Child & Co. is a historic private bank in the United Kingdom, later integrated into the RBS division of the NatWest Group. The bank operated from its long-standing premises at 1

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a street in Central London, England. It runs west to east from Temple Bar, London, Temple Bar at the boundary of the City of London, Cities of London and City of Westminster, Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the Lo ...

, on the western edge of the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

, near the Temple Bar Memorial and opposite the

Royal Courts of Justice The Royal Courts of Justice, commonly called the Law Courts, is a court building in Westminster which houses the High Court and Court of Appeal of England and Wales. The High Court also sits on circuit and in other major cities. Designed by Ge ...

. In June 2022, the last remaining physical branch closed its doors. Despite this, RBS assured customers that the Child & Co. brand would "remain," with no accounts being closed. Banking services are now provided through digital platforms or other RBS and NatWest branches.

History

Child & Co. was the third-oldest bank in the world and the oldest bank in the UK, predating the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...

by thirty years.

Origins

Child & Co. traced its roots to a London

goldsmith A goldsmith is a Metalworking, metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Modern goldsmiths mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, they have also made cutlery, silverware, platter (dishware), plat ...

business in the late 17th century, whose premises were known by the sign of the Marygold. Sir Francis Child established his business as a goldsmith in 1664, when he entered into partnership with Robert Blanchard. Child married Blanchard's stepdaughter and inherited the whole business upon Blanchard's death. Renamed Child & Co., the business thrived and was appointed as "jeweller in ordinary" to King William III. Child took over most of the assets of Coggs & Dann, a goldsmith banker "at the sign of the Kings Head in the Strand, over against St. Clement Danes Church", after the bank became insolvent in 1710 due to a massive fraud orchestrated by gentleman fraudster Thomas Brerewood, which became known as the Pitkin Affair. After Child died in 1713, his three sons ran the business. During this time, the firm transformed from a goldsmith business to a fully fledged bank. It claimed to be the first bank to introduce a pre-printed cheque form, prior to which customers simply wrote a letter to their bank but sent it to their creditor who presented it for payment. Its first bank note was issued in 1729.

1782 to 1924

By 1782, Child's grandson Robert Child was the senior partner in the firm. However, when he died in 1782 without any sons to inherit the business, he did not want to leave it to his only daughter, Sarah Anne Child, because he was furious over her elopement with John Fane, 10th Earl of Westmorland, earlier in the year. To prevent the Earls of Westmorland from ever acquiring his wealth, he left it in trust to his daughter's second-surviving son or eldest daughter. This turned out to be Lady Sarah Sophia Fane, who was born in 1785. From the death of Robert Child (in 1782) until 1793, the bank was managed by his widow, Sarah Child. Their granddaughter Lady Sarah Sophia Fane married George Child-Villiers, 5th Earl of Jersey, in 1804 and upon her majority in 1806, she became the senior partner. She exercised her rights personally until her death in 1867. At that point, the Earl of Jersey and Frederick William Price of Harringay House were appointed as the two leading partners. Ownership continued in the Child-Villiers family until the 1920s.

1924 sale and subsequent years

George Child-Villiers, 8th Earl of Jersey, sold the firm in 1924 to Glyn, Mills, Currie, Holt & Co., which retained it as a separate business. Glyn, Mills & Co. was in turn acquired by The Royal Bank of Scotland in 1931 and merged with Williams Deacon's Bank to form Williams & Glyn's Bank in 1969. Williams and Glyn's Bank was fully integrated into The Royal Bank of Scotland in 1985 and ceased to operate separately. A branch was opened in Oxford in 1932. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the main banking departments were evacuated to Osterley in West London and in 1942, the Oxford branch was transferred to Martins Bank. In 1977, a representative office was once again opened at St. Giles’ in Oxford.

Fleet Street location

After Temple Bar was removed and

was widened in 1880, Child & Co. occupied a Grade II* listed building at 1 Fleet Street, which was designed by John Gibson. The bank had previously operated from the same Fleet Street site since 1673. The building was refurbished in 2015. In February 2022, Child & Co. wrote to its clients informing them of the closure of its Fleet Street branch on 29 June 2022. Despite the branch closure, RBS continues to issue Child & Co. branded debit cards, cheque books and statements (as of August 2023).

Clients

Over the course of its 350-year history, Child & Co. attracted an exclusive client base that included the Honourable Societies of

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

and

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

, as well as numerous wealthy families. A number of Oxford colleges and several universities, including the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

and Imperial College London, were also reported to hold accounts. Child & Co. had a legal and professional services hub that supported many of the biggest law firms, as well as three of the

Big Four accounting firms The Big Four are the four largest professional services networks in the world: Deloitte, Ernst & Young, EY, KPMG, and PwC. They are the four largest global accounting networks as measured by revenue. The four are often grouped because they ar ...

in the UK. It is believed that Child & Co. was the model for

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

' fictitious Tellson's Bank in ''

A Tale of Two Cities ''A Tale of Two Cities'' is a historical novel published in 1859 by English author Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. The novel tells the story of the French Doctor Manette, his 18-year-long impr ...

'' (1859).Business: Tellson's Passes
''Time'', May 12, 1924

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * * Donald Adamson, "Child’s Bank and Oxford University in the Eighteenth Century", ''The Three Banks Review'', December 1982, pp. 45–52 *Philip Clarke ''The FIrst House in the City'' (1973)

External links

*
History of Child & Co.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Child and Co. Private banks Royal Bank of Scotland Organisations based in the City of London Banks established in 1664 1664 establishments in England Banking in Great Britain