9. Aftermath

Often studies that examine business collapse end at the point of failure when the institution ceased operating. However, in keeping with the microhistorical outlook of the book and the emphasis on examining an institution as a social as well as an economic and commercial entity, this chapter details the impact of Thompson and Company’s bankruptcy on the partners as well as their family, creditors, and wider networks in the years that followed its collapse. It argues that while the bank’s collapse disrupted and altered household composition and ended the partners’ business careers, it did not destroy wider household credit or the individual credit of each member. Likewise, the wider family networks were also largely unharmed. The chapter particularly emphasises the role of women in the management of household finance, demonstrating that they had recourse to and knowledge of the law that they could use to their own benefit.