& co. industry finance founded 1672 headquarters london england uk key people richard hoare henry hoare alexander s. hoare products financial services number of employees 400 website www.hoaresbank.co.uk c. hoare & co. is an english private bank . it is the oldest bank in the united kingdom and the world s fourth oldest bank . founded in 1672 by sir richard hoare c. hoare & co. remains family owned and is currently managed by the 11th generation of hoare s direct descendants . the bank provides private banking financial planning and investment management services that include loans mortgages savings accounts and investment advisory services as well as tax and estate planning services . the bank s clients typically are high net worth individuals and families . 1 c. hoare and co. has two branches located at 37 fleet street and 32 lowndes street in london . 2 contents 1 history 1.1 17th century 1.2 18th century 1.3 19th century 1.4 20th century 2 in popular culture 3 references 4 further reading 5 external links history edit sir richard hoare the bank s founder . 17th century edit richard hoare the founder of the bank began his working life apprenticed to a goldsmith . 3 he was granted the freedom of the goldsmiths company on 5 july 1672 . 3 this date marks the foundation of hoare s bank as it was around then that richard hoare established his goldsmith s business at the sign of the golden bottle in cheapside london . 3 in 1690 richard hoare moved the business to new premises in fleet street on the main thoroughfare halfway between the city of westminster and the city of london but still within the city of london . 3 he continued trading at the sign of the golden bottle a gilded leather bottle that hung outside the shop street numbering was unknown in those days and signs were used to distinguish one business from another . 3 goldsmiths had secure premises and had always been the storehouses for cash and valuables so they were in a unique position to evolve a system of banking in 1677 some 58 goldsmiths kept running cashes . 3 they also started to lend their customers money for interest . 3 famous customers of the 17th century catherine of braganza wife of charles ii 3 samuel pepys diarist 3 john dryden poet 4 sir godfrey kneller painter 5 richard beau nash 4 18th century edit henry hoare the magnificent during the 18th century the bank prospered . richard hoare was knighted by queen anne in 1702 and became lord mayor of london in 1712 . 6 after richard s death two of his sons henry known as henry the good and benjamin 7 continued the business but it was richard s grandson henry hoare who dominated the family through his wealth and personal charisma . 8 henry was a partner in the bank for nearly 60 years his nickname henry the magnificent derived from his generosity as a great patron of the arts and also from his expenditure on stourhead in wiltshire a country house and estate bought by his father . 9 the gardens were admired as a showplace 10 and although there is no record of his carrying out work there capability brown the renowned landscape gardener was familiar with the garden . 4 messrs. hoare gradually introduced many aspects of modern banking and in particular issued printed cheques . 11 famous customers of the 18th century included lord north prime minister 12 david garrick actor 13 eton college 4 19th century edit in 1829 the premises at fleet street were rebuilt ; the new banking house was designed to accommodate the business and a private house . 14 following the bank charter act 1833 many of the 4 000 or so private banks disappeared . 15 in the first half of the century hoares maintained a steady business latterly under the leadership of charles hoare died 1851 the last senior partner to enjoy the practice of having the name of the bank styled after him . 16 in the second half the partners running the bank almost brought it down with unsuccessful speculation and poor management . during the middle of the century there were two partners henry of staplehurst and peter richard of luscombe . 15 both were deeply religious men but with differing views . henry was low church and peter richard was high church . 15 owing to their differences they took it in turns to run the bank each being in charge for a six month period . 15 their sons who became partners rebelled against their deeply religious upbringing and proved to be financially unreliable placing the future of the bank in peril . 15 famous customers of the 19th century lord byron poet 17 jane austen author 15 20th century edit c. hoare & co. in fleet street london . c. hoare & co. in lowndes street london . a revival of fortunes for the bank took place in the 20th century with the early years seeing the credibility of the bank restored . 18 after the first world war most of the remaining private banks were absorbed by larger banks . 18 hoares took a decision not to merge and today is the sole survivor as an independent bank . the bank was a partnership until 1929 when the partners adopted its current structure forming themselves into a private unlimited liability company in which they were the sole shareholders . 18 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 and thanks to a few brave employees the historic building was saved . 19 alexander s. hoare the former ceo of the bank represents the 11th generation to manage c. hoare & co. he has been replaced by the first non family member in an executive position former head of credit suisse private bank jeremy marshall . 20 in popular culture edit in georgette heyer s 1965 regency romance novel the grand sophy sir horace stanton lacy the 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 c. hoare & co. were the bankers to the royal african committee . several scenes take place at hoare s bank on fleet street . 21 references edit merrell caroline 2005 10 22 . billionaires join queue to sign up for bank that likes to say maybe . london the times . archived from the original on 2011 06 12 . retrieved 2009 09 23 . in a rich man s world . the spectator . 8 november 2008 . retrieved 23 september 2009 . a b c d e f g h i victoria hutchings messrs hoare bankers a history of the hoare banking dynasty 2005 pp. 10 11 15 . a b c d henry peregrine rennie hoare hoare s bank a record 1672 1955 1932 new edition 1955 p. 70 . hoare 1932 p. 75 . hutchings p. 29 . hutchings p. 37 . hutchings p. 49 . hutchings p. 51 . hutchings p. 55 . hutchings p. 74 . hoare 1932 p. 79 . c. hoare & co. a history p. 6 . hutchings p. 114 . a b c d e f c. hoare & co. a history p. 11 . hutchings p. 126 . hoare 1932 p. 66 . a b c c. hoare & co. a history p. 15 . c. hoare & co. england s oldest private bank . wordpress . 18 december 2011 . retrieved 2016 09 06 . c. hoare & co. company profile . reference for business . accessed 24 september 2009 . shah tahir june 2012 . timbuctoo first ed . . london secretum mundi . pp. 42 177 179 347 391 392 398 399 400 503 . isbn 0957242905 . retrieved 16 december 2014 . further reading edit henry peregrine rennie hoare hoare s bank a record 1672 1955 1932 new edition 1955 victoria hutchings messrs hoare bankers a history of the hoare banking dynasty 2005 service is never out of fashion . forbes 28 november 2005 hoare & co. suffers profits downturn . independent 31 august 2005 good luck rubs off on c. hoare & co. financial times 26 may 2005 hoare enters the modern age . euromoney january 2004 a history that s still in the making financial times 10 november 2003 c. hoare to become a manager of multi managers after 300 years financial times 20 october 2003 hoare welcomes competitors for the posh pound . independent 29 may 2001 cashing in on tradition the times 6 october 1993 external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to c. hoare & co. . official website v t e commercial and retail banks in the united kingdom banking in the united kingdom barclays barclays bank barclays wealth cybg clydesdale bank yorkshire bank hsbc holdings first direct hsbc bank hsbc private bank m & s bank lloyds banking group1 bank of scotland bank of wales birmingham midshires halifax lloyds bank royal bank of scotland group2 adam and company child & co. coutts & co. drummonds bank natwest royal bank of scotland ulster bank santander group cahoot cater allen santander uk wholly state owned national savings and investments post office money uk financial investments uk asset resolution bradford & bingley3 nram3 other airdrie savings bank al rayan bank aldermore allied irish bank gb first trust bank arbuthnot latham & co secure trust bank bank and clients bank of ireland butterfield bank cambridge & counties bank c. hoare & co close brothers group the co operative bank smile danske bank duncan lawrie handelsbanken harrods bank icici bank uk julian hodge bank kingdom bank kleinwort benson metro bank monzo onesavings bank raphaels bank reliance bank n m rothschild & sons sainsbury s bank sg hambros shawbrook bank standard chartered tesco bank triodos bank tsb unity trust bank virgin money big four banks are underlined and private banks are shown in italics 1 10 % owned by ukfi 2 73 % owned by ukfi 3 mortgage assets only retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title c. hoare % 26 co & oldid 740253838 categories private banksluxury brandsbanks of the united kingdomhistory of bankingbanks established in 16721672 establishments in englandhoare familyhenokiens companiesfamily businesses of the united kingdomhidden categories commons category with local link same as on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search 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