Daily entries from the 17th century London diary
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Wikipedia
The Royal Exchange in the City of London was founded in 1565 by Sir Thomas Gresham to act as a centre of commerce for the city. The site was provided by the City of London Corporation and the Worshipful Company of Mercers, and is roughly triangular, formed by the converging streets of Cornhill and Threadneedle Street. The design was inspired by a bourse Gresham had seen in Antwerp.
The Royal Exchange was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth I who awarded the building its Royal title, on January 23, 1571.
Gresham's original building was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666. A second exchange was built on the site, designed by Edward Jerman, which opened in 1669, and which was destroyed by fire in January 1838.
During the 17th century, stockbrokers were not allowed in the Royal Exchange due to their rude manners, hence they had to operate from other establishments in the vicinity, like Jonathan's Coffee-House.
The third Royal Exchange building still stands on the site and adheres to the original layout - consisting of a four-sided structure surrounding a central courtyard where merchants and tradesmen could do business. This building was designed by Sir William Tite, features pediment sculptures by Richard Westmacott (the younger), and was opened by Queen Victoria on October 28, 1844, though trading did not commence until January 1, 1845.
The Royal Exchange ceased to act as a centre of commerce in 1939, although it was for a few years in the 1980s, home to the London International Financial Futures Exchange, LIFFE. It is now a luxurious shopping centre.
Shops in the Royal Exchange include Hermès, Molton Brown, Paul Smith, Haines & Bonner, Tiffany and Jo Malone.
[edit] The Gresham Grasshopper
The big Gresham Grasshopper can be seen on the Royal Exchange's weathervane. This commemorates the founder, Sir Thomas Gresham, whose crest it was. The device was later borrowed by Shem Drowne atop the famous Faneuil Hall in Boston, Massachusetts, in imitation of the Royal Exchange.
[edit] External links
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Annotations
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Royal Exchange, in Cornhill, L. First founded, as also Gresham College in Bishopsgate street, by Sir Thomas Gresham, a rich Merchant.
W. Stow 1722 -
The Royal Exchange is now open to members of the public and free to enter. The current location is exactly as in Pepys’ time but this is a later building. It is very impressive from an architectural point of view particularly (in my opinion) the immensely high glass ceiling that covers the whole courtyard.
It is now the home of several luxurious shops - which seems apt - but the central court has a place to sit and have a cup of coffee, just as Sam would have done.
(And afterwards, visit the Bank of England museum which is just across the road - free to enter, and not widely known about.)
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“Early on in the [16th] century Antwerp had become the great storehouse of Europe, but it was destroyed in 1576 when the people of the Low Countries rose up against the Spanish.
“London merchants and financiers took advantage of this to make London the new commercial and financial centre of Europe. The greatest of these was Sir Thomas Gresham (1517/18–79), advisor to Elizabeth I.
“Gresham was chiefly responsible for establishing the Royal Exchange in 1565. It soon became a symbol of London’s wealth and power.”
Interior of the original Royal Exchange, c. 1569. http://www.portcities.org.uk/london/server/show/conMediaFile.3727/Interior-of-the-original-Royal-Exchange-c-1569.html“The Royal Exchange was built at the junction of Cornhill and Threadneedle Street in the City. It was a meeting place for merchants and brokers and became the centre of London’s business life.
“Space was also provided for over 100 shops within its courtyard. The original building was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666.
“A second Exchange opened in 1669. Much of the property was taken over by Royal Exchange Assurance and Lloyd’s of London.”
Front of the Royal Exchange
Creator: Samuel Wale (artist), John Green (engraver) Date: 1761 Credit line: National Maritime Museum, London http://www.portcities.org.uk/london/server/show/conMediaFile.570/Front-of-the-Royal-Exchange.html
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The Royal Exchange on Gresham’s plan and when rebuilt consisted of “a four-sided structure surrounding a central courtyard where merchants and tradesmen could do business.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Exchange_%28London%29?)
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The Royal Excange building was twice destroyed by fire but on both occasions was rebuilt on the same site. Near the center of this segment of the 1746 map, it sits prominently right of the intersection of Cornhill and Threadneedle. http://www.motco.com/map/81002/SeriesSearchPlatesFulla.asp?mode=query&title=Cornhill&artist=384&other=320&x=11&y=11
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OPENING OF THE FIRST ROYAL EXCHANGE
And a picture
http://www.thebookofdays.com/months/jan/23.htm#OPENING OF THE FIRST ROYAL EXCHANGE
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SIR THOMAS GRESHAM and the Exchange.
In the Royal Exchange of London, however, he raised a more lasting memorial of his wealth and generosity. In 1566, the site on the north side of Cornhill was bought for £3500, and upon it Sir Thomas Gresham built the Exchange. Its materials, as well as its architect, are stated to have been brought from Flanders, and the Burse at Antwerp would seem to have suggested the model. The plan was a quadrangular arcade, with an interior cloister. On the Cornhill front, there was a tower for a bell, which was rung at noon and at six in the evening; and on the north side there was a Corinthian column, which, as well as the tower, was surmounted by a grasshopper the family crest. On the 23rd January 1570, Queen Elizabeth dined at Gresham’s house, and visited this new building, which she was pleased to name ‘The Royal Exchange.’ The shops or stalls in the galleries above the cloister, and surrounding the open court, were, in Gresham’s time, occupied by milliners and haberdashers (who sold mouse traps, bird cages, shoe horns, lanterns, and other heterogeneous commodities), armourers, apothecaries, booksellers, goldsmiths, and dealers in glass.
The open court below must have presented a curious scene when it was filled by the merchants of different nations, in the picturesque dresses of their respective countries -
WEATHERCOCKS
The grasshopper of the Royal Exchange is the vane which surmounted the former Exchange. It is of copper-gilt, eleven feet long, and represents the crest of Sir Thomas Gresham, the founder of the first Exchange. But the old civic tradition that this was adopted as an heraldic symbol, from a grasshopper having saved his life when he was a poor famished boy, by attracting a person to the spot where he lay in a helpless condition,—is not supported by fact; since the letters of Sir Thomas Gresham’s father, which are in the Paston collection, bear a seal with the grasshopper. This was likewise the sign of Gresham, placed over the door of his banking-house and goldsmith’s shop, in Lombard-street: this grass-hopper, which was of large size and gilt, existed entire until the year 1795, when the house, now No. 68, was rebuilt.
(Book of Days)
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Martin’s Bank
This was once a widespread Bank in the UK, but was swallowed by Barclays. It had the grasshopper as it’s sign (or logo nowadays) and was said to have been founded by Sir Thomas G. Here is some information
http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/mol/history/living/martins.asp
References in the diary
- 1660
-
Jan: 28
Feb: 7, 11
Mar: 7, 16, 29
Apr: 22
Nov: 22
- 1661
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Feb: 8, 18
Mar: 12
Apr: 20, 22
May: 7, 13, 17, 20, 28
Jun: 19, 24
Jul: 4, 25
Aug: 28, 31
Sep: 2, 14
Nov: 24
Dec: 20
- 1662
-
Jan: 1, 11
Mar: 15, 17, 20
Apr: 7, 9, 11
May: 6, 8, 24
Jun: 18, 20, 23, 24, 25
Jul: 31
Aug: 1, 15
Sep: 8, 10, 16, 17
Oct: 27
Nov: 17
Dec: 27, 30
- 1663
-
Jan: 6, 12, 23, 24
Feb: 6
Mar: 25, 26, 27
Apr: 7, 10, 22, 24, 25, 30
May: 2, 4, 6, 22, 28
Jun: 3, 10, 12, 13, 19, 23
Jul: 2, 3, 14, 16, 17, 31
Aug: 5, 6, 8, 11, 19, 25, 27, 29
Sep: 5, 12, 26
Oct: 2, 12, 13, 14, 16, 21, 30
Nov: 2, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30
Dec: 3, 8, 12, 16, 22, 23, 29, 30, 31
- 1664
-
Jan: 2, 5, 6, 8, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26, 27, 28
Feb: 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 9, 12, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 29
Mar: 1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, 17, 23, 26, 30
Apr: 1, 2, 7, 12, 15, 18, 19, 21, 23, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30
May: 3, 4, 5, 21, 28
Jun: 2, 3, 7, 16, 22, 23, 28
Jul: 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 14, 15, 16, 18, 22, 23, 27, 28, 29, 30
Aug: 2, 3, 7, 12, 15, 16, 20, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28
Sep: 1, 2, 5, 7, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20, 21, 22, 26
Oct: 3, 4, 5, 10, 17, 21, 24, 28
Nov: 3, 4, 5, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 21, 25, 30
Dec: 6, 10, 12, 14, 16, 17, 22, 24
- 1665
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Jan: 3, 4, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 23, 24, 27, 31
Feb: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 11, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25
Mar: 3, 4, 8, 10, 13, 15, 17, 18, 21, 23, 28
Apr: 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 19, 21
May: 1, 3, 12, 13