05 August 2014


On the 100th anniversary of the Great War, Brewin Dolphin, one of the oldest of Britain's wealth managers, recalls how the City's financiers played a part in World War I.

"We have delved into Brewin Dolphin's history and we are proud to see the part our forebears played in World War I," says David Nicol, chief executive of Brewin Dolphin. "While several senior partners went to war, those on the home front continued to protect our clients' assets - taking home the ledgers in the evenings to ensure that they remained safe from the first ever air bombardments by Zeppelins over London. Despite the offices being damaged, our partners at the time displayed the dedication and courage in serving their clients that their successors do today."

Brewin was just one City firm whose partners played a major part in the Great War. 1600 stockbrokers joined up in 1914, creating the London Stock Exchange Battalion of Royal Fusiliers (unofficially known as the Stockbrokers) and four hundred of them failed to return. 

When Britain and France declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939 and World War II began, J.A. Brewin & Co. was left with a staff of just four, including senior partner William Rodgers and a newly appointed junior clerk, aged 71.

Partners Patrick Legge and Arthur Brewin were quickly called up and spent the following six years in the line of duty and away from the business they loved.

Rodgers' greatest fear was again that the office might be bombed and the client ledgers ruined in the wreckage. He resolved to remove the ledgers from the office each evening. On 10 May 1941, his fears were realised. Two bombs hit the empty building on Fleet Street, but one remained unexploded. Out of fear for a second explosion, no one was permitted within 100 yards of the building for 10 days.

The offices were completely wrecked, but business continued thanks to temporary accommodation provided by friends of the partners.

When Patrick Legge returned, he had served in North Africa, Italy and Palestine, while Arthur Brewin had survived the sinking of his ship, the HMS Prince of Wales, by the Japanese.  Another partner, who joined the firm after the war, Guy Ruggles-Brise had been captured in Libya where he trained kestrels to catch rats while in prison, he then escaped and walked hundreds of miles to freedom.

Resuming their careers at J.A. Brewin & Co. in 1945, Legge and Brewin went on to steer the firm through many mergers and acquisitions and laid the foundations for the present-day Brewin Dolphin. Christopher Legge, Patrick's son, only retired as a Director of Brewin Dolphin in 2009.

The timeline below summarises some of the key dates for the City of London during World War I.

July 1914- 1600 stockbrokers joined the army 1914, creating the London Stock Exchange Battalion of Royal Fusiliers (unofficially known as the Stockbrokers).


July 1914 - The London Stock Exchange closes for six months.

August 3 - The Postponement of Payments Act enabled almost all commercial payments, including those on the Stock Exchange to be delayed by one month. This was subsequently extended to two months. Without this measure and if overseas banks had called in their loans, the whole stock market might have collapsed.

January 4 1915 - The Stock Exchange reopens with strict dealing restrictions. Deals were not permitted outside the hours of 11am to 3pm.

March 1918 - Non-British members of the LSE were banned after resentment over German and Austrian born members. This was not overturned until 1971.

March 1919 - The London Stock exchange Battalion came home after seeing action on the Somme at Ypres and facing the 1918 German Spring Offensive. They participated in the pursuit of the German Army back through France and ended the war at Charleroi.

November 11 1918 - War ends, by which time the size and composition of Stock Exchange membership had altered dramatically, falling from 4,855 to 3,994.

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