Historedia
EuropeEvent

Barclays is founded in London

When
1690
Where
Lombard Street, City of London
Episodes
1

In 1690, Quakers John Freame and Thomas Gould established a goldsmith banking business in the City of London. This venture, located on Lombard Street, is recognized as the origin of Barclays PLC, a British multinational bank headquartered in London.

Episodes

  1. 17 November 1690 · Lombard Street, City of LondonEstablishment of Goldsmith Banking Business

    John Freame and Thomas Gould started trading as goldsmith bankers in Lombard Street, London, on 17 November 1690.

Background and detail

Founding Context. Barclays traces its origins to a goldsmith banking business established in the City of London in 1690. The founders, John Freame and Thomas Gould, were Quakers who began trading as goldsmith bankers. This initial operation serves as the historical root of the modern Barclays PLC, which is headquartered in London, England.

People involved

Sources

  1. Barclays Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-17

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.