Adelphi Terrace: Coutt's Bank

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*DJ ENGLISH ROSS LONDON TELESCOPE NO.82220 PATTERN 373
23 Jul 2010 at 2:48am
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Sir Walter Besant, in The Fascination of London, published in 1903, continues his survey of Adelphi Terrace in the Strand with a mention of Coutt's Bank:

There are (1903) several interesting houses in the Adelphi precinct. In the centre of the terrace is the Savage Club, and there are many other societies and institutions on the terrace. In John Street is the building expressly designed for the Society of Arts.

The work of the Society is brought before the notice of the public by circular tablets, which are affixed to houses in London which have formerly been the homes of men eminent in literature, science, or art.

Close at hand is the bank of Messrs. Coutts, on the site of the New Exchange.

This important bank deserves some special notice. It was established by a goldsmith of the name of Middleton, who kept a shop near St. Martin's Church about 1692.

The name of Coutts first appears in 1755.

Many interesting stories are told in connection with this famous house. The Mr. Coutts who was head of the firm at the beginning of the present (twentieth) century was twice married.

By his first wife he had three daughters, who married respectively the third Earl of Guilford, the first Marquess of Bute, and Sir Francis Burdett.

His second wife was Miss Mellon, an actress, to whom he left the whole of his vast fortune.

She afterwards married the Duke of St. Albans, but left the whole of her great wealth to Miss Angela Burdett, grand-daughter of Mr. Coutts.

This lady assumed the additional name of Coutts, and was raised to the peerage on account of her munificent charities.

Next: The Strand: The Adelphi Theatre