Llandaff link to one of the world’s major banks
HUNDREDS of years ago a group of brothers left Wales for America.
A handful of the thousands who made the journey, it would set off a chain of events that would lead to the creation of what became one of the most powerful and richest banks in the world.
The Morgan family, after leaving Llandaff in Cardiff, would eventually transform into the family behind banking giant JP Morgan.
The family became what it is today known for due to John Pierpoint Morgan.
Born in 1837 in Connecticut, his dad was descended from Welsh immigrants who had arrived in Massachusetts around 200 years earlier.
Unbeknown to those travellers, their journey would set off a series of events that would eventually create one of the most powerful and richest banks in the world.
It started when Miles Morgan left his homeland of Wales as a colonist of America, settling in what would become Massachusetts.
He was born in Llandaff, and legend has it that he arrived in America with his older brothers James and John after sailing from Bristol.
A few decades later, descendent John Pierpoint Morgan, known as JP Morgan, was born.
Born into an already rich and powerful family, his father Junius decided to make him the heir to the family’s dynasty.
He wanted the Morgan family to be known in the world of family banking and set out to make the name known as a trustworthy brand around the world.
It didn’t take much to encourage his son into finance, as a child, JP Morgan would keep a ledger of his sweet and icecream purchases.
He later worked as an accountant and later bought out railroads across America.
As the 20th Century rolled around he was a hugely successful businessman and controlled a number of industries across the US.
One estimate states that JP Morgan was one of the richest Americans in history, with his fortune growing to around $38 billion in today’s money.
At one point he even helped bail out the American government during a financial crash.
He was involved in various companies with often changing names as partners came and went.
In 1871 JP Morgan and banker Anthony Drexel form a private merchant banking partnership in New York called Drexel, Morgan & Co. This is the earliest partnership that evolves into J.P. Morgan.
JP Morgan died at a hotel in Rome on March 31 1913.
But his name lives on through the massive international banking firm he created, which entered the 21st century as JPMorgan Chase & Co.
The bank is one of the largest and most powerful in the world, holding around $2.5 trillion in assets.