C. Hoare & Co
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| Industry | Finance |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1672 |
| Headquarters | London, England, UK |
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Key people
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Richard Hoare Henry Hoare Alexander S. Hoare |
| Products | Financial services |
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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 10th and 11th generations 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.
C. Hoare and Co. has two branches, located at 37 Fleet Street and 32 Lowndes Street in London.
Richard Hoare, the founder of the bank, began his working life apprenticed to a goldsmith. He was granted the Freedom of the Goldsmiths' Company on 5 July 1672. 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.
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. 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.
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". They also started to lend their customers' money for interest.
Famous customers of the 17th century:
During the 18th century the bank prospered. Richard Hoare was knighted by Queen Anne in 1702 and became Lord Mayor of London in 1712. After Richard's death, two of his sons (Henry, known as "Henry the Good", and Benjamin) continued the business but it was Richard's grandson, Henry Hoare, who dominated the family through his wealth and personal charisma. 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. The gardens were admired as a showplace and, although there is no record of his carrying out work there, Capability Brown, the renowned landscape gardener, was familiar with the garden.
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Wikipedia