 98, 99 
 
 , George (Archbishop), third son of Mr. 
 
 Smith's apprentice, 80 ; birth of, 80 ; 
 rapid promotion of, 80 ; becomes Primate 
 of Armagh, 80 ; relations with the Duke 
 of Dorset, 80 ; political activity, 80 ; dis- 
 turbances in Ireland, 81 ; fall and death, 
 81 ; Walpole's reference to, 81, 82, 83 
 
 , George, 98, 102 
 
 , George, junior, 102, 103 
 
 , George, junior, and James Martin, 
 
 junior, partners, 102 
 
 , Henry, 101, 102, 105 
 
 , Johanne, 41 
 
 , Miss Mary, dies at Chislehurst, 103 ; 
 
 one of the last survivors in the Govern- 
 ment Irish tontine, 103 
 
 , Richard, born 43, 50 ; at Ilford, 59, 88 ; 
 
 married, 91, 131 
 
 , Richard, the younger, 91, 92, 93, 99, 
 
 105, 239 ; buys Cooper's estate at Chisle- 
 hurst, 98 ; amusing memorandum by, 248 
 
 , Scott, and Cresset, and the establish- 
 ment of the Prince of Wales (1751), 76, 77 
 
 , Thomas, 41 
 
 , William, 40, 41 
 
 Stones of Winchester, 40 
 
 Stowe, " Survey of London," 17, 23, 24 
 
 Strachan, William, 205 
 
Stracey's letter to John Martin on Fauntleroy, 
 249 
 
 Stray leaves of the ledgers of the Grass- 
 hopper, 134 
 
 Sturges, John, 65 
 
 , Margaret, 65 
 
 Sumner, George, Esq., 241 
 
 Surman, Dineley and Cliffe seceded from the 
 Grasshopper, 87 
 
 , Robert, 50, 87, 88, 131 
 
 Surmans of Barking, 88 
 
 Sussex, Thomas, Earl of, 25 
 
 Swan Alley, 17 
 
 Swift's poem, "The South Sea Project," 210 
 
 Swordblade Bank, 185 
 
 Syms, Nathaniel, of London, 202 
 
 T 
 
 Taylor, Sisley, 188 
 , Thomas, 188 
 
 Tea-house, the first in England at Garra- 
 
 way's, 209 
 Teddington, Chas. Duncombe at, 36 
 Temple Bar, 18, ill 
 
 Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, 50, 51, 88, 89, 
 
 96 ; disfranchised, 104 
 Thames, the, attempt to sail up, by the 
 
 Dutch, 125 
 Thames Street, 87 
 " The Two Chiefs of Dunboy," 83 
 Three Crossed Daggers involved by fire, 220 ; 
 
 rebuilt, 223, 224 ; remained distinct as the 
 
 private entrance, 226. {See Cross Daggers) 
 "Threeneedle Street," 18 
 Tipper, John, 41 
 Title-deeds of Garraway's, 2 1 1 
 Titsey, the Greshams at, 5 
 Tomkins, Harry, Mr., 226 
 Torriano, Eleanor, 56 
 , Nathaniel, 43 
 
 Tract entitled "The Mystery of the new- 
 fashioned Goldsmiths or Bankers dis- 
 covered," 117, Appendix E ; "An Appeal 
 to Caesar," 117 
 
 Tracy, Charles Hanbury, 101, 102 
 , Robert, 89 
 
 Trevelyan, Sir George, on Archbishop Stone, 
 83 
 
 Trevor, Attorney-General, 35 
 
 Trial of the goodness and fineness of Her 
 
 Majesty's money, 25, 26 
 of the Pyx, 26 
 
 Troughton, Mr., in Change Alley, 197, I9 8 > 
 
 199, 200 
 Turner, Nathaniel, 193, 194 
 
 , Sir Edmund, 203 
 
 Twickenham, the poet Pope at, 36 
 
 Two instances of ill-directed ingenuity, 255, 
 
 256 
 
 Type-writer first used at the Grasshopper, 
 166 
 
 U 
 
 Unicorn in Lombard Street, 185, 202, 203, 
 
 205, 217 
 , history of, 203 
 
 United States, issue of interest-bearing notes, 
 133 
 
 Unlocking, practice of, 167 
 Upper Hall, Ledbury, 105 
 Usury, anecdotes on, 115 
 
 V 
 
 Venice, Bank of St. George at, 114 
 Vernon, Francis, 29 
 
 , Mr., 77 
 
 Vyner, Robert, 190, 
 
 W 
 
 Wallace, Dr. John, 237 
 Walpole, Horace, 58, 74, 75, 79; 83, 9°, 93, 
 97, "I, 238 
 
( 328 ) 
 
 Walsingham, Sir Francis, 25, 27 
 
 Walsoken, in Norfolk, 92 
 
 Ward, E. M., R.A., picture of Change Alley 
 
 by, 208, 209 
 Watts, Benjamin Kenton's heir, 243 
 Webb, Mrs., 55 
 Welling, John, 21 r 
 Wells, Mr., 57 
 
 , Susannah, 57 
 
 Wesley, Charles, 5 1 
 
 1 John, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 62, 63, 65, 
 
 68, 69, 163, 237 
 Wesley's diary, 52 
 
 , exhortations and cautions to Blackwell, 
 
 52, S3 
 
 Westacre, one of Sir Thomas Gresham's 
 
 residences, 16 
 Westgate, Winchester, 41 
 prison, 42 
 
 Westminster Abbey, 78, 81, 259 
 West Creting, county of Suffolk, 7 
 
 Kent Cricket Club, 243, 244 
 
 Weymouth, Lord Viscount, 32 
 Whateley, in Warwickshire, 95 
 Wiggin, Stephen, 216 
 
 White, Gilbert, of Selborne, 56 
 
 Whites', Sir Thomas, gift, 41 
 
 Whichcote, Sir Thomas, Bart., 45 
 
 Whitfield, Samuel, 52, 53, 54, 237 
 
 Wicks, Michael, 32 
 
 Willington family, 95 
 
 Winchester, the Stone family at, 40, 42 
 
 , Marquis of, 31 
 
 Wingfield, Mr., 79 
 Window tax, 61 
 Wisbech, 92 
 Wood, Thomas, 22 
 
 Woodward, Richard and Thomas 2 1 2 
 
 , Euclid, 55 
 
 Wren, Sir C, 42 
 Wright, Charles, 222 
 
 , John, 222 
 
 , Nathaniel, 212 
 
 Y 
 
 Yorke and Lechmere, 104 
 
 Young Pretender, invasion of the, 93, 230 
 
GETTY CENTER LIBRARY 
 
 
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