IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0074 CLC/B/219
Held at: London Metropolitan Archives
Title: UNION DISCOUNT COMPANY OF LONDON
Date(s): 1885-1988
Level of description: Collection
Extent: 56 production units.
Name of creator(s): Union Discount Company of London Ltd
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
In 1885 the General Credit and Discount Corporation of London Limited amalgamated with the United Discount Corporation Limited to form the Union Discount Company of London Limited. It soon became the largest London discount house in terms of turnover and deposits; a position it held until the 1980s. In 1891 it acquired the discount houses of Harwood Knight and Allen, and Green Tomkinson and Company. An office in Edinburgh was opened in 1975. The company became the Union Discount Company of London PLC in 1994.
The company was based at 38 Lombard Street (1885-90) and 39 Cornhill (1890-). In 1973-9 the company moved temporarily to 78-80 Cornhill while its main offices were undergoing renovation work.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Records of the Union Discount Company of London Limited, including photographs of offices and board members; notes on businesses and individuals with which the company had contact; agreement; and minutes of annual general meetings.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
Records arranged by MS number, assigned during cataloguing at the Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section.
Conditions governing access:
Available for general access.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Copyright to this collection rests with the depositor.
Finding aids:
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Archival history:
These records form only a small part of the archives of the company which were surveyed by the Manuscripts Section in February/March 1996; a copy of the survey list may be seen on request.
Immediate source of acquisition:
These records were deposited in the Manuscripts Section of Guildhall Library in 2004.
ALLIED MATERIALS
Publication note:
For a history of the company see George and Pamela Cleaver, The Union Discount: A Centenary Album (London, 1985) held in the Guildhall Library Printed Books Section.
See also the entry for Union PLC in John Orbell and Alison Turton, British Banking. A Guide to Historical Records (Aldershot, 2001).
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Archivist's note:
Date(s) of descriptions: January to May 2011.