Froggatt’s Electric Lighting Company, Ltd

Registered 1894. Dissolved <1932. Company number 40321. Adriano de Murrieta and his brother Cristobal de Murrieta were directors. The Murrieta family were Spanish in origin settling in Argentina and subsequently making a fortune from the South American trade. They settled in England in 1870, buying a large estate at Wadhurst Park where they entertained the Prince of Wales, Lord Randolph Churchill and Arthur Balfour amongst others. The business developed from general trade to banking and the issuing of foreign loans, Argentine in particular. The over-issuing of these culminated in the so called ‘Barings Crisis’ of 1890 which saw Barings Bank rescued from bankruptcy by the Bank of England and Rothschilds but the Murrietas were left to fail. The bank incorporated as a limited company in 1891 and issued debentures to cover the debt. These were not successful and the company was in liquidation soon afterwards.
Capital in shares of £1.