Woodhead & Co

Woodhead & Co (1804-1915), established in London, was a past constituent of the Royal Bank of Scotland.

This firm of naval agents, initially known as Lark & Woodhead, commenced business in Upper King Street, Bloomsbury, in around 1804. In 1806 it moved to 22 Essex Street, Strand.

In 1816 the company went bankrupt. Thereafter Henry Lark traded independently under his own name at 24 Essex Street, while his former partner Joseph Woodhead continued to trade from 22 Essex Street. For a time the latter firm was known simply as Joseph Woodhead, but by 1851 it was called Messrs Woodhead & Co.

In 1915 one of the firm's partners, William Thomas Western, retired. The partnership was dissolved and the other partner, Herbert Frederick Guinness, joined Holt & Co, bankers and army agents, which absorbed Woodhead & Co's business.

Summary of our archive holdings

Our archival records of Woodhead & Co have the reference code WO.

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

• correspondence regarding admiralty freight, 1819-1865
• signature book 1866-1914
• bad debts ledger 1871-1914
• precedents book 1781-1801
• guardbook of admiralty circulars and acts of parliament re Navy 1860-1905