Guide to the Records of Baring Brothers & Company Ltd (as filmed by the AJCP), 1827-1880

Summary

Collection number:

M1973 - M1975

Creator:

Baring Brothers and Company Ltd

Extent:

106 items

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the London Metropolitan Archives and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.

Items from this collection should include references to the London Metropolitan Archives and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.

Example: Western Australasian Trade Section Minute Book. 22 April 1895- 12 October 1904, London Metropolitan Archives. MS 16512 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-798920226).

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Available for reference.

Background

Content Summary:

Letters of Paine, Stricker Co concerning coffee and sugar production in Java.

Correspondence 1853-57 relating to the sugar estate of E. Horsman in Penang.

Memorandum 1838 on cotton and wool production in Australia.

Papers 1855-58 relating to a loan to the Victorian Government for railway construction, including letters of Sir Henry Barkly and H.C.E. Childers.

Correspondence 1844-48 with Sir Evan MacKenzie on trade between Brisbane and London.

Correspondence 1830-66 with Hope Co on trade with Dutch East Indies.

Papers 1848-50 concerning Kapunda Copper Mine.

Ships' papers 1869-80.

Letter-books 1831-70 containing copies of Baring Brothers business letters. Recipients include E. Horsman, Paine, Sticker Co, Russell and Sturgis, Revesby Co, and H.C.E. Childers.

Statistics of general trade 1829-58.

Biographical / Historical:

Johann Baring emigrated from Bremen in 1717 and established a prosperous business as a cloth manufacturer and merchant in Exeter. In 1763 his sons set up the firm of John and Francis Baring Co. in London, an import and export commission house mainly acting as an agent for the Exeter house. Under the leadership of Sir Francis Baring (1740-1810), the company soon established contacts with leading commercial houses in Europe and America, including the Amsterdam merchant bankers Hope Co. Baring was an expert on trade with Turkey, the Mediterranean and the Baltic and in 1792 became Chairman of the East India Company.

From 1803 to 1828 the firm was led by Alexander Baring (1774-1848), later 1st Baron Ashburton. In 1806 a new partnership was formed, Baring Brothers Co., and the firm moved to Bishopsgate. In this period it reached its zenith as the leading banking house in Europe, financing trade, remitting huge subsidies to Britain's allies on the Continent, and taking a leading role in the Louisiana Purchase. By 1828 its preeminence as banker to governments had been eclipsed by Rothschilds, but it had greatly expanded its American business, making loans to State Governments, and built up its Far Eastern and Latin American business on American account.

Baring Brothers was recognized in 1828. Of the new partners the most dominant were Thomas Baring (1799-1873), a politician, Chairman of Lloyds, director of the Bank of England and many companies, and the American Joshua Bates (1788-1864), who directed the routine commercial operations. The company continued to play a major role in American and Canadian public finance and trade, while in the Far East it acquired ships in the China tea trade and extended its credit system to Singapore, Batavia and other ports. It faced its greatest crisis in 1890, when excessive commitments in Argentinia left it with liabilities amounting to £21 million, It was saved by a private guarantee fund organized by the Bank of England and was then reconstructed as a limited company, Baring Brothers Co. Ltd.

Related

Existence and Location of Copies:

The original AJCP microfilm of the records filmed from this collection is available at the National Library of Australia [https://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn765729] as well as other institutions holding AJCP microfilm.

Existence and Location of Originals:

Guildhall Library, London, England. Collection reference: MSS. 18321-18324.

Currently held at the London Metropolitan Archives, London. For more information see:London Metropolitan Archives (https://search.lma.gov.uk).

Conditions Governing Access:

Available for Access.

Conditions Governing Use:

Readers wishing to publish or reproduce documents should seek permission, in the first instance, from the London Metropolitan Archives. For more information contact London Metropolitan Archives Enquiry service [https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/london-metropolitan-archives/visitor-information/Pages/enquiry-service.aspx].

Preferred citation:

Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the London Metropolitan Archives and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.

Items from this collection should include references to the London Metropolitan Archives and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.

Example: Western Australasian Trade Section Minute Book. 22 April 1895- 12 October 1904, London Metropolitan Archives. MS 16512 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-798920226).

Location of this collection:

National Library of Australia

Parkes Place

Canberra ACT 2600, Australia

Contact:

Contact us