Early days
The earliest Kleinwort to go into banking was 24-year-old Hinrich Kleinwort who in 1786 set up a partnership with Otto Mueller in Holstein to finance trade with England.
In the very same year, Robert Benson, a Quaker, joined with William Rathbone IV of the existing house of William Rathbone & Co to form Rathbone & Benson, a Liverpool business trading mainly with America.
It was another 175 years before the two firms merged to form Kleinwort Benson Lonsdale.
Read more about our history.