Barnetts, Hoares and Co
of London, bankers
1728 John Bland, a City of London goldsmith, started to offer banking services to his customers. Bland traded under the now famous sign of the black horse in Lombard Street (the symbol itself had been used as early as 1677, by another Lombard Street goldsmith, Humphrey Stokes).
1764 Following Bland's death, the business was carried on by his widow and two sons. The bank expanded and went through a number of partnership changes over the next two decades.
1788 The association of the bank with the Bland family ended with the death of Bland's son, also called John.
From the outset, the customer base was made up largely of merchants who traded in the Port and City of London. However, a significant proportion of business also came from the wealthy aristocracy who spent the "season" in London. For some of these customers, loans were advanced purely on the security of their art collection.
During the first half of the 19th century the bank incurred heavy losses as a result of a downturn in the sugar trade, something it had been heavily involved in financing. However, it was able to survive largely due to its more successful involvement in the cotton trade – this subsequently became its primary focus.
1864 the firm, by this time known as Barnett, Hoare and Co., merged with fellow Lombard Street bankers Hanbury, Lloyds and Co. The new business was called Barnetts, Hoares, Hanbury & Lloyd.
1884 Barnetts, Hoares, Hanburys, and Lloyd, was merged with the Lloyds Banking Co of Birmingham, uniting 2 enterprises connected with the Lloyd family.
See Also
Sources of Information
- [1] Lloyds history