Stilwell & Sons

Stilwell & Sons (before 1774-1923), established in London, was a past constituent of NatWest.

Brief history

This naval agency was established by John Gathorne (born 1726) in the City of London at Crutched Friars, next to the Navy Office, sometime before 1774. Gathorne was a merchant trading with Madeira, Azores and South America. He later took his friend James Sykes into partnership, and after Gathorne's death in 1774 Sykes continued to trade alone.

The firm moved to 22 Arundel Street, Strand, in 1792 when the Navy Office was relocated to Somerset House. Subsequently Sykes took his son James into the partnership, which became known as Sykes & Son.

In 1813 Thomas Stilwell, a kinsman, was taken into partnership. Sykes senior and junior both died in 1816, leaving Thomas Stilwell as sole partner. Stilwell was eventually joined by his sons and grandsons and the firm was later known as Stilwell & Sons. The firm moved to Great George Street in 1884, and later to 42 Pall Mall.

In 1923, when the partners were Geoffrey Holt Stilwell, John Bernard Lethbridge Stilwell and William Byron Stilwell and its balance sheet totalled £164,620, the business was acquired by Westminster Bank.

Detailed list of name changes:

John Gathorne by 1774
James Sykes from 1774
Sykes & Son from 1792
James Sykes, James Sykes junior & Thomas Stilwell 1813
Stilwell & Sons by 1884

Summary of our archive holdings

Our archival records of Stilwell & Sons have the reference code STI.

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

papers as trustees 1795-1814, 1836-70
customer correspondence 1798
securities as bankers 1798-1825, 1870
partnership agreements 1815-6
partners’ private and business papers 1816-88, 1917
customer probate papers 1852-1926
premises leases 1859
powers of attorney 1862, 1912
customer information books 1866-1923
cheque book and cheque forms 1900-23
balance sheet 1922
amalgamation agreement and papers 1923
partners’ correspondence 1923-7