Hope & Co. was a Dutch bank that existed for two and a half centuries. The bank was located inAmsterdam until 1795; originally it concentrated on Great Britain. In the second half of the 18th century, it was the most powerful merchant bank ofAmsterdam, at that time Europe's leading financial centre.[1] From 1750 it played a major part in the finances of theDutch East India Company (VOC) throughThomas Hope and his brother Adrian. During theSeven Years' War (1756–1763) the Hope brothers profited from the Netherlands' neutral position and became very wealthy.
The Hopes became heavily involved in theDutch Caribbean, andDanish West Indies.[2][3] They specialised in plantation loans, in which the entire produce of the plantation was remitted to the lender, who would supervise its sale in order to secure repayment. In this way, the Hopes helped theplantation economy to become integrated into a global network of financiers and consumers.[4] The Hope family were among the richest in Europe at the time. The family business focused on financing commercial transactions and especially on issuing money loans to monarchs and governments in Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Russia, Portugal, Spain, France and America. The bank was famous for havingCatherine the Great as its client and Adrian supplied her several times with diamonds.[5]
Six of eight sons of the Scottish merchant Archibald Hope (1664–1743) – Archibald Jr. (1698–1734), Isaac, Zachary, Henry,Thomas (1704-1779), and Adrian (1709–1781) – were merchants of trade. They were active in shipping, storage, insurance, and credit in Amsterdam andRotterdam. In 1720 they barely survived the bubble that led to the passage of theBubble Act in London.[6][3] Archibald and Henry invested in theProvinciale Utrechtsche Geoctroyeerde Compagnie (1720-1752).[7]Charles Hope, 1st Earl of Hopetoun was a cousin.[8]
In this early period the Hope brothers made money organizing shipment for Quakers and SwissMennonites out of Rotterdam (under the direction of Archibald, Isaac and Zachary). The top years for the transport of migrants toPennsylvania were 1738, 1744, 1753 and 1765. These transports were paid for by the city of Rotterdam and the local Mennonite church.[9]
In 1743 the brothers inherited a fortune from their father. For many years the brothers traded with Saint Petersburg,Bilbao,Cadix andSint Eustatius which became afree port in 1756.[10] The Hopes traded in sugar,cocoa beans,tobacco andtimber, especially sailing masts from theBaltic states.[11] In 1750, Stadtholder William IV appointedThomas as his representative in the meeting of directors of the West India Company (WIC), but it ended the year after when all the appointments were reverted.[12] In 1752, he became a member of the "Lords XVII", the managers of the VOC. Four years later Thomas representedAnne of Hanover in the VOC. The company moved toKeizersgracht in 1758. The firm operated as agents to the British government which supplied loans toFrederick the Great during theSeven Years' War.[13] The turnover raised from 10 to 37 million between 1755-1762.[14] In October 1759 and March 1760 the Hope brothers bought at auction from the Dutch East India Company a massive 595,879 pounds of tea, at a cost of more than one million guilders. There is no doubt that they intended to flood the North American market.[15]
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In 1762 whenJan (John) and his nephewHenry Hope (1736–1811) joined Hopes, the name was changed to Hope & Co and a new era began. From that time the firm concentrated on banking.[6] They expanded the offices in Amsterdam, totalling 26 people. Their turnover reached 47 million guilders in 1762. This peak was followed by a sharp decline in 1763 and 1764, when the figures were 42 and 33 million guilders respectively.[17] During theAmsterdam banking crisis of 1763 Hope & Co helped outLeendert Pieter de Neufville. Henry's first substantial foreign loan was toAdolf Frederick of Sweden in 1768; in the next twenty years, Sweden was to borrow a total of 15 million guilders (securitised foreignloans); in 1770-1771 to the kings of Bavaria and Prussia.[18][3]
The Hope Company cooperated withAlexander Fordyce andGurnell, Hoare, & Harman in 1770.[18][19][20] In 1771George Colebrooke andJames Cockburn, directors of the EIC, recruitedPaul Wentworth (spy) to borrow £66,000 from Hope & Co. In 1771 Adrian Hope bought together withAndries Pelsnegotiaties for 904,000 guilders.[21] Hope & Co suffered from thecrisis of 1772 and the fall of the EIC-stocks. The turnover with the Amsterdam Exchange Bank plummeted from more than 50 million guilders in 1772 to 30 million in 1773.[22] In 1774 Fordyce was forced to sell his estate toSir Joshua Vanneck, 1st Baronet; theplaintiffs were Hope & Co andHarman and Co.[23][24][25]George Colebrooke went bankrupt.
Though primarily interested in trade deals from the start of their activities, the Hope brothers expanded their interests to longer-term investments in land and the arts. During the 18th century Hope & Co. set up a profit sharing agreement for the partners to reduce the risk of bankruptcy of the entire firm due to the indiscretions of one member, as happened in the case of rival banking houseClifford in 1772.[6] In order to become partner in the profit sharing scheme, the member had to learn the special Hope & Co. bookkeeping method developed by Adrian Hope, who had assisted filing the Clifford bankruptcy.[26]
In March 1781 Adrian Hope died without offspring; the heirs paid a small amount on inheritance tax, which was regarded as fraud.[27] Hope & Co. threatened to move the company toOstend. The company lend an enormous amount of money toCharles III of Spain. For Spain Hope organised state loans for nine million guilders in the 1780s.
The adopted John Williams joined the Hope company in 1782. The company suppliedFrederick VI of Denmark with money, a plantation onSaint Croix served ascollateral;[28] in 1786 they supplied a loan toStanisław August Poniatowski. In 1785 Nicolas Bauduoin (-1787) and Jan Caspar Hartsinck were members in the board; two years later Hartsinck was appointed in thecity council by the stadtholder and in theBank of Amsterdam.[29] In the summer of 1789 when the French population suffered from famineJacques Necker intervened personally and successfully at Hope & Co. to supplyLouis XVI with grain.[30][31] The 2.4 million in the royal treasury he used as a collateral.[32] Between 1787 and 1794 the company lost million of guilders in a deliberate effort to manipulate the price ofcochineal from Mexico.[33]
In January 1790Thomas Hope (designer) was admitted to the board of the Hope company; he owned almost a sixth of the shares, but preferred to travel to Italy, andPierre César Labouchère became a partner.[a] Labouchère played an important role in negotiations with France, handling most of the financing for Holland with that country.[34] In 1792Alexander Baring started to work at Hope & Co.[b] In November 1792, French Minister of FinancesÉtienne Clavière harshly pointed out that Hope & Co. was the leading member of a group of bankers engaged in speculation against the French credit and currency.[35] Between 1788 and 1794 Hope & Co. issued loans totalling 53 million guilders on behalf of the Russian Empress.[36][37] Early 1795 all the Hopes had fled to London to avoid theBatavian Revolution and theFrench occupation of the Netherlands and never came back. Their stock in warehouses was shipped to Hamburg? In 1796/97, after theThird Partition of Poland Robert Voûte, an employee, went to Saint Petersburg; by buying up Polish bonds prudently in 1798, the partners of Hope & Co. made a huge profit.[38] Then Hope & Co supplied loans to Portugal (toRodrigo de Sousa Coutinho andJohn VI of Portugal).
In 1803, the bank was involved in financing theLouisiana Purchase.[39] Hope took over the direction of the financial operation on Louisiana, and they were the sole executors of the French part of the operation after Baring withdrew in 1803.[40] The Hope brothers sold the real estate at Keizers- and Prinsengracht to John Williams Hope. Also Henry soldVilla Welgelegen to hisfiduciary, who continued to hold that office until the establishment of the monarchy underLouis Bonaparte in 1806. WhenHenry Hope died in 1811, the London offices of Hope & Co. merged withBaring Brothers & Co.[41]Adriaan van der Hoop inherited the Amsterdam portion of the investments, together withAlexander Baring.[42]
Thomas Hope was a member of the China-committee and likely started to collect blue and white Chinaware.[43] In 1770 the mansion was renovated and in 1771 they acquired a fine collection of paintings from two Mennonite brothers in Rotterdam. Both Jan, supported by his wife, and Henry collected paintings, statues andLoosdrecht porcelain.[44] In 1783 Jan Hope sued the painterLouis Gerverot.[43] Around 1790 John Williams Hope was portrayed byAngelika Kaufmann.
WhenPichegru occupied the south Henry fled fromHellevoetsluis on 17 October 1794.[45] Henry took as much art he could ship according toAugust Schlegel.[46] The paintings that were too large to take to London and which remained in the possession of the bank, came into the hands ofAdriaan van der Hoop. Henry settled on the corner ofHarley Street andCavendish Square.[47]Thomas Hope of Deepdene was collecting art, sculptures, antique vases and books inDuchess Street. His sonHenry Thomas Hope inherited the collection after 1831.Lord Francis Pelham Clinton-Hope sold theHope Collection of Pictures in 1898.
The Hope archive (1725–1940), at theAmsterdam City Archives, is an important source for the history of Amsterdam and the Netherlands as the center of world commerce in the 18th century.[49] The archive of Thomas Hope is mixed up with the archive ofJean Chrétien Baud because of the latter's interest in theDutch East India Company.[50][51]
Unlike banks today, the partners of Hope & Co. mixed up their private business with public business and the bank's business. Letters in the archive touch on many subjects at once. A particularly rich portion of the archive is the correspondence in the period 1795–1815, when Henry Hope was forced to leave the Netherlands and set up offices in London. The regular correspondence between the Amsterdam and London branches give important insights into trade negotiations of the period and how they were done.
In many historical documents, this bank is referred to as simply "Hopes" and sometimes "Hopes of Rotterdam" or "Hopes of Amsterdam".
| Archibald I (1664–1743) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Archibald II (1698–1734) | Henry Sr (1699–1737) | Isaac (1702–1767) | Thomas Hope | Adrian (1709–1781) | Zachary (1717–1770) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Henry Hope | Oliver (1731-1783) | Jan Hope | Archibald III (1747–1821), WIC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| John Williams Hope (1757–1813), adopted | Thomas Hope (designer) | Adrian Elias Hope (1772-1834), gardener | Henry Philip Hope, collector | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In the 19th century Hope & Co. specialized in railway investments in the United States and Russia. In the 20th century the emphasis shifted from international transport to Dutch investments. From 1885 Hope & Co. cooperated and in 1937, Hope & Co. acquired Van Loon & Co., formerlyWed. Borski.[36] In 1966 Hope & Co. merged with R. Mees & Zoonen to form Mees & Hope. In 1969, the Company merged with Nederlandse Overzee Bank. Ultimately, it was bought byABN Bank in 1975. After the merger of ABN Bank andAmro Bank to formABN Amro, Bank Mees & Hope merged with Pierson, Heldering & Pierson (then wholly owned by Amro Bank) in November 1992 intoMeesPierson and was subsequently sold toFortis. It subsequently became part of ABN Amro again when Fortis failed and Fortis' Dutch businesses were re-established as ABN Amro.
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