London Evening Post in London, Middlesex

Bank house downfall in London bankers notes affair

To the Printer of the London Evening Post. The public is told the grounds of a fatal bank house collapse in this city. In March 1775 the company rented 15,000l, then advanced more on a West India estate in June to prevent sale by a prior mortgagee. They pledged notes payable at six and fifteen months, with mortgage deeds to be assigned after payment. In October a partner was imprisoned in the Tower on information from a Fleet-prison escapee, amid severe treatment. Demands rose, the notes were called, banks learned of nonpayment, and the estate could not be advanced on. The prior mortgagee threatened suit in March, forcing the house to halt payments and seek bankruptcy relief. The piece condemns the administration and notes alleged misdeeds, including distribution of funds among guards and political influence claims, ending with remarks on a Serjeant’s guard and a planned Bath trip by the accused.