Bank of England

Three buildings of Financial Significace

I had wanted to go to the Bank of England since the beginning of my study abroad and finally took the afternoon to go and explore. The entire bank district was quite fascinating to me. In the picture above it shows the Bank of England on the left, the Stock Exchange Building in the center, and the Royal Exchange building on the right.

The history of each building was quite spectacular. The Bank of England, known as “The old lady of Threadneedle Street” was established in 1734. As I walked through the bank museum I saw that George Washington and his wife Martha Washington were the ones to sign the Dividend Mandate. They both signed authorizing the payment of dividends on a holding of Bank Stock with the money she had inherited from her first husband’s father. I’m convinced that Martha was a wise women and I loved to see her involvement in the major business transactions of the bank. I also noticed that the Duchess of Marlborough (Sarah Churchill) had invested a large sum of money and wrote a letter to the Bank of England requesting fuller details on her statement of account in 1743. It was admirable to see an intelligent woman of personal involvement with her own investments at that time. 

The origins of the Stock Exchange dates back to the 17th Century (long before the bank) with a group of brokers who decided to set up their own premises on the corner of the street where the current building resides. By the beginning of the 19^th century, larger premises were needed. In 1972 her majesty the queen opened the exchanges current 26-story office with its 23,000 sq. ft. trading floor. It’s interesting because the New York Stock Exchange dates back to 1792 a whole century after the Stock Exchange of England came about, but I also associate the NYSE at a much higher prestige.

The major events that effected the Bank of England directly within the last few decades are: 1987- Stock Market Crash, 1992- British Pound (currency) leaves Exchange Rate Mechanism, 1997- Bank of England was given independence, 2000- “Dot Com” internet boom. Everything about what the bank does today to solve inflation among a million other things intrigues me. Random fact that I thought was interesting: The bank has 40 billion pounds worth of currency in circulation within the United Kingdom today.