Biography:Thomas Hammersley
Thomas Hammersley
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| Given name: | Thomas |
| Middle name: | |
| Family name: | Hammersley |
| Place of birth: | |
| Place of death: | |
| Year of birth: | 1747 |
| Year of death: | 1812 |
| Profile: | Collector, Musician |
| Source of information: | |
Biographical notes
The music manuscript collection of Thomas Hammersley [RISM ID number 806351427] contains 553 pieces of music, and is presently in the collection of the British Library The following inscription occurs on f. 1r, after the signature of Thomas Hammersley: 'Banker in London / To whom the Rev'd W. Leeves dedicated his / celebrated song of "Auld Robin Gray" / as first publickly claimed by him in 1812.' On the occasion of Hammersley's death in 1812, Leeves composed the following lines :
Much-valued friend, Farewell ! The just command
Of Him, whose cause thou hast maintain'd on earth,
Has called thee to enjoy His blest abode!
To quit a family, whose tender care,
And sweet attentions, had entwined so close
Around a heart of sympathetic mould,
As faintly to pourtray celestial joys.
Yet firm thine exit ! blest with all the calmness
A patient hope of everlasting life
Secures to the believer. Friend, Farewell!
The dulcet melodies of early years
Swell with such sweet remembrance o'er my mind,
That I can only nurse the fond desire
Of joining thee in endless harmony!
Hammersley was a London banker and philanthropist, and he was the brother-in-law of the banker Charles Greenwood. His private bank traced its origins to Ransome, Morland & Hammersley, established at 57 Pall Mall, in London’s West End, in the mid 1780s. By 1787 it was banker to the Prince of Wales and in 1792 the Prince’s debts to Hammersleys, totalling over £46,000, were discharged by the banker Thomas Coutts. By 1796 Thomas Hammersley was in partnership with Montolieu, Brooksbank, Greenwood & Drewe at 76 Pall Mall. The business was of considerable size, employing 16 clerks in 1801. However, all may have not been what it seemed, according to account given by Daniel Hardcastle, jun., in Banks and Bankers (London, Whittaker <fc Co., 1842):
Amongst the private bankers Hammersley's house was about the first to stop, and presented circumstances more singular than any of the rest. The date of the stoppage was 20 Sept., 1840, and the estimated amount of deposits, 650,000?. Mr. Hugh Hammersley's death took place the day before, and it was then announced, for the first time, that he had long been the sole partner. The bank, it was therefore submitted, could not but stop, because, in point of fact, there was no longer a banker to it. The case was without a parallel; but it looked sus- picious, and, as the event proved, not without reason. Mr. Hugh Hammersley left a will, in which he named his brother legatee of the business and the property belonging to it. The brother, in the course of a few days, issued a circular letter, in which he disclaimed and renounced the bequests, but took upon himself the character of executor, and engaged to prove the will, time being allowed for an affair of such magnitude. This proposal was not opposed, the will was proved, and, to the sur- prise of all parties, the property was put into Chancery for distribution. A conclusion so un- common was not inconsistent with the history of the house, which was mi generis. The bank was founded some fifty years ago by Thomas Hammers- ley, a clerk in the house of Herries & Co., who prevailed upon Messrs. Morland & Ramsbottom to set up a new bank with him. This was done, and for a few years they carried on business under the name of Morland, Ramsbottom & Hammersley, but dissolved partnership, it is said, with a loss to each. Thomas Hammersley, who seems to have been a man of bold character as well as considerable talent, succeeded in forming a still stronger firm, of which he placed himself at the head that of Hammersley, Montolieu, Greenwood, Brooks- bank & Drewe. From such an association an excellent business was to have been expected, two of the names Montolieu and Greenwood being well known as those of wealthy and well-connected men; but the result proved the reverse. The principle upon which the bank was founded was pad and illegitimate; the amount of real property invested in it, I suspect, was trifling; the partners relied for success on the reputation of their names and a dexterous use of the credit system."...
These reverses must have produced their natural effects in some quarter or other. The mystery in which the affairs of the bank have been wrapped up does not enable us to trace them distinctly nor to explain theprecise period or circumstances under which the different partners withdrew or dropped off. All that appears certain is that Mr. Hugh Hammersley, who succeeded his father Thomas, the founder of the bank, is declared, as soon as he dies, to have been the sole partner, although no one had an idea that the firm consisted of that gentle- man only. Under such circumstances the conjecture is not improbable that the bank was insolvent during the lifetime both of the father and the son. Such, however, is not the aspect the matter was made to present to the public. Appearances are well kept up; the concern is made to last the time of those who had devised and depended upon it, and when the last who had enjoyed it dies, and the next-of- kin to whom it is bequeathed as a means of excel- lent sustenance declines the inheritance, it ceases to exist. No fiat can issue against a dead man, and after an interval of suspense, the estate is made to yield ten shillings in the pound, by some arch process or other carried on in an obscure corner of the Court of Chancery. When the former partners left, on what conditions and with what liabilities, if any, is either not asked or at least not publicly explained.