the world of private banking
the world of private banking
the world of private banking
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100<br />
THE WORLD OF PRIVAtE BANKING<br />
Of <strong>the</strong> <strong>private</strong> banks which later became part <strong>of</strong> NatWest, only <strong>the</strong> Smith <strong>banking</strong><br />
partnerships have been thoroughly investigated. By contrast, Beckett and Co., <strong>the</strong><br />
last large <strong>private</strong> <strong>banking</strong> partnership in England, merely warrants an appendix in<br />
T.E. Gregory’s history <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Westminster Bank. Similarly, <strong>private</strong> banks in <strong>the</strong><br />
City <strong>of</strong> London such as Prescott’s and Jones Loyd remain largely unresearched. <br />
The study <strong>of</strong> <strong>private</strong> <strong>banking</strong> undoubtedly provides ample opportunities for new<br />
research.<br />
Sources for <strong>the</strong> Study <strong>of</strong> Private Banks<br />
The primary sources for those undertaking research into <strong>private</strong> banks are <strong>the</strong><br />
banks’ own corporate records. Typically, <strong>the</strong>se will include partnership agreements,<br />
correspondence and accounting records. Unfortunately, <strong>the</strong>re are few equivalents<br />
<strong>of</strong> that major source for joint-stock banks – <strong>the</strong> board <strong>of</strong> directors’ minutes. With<br />
<strong>the</strong> exception <strong>of</strong> Prescott’s Bank, where partnership minute books exist from 1839,<br />
and Beckett & Co., who recorded <strong>the</strong> partners’ meetings from 1904, <strong>the</strong> decisions<br />
<strong>of</strong> partners were rarely minuted. Indeed, <strong>the</strong>re would be little need to do so in<br />
small local partnerships where <strong>the</strong> partners were actively involved in running <strong>the</strong><br />
business on a daily basis.<br />
Lost or Destroyed<br />
Regrettably, many records <strong>of</strong> small <strong>private</strong> banks have long since disappeared.<br />
While this might be expected in <strong>the</strong> case <strong>of</strong> those that failed, leaving no successor,<br />
it is also true <strong>of</strong> those that were taken over. In <strong>the</strong> case <strong>of</strong> NatWest’s <strong>private</strong><br />
<strong>banking</strong> constituents, for example, only four small volumes remain from <strong>the</strong> firm<br />
<strong>of</strong> Hankey & Co., which operated for 150 years in <strong>the</strong> City <strong>of</strong> London. Likewise,<br />
Shilston Coode & Co. <strong>of</strong> St. Austell and Thomas Butcher <strong>of</strong> Tring both traded for<br />
over a century. Their only surviving records identified to date, however, comprise<br />
those drawn up in connection with forthcoming amalgamations. Indeed, a brief<br />
review <strong>of</strong> A Guide to <strong>the</strong> Historical Records <strong>of</strong> British Banking by L.S. Pressnell<br />
and J. Orbell confirms this is <strong>the</strong> case for many <strong>private</strong> banks. The survival <strong>of</strong><br />
additional papers that throw fur<strong>the</strong>r light on <strong>the</strong>se <strong>banking</strong> businesses becomes,<br />
<strong>the</strong>refore, far more significant.<br />
<br />
J.A.S.L. Leighton-Boyce, Smiths <strong>the</strong> Bankers 1658–1958 (London, 1958). H.T.<br />
Easton, History <strong>of</strong> a Banking House (1903).<br />
<br />
T.E. Gregory, The Westminster Bank Through a Century, vols 1 and 2 (London, 1936).<br />
<br />
However, D. Kynaston, The City <strong>of</strong> London, vols 1 and 2 (London, 1994, 1995) does<br />
include original research on <strong>the</strong>se banks.