Brewer's: Jonathan's

A noted coffee-house in Change Alley, described in the Tatler as the general mart of stock-jobbers.

What is now called the Stock Exchange was called Jonathan's.

“Yesterday the brokers and others ... came to a resolution that [the new building] instead of being called `New Jonathan's,' should be called `The Stock Exchange.' ... The brokers then collected sixpence each, and christened the house with punch.” —Newspaper paragraph (July 15, 1773).

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Related Content