the world of private banking
the world of private banking
the world of private banking
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146<br />
THE WORLD OF PRIVAtE BANKING<br />
<strong>the</strong> War <strong>of</strong> American Independence, American merchants appear in large numbers,<br />
in part because <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> burgeoning North Atlantic cotton trade in which Barings<br />
was a major participant. From <strong>the</strong> 1830s and following <strong>the</strong> final demise <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> East<br />
India Company’s monopoly, accounts <strong>of</strong> merchants in <strong>the</strong> Far East, especially on<br />
<strong>the</strong> China coast, become more numerous.<br />
These accounts are, <strong>of</strong> course, useful in locating details <strong>of</strong> particular<br />
merchants and learning more about particular trading centres, but more generally,<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir analysis can be expected to yield much about <strong>the</strong> nature <strong>of</strong> eighteenth and<br />
nineteenth century international trade – underlying commodities, pr<strong>of</strong>itability,<br />
geographical extent, o<strong>the</strong>r parties involved, risk limitation, costs <strong>of</strong> associated<br />
services – and about how this changed over time. Wider issues include trade<br />
procedures and variation in <strong>the</strong>m both over time and between commodities; <strong>the</strong><br />
precise nature <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> relationship between <strong>the</strong> London merchant and <strong>the</strong> merchants<br />
for whom he acted as agent; <strong>the</strong> nature <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> powerful trading alliances existing<br />
between groups <strong>of</strong> merchants in different international markets; marine insurance;<br />
shipping; and so on.<br />
The potential <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ledgers is somewhat countered by difficulties in<br />
interpretation. The account <strong>of</strong> a merchant tends to include all work undertaken<br />
for him; separate accounts do not seem to exist for different categories <strong>of</strong> work<br />
or different transactions. Moreover, <strong>the</strong> narrative against each account entry lacks<br />
a standard terminology and is sometimes difficult to interpret. Also, to be fully<br />
understood, each entry needs to be cross-referenced to journal entries and this, on<br />
a large scale, is immensely time-consuming and requires considerable stamina.<br />
That said, some pieces <strong>of</strong> information are very easily extracted for analysis, such<br />
as <strong>the</strong> name and location <strong>of</strong> a merchant customer, which appear at <strong>the</strong> head <strong>of</strong> each<br />
account, and <strong>the</strong> annual turnover <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> account. Analysis <strong>of</strong> Barings’ own trading<br />
speculations is, however, relatively straightforward as separate accounts appear to<br />
exist for separate ‘adventures’.<br />
O<strong>the</strong>r groups <strong>of</strong> papers also shed light on international trade. Amongst <strong>the</strong>m<br />
is a small group <strong>of</strong> memorandum or commonplace books, probably kept by<br />
partners as an aide-mémoire, which gives useful details about market procedures<br />
and commodities. Character books provide information about <strong>the</strong> standing and<br />
reputation <strong>of</strong> early and mid-nineteenth-century customers. Much more important<br />
are <strong>the</strong> sets <strong>of</strong> letters exchanged with overseas agents or correspondents based in<br />
places like Amsterdam, Boston, Buenos Aires, Canton, Calcutta, New Orleans,<br />
New York, Paris and St Petersburg. These cover a vast range <strong>of</strong> subjects, but much<br />
is about trade and merchants, Notable groups <strong>of</strong> surviving letters are those with E.J.<br />
Forstall & Sons <strong>of</strong> New Orleans, 1830–90; Gisbourne & Co. <strong>of</strong> Calcutta, 1830–88;<br />
and Russell & Co. <strong>of</strong> Canton, 1830–83.<br />
In <strong>the</strong> early nineteenth century, as with o<strong>the</strong>r London houses, Barings<br />
established a branch in Liverpool to participate in trans-Atlantic trade. The<br />
archives <strong>of</strong> Barings’ Liverpool house, especially its correspondence with Barings<br />
in London, are a major source for <strong>the</strong> study <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> cotton and wheat trades. Papers<br />
within <strong>the</strong> Statistics <strong>of</strong> Trade series include merchant circulars for <strong>the</strong> 1820s to <strong>the</strong>