Andrew Drummond

Andrew Drummond was a Scottish goldsmith and banker. He was the founder of the London bank Messrs Drummond which today is part of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group.

Drummond was born in 1688 at Machany, Perthshire, and has started his working life on 4 May 1705 as an apprentice to the Edinburgh goldsmith Colin McKenzie, in Parliament Close, Edinburgh. By 1712 he was in business as a goldsmith in London, trading at the sign of the Golden Eagle, Charing Cross. In 1717 Drummond began to offer banking services alongside his work as a goldsmith, a common practice among goldsmiths since at least 1650s. For the next 30 years banking was his principal business, although he did continue as a goldsmith in a small way.

In 1744, Andrew’s son John entered into partnership with him, and in the same year Andrew’s brother William sent his two sons, Robert and Henry, to London to live with Andrew. In 1745 Drummond’s business received a serious hit. Andrew fell under suspicion from the authorities (because Andrew’s brother, William, was a leading Jacobite), his books were seized for inspection, and he had to cease trading for at least 12 days.

Drummond’s business did not fully recover from the events of 1745 until the 1760s. However, by the time of Andrew’s death his bank had moved to larger new premises on the opposite (west) side of Charing Cross. The business was continued by his son John and nephew Robert.