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  According to tradition this ancient Bank was
founded in 1563 by Sir Thomas Gresham, the great Elizabethan mercer and
financier, who also founded the Royal Exchange, where his Grasshopper tops
the weather vane. He was a man of the greatest influence in the affairs of
his time and acted as representative of Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary in the
Low Countries. Unfortunately, there are no very early records of Martins
Bank, some having been destroyed in the Great Fire of London, and others when
the Royal Exchange, where they had been deposited for safety, was burnt down
in 1825.
 It
is known, however, that Gresham was living in Lombard Street in 1560 before
he built Gresham House because in April of that year he wrote to Cecil "
I have commanded my factor, Candellor, to be with you by VI of the clocke in
the morning every morning, because I have no man ells to do my business and
to keep Lombard Street." It is of interest that Gonville and Caius
College, Cambridge, has banked with Martins as far back as written records
go. Gresham was at Gonville Hall himself. He was a friend of Dr. Caius who
was rebuilding the college at this period. The
Grasshopper was Gresham's crest and in his day, before streets were numbered,
business men used to hang out their special signs to mark their places of
business.
 After
Gresham's time there is a gap in the history of Martins until Edward Backwell
in 1662. While there is no written evidence, it is surely reasonable
to accept the very old city tradition that there was always a business "
at the sign of the Grasshopper " from the days of Gresham even though it
passed through several hands. At any
rate there is no evidence against such a tradition, and the continuing
goodwill of Gresham's Grasshopper must have been considerable.
 The
documentary history of the Bank really starts with Edward Backwell. This
prominent goldsmith traded at the Grasshopper and at the Unicorn (67 Lombard
Street, now part of our premises), from 1662 to 1672. After the Great Fire
in 1666 we can read in an old deed of " all that brick messuage or
tenament lately new built by the said Edward Backwell commonly called or
known by the name or sign of the  Grasshopper."
Samuel Pepys mentions frequently that he visited him to buy plate and to
deposit or borrow money. Backwell's deposit rates are of interest, 4 per
cent, at call, running up to 6 per cent, at 20 days' notice. All the members
of the Royal family banked with him, Charles II, Prince Rupert, the Duke of
Monmouth, the Duchess of Orleans, the Prince of Orange, and the royal
favourite—the Duchess of Castlemaine. He was rash enough to lend Charles
II nearly £300,000. In 1672, Charles II closed the Exchequer, offering
Backwell an annuity of £17,000 in exchange for his debt.
As
a result Backwell had to cease business and eventually retired to Holland.
The business at the Grasshopper was continued by his apprentice, Charles
Duncombe, and Samuel Pepys is thought to have banked with him until 1680 when
he transferred his account to Messrs. Hoare and Co. Backwell’s son later
became a partner in Messrs. Child and Co. of Fleet Street, who still have
possession of Edward Backwell's Lombard Street ledgers. They also took over
many of his customers after his ruin. It is of interest that Edward's
grandson, William, left Child's in 1740 to start on his own in Pall Mall
using the sign of the Grasshopper. This venture did not last long. The “Little
London Directory” of 1677, in a list of “Goldsmiths who kept running cashes”,
stated that Charles Duncombe and a certain Richard Kent were " of the
Grasshopper in Lombard Street." Nine years
later Richard Smythe was taken into partnership by Duncombe, and his portrait— a very fine one—still hangs in our Lombard
Street Office.
 It
is at this time that the Martin family begins its connection with the Bank.
Martin was already a well-known City name, and it is recorded that in 1558
Richard Martin, afterwards Lord Mayor and knighted, was a goldsmith in the
City of London. In about 1694 Richard Smythe of the Gras's-hopper employed a
certain Thomas Martin as a clerk, and it is thought likely that he was of the
same Martin family. Another employee,
Andrew Stone, also began at this time the long connection which the Stone
family was to have with Martins Bank. He married a niece of Richard Smythe
and was taken into the partnership before Smythe died in 1699. Thomas Martin
was made a partner in 1703 and the firm became Stone and Martin in 1706. From
this time onwards the Martin family retains a still-unbroken connection with
the business, and their name has always appeared in the title of the banking
firm. Other families were represented in the
firm from time to time, including Ebenezer Blackwell and George Foote, whose
portrait by Romney hangs in the London Board room, but apart from the Martins
the only family with a long connection was the Stones who were represented
until 1851 when George Stone, the younger, left the firm and the family died
out in the male line. Frederick and Edward Norman, who became partners in the
1880s were, however, grandsons of a Stone partner and so revived the family
connection.
In
1888 the banking firm of Vallance & Payne of Sittingbourne, Kent, was
purchased and during the next ten years several branches were opened in West
Kent, where all the partners lived. The object of this expansion was to
attract deposits which could be profitably lent in Lombard Street. On February 25th, 1891, the firm was incorporated as
Martins Bank Limited. It continued trading as a highly respected but small
bank by modern standards and in 1918 it was amalgamated with the much larger
Bank of Liverpool.
The
present premises, rebuilt in 1929 by the late Sir Herbert Baker, cover most
interesting ground. As the business expanded the original Grasshopper "
shop " was added to by acquiring adjoining sites in Lombard Street and
Change Alley. This alley was the centre of finance during the 17th and 18th
centuries and the business of the City was largely carried on in its coffee
and chop houses. For example, Garraways Coffee House, now the site of the
managers' room, was the scene of the floating of the South Sea Company in
1720. Thus we see that our present important business “at the sign of the
Grasshopper" has its roots deep in the past, and assuming we are right
in claiming Gresham as its founder, Martins Bank, 68 Lombard Street, is the
oldest banking house in England.
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