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Sir James Esdaile, Esdaile, Grenfell, Thomas & Co

Sir James Esdaile, Esdaile, Grenfell, Thomas & Co (1781-1837), established in London, was a bank connected with the history of the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Brief history

This private bank was established in 1781 in Birchin Lane, City of London, as Esdaile, Hammet & Esdaile. It moved to 73 Lombard Street in 1782. In 1792 it merged with Smith, Wright & Co (est. 1759) of Lombard Street to form Sir James Esdaile, Esdaile, Smith, Wright, Hammet & Co.

In 1837, when the business was known as Sir James Esdaile, Esdaile, Grenfell, Thomas & Co, the firm failed. Creditors were repaid from a loan advanced by City of London bankers, including Glyn, Hallifax, Mills & Co.

Detailed list of name changes

  • Esdaile, Hammet & Esdaile in 1782
  • Sir James Esdaile, Esdaile, Smith, Wright, Hammet & Co in 1792
  • Sir James Esdaile, Esdaile, Hammett, Esdaile & Hammet in 1798
  • Sir James Esdaile, Esdaile, Esdaile, Hammet & Hammet in 1800
  • Sir James Esdaile, Esdaile, Hammet & Co in 1813
  • Sir James Esdaile, Hammet, Grenfell & Scott in 1823
  • Sir James Esdaile, Esdaile, Grenfell, Thomas & Co from 1833

Published histories

  • FG Hilton Price, A Handbook of London Bankers (London: Chatto & Windus, 1876)
  • ‘The Esdaile Crisis’, Three Banks Review, June 1966, vol.70, p.39-48

Summary of our archive holdings

Our archival records of Sir James Esdaile, Thomas Grenfell & Co have the reference code ES.

For help understanding words used here, check our glossary of banking record types (PDF 68 KB).

  • customer ledgers: Birmingham Bank 1819-20, town 1819-20, country banks 1822
  • cheques 1794-1824
  • papers re failure 1836-7
  • personal papers of John Atholl Hammet 1787-1829: source overview (PDF 82 KB)

Summary of archive holdings elsewhere