It was founded around 1740 by Quaker partners Jonathan Gurnell (1684-1753)[1] (who married in 1711 Grizell Wilmer of Pitzhanger Manor) and Joseph Hoare (d. 1729), and was in business until 1846.
[2] The firm traded extensively with Portugal[3] and were agents for the Russian Imperial Court in St.
[4] The firm had close ties to the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade[5] The only surviving brother of one of its founders was the abolitionist Samuel Hoare Jr. Jeremiah Harman, son of one of the early investors, was one of the first merchants to support the abolition movement.
[5] Henry Hope, later a significant international merchant banker, apprenticed in the firm during 1754-1760[6][7] Founder Jonathan Gurnell had left a quaker farming background in Westmorland to try is fortune in London.
[8] Jonathan moved into "fast society" in a rather "un-Quakerly" fashion, becoming a close friend of the Price of Wales.