Antony Gibbs & Sons

Antony Gibbs & Sons was a British trading company, established in London in 1802, whose interests spanned trading in cloth, guano, wine and fruit, and led to it becoming involved in banking, shipping and insurance. Having been family-owned via a partnership from its foundation, by the turn of the 20th century it was focused on banking and insurance. Floated on the in 1973, it was bought by HSBC in 1981 and formed the basis of its insurance broking arm, now part of global insurance company Marsh & McLennan.

Antony Gibbs (1756–1816) from Clyst St Mary, Devon, was the fourth son of Dr. George Abraham Gibbs (1718–1794), who rose to be Chief Surgeon at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital. After leaving Exeter Grammar School, Antony was apprenticed to merchant Nicholas Brooke, whose firm traded with Spain exporting locally made woollen cloth. Brooke sent Anthony to Madrid, where he developed Spanish language skills, and an extensive personal network that included the King of Spain, his court, government and also the civil servants who managed Spain's extensive colonies abroad.

In 1778 due to the extensive wars in mainland Europe, Anthony returned to Exeter and formed Gibbs Brothers Cloth Makers with his older brother Abraham and with financial backing from their father, in a warehouse in Exwick. However, after the death of weaver Abraham in 1782, Anthony married his brother's former fiancee Dolly and continued with the brothers' business plans. However, his subsequent cloth weaving business activities without the expertise of weaver Abraham went bankrupt through over trading, resulting in the subsequent bankruptcy of both Anthony and his father.

Relocating to Madrid again with his wife, Antony wished to clear his name and repay his creditors. There he reformed his personal network, and again began exporting cloth from England, and also found profit in exporting Spanish wine and fruit back to the United Kingdom. After the birth of their second son William in 1790, the family returned to Devon, living at Lower Cleave.