Accountant's Department: Stock Ledgers (Bank of England)
Item
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Country
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GB
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Language of name of institution
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eng
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Contact information: postal address
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Threadneedle Street, London EC2R 8AH
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Contact information: phone number
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0044 020 7601 3388
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Contact information: email
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archive@bankofengland.co.uk
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Reference number
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AC27
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Type of reference number
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Archival reference number
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Title (official language of the state)
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Accountant's Department: Stock Ledgers (Bank of England)
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Language of title
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eng
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Creator / accumulator
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Bank of England
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Date(s)
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1694/1963
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Language(s)
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eng
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Extent
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9,324 volumes
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Type of material
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Textual Material
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Scope and content
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The Stock Ledgers series of the Bank of England stock collection includes two types of records: Alphabets or Stock Register Indexes, which are indexes to the accounts of stockholders at the Bank; and Ledgers.
Each stock managed by the Bank has an alphabet kept in one or more volumes, depending on the size of the stock and its term. The indexing system combines the use of the first letter of the surname with the following letter and/or consonants. This alphabetic system is complex and idiosyncratic. Sole or first stockholders are initially indexed alphabetically by the first letter of their surnames or, in the case of corporate holders, by the first significant word in their title. Second or third stockholders on a joint account — although listed under the first stockholder's name — are not generally indexed. As a sub-division became full, it was the practice to create a supplementary section at the end of each alphabetical letter or at the end of each volume. At the beginning of the 19th century, the practice of indexing stockholders who were not the first named holders in joint accounts was introduced, these were known as double alphabets.
The Ledgers contain the individual records of stockholders. Each stock has its own ledger or ledgers, which are alphabetically divided into "cut-ups". Individual names within a cut-up are not close sorted alphabetically and occur in any order: references to particular accounts are obtained from the alphabets.
The Bank of England had numerous Jewish stockholders over its history, including several of Sephardic origin. Through the analysis of Bank Stock Subscription Books (AC27/385-AC27/391) and Stock Ledgers, J. A. Giuseppi (1955) identified several Sephardic Jews among the early subscribers of the Bank of England stock, including Solomon de Medina, Álvaro da Costa, John Mendes da Costa, Jacob Teixeira de Mattos, António Gomez Serra, Elias Lindo, Isaac Fernandes Nunes, Francis Salvador, Samuel da Costa Alvarenga, Simson da Costa Athias, Álvaro da Fonseca, Abraham Franco, Anthony da Costa, Benjamin Mendes da Costa, Joseph da Costa Villa Real, Álvaro Lopez Suasso, and several others. For further information, see the lists of early Jewish holders published by Giuseppi (1962).
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Administrative / Biographical history
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The Bank of England was incorporated by an act of Parliament in 1694 with the immediate purpose of raising funds to allow the English government to wage war against France in the Low Countries. A royal charter allowed the bank to operate as a joint-stock bank with limited liability. No other joint-stock banks were permitted in England and Wales until 1826. This special status and its position as the government’s banker gave the bank considerable competitive advantages.
The bank was located first in Mercers’ Hall and then in Grocers’ Hall, London. However, it was moved to its permanent location on Threadneedle Street in the 1730s. By that time it had become the largest and most prestigious financial institution in England, and its banknotes were widely circulated. As a result, it became a banker to other banks, which, by maintaining balances with the Bank of England, could settle debts among themselves. The bank was threatened by the economic instability that accompanied the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars, but its standing was also considerably enhanced by its actions in raising funds for Britain's involvement in those conflicts.
During the 19th century, the bank gradually assumed the responsibilities of a central bank. In 1833, it began to print legal tender, and it undertook the roles of lender of last resort and guardian of the nation’s gold reserves in the following few decades.
The bank was privately owned until 1946 when it was nationalised.
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(source: "Bank of England" in Enciclopaedia Britannica)
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Access points: persons, families
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Costa, Álvaro da
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Costa, Anthony da
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Costa Alvarenga, Samuel da
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Costa Athias, Simson
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Costa Vila Real, José (Joseph) da
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Fernandes Nunes, Isaac
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Fonseca, Álvaro da
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Franco, Abraham
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Gomes Serra, António
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Lindo, Elias
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Lopes Suasso, Álvaro (Jacob Lopes Suasso)
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Medina, Solomon de
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Mendes da Costa, Benjamin
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Mendes da Costa, John
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Salvador, Francis
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Teixeira de Mattos, Jacob
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System of arrangement
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Volumes are organised by document type.
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Access, restrictions
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Visits by appointment.
20 years closure period.
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Author of the description
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Carla Vieira, 2023
Linked resources
Items with "Collections (official language of the state): Accountant's Department: Stock Ledgers (Bank of England)"
| Title |
Class |
| Bank of England Archive |
|
