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The Organization and Functions of Anglo-American Merchant Bankers, 1815–1860

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 February 2011

Ralph W. Hidy
Affiliation:
Wheaton College, Norton, Mass.

Extract

Prior to the Civil War in the United States much of the economic development of the country was financed by means of European credit, extended for both short and long terms. The flow of capital was chiefly from England and considerable Continental capital moved through England to the United States. A few firms in England were the chief instruments in this process of financing American trade and marketing American securities. These Anglo-American merchant bankers are the subject of this paper.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The Economic History Association 1941

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References

1 This paper is based on the research of Hidy, Muriel E. on George Peabody, Merchant and Financier (unpublished thesis, Radcliffe College, 1939)Google Scholar and that of Ralph W. Hidy on the history of Baring Brothers and Company, Ltd.

2 See Hidy, R. W., The House of Baring and American Trade, 18301842 (unpublished thesis, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., 1935), 3738Google Scholar, and Baring Papers (Public Archives of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada), passim; Jenks, L. H., The Migration of British Capital to 1875 (New York, 1927), 68, 359, note 13Google Scholar.

3 Muriel E. Hidy, George Peabody, 322–327.

4 Ibid., 305–308, 359. C. C. Gooch was the father of the well-known historian, George Peabody Gooch.

5 Baring Papers, Official Correspondence (Hereinafter cited BPOC), Baring Brothers and Company to Baring Brothers and Company, Liverpool, January 12, 1853.

6 R. W. Hidy, House of Baring, 28–36; articles on Ward, Thomas Wren and Belmont, August in Dictionary of American Biography (New York, 19281937)Google Scholar; Ward, S. G., Family Papers (galley proofs, Treasure Room, Harvard College Library, Cambridge, Mass., 1899), 36Google Scholar.

7 BPOC, Ward to Baring Brothers and Company, December 31, 1844 (Curtis); Forstall to Baring Brothers and Company, September 4, 1845, December 4, 20, 1847, July 7, 1849; Forstall to Ward, January 18, 1848.

8 Muriel E. Hidy, George Peabody, 302–304.

9 Baring Papers, passim.

10 For Peabody's activities in this field see Muriel E. Hidy, George Peabody, 328–352.

11 For a more detailed discussion of this acceptance business see R. W. Hidy, House of Baring, 41–70.

12 BPOC, Ward to Baring Brothers and Company, May 31, 1843; Baring Papers, Letter Book (hereinafter cited BPLB), Baring Brothers and Company to Ward, June 16, 1843, August 3, 1844, December 3, 1845.

13 BPOC, Ward to Baring Brothers and Company, March 31, 1843, July 13, 1846, August 5, 1847, February 8, March 17, 1848, and enclosures; Ward to Bates, December 31, 1845; Forstall to Baring Brothers and Company, September 4, 1845, July 7, 1849; Forstall to Ward, January 18, 1848; BPLB, Baring Brothers and Company to Ward, June 18, 1846; Baring Brothers and Company to Forstall, April 28, 1848.

14 E.g., see Baring Papers, 1850–1851, passim.

15 R. W. Hidy, House of Baring, 126–153.

16 Ibid., 153–158.

17 Ibid., 117–126.

18 See above, note 13.

19 BPLB, Baring Brothers and Company to T. W. Ward, October 14, 1851, October 5, 1852.

20 For example, see Hidy, R. W., “The Union Bank of Louisiana Loan, 1832: A Case Study in Marketing,” The Journal of Political Economy, XLVII (April, 1939), 232253CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

21 Muriel E. Hidy, George Peabody, 263–285, 343.

22 Cf., Baring Papers and Peabody Papers, passim; Hawtrey, R. G., A Century of Bank Rate (London, etc., 1938), 3237Google Scholar; Wood, Elmer, English Theories of Central Banking Control, 1819–1858 (Cambridge, Mass., 1939), 79, 178–180CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

23 BPLB, Baring Brothers and Company to King and Sons, September 3, 1847, May 18, June 23, 1848; Baring Brothers and Company to Ward, May 28, 1850, August 5, September 5, 12, 26, 1856.