Company type | Private bank |
---|---|
Industry | Banking |
Founded | 5 July 1672 |
Founder | Sir Richard Hoare |
Headquarters | London, England, UK |
Key people | The Lord Macpherson of Earl's Court (Chairman) Diana Brightmore-Armour (Chief Executive) |
Products | Financial services |
Number of employees | 400 |
Website | hoaresbank.co.uk |
C. Hoare & Co., also known as Hoares, is a British private bank, founded in 1672 by Sir Richard Hoare; it is a twelfth generation family business and is owned by eight of Sir Richard's direct descendants. It is the oldest privately-owned bank in the United Kingdom and reputedly the fourth oldest in the world.
C. Hoare & Co. provides private banking services that include loans, mortgages and savings accounts. Over the years, its clients have included Samuel Pepys, John Dryden, Jane Austen and numerous members of the aristocracy; today, they are primarily high-net-worth individuals and families. The bank has two branches in London, 37 Fleet Street and 32 Lowndes Street.
After finishing his apprenticeship, Sir Richard Hoare was granted the Freedom of the Goldsmiths' Company on 5 July 1672, which marks the foundation of Hoare's Bank. Richard established his business at the sign of the Golden Bottle in Cheapside, London; since street numbering was unknown in those days, signs were used to distinguish one business from another. In 1690, the business moved to Fleet Street, still within the City of London but on the main thoroughfare to the City of Westminster. [1]
Goldsmiths were often used to safeguard cash and valuables, putting them in a unique position to evolve a system of banking. By 1677, some 58 goldsmiths kept "running cashes" and started to lend their customers' money for interest. [2]
During the 18th century, the bank prospered; Richard Hoare was knighted by Queen Anne in 1702 and became Lord Mayor of London in 1712. [3] After his death, the business was continued by two of his sons, Henry and Benjamin. [4] They were both members of the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge, which opened an account with Hoares in 1711. Many of those who held the first individual accounts with Hoare's were also connected to the Society, including Lady Elizabeth Hastings, Mary Astell and Joseph Smith. [5]
Henry's son Henry Hoare, was a partner in the bank for nearly 60 years and dominated the family through his wealth and personal charisma. [6] His nickname "The Magnificent" derived from his generosity as a patron of the arts and his expenditure on Stourhead in Wiltshire, a country house and estate bought by his father. [7] Under his guidance, the bank introduced many innovations, such as printed cheques. [8]
The bank was well known for its discretion; in 1825, William Christmas embezzled £1,000 from the bank to fund his affair with actress Louisa Chatterley. [9] He was sentenced to be transported to Australia for 14 years, and his father was obliged to honour the £1,000 fidelity bond he had posted when his son joined the bank. [10] : 33
In 1829, the premises at Fleet Street were rebuilt; the new banking house was designed to accommodate the business and a private house. [11] Following the Bank Charter Act 1844, many of the 4,000 or so private banks disappeared but Hoares remained, led by Charles Hoare, the last senior partner to continue the practice of having the bank named after him. [12]
After his departure, the bank was almost ruined through unsuccessful speculation and poor management by the senior partners, Henry and Peter Richard. Both were deeply religious but with differing views, and took it in turns to run the bank, each being in charge for a six-month period. Their sons, including Charles Arthur Richard Hoare, also became partners and proved financially unreliable, placing the future of the bank in peril. [10]
A revival of fortunes for the bank took place in the 20th century, with the early years seeing its credibility restored. After the First World War, most of the remaining private banks were absorbed by larger banks, leaving Hoares as the only surviving independent. It was a partnership until 1929 when the partners formed a private unlimited liability company, in which they were the sole shareholders. [10]
During the Second World War, the bank's employees evacuated their offices, including the headquarters at 37 Fleet Street. A fire broke out during an air raid, but thanks to some employees' actions, the historic building was saved. [13] According to Alexander Hoare, his grandfather Bertram, the Fleet Street air warden at the time, was credited with saving the bank from burning down. [14]
Alexander S. Hoare, the former chief executive of the bank, represents the eleventh generation to manage C. Hoare & Co. He was replaced by the first non-family member in an executive position: Jeremy Marshall, former head of Credit Suisse Private Bank. [15] [16] Marshall stepped down and was replaced by deputy chief executive David Green in 2016. [17] In 2021, Diana Brightmore-Armour, a veteran of Lloyds Corporate Banking and Coca-Cola, stepped in as CEO. [18]
In October 2016, Hoare sold its Wealth Management business to Cazenove Capital Management, owned by Schroders. [19] This was followed in March 2017 by disposing of its investment dealing and custody business to Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management. [20]
In 2018 Rennie Hoare, previously the head of philanthropy, was appointed a shareholding partner in an effort to bring “millennial thinking” into the bank. [21]
In Georgette Heyer's 1965 Regency Romance novel The Grand Sophy , Sir Horace Stanton-Lacy, father of the heroine Sophy, banked with Hoare's.
"My bankers are Hoares" is one of Jack Aubrey's favourite puns in several of the books from the Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian.
In Tahir Shah's 2012 historical novel Timbuctoo , based on the 1816 memoir The Narrative of Robert Adams , C. Hoare & Co. were the bankers to The Royal African Committee (cf Royal African Company). Several scenes take place at Hoare's Bank on Fleet Street. [22]
Private banks are banks owned by either the individual or a general partner(s) with limited partner(s). Private banks are not incorporated. In any such case, creditors can look to both the "entirety of the bank's assets" as well as the entirety of the sole-proprietor's/general-partners' assets.
Sir Richard Colt Hoare, 2nd Baronet was an English antiquarian, archaeologist, artist, and traveller of the 18th and 19th centuries, the first major figure in the detailed study of the history of his home county of Wiltshire.
Sir Richard Hoare was the English founder of C. Hoare & Co, the oldest extant bank in the United Kingdom.
J.P. Morgan & Co. is an American financial institution specialized in investment banking, asset management and private banking founded by financier J. P. Morgan in 1871. Through a series of mergers and acquisitions, the company is now a subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase, one of the largest banking institutions in the world. The company has been historically referred to as the "House of Morgan" or simply Morgan.
Schroders plc is a British multinational asset management company headquartered in London, England. Founded in 1804, it employs over 6,000 people worldwide in 38 locations around Europe, America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. It is traded on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. (BBH) is the oldest and one of the largest private investment banks in the United States. In 1931, the merger of Brown Brothers & Co. and Harriman Brothers & Co. formed the current BBH.
Henry Hoare II (1705–1785), known as Henry the Magnificent, was an English banker and garden owner-designer.
Adam and Company Investment Management Limited is a wealth management company based in Edinburgh, Scotland offering discretionary investment management and wealth planning services to high-net-worth clients in the UK.
Child & Co. was a formerly independent private bank in the United Kingdom that was later part of the NatWest Group. The Royal Bank of Scotland incorporating Child & Co., Bankers was based at 1 Fleet Street on the western edge of the City of London, beside Temple Bar Memorial and opposite the Royal Courts of Justice. Child & Co. was authorised as a brand of The Royal Bank of Scotland by the Prudential Regulation Authority. The last remaining branch closed in June 2022, and it is no longer listed as one of the NatWest Group's brands.
Events from the year 1672 in England.
Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. is a global, full-service investment banking and financial services company that specializes in wealth management and brokerage in capital markets. It is the largest independent investment dealer in Canada. The firm focuses on growth companies, with operations in 10 countries worldwide and the ability to list companies on 15 stock exchanges. Canaccord Genuity, the international capital markets division, is based in Canada, with offices in the US, the UK, France, Germany, Ireland, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Dubai, Australia, Barbados, and The Bahamas.
Charles Arthur Richard Hoare was an English banker who became a senior partner in the private bank C. Hoare & Co. He was a keen amateur cricketer who played one first-class cricket match for Kent County Cricket Club.
Samuel Hoare Jr was a wealthy British Quaker banker and abolitionist born in Stoke Newington, then to the north of London in the county of Middlesex. From 1790, he lived at Heath House on Hampstead Heath. He was one of the twelve founding members of the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade.
The Gloucester Old Bank was a British bank that operated between 1716 and 1838. It was founded in 1716 by James Wood. The bank was said to have been the oldest private bank in Britain, having survived the financial consequences of the Napoleonic Wars when many other banks went out of business. The claim is wrong as both C. Hoare & Co. and Child & Co. were founded earlier; the Gloucester Old Bank was, however, one of the oldest banks in Britain in the nineteenth century.
Henry Hoare I (1677–1725), known as Good Henry, was an English banker and landowner.
The Gurneys were an influential family of English Quakers, who had a major part in the development of Norwich, England. They established Gurney's Bank in 1770, which merged into Barclays Bank in 1896. They established successful breweries. A number of family members were abolitionists. Members of the family still live in the United Kingdom.
Charles Hoare was Senior Partner of the banking firm of C. Hoare & Co
Sir Henry Hugh Hoare, 3rd Baronet (1762–1841) was an English banker, a partner in Hoare's Bank, with a particular interest in the affairs of the Church of England.
Henry Hoare of Mitcham Grove (1750–1828) was an English banker, senior partner of Hoare's Bank over four decades.
Hoare Govett was a major British corporate brokerage firm based in London, England. The business was created by a merger between two well established stockbroker firms, Hoare & Co and Govett, Sons & Co. From 1984, the business had been a subsidiary, firstly owned by Security Pacific, until its own near collapse and purchase by Bank of America in 1992, when ABN Amro duly purchased the business. ABN Amro itself was purchased by Royal Bank of Scotland in 2007, before the business was sold on to the Jefferies Group, becoming their corporate broking arm in 2012.