Pole, Thornton, Free, Down & Scott

Pole, Thornton, Free, Down & Scott (1773-1825), established in London, was a bank connected with the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Brief history

This private bank was established at 10 Lombard Street, City of London, as Marlar, Lascelles, Pell & Down in 1773. It became London agent to a number of banks, including the Royal Bank of Scotland. In December 1825, by which time it was known as Pole, Thornton, Free, Down & Scott, it failed. One of its partners, Henry Sykes Thornton, subsequently joined Williams, Deacon, Labouchere, Thornton & Co, which was reformed after failing during the same crisis.

Detailed list of name changes

Marlar, Lascelles, Pell & Down from 1773
Down & Pell in 1782
Down, Thornton & Free in 1785
Down, Thornton, Free & Cornwall in 1794
Down, Thornton, Free & Down by 1808
Pole, Thornton, Free, Down & Scott by 1815

Published histories

'Henry Sykes Thornton', Three Banks Review, March 1966, vol.69, p.29-37
'Letters from a young lady' [Marianne Thornton], Three Banks Review, June 1950, vol.6, p.29-46
FG Hilton Price, A Handbook of London Bankers (London: Chatto & Windus, 1876)

Summary of our archive holdings

Our archival records of Pole, Thornton, Free, Down & Scott have the reference code PT.

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

personal papers of Henry Thornton and his executors, incl papers re sugar refinery in Hull 1770-1875
agreement and papers re partnership 1797-1821
country ledger abstracts 1805-12
papers re customer debt 1813-5
customer account balance sheets 1814-7
profit and loss account c.1815

Summary of archive holdings elsewhere

Cambridge University Library: Correspondence of Mr and Mrs Henry Thornton, incl. correspondence with Sykes family 1777-1815 (Ref: Add 7674/1/L); Standish Meacham junior, ‘Henry Thornton of Clapham 1760-1815’, typescript dissertation, Cambridge Massachusetts, 1960 (Ref: Add 7674/2/C)
Lambeth Archives: Papers re winding up of the bank, incl draft deeds re property in Bartholomew Lane, London 1826-7 (Ref: IV/104/8/1-22)
Wigan Archives: Diary of Henry Thornton 1777-1815, with edition of diary by Edward Hall (Ref: EHC18/M786, EHC7/M775, EHC7/M1248)