In 1692, a young Scots goldsmith-banker named John Campbell of
Lundie,
Scotland, formed the bank originally as a
goldsmith-banker's shop. Lundie opened the new business in the
Strand, London, under a sign of the
Three Crowns, as was customary in the days before street numbers. Today, the Coutts logo still has the three crowns, and its headquarters is still on the Strand. Campbell died in 1712, leaving the business to members of his family. The dominant force was Campbell's son in law, George Middleton, who had become Campbell's partner in 1708. During Middleton's stewardship, the bank was buffeted by one crisis after another. The
Jacobite rising of 1715 threatened the stability of the banking system; and
John Law, the
Comptroller of France's finances, owed a great deal of money to the bank when the
Mississippi Company bubble burst in 1720 and the English stock market collapsed in the same year. Stability for the bank did not return until 1735. John's son, George Campbell was also a partner, and ultimately became the sole partner after the death of Middleton in 1747, after which the bank was renamed the "Bankers of 59 Strand". In 1755, John Campbell's granddaughter, Mary (known as "Polly"), married a merchant and banker,
James Coutts. Polly was George Campbell's niece and George immediately made James a partner. The bank became known as
Campbell & Coutts, with James running the business and becoming sole partner following Polly's and George's deaths in 1760. George bequeathed most of his fortune, and the bank, to James.
Thomas Coutts In 1761 James took his brother
Thomas Coutts into the business, which was now named
James and Thomas Coutts. James and Thomas did not always get on and eventually James drifted into politics, leaving the running of the bank to Thomas. James retired from the bank in 1775 due to ill health. The bank in the Strand became known as
Thomas Coutts & Co. The bank flourished under the lead of Thomas, who took in three partners: Sir Edmund Antrobus (1st Baronet), Edward Marjoribanks and Coutts Trotter. In the final decade of the 18th century, the premises at 59 Strand were significantly extended, and profits rose from £9,700 in 1775 to £72,000 in 1821. Edmund Antrobus, who started at Coutts as a clerk, was taken into partnership in 1777. The bank on the Strand was substantially rebuilt between 1780 and 1790, employing the King's Master Mason,
John Deval. By the time Sir Antrobus died in 1826, he had been made a baronet, and he left a fortune estimated at £700,000 with newly-acquired estates at Amesbury (Wilts) and Rutherford (Roxburghshire). Thomas Coutts married twice. His first wife, a servant named Susannah Starkie, gave him three daughters nicknamed "The Three Graces" who eventually married leading figures in British society: the
Earl of Guilford, the
Marquess of Bute and
Sir Francis Burdett. Thomas also had four sons who died in infancy. When Susannah died, he remarried just four days after the funeral. Thomas Coutts was 80 years old, and his new wife,
Harriot Mellon, was 40 years younger and an actress, which stirred considerable comment. On Thomas' death in 1822 the bank was renamed "Coutts & Co." Thomas' widow, Harriot, inherited £900,000 from Thomas along with a 50% share in the bank. Although she did not get on with her stepdaughters, she wanted to keep the bank in the Coutts family. Harriot died in 1837. In her will, the Coutts fortune was passed on to Thomas' granddaughter,
Angela Burdett, the daughter of
Sophia Coutts and
Sir Francis Burdett. The will contained three conditions: first, Angela's 50% share in the bank must be held in
trust; second, the heir must take the name Coutts; and third, the heir must never marry a foreigner.
Angela Burdett-Coutts Upon receipt of her inheritance, Angela Burdett-Coutts became the wealthiest woman in Britain. She devoted her life to philanthropy, giving away an estimated amount of between £3 million and £4 million. Her charity ranged widely: she supported the
Church of England and its Anglican offshoots overseas, as well as the arts, but the main thrust of her charity was directed toward improving the lives of the poor. A sewing school in
Spitalfields, cotton gins in what is now
Nigeria, boats and nets for the Irish fishing industry, and
ragged schools in the poorest sections of cities were but a few of her projects.
Gladstone, the
Prime Minister, and
Queen Victoria resolved to acknowledge her philanthropic spirit formally. In 1871, she was granted a peerage in her own right as
Baroness Burdett-Coutts of Highgate and Brookfield in the County of Middlesex. In 1880, it became known that the baroness wished to marry her young American secretary
William Ashmead-Bartlett, who was her junior by thirty-seven years. The partners of the bank were aghast at the prospect of such a marriage, as were many dignitaries; they saw Bartlett as an adventurer, only interested in her money.
Archibald Tait, the
Archbishop of Canterbury, attempted to prevent the marriage, while Queen Victoria herself, with whom the Baroness had often dined, tried to prevent what she called the "mad marriage". The Queen wrote to
Lord Harrowby saying that it would grieve her much "if Lady Burdett-Coutts were to sacrifice her high reputation and her happiness by such an unsuitable marriage". This letter was passed on to Lady Burdett-Coutts, who asked Lord Harrowby to reply that he had no knowledge of the subject alluded to—quite a snub to the Queen. One potential stumbling block to the marriage was her step-grandmother's (Harriot's) will which forbade marriage to an alien. As Bartlett was an American, the marriage would cause her to be disinherited. In that event, her younger sister Clara would inherit. Angela Burdett-Coutts managed to get Clara to waive her rights. Clara's son Francis (known as Frank) was not, however, so easily dissuaded, and consulted his lawyers, thinking to forestall the marriage by standing on their rights. Finally Bartlett himself, in the face of immense pressure from society, offered to release the baroness from his offer of marriage. She, however, remained determined, refusing to release Bartlett from his promise, in spite of various scandalous accusations being made against him involving another woman, and even his fathering of an illegitimate child. In February 1881, at the age of 67, Angela Burdett-Coutts broke the terms of the will by marrying Bartlett in Christ Church, Down Street,
Piccadilly. The partners of the bank rushed to reassure the press that the heiress was neither a partner in the bank, nor could she touch the capital. An argument sprang up over the inheritance and, in particular, over whether Angela should give up the bank to her sister Clara. Angela fought back, claiming that Bartlett was only half American and therefore not technically an "alien". Clara then claimed the fortune, and the bitter dispute continued. In anticipation of victory, Clara and her son Frank took the name "Coutts", as required by the will. Finally, a compromise was struck, with the majority of the Coutts fortune set to pass to Clara and her heirs. Angela Burdett-Coutts, however, kept two-fifths of the income until her death in 1906. On changing her name, Clara Burdett, who had married James Money in 1850, became Clara Burdett Money-Coutts. Her son
Francis' full name became Francis Burdett Thomas Nevill Money-Coutts. He was better known as Francis (or Frank) Coutts, a writer and poet. He became 5th Baron Latymer in 1913 and died in 1923. The following appeared in
Punch at the time:
Money takes the name of Coutts, Superfluous and funny For everyone considers Coutts, Synonymous with Money. :—Vere Carpenter A recession towards the end of the 19th century, known as the
Panic of 1890, forced the bank to change from a
partnership to an
unlimited liability company in 1892. At that time, limited liability was seen by depositors as risky. As a partnership, the Coutts family would have been personally liable to any depositor for their bank deposit in a crisis, but there was no crisis. Despite this, there was little change in the organisation; the working partners were divided between managing and junior managing partners.
Further expansion , issued in London. (Langmead Collection, on display at the British Museum) In 1904, the bank moved to its current premises at 440, The Strand. In 1914, Coutts took over the bank of Robarts, Lubbock & Co. in the city, obtaining a branch office and a clearing house seat in the process. In 1919, Coutts merged with the
National Provincial & Union Bank of England but retaining the Coutts & Co. name and board of directors. Throughout the 20th century, Coutts opened more branches. The first
West End branch outside 440 Strand was opened in 1921 in Park Lane. Further London branches were opened in the West End (1921), Cavendish Square (1927), Sloane Street (1929), Mayfair (1932), London Wall (1962), Brompton Road (1975), and Kensington (1978). In 1961 the Bank first moved outside the capital, opening a branch at
Eton, followed by a branch in Bristol in 1976. In 1969, National Provincial Bank merged with
Westminster Bank to form
National Westminster Bank. Coutts embraced modern technology, becoming one of the first banks to bring in machine-posted ledgers at the end of the 1920s. In 1963 it was the first British bank to have a fully computerised accounting system. Between 1974 and 1978, Coutts' Strand headquarters were redeveloped by
Frederick Gibberd and Partners. Coutts Bank von Ernst became RBS Coutts Bank in 2008 to align with the parent Group and was renamed Coutts & Co. Limited in 2011. The international division was sold to
Union Bancaire Privée (UBP) of Switzerland in 2015, for an undisclosed figure. This was part of the Group's strategy to reduce the number of countries it operated in, in favour of a greater focus on the United Kingdom. Coutts' business in Europe, the Middle East, Singapore and Hong Kong was to be transferred to UBP, who were required to rebrand the business. In 2017 the bank underwent a significant reorganisation to create specialist financial teams aligned to specific services as well as the transfer of staff to
bank wide centre's of excellence. The majority of these changes were unwound over the course of 2018 and 2019 due to poor staff morale in the group centres of excellence and the incompatibility of products and services between
the wider bank and Coutts. In 2018 a senior Managing Director, Harry Keogh, resigned after historic sexual harassment substantiated allegations were reported in the media. The allegations dating from 2015 had been investigated and Mr Keogh punished however he was allowed to keep his job in part due to his connection to the
British Royal Family and friendship with
Alison Rose, who faced severe criticism internally for allowing him to remain in employement. After his departure from Coutts Mr Keogh was reported to be advising the disgraced
Prince Andrew. He made an unfair dismissal claim against Coutts which was withdrawn. In 2022, the
Royal Bank of Scotland transferred its
Adam and Company banking and lending business to Coutts using a banking business transfer scheme, this was following the sale of
Adam and Company investment management business to
Canaccord Genuity Group for £54 million announced April 2021. In 2023 Lord Remnant succeeded
Lord Waldegrave as the Chairman of the Board. He was succeeded in September 2025 by
Dame Anne Richards. == Corporate governance ==