Jonathan's Coffee-House
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jonathan's Coffee-House in Change Alley (Exchange Alley) is famous as the original site of the London Stock Exchange. The Coffee-House was founded by Jonathan Miles in Exchange Alley, around 1680.
In 1696, several patrons were implicated in a plot to assassinate William III, and it was thought to be associated with the Popish Plots.
In 1698, it was used by John Castaing to post the prices of stocks and commodities, the first evidence of systematic exchange of securities in London, England. That year, other dealers expelled from the Royal Exchange for rowdiness migrated to Jonathan's (along with Garraway's Coffee-House).
It was the scene of a number of critical events in the history of share trading, including the South Sea Bubble and the panic of 1745. It was destroyed by fire in 1748, and rebuilt. In 1761 a club of 150 brokers and jobbers was formed to trade stocks. The club built its own building in 1773 in Sweeting's Alley, which was dubbed the New Jonathan's, but was renamed the Stock Exchange.
The original Jonathan's served as the home of a lottery office after until it was destroyed by fire in 1778.
