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| 1768 Herries & Co. |  |
The following is a letter from Paris and relates to the merchant activities of Messrs. Herries & Co. The collection also contains a letter of 12th September 1768 - From James Hunter to Sir William Forbes Bart, Messrs Herries & Co, London which readers may also find of interest.
The spelling and punctuation are as per the letter which reads as follows. To: Messrs Herries & Co., London. From: Robert Herries, Paris Dated: 21st. November 1768. Dear Sir, I find I omitted to inclose in any letter to you of last post, the last to me from Park – you have it now herewith. I have been thinking that were we to adhere strictly to our rules on the present occasion it might oversite him and by that means a greater disappointment ensue to ourselves that what we receive in the way he proposes. I believe it would therefore be better for all parties to comply for this once, telling him that on my return we shall concur a plan for future transactions & insist on his either keeping strictly up to it or shutting all acco’ts with us; for this work with him & his connections will never do. Pray how do the Halls behave? But I am asking you a question as if I were to stay here for your answer. Our predecessors have also been ridden over as hard by particular employers which you will know ended ill and deprived them of the means as well as diverted their attention from receiving the generality of their employers. We must not be so, cost us what it will, and of late on getting into correspondence by Park’s means with a parcell of ****** (1) which we had better I think avoid as discreditable for such a house as ours. But if we resolve to reform root & branch of all such respectability I hope thou who whither we will or will not, will continue to lean to heavily on our small capital. Lett us by all means give them as much time as we can and do everything as gentilly as possible. I have not seen my fried Msr ***** (2) since I last wrote you but I expect to see him tomorrow & to know the result of what he has been doing for us. His Excellency Baron Schimmelmann his Danish Majesty’s Minister of Commerce asked me the other day for the Firm’s of the three houses I am concerned in at London, Edinburgh and Barcelona and desired me to tell the acting Partners to inform his House of Trade at Copenhagen & Hamburg under the firm of Baron Schimmelmann, without his titles, whether anything be done between those places, which we shall take into consideration at any return. I still hope this may be about 5 or 6 *****s (3) if the wind answer and if the King should not desire me to return him from I am Dear Chevalier, Your obedient servant. Rob’t Herries.
Dealing firstly with the addressee Messrs Herries & Co. This firm did not restrict its activities solely to banking. It was more akin to a Merchant firm which was formed by Robert Herries, Sir William Forbes and James Hunter as a consequence of a number of disagreements and revised partnership involving the famous Coutts banking firm. The Coutts brothers already worked with William Forbes and sought to involve both William Cochrane and Robert Herries in order to strengthen the firm. This firm traded as Herries, Cochrane & Co. although it was clear from the outset that Cochrane and Herries did not work well together and Herries, being the dominant Partner, saw Cochrane ousted in 1766 when the 3 year Herries, Cochrane & Co. contract expired. The business thereafter operated simply as Herries & Co. The Sender, Robert Herries, was a Scot and the son of an impoverished laird, John Herries of Halldykes in
He is renowned for two key activities in his business life. The first (about 1768) was the invention of the Universal Letter of Credit (see letter of 12th September 1768 referred to above) and the second (about 1772) was the courting of the French Farmers General (Ferme Generale) – in essence the French bankers responsible for collecting taxes – and won from them exclusive right to export tobacco to France, which he bought from Merchants in Glasgow who had purchased their tobacco in North America. Turning now to the contents of the letter.
In his Memoirs of a Banking House Forbes advises that “I afterwards went to London in 1768 – where I remained for a twelvemonth on Mr Herries going again to Spain…” and this, when considered with the simple “Dear Sir” salutation, suggests to me that this is a letter which Herries has written for Forbes to read with there being no thought of it being intercepted by any other party. This is perhaps reflective of the considerable working difficulties which existed in this Firm. The first part of the letter deals with, I suspect, fairly routine aspects of business. It asks of the Halls (regrettably a name I cannot identify) and also makes reference to Park. I suspect that Park was Sir James Gordon of Park – a member of the Scottish nobility - although this is based on Gordon being Scottish and possessed of means at a time when Herries was looking to raise capital for his Universal Letter of Credit activities. Various records suggest that Herries was not averse to unscrupulous business practices and I think that comments such as “were we to adhere strictly to our rules on the present occasion” and “But if we resolve to reform root & branch of all such respectability I hope thou who whither we will or will not, will continue to lean to heavily on our small capital, Lett us by all means give them as much time as we can and do everything as gentilly as possible.” suggest to me that he is questioning the need to act properly in these transactions.
In the middle of the letter there are two words which I cannot decipher. The first (1) is, I suspect, a descriptive expression of the period whilst the second (2) is the name of a foreign contact. The passages in question follow and I would be pleased to hear of any suggestions for these missing words.
In the second half of the letter Herries advises that he has met with His Excellency Baron Schimmelmann his Danish Majesty’s Minister of Commerce and he suggest that significant business opportunities may arise as a consequence of this meeting. Count Heinrich Carl von Schimmelmann lived from 1724 to 1782 and is described as a Collector and Entrepreneur. He was active as a merchant in Dresden from 1744 and was appointed Councillor to the Court of Saxony. He was also a supplier to the Prussian Court and responsible for grain deliveries during the Seven Years War (1756-63). In November 1756, he was appointed Prussian Privy Councillor, though he remained in He played an important role in the history of the The greater part of his fortune was accumulated through ship ownership in the Returning to the letter there is again there is a word which I cannot decipher (3) although I suspect that it relates to a time period.
(3)
The final part of the letter is where Herries “boasts” of him having been entertained by the King of France and he no doubt feels an element of guilt as he mentions “you’ll not blame I dare say for profiting of the present opportunity.” Louis XV (born 1710) ruled as King of France and Navarre from 1715 until his death in 1774. Unexpectedly surviving the death of his entire family, he enjoyed a favourable reputation at the beginning of his reign, however, in time, his inability to reform the French monarchy, his lack of morals, and his foreign policy on the European stage lost him the support of his people, and he died as one of the most unpopular kings of
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