Old and New London, A Narrative of its History, its People and its Places. Illustrated with Numerous Engravings from the Most Authentic Sources. vol I
Thornbury, Walter
1872-78
The Royal Exchange (cont.)
The Royal Exchange (cont.)
[extra_illustrations.1.503.3] on the . The flames, which broke out probably from an over-heated stove in Lloyd's Coffee-house, were seen by of the Bank watchmen about half-past . The gates had to be forced before entrance could be effected, and then the hose of the fire-engine was found to be frozen and unworkable. About o'clock the | |
504 | fire reached the new tower. The bells chimed and of the last tunes heard, appropriately enough, was The bells finally fell, crushing in the roof of the entrance arch. The east side of Sweeting's Alley was destroyed, and all the royal statues but that of Charles II. perished. of Lloyd's safes, containing bank-notes for , was discovered after the fire, with the notes reduced to a cinder, but the numbers still traceable. A bag of sovereigns, thrown from a window, burst, and some of the mob benefited by the gold. The statue |
| of Gresham was entirely destroyed. In the ruins of the Lord Mayor's Court Office the great City Seal, and bags, each containing in gold, were found uninjured. The flames were clearly seen at Windsor ( miles from London), and at Roydon Mount, near Epping (eighteen miles). Troops from the Tower kept clear, and assisted the sufferers to remove their property. If the wind had been from the south, the Bank and St. Bartholomew's Church would also have perished. | |
An Act of Parliament was passed in , giving power to purchase and remove all the buildings | |
505 | (called Bank Buildings) west of the Exchange, and also the old buildings to the eastward, nearly as far as . The Treasury at claimed the direction of the whole building, but eventually gave way, retaining only a veto on the design. The cost of the building was, from the , limited to , to be raised on the credit of the Fund. designs were sent in by the rival architects, and exhibited in Mercers' Hall, but none could be decided upon; and so the judges themselves had to compete. Eventually the competition lay between Mr. Tite and Mr. Cockerell, and the former was appointed by the Committee. Mr. Tite was a classical man, and the result was a -Greek, Roman, and Composite building. Mr. Tite at once resolved to design the new building with simple and unbroken lines, like the Paris Bourse, and, as much as possible, to take the Pantheon at Rome as his guide. The portico was to be at the west end, the tower at the east. The Exchange had been built on piles; the foundations of the cost . In excavating for it, the workmen came on what had evidently been the very centre of Roman London. In a gravelpit, which afterwards seemed to have been a pond |
| (perhaps the fountain of a grand Roman court-yard) were found heaps of rubbish, coins of copper, yellow brass, silver, and silver-plated brass, of Augustus, Tiberius, Claudius, Nero, Vespasian, Domitian, & c., Henry IV. of England, Elizabeth, & c., and stores of Flemish, German, Prussian, Danish, and Dutch money. They also discovered fragments of Roman stucco, painted shards of delicate Samian ware, an amphora and terra-cotta lamps ( feet below the surface), glass, bricks and tiles, jars, urns, vases, and potters' stamps. In the Corporation Museum at the , where Mr. Tite deposited these interesting relics, are also fine wood tablets, and styles (for writing on wax) of iron, brass, bone, and wood. There are also in the same collection, from the same source, artificers' tools and leatherwork, soldiers' sandals and shoes, and a series of horns, shells, bones, and vegetable remains. Tesselated pavements have been found in , and other spots near the Exchange. | |
The cost of enlarging the site of the Exchange, including improvements, and the widening of , Freeman's Court, and , the removal of the French Protestant Church, and demolition of St. Benet Fink, Bank Buildings, and Sweeting's | |
506 | Alley, was, according to the City Chamberlain's return of , The cost of the building was . |
The portico, of the finest of its kind, is ninetysix feet wide, and feet high. That of is only wide, and the . The whole building was rapidly completed. [extra_illustrations.1.506.1] , John Pirie, Esq., being Lord Mayor. A huge red-striped pavilion had been raised for the ceremonial, and the Duke of Wellington and all the members of the Peel Cabinet were present. A bottle full of gold, silver, and copper coins was placed in a hollow of the huge stone, and the following inscription (in Latin), written by the Bishop of London, and engraved on a zinc plate:--
| |
At the sale of the salvage, the porter's large hand-bell, rung daily before closing the 'Change (with the handle burnt), fetched ; City griffins, and the pair; busts of Queen Elizabeth, and the pair; figures of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, ; the statue of Anne, ; George II.,; George III. and Elizabeth, each; Charles II., ; and the other royal statues similar sums. The copper-gilt grasshopper vane was reserved. | |
[extra_illustrations.1.506.2] was opened by Queen Victoria on . The procession walked round the ambulatory, the Queen especially admiring Lang's (of Munich) encaustic paintings, and proceeded to Lloyd's Reading-room, which was fitted up as a throne-room. Prince Albert, the Duke of Wellington, Sir Robert Peel, Lord John Russell, Sir Robert Sale, and other celebrities, were present. There the City address was read. After a sumptuous in the Underwriters' room, the Queen went to the quadrangle, and there repeated the formula, The mayor, the Right Hon. William Magnay, was afterwards made a baronet, in commemoration of the day. | |
A curious fact connected with the Exchange should not be omitted. On the , a deserted child was found on the stone steps of the that led from to Lloyd's Coffee-house. The then churchwarden, Mr. Samuel Birch, the well-known confectioner, had the child taken care of and respectably brought up. He was named Gresham, and christened Michael, after the patron saint of the parish in which he was found. The lad grew up shrewd and industrious, eventually became rich, and established the celebrated Gresham Hotel in , Dublin. About he sold the hotel for , and retired to his estate, Raheny ark, near Dublin. He was a most liberal and benevolent man, and took an especial interest in the Irish orphan societies. | |
The tower at the east end of the Exchange is feet to the top of the vane. The inner area of the building is feet by , of which feet by are open to the sky. | |
The south front is unbroken line of pilasters, with rusticated arches on the ground floor for shops and entrances, the middle spaces being | |
507 [extra_illustrations.1.507.1] | simple recesses. Over these are richly-decorated windows, and above the cornice there are a balustrade and attic. On the north side the centre projects, and the pilasters are fewer. on the ground floor are rusticated, and there are niches. In of them stands a statue of [extra_illustrations.1.507.2] , who brought the to London in ; and another of Sir Richard Whittington, by Carew. Whittington was, it must be remembered, a Mercer, and the Exchange is specially connected with the Mercers' Company. |
On the east front of the tower is a niche where a statue of Gresham, by Behnes, keeps watch and ward. The vane is Gresham's former grasshopper, saved from the fire. It is feet long. The various parts of the Exchange are divided by party walls and brick arches of such great strength as to be almost fire-proof--a compartment system which confines any fire that should break out into a small and restricted area. | |
West of the Exchange stands Chantrey's bronze equestrian [extra_illustrations.1.507.3] . It was Chantrey's last work; and he died before it was completed. The sculptor received for this figure; and the French cannon from which it was cast, and valued at , were given by Government for the purpose. The inauguration took place on the anniversary of the battle of Waterloo, , the King of Saxony being present. | |
On the frieze of the portico is inscribed, Over the central doorway are the royal arms, by Carew. The keystone has the merchant's mark of Gresham, and the key-stones of the side arches the arms of the merchant adventurers of his day, and the staple of Calais. North and south of the portico, and in the attic, are the City sword and mace, with the date of Queen Elizabeth's reign and , and in the lower panels mantles bearing the initials of Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria respectively. The imperial crown is inches in relief, and feet high. The tympanum of the pediment of the portico is filled with sculpture, by Richard Westmacott, R.A., consisting of figures carved in limestone, nearly all entire and detached. The centre figure, feet high, is Commerce, with her mural crown, upon dolphins and a shell. She holds the charter of the Exchange. On her right is a group of British merchantsas Lord Mayor, Alderman, and Common Councilman--a Hindoo, a Mohammedan, a Greek bearing a jar, and a Turkish merchant. On the left are British merchants and a Persian, a Chinese, a Levant sailor, a negro, a British sailor, and a supercargo. The opposite angles are filled with anchors, jars, packages, & c. Upon the pedestal of Commerce is this inscription, selected by Prince Albert: --Psalm xxiv. . The ascent to the portico is by granite steps. It was discussed at the time whether a figure of Gresham himself should not have been substituted for that of Commerce; but perhaps the abstract figure is more suitable for a composition which is, after all, essentially allegorical. | |
The clock, constructed by Dent, with the assistance of the Astronomer Royal, is true to a of time, and has a compensation pendulum. he chimes consist of a set of bells, by ears, and cost , the largest being also the hour-bell of the clock. In the chime-work, by Dent, there are hammers to several of the bells, so as to play rapid passages; and and hammers strike different bells simultaneously. All irregularity of force is avoided by driving the chime-barrel through wheels and pinions. There are no wheels between the weight that pulls and the hammer to be raised. The lifts on the chime-barrel are all epicycloidal curves; and there are holes pierced upon the barrel for the lifts, so as to allow the tunes to be varied. The present airs are and the th Psalm. The bells, in substance, form, dimensions, & c., are from the Bow bells' patterns; still, they are thought to be too large for the tower. The chime-work is stated to be the instance in England of producing harmony in bells. | |
The interior of the Exchange is an open courtyard, resembling the Italian palaces. It was almost unanimously decided by the London merchants (in spite of the caprices of our charming climate) to have no covering overhead, a decision probably long ago regretted. The ground floor consists of Doric columns and rusticated arches. Above these runs a series of Ionic columns, with arches and windows surmounted by a highlyorna- mented pierced parapet. The keystones of the arches of the upper storey are decorated with the arms of all the principal nations of the world, in the order determined by the Congress of Vienna. In the centre of the eastern side are the arms of England. | |
The ambulatory, or Merchants' Walk, is spacious and well sheltered. The arching is divided by beams and panelling, highly painted and decorated in encaustic. In the centre of each panel, on the sides, the arms of the nations are repeated, | |
508 | emblazoned in their proper colours; and in the angles are the arms of Edward the Confessor, who granted the and most important charter to the City, Edward III., in whose reign London grew powerful and wealthy, Queen Elizabeth, who opened the Exchange, and Charles II., in whose reign the was built. In the south-east angle is a statue of Queen Elizabeth, by Watson, and in the south-west a marble statue of Charles II., which formerly stood in the centre of the Exchange, and which escaped the last fire unscathed. |
In small circular panels of the ambulatory are emblazoned the arms of the mayors (Pirie, Humphrey, and Magnay), and of the masters of the Mercers' Company in whose years of office the Exchange was erected. The arms of the chairman of the Gresham Committee, Mr. R. L. Jones, and of the architect, Mr. Tite, complete the heraldic illustrations. The Yorkshire pavement of the ambulatory is panelled and bordered with black stone, and squares of red granite at the intersections. The open area is paved with'the traditional from the old Exchange, which are arranged in Roman patterns, with squares of red Aberdeen granite at the intersections. | |
On the side-wall panels are the names of the walks, inscribed upon chocolate tablets. In each of the larger compartments are the arms of the corresponding with the merchants'. As you enter the colonnade by the west are the arms of the British Empire, with those of Austria on the right, and Bavaria on the reverse side; then, in rotation, are the arms of Belgium, France, Hanover, Holland, Prussia, Sardinia, the Sicilies, Sweden and Norway, the United States of America, the initials of the Sultan of Turkey, Spain, Saxony, Russia, Portugal, Hanseatic Towns, Greece, and Denmark. On a marble panel in the Merchants' Area are inscribed the dates of the building and opening of the Exchanges. | |
says the author of the ();
| |
A City writer of has sketched the chiet celebrities of the Exchange of an earlier date. Mr. Salomon, with his old clothes-man attire, his close-cut grey beard, and his crutch-stick, toddling towards his offices in Shooter's Court, ; Jemmy Wilkinson, with his old-fashioned manner, and his long-tailed blue coat with gilt buttons. | |
On the south and east sides of the Exchange are the arms of Gresham, the City, and the Mercers' Company, for heraldry has not even yet died out. Over the centre arches of the north front are the following mottoes:--Gresham's (in old French), ; the City, ; the Mercers',
| |
Surely old heraldry was more religious than modern trade, for the shoddy maker, or the owner of overladen vessels, could hardly inscribe their vessels or their wares with the motto nor could the director of a bubble company with strict propriety head the columns of his ledger with the solemn words, But these are cynical thoughts, for no doubt trade ranks as many generous, honourable, and pious people among its followers as any other profession; and we have surely every reason to hope that the moral standard is still rising, and that will for ever remain a proverb in the East. | |
The whole of the west end of the Exchange is taken up by the offices and board-rooms of the Assurance Company, organised in , at meetings in Mercers' Hall. It was an amalgamation of separate plans. The petition for the royal sanction made, it seems, but slow way through the Council and the Attorney- General's department, for the South Sea Bubble mania was raging, and many of the Ministers, including the Attorney-General himself (and who was indeed afterwards prosecuted), had shares in the great bubble scheme, and wished as far as possible to secure for it the exclusive attention of the company. The petitioners, therefore (under high legal authority), at once commenced business under the temporary title of the Mining, Royal Mineral, and Batteries Works, and in -quarters of a year insured property to the amount of nearly millions sterling. After the lapse of years, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, eager for the money to be paid for the charter, and a select committee having made a rigid inquiry into the project, and the cash lodged at the Bank to meet losses, recommended the grant to the House of | |
509 | Commons. The Act of the George I., cap. , authorised the king to grant a charter, which was accordingly done, . The which is also lodged in the Exchange, obtained its charter at the same time. Each of these companies paid to the Exchequer. They were both allowed to assure on ships at sea, and going to sea, and to lend money on bottomry; and each was to have and a common seal. To prevent a monopoly, however, no person holding stock in either of the companies was allowed to purchase stock in the other. In , the obtained another charter for assurances on lives, and also of houses and goods from fire. In consequence of the depression of the times, the company was released from the payment of of the originally demanded by Government. |
At the close of the last, and commencement of the present century, the monopolies of the companies in marine assurance were sharply assailed. Their enemies at last, however, agreed to an armistice, on their surrendering their special privileges, which (in spite of Earl Grey's exertions) were at last annulled, and any joint-stock company can now effect marine assurances. The loss of the monopoly did not, however, injure either excellent body of underwriters. | |
at the east end of the north side of the , contains some magnificent apartments, and the steps of the staircase leading to them are of Craigleath stone, feet wide. The subscribers' room (for underwriting) is feet long, by feet wide, and runs from north to south, on the east side of the Merchants' Quadrangle. This noble chamber has a library attached to it, with a gallery round for maps and charts, which many a shipowner, sick at heart, with fears for his rich argosy, has conned and traced. The captains' room, the board-room, and the clerks' offices, occupy the eastern end; and along the north front is the great commercial room, feet long, a sort of club-room for strangers and foreign merchants visiting London. The rooms are lit from the ceilings, and also from windows opening into the quadrangle. They are all highly decorated, well warmed and ventilated, and worthy, as Mr. Effingham Wilson, in his book on the Exchange, justly observes, of a great commercial city like London. | |
The system of marine assurance seems to have been of great antiquity, and probably began with the Italian merchants in [extra_illustrations.1.509.1] . The mention of marine insurance in England, says an excellent author, Mr. Burgon, in his is in a letter from the Protector Somerset to the Lord Admiral, in (Edward VI.), still preserved. Gresham, writing from Antwerp to Sir Thomas Parry, in (Elizabeth), speaks of armour, ordered by Queen Elizabeth, bought by him at Antwerp, and sent by him to Hamburg for shipment (though only about ships a year came from thence to London). He had also adventured at his own risk, ' worth in a ship which, as he says,
| |
The following preamble to the Statute, Elizabeth, proves that marine assurance was even then an old institution in England:-- | |
| |
In , Malynes, in his says that all policies of insurance at Antwerp, and other places in the Low Countries, then and formerly always made, mention that it should be in all things concerning the said assurances, as it was accustomed to be done in , London. | |
In (Charles I.), the marine assurers had rooms in the , as appears by a law passed in that year, and the Rev. Samuel Rolle, in his mentions an assurance office in the ,
| |
After the Fire of London the underwriters met | |
510 | in a room near ; and from thence they removed to a coffee-house in , kept by a person named Lloyd, where intelligence of vessels was collected and made public. In a copy of , No. , still extant, dated Friday, , and quoted by Mr. Effingham Wilson, it is stated: must therefore have begun about . |
In the of , is the following :--
| |
The following note is curious:-- (.) | |
The author of () says:
| |
Not only has Lloyd's--a mere body of merchants without Government interference or patronage, done much to give stability to our commerce, but it has distinguished itself at critical times by the most princely generosity and benevolence. In the great French war, when we were pushed so hard by the genius of Napoleon, which we had unwisely provoked, Lloyd's opened a subscription for the relief of soldiers' widows and orphans, and commenced an appeal to the general public by the gift of per Cent. | |
Consols. In months only the sum subscribed at Lloyd's amounted to more than . In they gave more, and in . This was the commencement of the Patriotic Fund, placed under trustees, Sir Francis Baring, Bart., John Julius Angerstein, Esq., and Thomson Bonar, Esq., and the subscriptions soon amounted to more than . In other charities Lloyd's were equally munificent. They gave to the , for the admission of London merchant-seamen; for suffering inhabitants of Russia, in ; for the relief of the North American Militia (); to the Waterloo subscription of ; for the establishment of lifeboats on the English coast. They also instituted rewards for those brave men who save, or attempt to save, life from shipwreck, and to those who do not require money a medal is given. This medal was executed by W. Wyon, Esq., R.A. The subject of the obverse is the sea-nymph Leucothea appearing to Ulysses on the raft; the moment of the subject chosen is found in the following lines : The reverse is from a medal of the time of Augustus--a crown of fretted oak-leaves, the reward given by the Romans to him who saved the life of a citizen; and the motto, By the system upon which business is conducted in Lloyd's, information is given to the insurers and the insured; there are registers of almost every ship which floats upon the ocean, the places where they were built, the materials and description of timber used in their construction, their age, state of repair, and general character. An index is kept, showing the voyages in which they have been and are engaged, so that merchants may know the vessel in which they entrust their property, and assurers may ascertain the nature and value of the risk they undertake. Agents are appointed for Lloyd's in almost every seaport in the globe, who send information of arrivals, casualties, and other matters interesting to merchants, shipowners, and underwriters, which information is published daily in , and transmitted to all parts of the world. The collection of charts and maps is of the most correct and comprehensive in the world. The Lords of the Admiralty presented Lloyd's with copies of all the charts made from actual surveys, and the East India Company was equally generous. The King of Prussia presented Lloyd's with copies of the charts of the Baltic, all made from surveys, and printed by the Prussian Government. Masters | |
513 | of all ships, and of whatever nation, frequenting the port of London, have access to this collection. |
Before the last fire at the Exchange there was, on the stairs leading to Lloyd's, a monument to Captain Lydekker, the great benefactor to the London Seamen's Hospital. This worthy man was a shipowner engaged in the South Sea trade, and some of his sick sailors having been kindly treated in the hospital ship, in , he gave a donation of to the Society. On his death, in , he left ships and their stores, and the residue of his estate, after the payment of certain legacies. The legacy amounted to in the per Cents., and in cash was eventually received. The monument being destroyed by the fire in , a new monument, by Mr. Sanders, sculptor, was executed for the entrance to Lloyd's rooms. | |
The remark of or among the subscribers to Lloyd's is a sure index to the prospects of the day, the being indicative of premium to be received, the other of losses to be paid. The life of the. underwriter, like the stock speculator, is of great anxiety, the events of the day often raising his expectations to the highest, or depressing them to the lowest pitch; and years are often spent in the hope for acquisition of that which he never obtains. Among the old stagers of the room there is often strong antipathy expressed against the insurance of certain ships, but we never recollect its being carried out to such an extent as in the case of vessel. She was a steady trader, named after of the most venerable members of the room, and it was a most curious coincidence that he invariably refused to for Often he was joked upon the subject, and pressed for his namesake, but he as frequently denied, shaking his head in a doubtful manner. morning the subscribers were reading the or the losses, and among them was the total wreck of this identical ship. | |
There seems to have been a regret on the opening of the Exchange for the coziness and quiet comfort of the old building. Old frequenters missed the firm oak benches in the old ambulatoria, the walls covered with placards of ships about to sail, the amusing advertisements and lists of the sworn brokers of London, and could not acquire a rapid friendship for the encaustic flowers and gay colours of the new design. They missed the old sonorous bell, and the names of the old walks. [extra_illustrations.1.513.1] | |
Footnotes: [extra_illustrations.1.503.3] The second Exchange was destroyed by fire [extra_illustrations.1.506.1] The foundation-stone was laid by Prince Albert, January 17th [extra_illustrations.1.506.2] The present Royal Exchange [extra_illustrations.1.507.1] Fountain in front of Royal Exchange [extra_illustrations.1.507.2] Sir Hugh Myddelton [extra_illustrations.1.507.3] statue of the Duke of Wellington [extra_illustrations.1.509.1] Lombard Street [extra_illustrations.1.513.1] Pelican Life Insurance Company, Lombard Street Figure over Office |
