Temple Bar, or Some Account of ye Marygold, No. 1, Fleet Street - Inscribed - F. G. H. Price 1875 - Printed by Taylor and Francis, London - First Edition A scarce, fine and inscribed first edition of the history of private banking house of Child & Co., one of the oldest private banks in the United Kingdom, who has traded from No. 1 Fleet Street since 1673, under the ‘Marygold’ sign.

This copy is inscribed from the author, F.G.H. Price to the Marquess of Tavistock, 8th Duke of Bedford, whose family had at that date been banking with Chlid & Co., for two centuries, the first Duke of Bedford opened his account in 1679.
  The origins of Child & Co can be traced back to the business of the goldsmith Robert Blanchard, who was first recorded trading in London in 1649. Sir Francis Child, after whom Child & Co is named, joined Robert Blanchard in around 1665 and went on to become a celebrated goldsmith, jeweller and banker, as well as serving as an MP and Lord Mayor of London. In 1689 he was knighted and named ‘jeweller in ordinary’ to King William III, and he loaned jewellery to Queen Mary for her coronation in that year.

The firm gradually diversified into banking, until the scale of their banking transactions overtook the original goldsmithing business.

The bank has traded from No. 1 Fleet Street site since 1673, under the ‘Marygold’ sign that they had used since 1661. When Temple Bar was removed and the street widened, Child & Co built an elegant new banking house which opened in 1880, now a Grade II listed building, designed by eminent architect John Gibson.

Provenance: The Marquess of Tavistock, 8th Duke of Bedford (William Russell, 1809-1872). This copy sold from his library at Woburn Abbey in 2004.

pp. 56. In publisher’s slate green marbled cloth, gilt lettering and embossed bank insignia to front panel, both panels with triple fillet borders in blind, yellow coated endpapers.
  Condition: Fine   Ref: 108460   Price: HK$ 3,000