TWO CENTURIES OF A LONDON BANK.

Bush Advocate, Volume IX, Issue 668, 27 August 1892, Page 6

TWO CENTURIES OF A LONDON BANK.

(si. james's budget.) It was a happy idea of Air. John Biddulph Martin to write tho history of t.ho famous Martin's bank at the sign of ' : The Grasshopper." His handsome and well-written quarto, "The Grasshopper in Lombard street" (the Leadonhall Press), possesses an interest which i3 by 110 means confined to persons interested in oity topography or in the history of banking. There is much in hia pleasant chatty pages which will attract the reader who wishes to be amused. Nor is this result obtained by a saorifice of tha severer virtues of the historian. TJponthe head of names and dates and facts generally Mr. Martin is precise ; and the volume will ' no doubt be valuable to searchers in the pleasant field of family history. Beginning I two centuries ago with the Duncombes and Stones, tha bank at the iign of " The Grasi- I topper" took in the first Martin (Sir ftiobard ! •f that family had been L-.rd Mayor of -London in 1559) at the beginning of tho eighteenth oentury, and Martin has been the principal same connected with it ever since. And, oddly enough, most of tha past aud present partners have been, and are, connected by marriage or by descent from a common ancestor ; while, as Mr. Biddulph Martin shows, most of the London bankers are united by tieii of relationship, going baok, some of them, a couple of centuries — ties which have sometimes been more than once renewed. FRIEND OF WESLEY AXD TAKEB OF THli " ODDS" Not the least interesting of the oldor partners in Martin's Bank (but lately termed into a limited liability company) was Ebenozer Biackwell, who was a member of the firm from 1731 to 1752. He was an intimate friend of John Wesley, who frequently mentions him in his letters; Dut, as Jilr. • Martin suffpfests :- - It may be conjectured cnat jonn Wesley was not aware that his friend was a victim of the popular fashion— it was, indeed, a mania in those days— for betting ; but Biackwell placed oven his gambling transactions on a business footing. On the Ist of September, 1702, there is the following entry :■ — By gave Mr. James Colebrooke, jun., to receive £0 as,, in caße there is no reduction of the laud-tax for either of the nest two years .. „ , ,£l Is, Not dissimilar is an entry on the 3rd of February, 1763— By paid Mr. John Maitin, to receive £G 6s. if this 13 the last sessions of this Parliament.. „ .. ..£2 2s. This bet wa3 lost, for tho Parliament was not dissolved until the Bth of April, 1774. But his favourite form oi gambling was on the matrimonial prospects of his friends. On tha 18th of June, 1748, there ij a series of entries of this description. We find —

B 7 g*ve Mr. Joseph Martin, to receive Daok £21 whenever Daines Barringtou, Esq., 13 married . . „ . . £2 20, And — By gave Daines Barrington, Esq., to receive back £52 10s. whenever he shall ™ arr ? •• •• .. . . £5 os. ■ Those long odds were taken in vain. The Eon. Daines Barrington, tho well-known corwapondent of Gilbert White, of Selborce, died unmarried in 1801. Two or three similar entries are recorded, followed closely by two subscriptions to Mr. Wesley's chapel. Black, well evidently thought that Dainea Barriogton was a marrying man, for in 1753 hois found again taking 10 to lon a similar venture. He made similar bets with his partners, taking 6 to 1, both from John Martin and his brother Joseph, on the chance that the former would lall mto matrimony. These bets he evidently won, for John Martin married in 1761. He also took 5 to 1 from John Martin oa the matrimonial prospects ef Joseph Martin. Joseph Martin married Eleanor Torriano on the 16-7tn of February, 1848-9; and the bet is fW entered as paid on the 21at of July,

"Keceived of Mr. John Martin, being what he was obliged to pay ma whenever his brother, Mr. Joseph Martin married „ .. #- £21 A StUdOAED. iibenezer Biackwell laft some interesting account-books, in which he entered hia personal expenditure. Here and there we find little touches which ate mute Fepystan hi their flavour :— . Among the weaknesses of which Wesloy waa, perhaps, unaware in hia disciple was that of sloth— either in himself or hia wife. He apnoara to have struggled against this besetting s"i, and to havo organised a system of paying Mrs. Biackwell a premium aa an inducement to overcome it. On the 11th of October, 1749, is an. entry to "E.B. forriseing early.Vs. Od."But this system does not appear to have worked to his satisfaction, for on the very next day he invested £2 12s. 6d. in an alarm clock— a remedy that did not avail to cope with tho malady, for iu October he again paid lira. BJacswell £1 Ss. for rising early, and a month afterwards bought another "alarum clock in a wainscott head, £2 58," WCLAIHED MOXEY. It is a popular notion that bankers' cellars are gorged with money which awaits only a olaim from the rightful heirs. All oldestablished bunkers, no doubt, have credits m their book* which have never been claimed; but the numi/cr is probably not very large nor .the amount^ very considerable. Still the books of Martins Bank show one ortwo such cases : —

The name of Poter Floyer appears in the books in 177u, and in connection with this name a ainsrul.ir outry survives to the present time. At the basiiming of the present century ■Mrs. Heiimtia Floyd borrowed £50 ou the secuntv of £100 three per cent. Consols transferred into tho name of one of the partners. In ISO3 the claims of the bankers were satisfied by the salu of a portion of this sum (at tho price of G3J). There remained £33 13s. od. stock under tha control of the firm, and from that day to this the above amount of Consols haa been shown: in the annual balance-sheets as held m trtut for Mrs. Henrietta Flover. In the m»anwhi]fl the dividends have been collected, and show the amount of £80 7s. to the credit of current account, but all trace of the owner has been lost. Akin to the above are two cases whore Exchequer bills have been left in joint names in the custody of the firm. In the one case the current account ceased to be active in 1832, and since that time tho interest on £500 Exchequer bills has amounted to £800. In the other the interest on £200 Exchequer bills has accumulated since 1824 to the sum of £275. Il ia a peculiarity about one of theae cases that the firm were long under the impression that one of their customers was interested in theoe Exchequer bills ; but when, after Borne laDse of time, his attention waa called to the account, he disclaimed any knowledge of it. A. 6TOBY OP INGENIOUS FHATO. "The Graaahopper," Mr. Martin tells us, has been fortunate m losing but little iu its long history by fraud or forgery ; but we find a few aneodotesof attempts— not alwnvs ' aoccesaful— in that direction. Here follows a very curiaua story, which, however did Hot affect the bank : —

A certain gentleman, who shall be called Mr. Sharp, was acquainted with one of the staff of the Grasshopper, Mr. Clark. Mr. Sharp went to pay a visit to a friend, by whom he was left in possession during a temporary absence Mr Sharp profited by the absence of his hemt to open nis desk, whenco he abstracted a certificate representing railway stock of the value of over £4,000. Thereupon he wrote in hishost'B name to Mr. Clark, asking for the address of a respectable stockbroker, and he was, accordingly, put in communication with a firm of stockbrokers with whom the firm dosa business. He instructed the brokers to aell the stock, and this was accordingly done. Tho transfer was made out, and was sent down for signature, and it was returned in due course. It went through in the ordinary way, and tho broker sent to Mr. Sharp a cheque for the proceeds. The cheque was crossed and payable to order. To got over thia impediment Mr. Sharp endorsed it in 'tie iinmo of the payee, and paid it in to his hoßt" 8 accoui.t at a local bank, thus actually placmg to the credit of the true owner the proceeds of the Btile of his own property, effected by fraud and forgery. The monoy was suffered to remain for some days, and it was then dro irn out by a forged cheque, payment being taken in batik-notes. It was not until this point that the fraud waal discovered. The true nwnor paid a vfait to Mr. Clark, who aslcea him if hiß introduction to the broksr had resulted in business. The question naturally excited surprise and inquiry, and on iho production of the original latter to Mr. Clark asking for an inatroduotion to the broker, it was found to be a forgery. Investigation led to the discovery that the securities were missing. In tho interval the scheme appeared to have been carrieil to ft successful issue : and the operator, having converted bis gains into bank-notes, and having withdrawn himself from view, might hare been deemed to have secured his own

safety. But with th» infatuation taat iiv'.iears inseparable from tho last steps in ouuiations of this class, the forger must noerto call ono afternoon on the wife of Mr. Chnk, who, by this time, was awaro of the fraud, for the parpetratiou of which her husband hail uinvittiugly given facilities. With considerable presence of mind, ahe telegraphed for instructions, and succeeded iu detaining Mr. Sharp until the police intervened. It fortunately I happened that tha money wus recovered iilmoot in its entirety. NO QUABTER FOR DAUWINISM. One of the oddest documents Mr. Biddulph Martin prints is the following letter from ti, fii m of customers, dated the 27th of April, 1882. It refers to the funeral of tho late Mr. Darwin in Westminster Abbey : — Sirs, — We have this day drawn a cheque f 0 tha sum of £280, which closes our account will our firm. Our reasons for thus closing an account opened so very many years ago with your house aro of so exceptional a. kind that we ara quite prepared to find that they are deemed wholly inadequate to the result, hut this is a point which, of course, must remain with ourselves, and whilst regretting the necessity of the step, we do it with thanks for the convenience and assistance rendered in the course of business. Our reasons are entirely the presence of Mr. E. B. Martin at AVestminater Abbey yesterday, not merely giving sanction to tho scene as au individual, but appearing ao ono of the deputation from tho society, which has especially become tho endorsara and sußhuners of Mr. Darwin's theories. . . Tours respectfully, and Co.