Account Book; Lloyds of London c.1800

The accounts in the present volume cover a four-year period, with the first entry headed 'London 1st. January 1804', and the last 'London January 1808'. The author (perhaps the Hon. Montgomery Granville John Stewart) is a wealthy Lloyd's underwriter and a partner in a London merchant bank. He is a member, as the following description indicates, of a network of expatriate Scottish financiers whose extensive international dealings take in the slave trade in Africa, the West Indies and the United States.In his 'Marine Insurance in Britain and America 1720-1844' (2007), Christopher Kingston points out how the period of this volume 'led to boom years in marine insurance', and that the high premiums caused by the Napoleonic Wars 'more than compensated underwriters for the increased losses'. Elsewhere Kingston states that for the period of this volume, 'Data are scarce; Lloyd's itself kept no records of the volume of business done by the private underwriters who met there. [...] Premium data were also not collected systematically'. As a consequence the present volume stands as a rare maritime insurance artefact, casting valuable light on activities and business practices at Lloyd's during a formative period in its history.Folio, 148pp. Numbered by the author 1-163, but without 150, and with 63-64 and 151 blank. In poor condition, aged and worn, with a few loose leaves, in heavily-worn calf binding. The leaves bearing pp.11-12, 15-16, 35-36 and 131-32 are lacking, and pp.39-41 have been pasted over with Victorian newspaper cuttings of poems and 'Literary Extracts', as have the front endpapers and flyleaves. Following the last page of accounts are 35pp of juvenile ink and pencil notes and drawings, apparently by William Henry Webb of Aldershot, with date by him 19 January 1868. There are light marks in the same hand on a few pages of the accounts. The last 3pp., from September 1807, are in a different hand, suggesting the retirement or death of the main author.The following description is arranged under six headings:1. Scotland2. Lloyds and London banking house3. Nature of accounts and those concerned4. Underwriting5. The slave trade6. Personal banking1. ScotlandClues to the identity of the author are to be found in his varied Scottish connections and his membership of the 'Loyal N. B. Corps', i.e. the Loyal North Britons, which has been described as 'a volunteer corps of Scottish residents in the Metropolis', to which in July 1804 he pays his guinea's annual subscription. Either on his own behalf or on that of the corps, he appears to have been responsible for disbursements, as throughout the volume there are periodic payments such as the £17 16s 10d for 183 days of half pay ('less agency & postages 1.4.10') to 24 December 1805 for Quarter Masters Hugh Simm and William Bachelor on 31 March 1806. And in July 1804 five pounds is 'paid Qr. Mr. Keith for Epaulets pr. rect.' A clear candidate for authorship, as a captain in the Loyal North Britons from at least as early as 1803 (resigned 24 October 1806 according to the London Gazette), is the future MP the Hon. Montgomery Granville John Stewart (1780-1860), whose entry in the History of Parliament states that he was 'apprenticed to a London merchant banker Simeon, with a view to a future business partnership' in 1796 (although the same source cannot find that anything 'came of this scheme').2. Lloyds and London banking houseAt the time of writing the Society of Lloyd's was based at Edward Jerman's seventeenth-century Royal Exchange. In the very first entry, 1 January 1804, the author pays his subscription to Lloyd's, together with a guinea for Christmas boxes for the waiters there: 'By Underw[ritin]g Acco[un]t. 1803, | paid sub[scriptio]n. to Lloyds & Waiters [2 January 1804] [£5 5s 0d]'; and again the following year: 'By underw[ritin]g. Account 1804, | paid sub[scripio]n. to Lloyds 4. 4/. | sundry xmas boxes 21/- to waiters [£5 5s 0d]'. The author's subscriptions are paid again in similar fashion in January 1806.There is also evidence that the author was a partner in a banking house. In December 1805 his 'Sundry Expences' include £3 8s 6d to 'Mrs. Dunbar' for ' ¼ Countgho: rent to 25th.' (i.e. a quarter of the counting-house rent to 25 December), as well as £1 11s 6d for the 'Christmas boxes' of 'Bankers Clerks'.3. Nature of accounts and those concernedThe accounts include both credits and debits, but are not in double column. Sections are grouped together under headings: Underwriting Account; Brokers Accounts; Public Securities; Proprietors of Stocks; Bills Receivable; Petty Debts; Cash; Sundry Expences. (The underwriting account includes payments 'for Premiums this Month', 'for averages & returns this Month' and 'for Losses and returns continued this Mo.' And the author pays out to the proprietors of stocks, 'By Cash, recd. sundry ½ yr. dividends'.) There are also repeated entries relating to 'Schooner Express', perhaps a ship in which the author had a direct interest, as, for example, 'for my share of Expences of New register' and 'paid R: Gardner in full of my half, £75'.The volumes include the author's domestic expenses, including the following to his landlady: 'Mrs. Cox 1/4s. Lodging to 30th Inst. [£13 2s 6d]' and 'Mrs. Cox, for Coals, Candles, Bread, Butter &c for 6 Mos.' Among the other domestic expenses are: 'Mrs. Beckford washerwoman', 'Mrs. Nicol for Cleaning', 'Sussum & Co. Hairdressers', 'Dillick, Hairdresser', 'Limebiere, shoemaker', 'McLaren, Shoemaker', 'Wm. Creed, Taylor [sic]', and almost inevitably for a Scot, 'Adam Murray for Beer & whisky'.The author deals with a multitude of individuals and companies, including:Solomon Sebag (1783-1831); Sundius & Shirreff [Alexander Shirreff] (London underwriters); Harvey, Campbell & Co [Robert Harvey and Archibald Campbell, Scottish merchants in America]; Ezekiel Egerton; John and Robert Christie & Co [Manchester and London merchants]; Ebenezer Whittenbury [Manchester cotton merchant]; Gardner & Angus; Anderson, Eades & Co; Samuel Potter & Co; Ross & Horn; Elyard, Price [Pryce] & Co; Dobie & McLachlan; John Whalley & Co; Bingley & Maslin; Armstrong & Scott; Harvey, Campbell & Co; Walmsley Turner & Co; David Taylor & Sons; Nathaniel & Robert Wainhouse; Waltham & Lloyd; Hardie & Sandom; Richard Fennel & Son; Brunton, Foster & Co; Alexander G. Davidson; J. A. Jenner; Joshua Hutchinson; Matthew Boyd; Chalmers, Howie; J. H. Freese; Joshua Hutchinson; Isaac Durovery; Edward Peppin; Thomas Beattie; John Cowie; Matthew Boyd; James Grieve; John Oliver; William Robertson; Thomas Pagan; Lieut James Hume; Margaret Fairley; Jean Fairley; George Manual; Charles Moulton; Rev. William Brown; William Dinwiddie; William Jameson; John L. Pidwell; Walter Scott (not the author); George A. Wylie; Gideon Curle; and Andrew Irvine, Charterhouse Square.4. UnderwritingThe author's main business is underwriting. Entries typically give the name of the ship, the name of the master or captain, the place of depature and the destination. Pp.147-148 alone contain entries for 43 individuals, under the heading 'Underwg. Accot. 1806 Cr. b Sundries | for Premiums this year'; and pp.148-149 contain the 'Underwg. Accounts Dr. to Sundries, | for Losses & returns settled this year' for 46 individuals, in two columns: 'Account 1805' and 'Account 1806'.The extent of the maritime trade insured in the present volume is impressive, with ships sailing from St Petersburg to Boston, from the East Indies to Gothenburg, and from London to China.During the Napoleonic Wars British merchant ships were compelled to sail in Royal Navy convoys, and the volume contains a number of references to these. In December 1804 the author pays a total of £47 17s 9d to William Dinwiddie for losses including 16 convoys, and p.13 of the volume carries the following entry: 'To Willm. Dinwiddie | £100 pCt. on £50 total loss pr. Venus [10 March 1804] [£50] | 5 [pCt. on £]200 convoy pr. Lord Nelson [27 February 1804] [£10] | [£60 0s 0d]. And on p.95 the author settles losses incurred in June 1805 from the ships 'Esther, Lindo', 'Jupiter, Law', 'Jefferson', 'Jupiter', 'Dryade dischg in En[glan]d.', 'convoy pr. Tigre' 'convoy pr. Eagle', 'convoy pr. Nile', 'sht. int. & Convoy P. Griffiths'.The following entries give an indication of the nature of this part of the author's business:p.9 '[4 February 1804] To Jno: Whalley & Co. | £1. 2. 2 pCt. on 100, average p Cotton planter'p.36, 'Richd. Forster, 25 High St. Bloomsb[ur]y Dr. | for prem[iu]m. of Ins[uran]ce. on £300, on 120 firkins Butter pr. Providence, Reid, from N[ew]. Castle to London at 2 G[uinea]s. p[er]C[en]t. & policy pr. a/c sent him [£6 13s 6d]'p.36, 'Thomas Wood, Sheffield, Dr. | for prem[iu]m. of Ins[uran]ce. on £300, on goods pr. the Dunn, Johnson from Thorn to London @ ½ Gs. pCt. & policy duty 13th [December 1804] [£5 2s 0d]'p.49: 'By Brokers Accounts, | for my Note to Bowerbank & Co. due 4 Jany - partial settlem[en]t. of loss Pr. Ann, Stewart, written to Jas. & Jno. Wilson in 1803, [22 October 1804] [£49 18s 10d]'p.65 'paid reinsurance on £200 p Starling, Britton from Malta to Smyrna @ 6 Gs. pCt.'p.102: 'By Sam: Williams, | £2 pCt. on £100 pc. Martin, Packwood | for liberty to touch at Newyork [29 June 1805] [£2 0d 0d]'.p.119, October 1805, to Bruce & Moens, for losses on a 'convoy p Coffee planters'.p.133: 'By Underw[ritin]g. Acco[un]t. 1805, | paid sub[scriptio]n. to Lloyds 4. 4/- & Waiters 21/- [£5 5s 0d] | paid Law chs. on the Grampion & Westons [£2 5s 1d] | [£7 10s 1d]'p.140, 'Jno. L: Pidwell, loss pr. Providence, Dr. | To Cash, for my accepce. at 2 Mos. due 2d Sept. 30th. [1806]', £87 10s 8dp.157, 'By U[nderwriting]/A[ccount] 1806, | paid D. Taylor & Sons premi[um]s on £100 pr. the Nile written to & overpaid by John Hamilton & Co. £8 [8 June 1807] | less discount thereon [£0 19s 2d] [11 June 1807]'And in June 1807 the author pays David Taylor & Sons premiums on £100, 'pr. the Nile written to & overpaid by John Hamilton & Co.'5. The slave tradeThe volume contains a number of entries relating to the transatlantic slave trade. There are several entries concerning George Alexander Wylie of South Carolina, who in April 1805 pays the author premiums for L'Affricane (Brew), from Liverpool to 'Africa pr M[ar]k[e]t'. In May 1805, Wylie pays premiums for three ships: the Marquis of Huntley (Hamilton), from Charleston to Liverpool; the Speedy (Atkins), 'Africa, Mkt'; and the Esther (Irving), 'Africa, Charles[to]n.' The following month, June 1805, 'Alexander G. Wylie' [sic] pays premiums for the Sarah (Bainbridge), Trinidad to Dublin, and the Mary (Cowan), 'L:pool, Af[ric]a. M[ar]k[e]t.' And the next month, July 1805, he pays premiums on another three ships: the Montezuma (Ives), from 'Af[ric]a.' to 'Charles[to]n., and the Robert (Mullion) and the Sally (Kneale), both from 'L[iver]pool, Af[ric]a, & M[ar]k[e]t'.Another individual with connections to slavery is Hugh Usher (1771-1811), owner with his brother Thomas of the Cedar Valley plantation, Jamaica. For example, in July 1804 the author receives from Usher a total of £54 in premiums for six ships: 'Robert, Elyard, London, Jama.', 'Reward, or Holland, Jama. Lond.', 'Cumberland, Barwise, Jama. Whith.', 'Swingen, Wilkinson, Jama. Lond:', 'Ann, King [Jama. Lond:]' and 'Mary, Reynolds [Jama.] L:pool'. And on 30 April 1804: 'By Hugh Usher, | £125 Ship or Ships, Jamaica, London 10. [£12 10s 0d] | [£]200 Lincoln, Bruton, London, Jam[aic]a. 8 [£16 0d 0d] | [£28 10s 0d]'. In July 1805 the author pays Armstrong & Co. the 'bal:[ance] of Loss Pr. Esther Lindo' [a Jamaican trading ship, the Lindos being a prominent family of the island].Among the ten records of premiums paid on one page alone (31), in July 1804, are three relating to the slave trade: first, from Ebenezer Gairdner & Sons for the Margaret (Captain Livingston), from Charleston to 'Mosambique', and from there to Barbados; second, from Harvey, Campbell & Co. for the 'Thomas Mc.Caulay' from Charleston to Liverpool, and for the 'Norn. Liberties, Boag, Ch[arlesto]n. a M[ar]k[e]t'; and third, from Bingley & Maslin, for the Emerald (Tarleton), from the West Indies to London. And the following month James and John Wilson pay for the President (Borradaile), to 'Virg[ini]a. Mkt', and Archibald McNair for the Aurora (Robertson) from Clyde to Jamaica.6. Personal bankingThe author's personal clients included a number of Scots, including: John Elliot of Langholm; Thomas Beattie of Muckledale; Peter Hogg of Greenlaw; and the following three Hawick residents: William Scott, William Oliver, and 'James Oliver, Baker'. The nature of the author's services are varied. He discounts bills, pays duty on dividends and income, interest on exchequer bills, and (in cash) half-year dividends (for example, on 12 July 1805, 'To Gideon Curle, | on £4500 Consols [£67 10s 0d] | less, Comn. & postages [£1 14s 6d] | [£65 15s 6d]'). An entry in September 1805 reads: 'To Cash, paid for £1000, 3 p Cent Consols 58. in the names of Margt. & Isabella Elliot, Kirkaldy Co: of Fife N. B. Spinsters'. In January 1805 the author pays the income tax for two clients, and the newspaper bills to Axtell & Co. of a further two. At the same time he pays Goldsmid & Co. 'brokerage on Dollars'. And in August 1807 he pays 'Mr. Stedman two yrs Income tax ass[esse]d.' In July 1805 the author remits a £5 bank note to Matthew Irving at Cirencester, and on p.124 he pays £5 2s 6d for '¼ Lottery Ticket No. 20151 & reg[isterin]g.' on behalf of George Manual. On p.73, the author pays £1 1s 6d to John Oliver 'for a power of Att[orne]y to received his Loyalty'.