Jonathan's Coffee-House facts for kids

Jonathan's Coffee House was a very important meeting place in London during the 1600s and 1700s. It is famous because it was the first home of what is now the London Stock Exchange.

An illustration from the 1870s, based on an old drawing of Jonathan's Coffee House.

This plaque in Change Alley shows where the Coffee House used to be.

The coffee house was opened around 1680 by a man named Jonathan Miles. It was located in an area called Change Alley, which is in the heart of London.

The Start of Stock Trading

In 1698, a man named John Castaing started using Jonathan's Coffee House to share the prices of stocks and other goods. This was one of the first times people in London could regularly see and trade different investments.

At that time, some dealers were not allowed in the Royal Exchange because they were too noisy. So, they moved their trading activities to Jonathan's Coffee House. They also used another place called Garraway's Coffee-House.

Important Events and Changes

Jonathan's Coffee House was the setting for many big moments in the history of stock trading. This included the time of the South Sea Bubble, which was a huge financial event. It also saw the panic of 1745, another important time for the markets.

In 1748, a fire destroyed the coffee house, but it was rebuilt.

The New Jonathan's

In 1761, a group of 150 stockbrokers and jobbers (people who buy and sell stocks) formed a club. They wanted a special place just for trading stocks. In 1773, this club built its own building in Sweeting's Alley.

They called this new building the New Jonathan's. However, it was soon renamed the Stock Exchange. Today, it is officially known as the London Stock Exchange.

The original Jonathan's Coffee House also served as a place where people could buy lottery tickets until it was destroyed by fire in 1748.