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London Metropolitan Archives

BOOTH WHITE


IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): GB 0074 CLC/B/026

Held at: London Metropolitan Archives

Title: BOOTH WHITE

Date(s): 1858-1986

Level of description: Collection

Extent: 29 production units.

Name of creator(s): Booth White | insolvency accountants

CONTEXT

Administrative/Biographical history:

Booth White was formed in 1967 as Booth White and Company as a result of a merger between Parkin S Booth and Company, insolvency accountants of London and Liverpool, and Francis Nicholls White and Company, insolvency accountants of London. The new firm moved to 1 Wardrobe Place, Carter Lane, St Pauls, London in 1967, and to 9 Raleigh House, Admirals Way, Waterside, London in 1989. Its name was shortened to Booth White in 1989. The firm has branches at Bristol, Chatham, Chester, Ipswich, Llandudno, Liverpool, Medway, Preston, Sidcup, Southend-on-Sea and Watford. The Liverpool office of the firm still practises under the name Parkin S Booth and Company.

Francis Nicholls White and Company originated before 1858 as Robinson, Nicholls and Company of 13 Old Jewry, London. In 1863 the name was changed to Francis Nicholls White and Company, in 1866 to Nicholls and Leatherdale and, in 1885, back to Francis Nicholls White and Company. From its beginnings, the firm practised as accountants dealing only with insolvency matters; it also acted as proprietors of a debt collection business known as the British Mercantile Agency and of a number of trade associations. The practice continued at 13/14 Old Jewry Chambers until 1924 when it moved to 73 Cheapside; in 1954 it moved to 19 Eastcheap. In 1967 the firm amalgamated with Parkin S Booth and Company.

Francis Nicholls White and Company acted as proprietor of a debt collection business known as the British Mercantile Agency which had been established in 1855. The firm also owned a number of trade associations formed as specialised branches of the agency, in particular the Paper Trade Protection Association, the Wholesale Chemists and Allied Trades Protection Association and Cooper Craigs Limited (which dealt with the drapery, hosiery, millinery and textile trades). The aims of these associations were to safeguard their members against the risk of bad debts, to recover overdue accounts and to minimise the loss to members in insolvencies. In 1924, when Francis Nicholls White and Company moved from 13/14 Old Jewry Chambers, the British Mercantile Agency moved to 90 Queen Street, London. In 1966 it relocated to Sidcup House, Station Road, Sidcup. Subsequently the agency was acquired by Woods Management Services. They sold it to Legal and Trade who dropped the name of British Mercantile Agency, since when it has ceased to exist.

Parkin S Booth and Company, an insolvency practice, was founded by Parkin S Booth in Liverpool in 1907. The founder also acted as proprietor of the Palatine Trade Protection Office. The firm opened an office in London, at Kimberley House, Holborn Viaduct, in 1949. In 1967 it amalgamated with the insolvency practice Francis Nicholls White and Company to form Booth White and Company (now Booth White). The Liverpool office, at 5 Rumford Place, Chapel Street, Liverpool, continues to practise under the name Parkin S Booth and Company.

CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

Records of Booth White, insolvency accountants, and subsidiaries Nicholls and Leatherdale; Francis Nicholls White and Company; the British Mercantile Agency; Cooper Craigs Limited; the Paper Trade Protection Association; the Wholesale Chemists and Allied Trades Protection Association; and Parkin S Booth and Company.

Access is restricted to records less than 30 years old where specified and 24 hours notice is required for access to all the records.

ACCESS AND USE

Language/scripts of material: English

System of arrangement:

The archives are catalogued under the names of the individual companies and organisations as follows: Nicholls and Leatherdale (Ms 28871); Francis Nicholls White and Company (Ms 28872- 28879); British Mercantile Agency (Ms 28880- 28886); Cooper Craigs Limited (Ms 28887- 28888); Paper Trade Protection Association (Ms 28889- 28890); Wholesale Chemists and Allied Trades Protection Association (Ms 28891- 28893); Parkin S Booth and Company (Ms 28894- 28896); Booth White (Ms 28897- 28900).

Conditions governing access:

Access by appointment only. Please contact staff.

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:

Immediate source of acquisition:

The archives of Booth White together with those of Nicholls and Leatherdale, Francis Nicholls White and Company, the British Mercantile Agency and its trade protection associations, and Parkin S Booth and Company were deposited in the Manuscripts Section of Guildhall Library on 12 November 1992 by Booth White through P. Granville White via the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. The Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section merged with the London Metropolitan Archives in 2009.

ALLIED MATERIALS

Publication note:

For a brief history of Booth White and its constituent bodies see P. Granville White, Booth White & Co (1983) (available in the collection, see CLC/B/026/MS28898).

DESCRIPTION NOTES Rules or conventions: Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions: November 2010 to January 2011.


INDEX ENTRIES
Subjects
Accountancy | Occupations
Accountants | Business people | People by occupation | People
Business records | Documents | Information sources
Insolvency | Finance

Personal names

Corporate names
Booth White | insolvency accountants
British Mercantile Agency | debt collection business
Francis Nicholls White and Co | insolvency accountants
Nicholls and Leatherdale | insolvency accountants
Paper Trade Protection Association
Parkin S Booth and Co | insolvency accountants
Wholesale Chemists and Allied Trades Protection Association

Places
London | England | UK | Western Europe | Europe