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Category Archives: South Sea Company

O is for Old South Sea House

17 Friday Apr 2020

Posted by Anne Young in A to Z 2020, Champion de Crespigny, South Sea Company

≈ 3 Comments

Earlier this month I wrote about two sons of my 7th great grandparents Thomas Champion de Crespigny and Magdelaine Granger. William was apprenticed to an Inner Temple lawyer, and Philip, my 6th great grandfather, was apprenticed to a proctor of Doctor’s Commons.

The youngest surviving child of Thomas and Magdelaine was Claude (1706 – 1782). In 1721, the same year his brother William died, Claude became a junior clerk in the South Sea Company. His mother probably could not afford to apprentice him to a lawyer like his brothers.

The South Sea Company had been established ten years previously. It was formally constituted as an enterprise to trade with South America and islands of the ‘South Seas’ – hence the name – but it in practice it quickly became an institution dealing in government finances, particularly the national debt. It was arranged that holders of official debt could be reimbursed with shares in the Company. The government paid annual interest and a fee, and the money was available for distribution as a dividend to shareholders. As payment of moneys owing to Thomas by the Government at the time of his death, Magdelaine Champion Crespigny received shares in the South Sea Company when her husband Thomas died.

The arrangement was in competition with the Bank of England. It was ingenious but it was open to corruption, and the celebrated “South Sea Bubble” of 1720 caused widespread financial ruin and brought down the government.

William_Hogarth_-_The_South_Sea_Scheme

“Emblematical Print on the South Sea Scheme“, an early print by William Hogarth, created in 1721. It caricatures the financial speculation, corruption and credulity that caused the South Sea Bubble in England in 1720–21. Retrieved from Wikimedia Commons.

A parliamentary inquiry was held to determine why the bubble had burst. In the wake of this investigation, a number of politicians were disgraced, and people who were found to have profited immorally from the company had their personal assets confiscated in proportion to their gains (most had already been rich and remained so). Despite this, the Company was restructured and continued to operate.

Although most histories emphasise the Bubble and the Company’s position at the centre of the disaster, the South Sea Company continued to function for another 130 years, issuing shares to raise money, lending that money to the government, and using the interest received on the loan to pay dividends on the shares. No longer a source of reckless excitement among investors, it was a substantial organisation whose stock provided steady dividends. It was traded at a rate comparable to the East India Company and the Bank of England.

Claude Champion de Crespigny joined the company immediately after the 1720 collapse. He worked his way through the ranks, and ten years after joining, Claude, 25 years old, was appointed First Clerk in the office of the Secretary. reported in The Gentleman’s Magazine of April 1731. He was 25 years old.

In May 1745 an employee of the Company named Thomas Shuttleworth embezzled the very considerable sum of twenty thousand pounds and fled to Amsterdam. He was thought to be headed for Italy, and the directors offered two hundred pounds to anyone who captured him. They also sent Claude Crespigny, and it was reported in July that he had recovered a banker’s draft for ten thousand pounds originally intended for Mr Shuttleworth.

van Loo, Jean-Baptiste, 1684-1745; Claude Champion de Crespigny (1706-1782)

Claude Crespigny (1706–1782) by Jean-Baptiste van Loo (1684–1745) (attributed to) In the collection of Kelmarsh Hall and retrieved through artuk.org

Crespigny Claude bookplate Princeton

Bookplate of Claude Crespigny of the South Sea House together with an inscription and his signature. It is interesting that Claude Crespigny identified himself as of the South Sea House by 1745 when he was still a clerk. The book and its bookplate is now in the Princeton University Library.

In October 1753 The Gentleman’s Magazine reported that Claude Crespigny Esquire had been appointed Secretary of the South Sea Company, replacing the former Secretary, who had died in office. He was Secretary – Chief Executive Officer – of this major financial institution for almost thirty years before dying in office himself.

Crespigny Gentlemans Mag 1782 p 503

Death notice for Claude Crespigny in The Gentleman’s Magazine vol 52, 1782, page 503. Claude Crespigny died at Champion Lodge, Camberwell, then the house of his nephew Claude deC (1734 – 1818), formerly the house of his brother Philip who had died in 1765.

SouthSeaHouse_Stowe'sSurveyOfLondon_1754

“The South-Sea House in Bishops-gate Street“, engraving by Thomas Bowles, published 1754. (In 1754 Claude Crespigny was Secretary of the South Sea Company.) Retrieved from Wikimedia Commons.

The headquarters of the South Sea Company was Old South Sea House, on the corner of Bishopsgate Street and Threadneedle Street in the City of London. The building burned down in 1826.

AtoZ map letter O

The location of the Old South Sea House on the corner of Bishopsgate and Threadneedle Streets is marked with a black x

Sources

  • de Crespigny, Rafe Champions from Normandy : an essay on the early history of the Champion de Crespigny family 1350-1800 AD. Lilli Pilli, New South Wales Richard Rafe Champion de Crespigny, 2017. Pages 140-7. Can be viewed at Champions from Normandy

Related posts

  • C is for Camberwell: house where Claude died, the home of his brother Philip and nephew Claude
  • I is for Inns of Court: includes Claude’s brother William
  • K is for Knightrider Street: Claude’s brother Philip

52 ancestors: Whitehall June 15 1727

14 Wednesday Jan 2015

Posted by Anne Young in 52 ancestors, Champion de Crespigny, Granger, Huguenot, lawyer, Royal family, South Sea Company

≈ 4 Comments

I thought I would look at the earliest record in the London Gazette of someone named de Crespigny. I assumed it would be the record of a military appointment.

Philip Crespigny (1704-1765)
Attributed to Jean-Baptiste Van Loo – Date unknown … Owner/Location: Kelmarsh Hall retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/philip-champion-de-crespigny-17041765-49144

I was surprised to find that this de Crespigny was my sixth great grandfather, Philip Crespigny (1704-1765), who had been present at the proclamation of King George II (1683-1760) on 14 June 1727.1

King George II by Charles Jervas painted about 1727. Photograph retrieved from Wikipedia.

I realised I knew very little about my sixth great grandfather.

Philip was the fifth of six children of Thomas Champion Crespigny (1664-1712) and Magdalen née Granger (1664-1730).

Thomas, who had been born in France, came as a boy to England as a Huguenot refugee. He served in the English military. From 1689 he was a cornet in Lord Cardross‘ Scottish Regiment of Dragoons, a Lieutenant of Colonel Richard Cunningham’s Regiment of Scots Dragoons in 1695, and Captain Lieutenant of the Marquis of Lothian‘s Regiment of Dragoons at Jedburgh in 1703.2 This regiment later became the 7th Queen’s Own Hussars.

Thomas married Magdalen, daughter of Israel Granger of Alencon in 1695 at St Mary Magdalen, Old Fish Street, London.3 Magdalen had also been born in France and her family were also Huguenot refugees.4

They had six children:5

  • William (1698-1721)
  • Marie (1699-1700)
  • Jeanne (1700-1773), who married Gilbert Allix (1694-1767)
  • Claude (1701-1703)
  • Philip (1704-1765)
  • Claude (1706-1782)

Thomas died on 17 July 1712. He was buried at St Marylebone, London.  His will, dated 1704, left all his goods to his wife Magdalen.6

The surviving children at the time of Thomas’s death were aged 14, 12, 8 and 6.

I wonder who helped Magdalen bring up her children? Was the family helped by her Granger relatives or by Magdalen’s de Crespigny in-laws?

Magdalen’s mother, Marie Granger, was a widow when she made her will in 1711.7 Magdalen’s father, Israel Granger, had died in 1700.8 Marie Granger left her estate between Magdalen and the children of another daughter, Marthe. Marthe had married Florand Dauteuil in 1699, at the Savoy Church in the Strand. Marthe had died before 1711 when her mother made her will. Mary Granger’s will was proved in 1713. It appears that Magdalen had no adult relatives on the Granger side of her family to support her.

Thomas’s older brother Pierre (1662-1739) was a lawyer. In her will, Magdalen leaves Pierre 200 pounds.9 In his will Pierre makes Philip and Claude his executors and leaves them one hundred pounds each.10 Pierre was the godfather of Claude, Magdalen and Thomas’s youngest son. Pierre did not marry and had no children. I think it very likely that Pierre helped Magdalen to raise her children.

Although we do not have the details, it would seem that the education of Claude and Philip enabled them to be successful: Claude as secretary of the South Sea Company, a major British trading company; Philip as a lawyer, who eventually became a proctor to the Lord Admiral, in addition to holding several directorships.

Philip and Claude had very successful careers despite the untimely death of their father and the fact that both their parents were Huguenot refugees.

……….

Notes
1. The London Gazette Publication date: 13 June 1727 Issue: 6590 Page: 1 retrieved from https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/6590/page/1 ↩
2. from page 22 of Huguenot and Scots Links, 1575-1775 Author David Dobson Publisher Genealogical Publishing Com, 2010 ISBN 0806352841, 9780806352848 Length 92 pages retrieved from http://books.google.com.au/books?id=sN1nOOPKqKsC&pg=PA22 3 February 2012 ↩
3. Name: Magdalen Granger Marriage Date: Feb 1695 Parish: St Mary Magdalen, Old Fish Street County: Surrey Borough: City of London Spouse: Thomas Champion Record Type: Marriage Register Type: Parish Register from London Metropolitan Archives, St Mary Magdalen Old Fish Street, Composite register: baptisms, 1664 – 1717, marriages, 1664 – 1712 and burials, 1664 – 1717, P69/MRY10/A/002/MS010221 retrieved from ancestry.com.au↩
4. de la Pinsonnais, Amaury. “La Famille Granger.” Histoire Et Généalogie. Amaury de la Pinsonnais, 13 June 2010. Web. 14 Jan. 2015. http://pinsonnais.free.fr/genea/?id=granger&page=2. ↩
5. de Crespigny, Rafe Champions in Normandy : being some remarks on the early history of the Champion de Crespigny family. R. de Crespigny, Canberra, 1988. page 9. ↩
6. Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills (PCC): Thomas Champion De Crespigny Date of Probate July 1712 Date of Will 24th June 1704 Reference PROB11/527 retrieved from thegenealogist.co.uk ↩
7. PCC: Mary Granger Place of Abode St James Westminster, London Date of Probate March 1713 Date of Will 18th February 1711 Reference PROB11/532 retrieved from thegenealogist.co.uk ↩
8. London, England, Wills and Probate. Israel Granger, Middlesex, Probate date 1700. London Metropolitan Archives and Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section, Clerkenwell, London, England; Reference Number: AM/PW/1700/031 ↩
9. PCC: Magdalen Champion de Crespigny Profession Widow Date of Probate 9th October 1730 Date of Will 19th February 1730 Reference PROB11/640 retrieved from thegenealogist.co.uk ↩
10. PCC: Peter Champion de Crespigny Place of Abode St James Westminster, Middlesex Date of Probate 1st August 1740 Date of Will 10th August 1736 Reference PROB11/704 retrieved from thegenealogist.co.uk ↩

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