"Tellson's" Passes

Readers of Dickens' Tale of Tivo Cities will recall its description of Tellson's Bank, yet few are aware that this imaginary institution was drawn from the actual bank of Child & Co., the oldest private bank in England and possibly in the world.

Child's bank was founded about 1560 and has occupied the same site in Fleet Street ever since. Among its noted depositors have been Oliver Cromwell, Samuel Pepys, Horace Walpole, John Dryden, Charles II, the Merry Monarch, and his famous mistress Nell Gwyn.

The bank finally came into possession of the Earls of Jersey through two elopements. The tenth Earl of Westmoreland ran away with Banker Child's daughter, married at Gretna Green and inherited the bank. Their daughter followed suit by eloping with the young Earl of Jersey, and ever since the family has had a dominant interest in Child & Co. The eighth Earl of Jersey, who died last December, was its senior partner, and in accordance with his will the venerable institution will be absorbed by the larger private bank of Glyn, Mills & Co.

The last balance sheet of Child & Co. showed deposits of about -L-3,000,000. The deposits of Glyn, Mills & Co. after the consolidation will exceed -L-30,000,000.