Busfeild, Thompson & Watkins by David FERRAND
The three partners were Thomas Busfeild (1699-1772), Leonard Thompson and Joseph Watkins. Leonard Thompson was an uncle of Thomas Busfeild, but through whom I have no discovered and his home was at Sherriff Hutton near York. Joseph Watkins retired from the parnership in 1741.
The partnership was active between 1730 and 1743 as the trading book survives together with a quantity of related documents. Thomas Busfeld ran the London Office in the City and had an account of the Bank of England. The tradind office was a lisbon run by the other two partners. Also in Lisbon was Thomas Busfeild’s batchelor brother, Charles, who died there in 1735.
They had a wine house in Portugal which provided their principal import via Bristol, but as a trading house they also dealt in money transactions, oil, corn, beer, cider, snuff, fruit, lead, diamonds, calf skins, cheshire cheese & corkwood both importing and exporting to ports in England and to the continent.
Thomas Busfeilsd’s relations were also involved with the partnership. His brother-in-law Robert Stanfield in Leeds and his uncle George Fothergill in York acted as agents and Robert Ferrand of Harden Grange and Richardson Ferrand of Harden Hall traded individually with the partnership for the purchase of wine and in money transactions.
The Busfeild, Thompson & Watkins trading book and related papers are deposited in the West Yorkshire Archice Service, Bradford.
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