In the sixteenth century, London had no international wholesale market matching the best in Europe, in particular the Antwerp Bourse. In 1571, a prominent City trader named Thomas Gresham put that right, when he and others financed the building of an exchange on a site provided by the Mercers livery company. Queen Elizabeth I opened the building and named it the Royal Exchange – for the trading of goods and alcohol and arrangement of credits and loans between merchants. Today, and a couple of major fires later, a grand Victorian restoration stands – true to its heritage as London’s most upmarket shopping centre. It is on the steps of the Royal Exchange that Royal Proclamations (e.g., royal deaths and the dissolution of Parliament) are read out by a herald.
Merchants of all commodities traded at the new exchange, except for stockbrokers who dealt in the new trade of shares in joint stock companies – some holding royal charters to adventure to foreign lands in pursuit of rare commodities; : animal pelts, spices, nuts, sugar and, dreadfully, people. Since share certificates were not yet considered real assets and stockbrokers were being seen as loud and rude, they were expelled from the exchange. In response, stockbrokers relocated to the newly founded coffee houses in nearby Exchange Alley. Places like Pasqua Rosee, Jonathan’s and Garraway‘’s proved so popular that the range of services at these places was extended to include commodity trading, insurance and ship underwriting. The later concentrating at Edward Lloyd’s coffee house where one would agree to insure against loss at sea by writing your name under the name of the vessel (i.e., underwriting). Lloyd’s extended services again to include the checking and registration of the seaworthiness of vessels (Lloyd’s Insurance and Lloyd’s Register started life in a coffee house!).
Jonathan’s was first to maintain a list of stock prices and its popularity led to it being called The Stocks Exchange – an institution that survived up to 1986, before the advent of electronic share trading. Newly arrived commodities were checked and auctioned at Garraway‘’s. A pin would be inserted perpendicularly into a candle to allow a set time for bargaining – as the wax burned through and silenced descended ‘one could hear a pin drop’. At any coffee house a tip could be left ‘To Insure Promptness’.
The Jamaica Wine House is a challenge to find. Built on the site of Pasqua Rosee‘’s coffee shop, it is nestled in a warren of alleyways south of the Royal Exchange. The atmosphere in the pub and alleyways outside is best experienced after work, preferably on a Thursday when traders vie for bragging rights on the business of the day – add breeches, tricorn hats and frock coats and it’s a blast from the past. The adjacent George and Vulture restaurant was a favourite of Charles Dickens and offers affordable English fare today.
(c) Photo and text: Essential History