Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, who was born 90 years ago today, is celebrated as a symbol of continuity in a rapidly changing world. In her lifetime, for example, split-second trading in securities by computers has replaced open outcry dealing by bowler-hatted humans. But it is surprising how much a modern City of London type would recognise if taken back in time.

On April 21 1926, financial types were worried by trade barriers, the weakness of the UK steel industry and executive pay. That all sounds familiar, albeit that a controversial bonus pool at the Dunlop Rubber Company amounted to just ￡18,000. Investors might not have had a contentious referendum on EU membership to contend with. But a general strike broke out the following month.

Contemporary accounts give the lie to the notion that London’s Square Mile was any more representative of British business in the past than it is now. There was hectic trading in foreign securities, ranging from sovereign bonds to corporate equity. The difference was that overseas companies were often colonial in character, as suggested by names such as Glenshiel Rubber Estates.

A Financial Times from April 21 1926 shows which business franchises have the longest shelf lives. Banks stand out. Barclays, HSBC and Lloyds were all on a list of big lenders, alongside many that have disappeared through amalgamation and name changes. Optimism is needed to imagine that the trio are now under serious pressure from challenger banks, as politicians hope.

Like Her Majesty, big natural resource companies have also withstood the test of time. Oil company Royal Dutch is listed alongside miners such as Anglo American and Rio Tinto. Addictive substances bestow enduring market power too. British American Tobacco and Imperial have outlived many of their customers.

Outside banking, natural resources and tobacco, only a smattering of names are recognisable. They include media group Daily Mail Trust, soap company Lever Brothers (which became Unilever) and engineer Rolls-Royce.

The dominant investment banks would have been familiar to a Victorian and would remain so for another 60 to 70 years. They included Barings, Cazenove and Hambros, brands that now belong to other organisations. Schroders lives on as a large, independent fund manager. Rothschild and Lazard continue to plough their furrows today.

The City milieu of the 1920s was little changed from Victorian times. Automation, in the form of typewriters and adding machines, had yet to penetrate most counting houses. Calculation and documentation was mostly manual.

Women were entering the workforce in increasing numbers as typists, according to historian David Kynaston. But critics would say their progress into senior roles since then has been lamentably slow.

The Queen opened London Stock Exchange buildings in 1972 and 2004, and in 2008 memorably asked why economists failed to predict the credit crunch during a visit to the London School of Economics. But her relations with the City have been dutiful rather than close.

It cuts both ways. When she was born, the FT recorded the news in two sentences. One of these, by way of establishing newsworthiness, pointed out that her uncle was a stockbroker.