The London office of J. B. Watkins and Company was opened in 1878 at Number 14 Bishopgate Without (London's East End). Created to facilitate the flow of European investment capital to the plains of North America, this office was managed by H. G. Chalkley and passed to his sons in 1892. During its life, the London office served as European headquarters for all Watkins' concerns including the North American Land and Timber Company, Limited, the J. B. Watkins Land Mortgage Company, the Kansas City, Watkins & Gulf Railway Company, the Calcasieu Sugar Company, and ultimately, the English Receivership Committee of the J. B. Watkins Land Mortgage Company.

After the company went into receivership, the English creditors committee represented by H. G. Chalkley, Junior, and T. H. Chalkley proved (in Watkins' mind) to be a business adversary bent on destroying him. Correspondence from 1896 through the 1930s chronicles the dissolution of joint English-American investment ventures and the dismemberment of businesses and lands into Watkins controlled and residual English controlled companies.

There are very few records that have survived from this office. Materials concerning the operation of the London office, while limited in amount, contribute in a significant way to understanding American business' reliance on international finance and foreign investment capital.

There are very few records that have survived from this office. The series is arranged chronologically and contains random pieces of correspondence, financial statements, and miscellaneous bills, receipts, and statements.