THE HATTON GARDEN PAWNBROKERS

A Member of

The
NATIONAL
PAWNBROKERS
ASSOCIATION

Pawnbroking has been in existence since the 13th Century when Francescan monks started it to help the poor. Queen Isabella was known to have pawned her jewels so Christopher Columbus had the funds to go in search of the Americas.

With reference to England it was in the mid-18th Century when bills were passed through Parliament regulating pawnbrokers i.e. proposing licensing and a levy of 1/5th of all interest charged going to hospitals and workhouses. At about this time three balls, either golden or blue became the sign of the pawnbroker - Blue was in fact a more fitting colour than gold, since the sign probably came from the coat of arms of the Medicis, from whose territory the Lombard Goldsmiths (the first registered money lenders) originally came.

Between the mid-18th and l9th Century pawnbrokers had expanded all over the country and further acts were introduced to regulate this expansion. By 1851 there were about 4500 pawnbroking establishments mainly based in industrial working class areas. At the turn of the century most pawnbrokers were open until mid-night on Saturdays taking in all manner of pledges from linen to furniture, blankets and clothes. These were generally put in store rooms above the premises where people slept to protect the goods.

During and in between the two World wars, it was not exceptional for industrial pawnbrokers (assorted general household goods, tools and machinery) to take in 2000 - 3000 pledges a week, by the 1950's the number of pledges dropped to about 300 a week - This was mainly due to the advent of social security.

Trade for the pawnbrokers in the 60's and 70's was very slow and to make matters worse a series of complex legal regulations made pawnbroking an unattractive form of money lending. The demise of the pawnbroker altogether was a real possibility; the government changed this via pressure from the National Pawnbrokers Association and in 1974 introduced the Credit Consumer Act which simplified pawnbroking into a clear and concise form of money lending.

By the late 70's and early 80's pawnbroking had started to improve and during the Thatcher years it boomed. People needed money to make money and during times such as major share issues the pawnbroker saw a large increase in business. 'The boom years brought ahout an unprecedented amount of credit. In the late 80's the crash put a sudden stop on the 'never ending' credit lines and as a result borrowing money was suddenly very difficult.

From the start of the recession, people in general have found living and making money a lot harder; as credit lines have been shut down and bank charges increased dramatically, they have turned to the pawnbroker as a quick and simple form of credit using the articles they acquired during the boom years as collateral.