Victorian era -- What is a counting-house?

Question

In Christmas Carol, Scrooge was said to work in a Counting-House. What is it? Is it a sort of bank? And what does one do in a counting-house? ...Count money? from where?

Answer 1

A counting house, or compting house, literally is the building, room, office or suite in which a business firm carries on operations, particularly accounting. By an obvious synecdoche, it has come to mean the accounting operations of a firm, however housed. The term is British in origin and is primarily used in the context of the 19th century or earlier periods

atp

Answer 2

A "counting house" in Victorian times might, indeed, have been a private bank or lending operation, but the term means something broader than that. It is any kind of business office, particularly the head office of a firm where the owner and his clerical staff (particularly the bookkeepers etc.) work. This is whre payments were made and records (accounts) were kept. Scrooge (and, before that, Scrooge and his partner Marley) ran the business from that office (I don't think it is ever specified what the business actually is, but it's a while since I read Chrismas Carol or saw a movie version).

Answer 3

A counting house is the building, room or suite where a business carries out operations, particularly accounting. In the case of a bank, it is the room where the days reciepts are counted up and the money is counted up to make sure the records and the cash match. It is the same thing in a casino.

Answer 4

I think it's just a room rich people used to have to count their own money.

The old nursery rhyme goes:

'The King was in his counting house, counting all his money
The Queen was in the parlour eating bread and honey'

A most reliable source obviously ;)

Answer 5

He was a money lender/collector. And basically they counted the money coming in and going out.

Answer 6

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