Bird, Savage & Bird
| Company type | Partnership |
|---|---|
| Industry | Merchant trading, Banking representation |
| Founded | c. 1782 |
| Founder | Benjamin Savage, Henry Merttins Bird, Robert Bird |
| Headquarters | London , United Kingdom |
Area served | United Kingdom, United States (South Carolina) |
| Products | Manufactured goods, Banking services for U.S. Government |
Bird, Savage & Bird was a merchant enterprise based in London, active from approximately 1782, specializing in exchanging manufactured products for semi-tropical agricultural goods sourced from areas such as South Carolina. Eventually, the company acted as British banking representatives for the U.S. Government. In 1802, following directions from American envoy Rufus King, they delayed a standard payment, which sparked doubts regarding their financial soundness. By early 1803, the firm collapsed, leaving the U.S. Government as a principal creditor. Subsequently, merchant bankers Francis Baring & Co. took over their role.
Background
The partnership comprised three individuals: Benjamin Savage, an American-born resident in Britain, along with English siblings Henry Merttins Bird (1755–1818) and Robert Bird (1761–1842), both originating from Warwickshire.
Benjamin Savage was a descendant of New England settler Major Thomas Savage. He relocated from South Carolina to England in 1776 during the American Revolutionary War, as his Loyalist father sought improved opportunities for him. After his mother passed away and his father remarried Rebecca Sarah (Manning) Hamm—sister to merchant William Coventry Manning—Benjamin underwent approximately five years of mercantile apprenticeship under Manning’s guidance. A letter dated 1782 from Benjamin Vaughan to Benjamin Franklin refers to Savage as a young entrepreneur embarking on his professional journey.
Henry Merttins Bird also had ties to Manning through his 1778 marriage to Manning’s daughter Elizabeth and received early commercial tutelage from him. Henry’s father was a silk manufacturer based in Coventry; his mother was the daughter of John Henry Merttins, a jeweler in the City of London. Benefiting from an inheritance in 1776, Henry leased Valance House located in Dagenham and formed a partnership with banker and merchant Anthony Francis Haldimand at 51 St Mary Ax, London. Haldimand, originally Swiss, had experience in the Italian silk trade and later co-founded Morris, Prevost & Co., which absorbed his previous business interests. He managed financial affairs for his uncle Frederick Haldimand, governor of Quebec, whose estate he inherited.
Robert Bird, the younger brother of Henry, probably gained initial commercial experience in India before joining the partnership by 1782. He married his cousin Lucy Wilberforce Bird in 1786; together they had ten children, several born in America where Robert represented the firm and established a separate enterprise.
Family connections
The Bird brothers drew advantage from significant family relationships: their uncle was Abel Smith (1717–1788), instrumental in developing Smith, Payne & Smiths bank. William Coventry Manning’s son, William, married Elizabeth Smith, daughter of Abel Smith, in 1786. Additionally, two of Manning’s daughters married into notable families: Sarah Manning wed Benjamin Vaughan (1751–1835), while Martha Weatherell Manning married John Laurens, son of affluent South Carolina planter and trader Henry Laurens.
Smiths, DeSaussure and Darrell
During the American War of Independence, British troops besieged Charlestown (present-day Charleston), detaining American merchants Josiah Smiths, Daniel DeSaussure, and Edward Darrell. Following the war’s conclusion, these men along with Josiah’s cousin George established Smiths, DeSaussure and Darrell, which grew into South Carolina’s largest mercantile firm. They also participated in slave trading activities in Charleston through Ball, Jennings & Company.
Trading conditions after the war were difficult: economic recovery proceeded slowly; planters suffered significant losses of enslaved workers during British occupation; and acquiring replacement slaves from Africa and the West Indies proved expensive. The indigo industry declined due to crop failures, prompting legislation aimed at shielding planters who defaulted on their debts. Consequently, merchants faced challenges recovering debts that led to multiple business failures.
Over a period exceeding twenty years, Smiths, DeSaussure and Darrell maintained extensive transatlantic trade relations with London-based Bird, Savage & Bird. Manufactured goods shipped from Britain were sent on credit to South Carolina and marketed to planters and others through agents such as J M Verdier in Beaufort and John Cogdell in Georgetown. Return cargoes destined for Britain often called at Falmouth or Cowes before proceeding to final destinations including continental Europe.
Conflict with France
In 1793, following the outbreak of hostilities during the French Revolutionary Wars, British commerce with France was prohibited. French privateers, operating under letters of marque, seized ships engaged in trade with Britain, with disputes over ownership adjudicated by admiralty courts. One such case involved the American vessel Laurens, transporting indigo and rice from South Carolina to London on behalf of Smiths, DeSaussure and Darrell and Legare, Theus & Prioleau. The ship was captured near Portland by the French privateer Le Sans Culotte and taken to Le Havre. Bird, Savage & Bird were retained to handle the ensuing legal conflict; however, jurisdictional complications in France delayed the vessel’s release for more than a year. During this time, the captain was detained and the ship was left neglected.
At that period, the United States had limited naval defenses aside from the Revenue Cutter Service. The disruption caused by privateer actions spurred the enactment of the Naval Act of 1794, leading to the commissioning of six frigates. Serving as banking agents for the U.S. government in Britain, Bird Savage & Bird played an instrumental role in acquiring essential materials for these warships' construction, including copper plates and anchors.
Fiscal Reform Act of 1790
In 1790, Congress passed significant financial legislation based on recommendations from Alexander Hamilton, then serving as Secretary of the Treasury. This legislation established the Bank of the United States and aimed to manage domestic debt through the issuance and sale of securities. Bird, Savage & Bird emerged as the principal trader of these securities in London, handling transactions amounting to several million dollars. Henry Bird proposed their firm as agents for the Bank of the United States in Britain and also suggested Mannings & Vaughan as an alternative option. George Washington, through his secretary Tobias Lear, acknowledged this offer on 16 February 1790; however, Hamilton indicated that it had not yet been formally considered by Congress.
US Government Banking Representation
Although Henry Bird did not secure an official agency role with the Bank of the United States, he gained backing from prominent South Carolina leaders such as Ralph Izard and William Smith. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney provided Bird with letters of introduction addressed to George Washington and his brother. Additionally, former South Carolina governor and U.S. ambassador to Britain Thomas Pinckney endorsed Bird, Savage & Bird in a 1793 letter to Hamilton. Consequently, the firm acted as a banking and fiscal representative for the U.S. government in Britain, managing accounts that included diplomatic funds, seamen’s relief payments, treasury disbursements, and legal expenses. These accounts were funded through bill collections or sales of U.S. stock. The firm also handled private financial matters for clients such as Pinckney and later John Adams, who incurred substantial losses when Bird, Savage & Bird collapsed in 1803.
Ira Allen and the Olive Branch Incident
In 1798, Bird Savage & Bird became involved with Ira Allen of America, who acquired 20,000 muskets captured in France along with several cannons intended for shipment to Vermont. A large portion of this cargo was loaded onto the American vessel Olive Branch at Ostend for transport to the United States. During its Atlantic crossing, Olive Branch was intercepted by HMS Audacious, commanded by Captain Davidge Gould. Due to irregularities in documentation, the ship was escorted to Portsmouth for inspection. Allen, aboard as a passenger, asserted that the weapons were meant exclusively for Vermont militia use and complied with provisions under the Jay Treaty, seeking release of the shipment. Nevertheless, British officials—wary because of Allen’s prior involvement in controversial dealings known as the Haldimand Affair—suspected that the arms were destined for Ireland to support rebellion against British rule.
Allen was detained in Britain but later released on bail posted by Bird, Savage & Bird in exchange for custody of the muskets. These arms were transported to New York where Robert Bird attempted to sell them. Their condition had degraded during storage and transit, requiring cleaning before sale; furthermore, their valuation proved overly optimistic.
Allen’s mission to France ended unsuccessfully; he was imprisoned there for two years before release. His protracted dispute with British authorities extended over several years without restitution and left him impoverished. While Allen maintained that the arms were intended solely for Vermont militia use, evidence indicates he planned—supported by French assistance—to incite rebellion in Lower Canada aiming to establish an independent Quebec republic.
Bird, Savage & Bird continued marketing these muskets. In 1801, after a slave uprising occurred in Virginia in 1800, Allen identified a prospective buyer. Governor James Monroe expressed interest and dispatched an agent to evaluate the weapons consistent with a 1801 statute authorizing militia armament in select towns. However, by 1803 Bird, Savage & Bird declared insolvency; consequently, remaining muskets stored in their New York warehouse became assets managed by bankruptcy administrators.
Bankruptcy
In 1803, the firm Bird, Savage and Bird was declared insolvent. During 1802, Henry Bird had obtained short-term financing from several partners, including William Manning, John Proctor Anderdon, Charles Bosanquet, John Savage (Benjamin's father), Harvey Christian Combe, John Collins, and Maurice Swabey (Bird’s brother-in-law), all of whom endorsed promissory notes for substantial amounts. Following the death of Bird’s mother in 1804, it became apparent that her estate was owed £6,900 by the business partnership.
The collapse was largely due to continual postponements in receiving significant remittances from American and West Indian sources; had these payments been made on time, all creditors might have been fully compensated with additional funds remaining. A principal outstanding sum was $70,000 owed by George and Josiah Smith of Smiths, DeSaussure and Darrell, which was only partially recovered in 1825 after a settlement reduced the amount to $20,000.
Later that same year, Robert Bird faced bankruptcy proceedings in the United States, resulting in legal complications between the assignees operating on both sides of the Atlantic. By March 1804, Henry Bird and Benjamin Savage had secured their bankruptcy discharge certificates, with the partnership officially dissolving in 1808.
Following this financial failure, Francis Baring succeeded Bird, Savage & Bird as the United States government’s financial representative in Britain. Subsequently, Baring and Henry Hope played instrumental roles in arranging funding for the Louisiana Purchase on behalf of the U.S. government later that year.
Henry Merttins Bird
In 1803, Henry Merttins Bird sold the leasehold interests of his Valence House estate along with a Dagenham farm known as Edolph’s Lands but maintained connections to the family holdings at Barton-on-the-Heath in Warwickshire, including Barton House. He passed away in 1818 shortly after his wife Elizabeth’s death in 1817. Before his demise, Henry offered his livestock for sale and put Barton House up for rent, suggesting intentions to relocate abroad. Since the couple had no offspring, ownership of Barton House and its manor transferred to Henry’s brother Robert, who subsequently leased the property to Frederick Charles Acton Colvile. Robert resided in Taplow until his death in 1842. Colvile lived at Barton House for many years; he was married to Mary Leigh—sister of Chandos Leigh, 1st Baron Leigh and cousin to Jane Austen. The Leigh family estate at Adlestrop is situated nearby.
Benjamin Savage
Benjamin Savage died sometime before 1828. In 1794 he married Elizabeth Dunn, daughter of James Dunn. They had seven children together; their eldest son John, born in 1795, pursued a legal career becoming a barrister and master of the Supreme Court of Madras and was appointed High Sheriff of Kent in 1857.
John Savage
John Savage, Benjamin’s father, died at his residence in Brompton Grove (Kensington), London in 1804 at age 89. Born on 4 November 1715 in Southampton Parish, Bermuda—where his father worked as a jeweller and goldsmith—he relocated early to South Carolina. There he co-established one of Charleston’s largest merchant firms alongside his brother Benjamin. In 1748 he wed Ann (Scott) Allen, a widow who owned Snee Farm, which they sold in 1754 to Colonel Charles Pinckney. In 1773 John became Charleston Chamber of Commerce's inaugural president. As a loyalist during the American Revolutionary War, he was proscribed and exiled; his South Carolina estates were confiscated. Despite this, he retained considerable wealth and settled comfortably in London from 1775 onward, mentioned notably in Samuel Curwen’s journals.
Robert Bird
Robert Bird spent his later years in Taplow, Buckinghamshire, England, where he passed away in 1842. In 1786, he wed his second cousin, Lucy Wilberforce Bird, and together they had ten children. Lucy’s mother was Judith Wilberforce, whose brother Robert Wilberforce was married to Robert Bird’s aunt, Elizabeth Bird. Their offspring included the distinguished abolitionist William Wilberforce.