Jeremy Norman’sHistoryofInformation.com Exploring the History of Information and Media through Timelines
Jeremy Norman’s
A: London, England, United Kingdom
St Mary Woolnoth, Lombard Street, London EC3, a street notable for its connections with the City of London's merchant, banking and insurance industries, stretching back to medieval times.
Around 1770 the first banker’s clearing house, the earliest large-scale data-processing organization, was founded in London. Before then an informal exchange of checks took place between London banks. Clerks of each bank visited all of the other banks to exchange checks, while keeping a tally of balances between them until they settled with each other. Daily check clearings began around 1770 when the bank clerks met at the Five Bells, a tavern in Lombard Street in the City of London, to exchange all their cheques in one place and settle the balances in cash.
