Bank of Liverpool

The Bank of Liverpool was a financial institution founded in 1831 in Liverpool, England.

In 1918, it acquired Martins Bank,[1] and the name of the merged bank became the Bank of Liverpool and Martins Ltd. The name was shortened to Martins Bank Ltd in 1928.[2]

The successor bank was bought by Barclays Bank Ltd in 1969, when all of its 700 branches became branches of Barclays.

History

Formation

By the time that the Bank of Liverpool was formed, there were already seven private banks in the city, the most prominent of which, Arthur Heywood, had been in existence since 1773.[3] However, in 1826 a new Act of Parliament limited the Bank of England's monopoly of joint stock banking to within 65 miles of London and allowed the creation of new joint stock banks in the provinces. The first of the new joint stock banks to open an office in Liverpool (in 1829) was the Manchester and Liverpool District Bank, regarded as a "needless humiliation" by the local merchants. Encouraged by William Brown, the Bank of Liverpool was formed in 1831 and was the first joint stock bank to have its head office in Liverpool.[4]

Early history

The early shareholders included many prominent Liverpool names including Bibby, Booth, Hornby and Rathbone. William Brown was the first chairman and Joseph Langton the general manager. After opening in temporary premises in Brunswick Street, the Bank purchased the Talbot Inn in Water Street and moved into the converted building in 1832; the Bank stayed in Water Street for the remainder of its independent existence.

External links

Martins Bank Archive

References

Brian Moseley. Martin's Bank The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History, 23 November 2011, retrieved 12 February 2015^
Museum of Liverpool Life^
John Hughes. Liverpool Banks and Bankers 1760-1837 Henry Young & Sons (Liverpool); Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co (London), 1906

Creation of a regional bank

Once the Bank had established itself as the leading bank in Liverpool, it began a series of acquisitions that was to take it into the regions, before eventually establishing a London presence in 1918 with the acquisition of Martins Bank. Each of the acquired banks was itself the product of its own local amalgamations.

1893 The Kendal Bank. Two Kendal banks were formed in 1788, namely Wakefield's Bank and Joseph Maude's Kendal Bank (with Christopher Wilson and Thomas Crewdson), which amalgamated in 1840, later acquiring other local banks. By 1893 the Kendal Bank had 11 full branches and 15 sub-branches in Westmoreland and Cumberland.[8]

1906 The Craven Bank was founded in the Craven district of Yorkshire in 1791 by long-standing local families. At the time of its acquisition its head office was at Skipton and there were 14 branches, taking the Bank of Liverpool's total to 71.[9]

1911 The Carlisle and Cumberland Bank was formed in 1836, Carlisle being "entirely destitute of a native joint stock bank establishment". By the turn of the century it was having difficulty competing with the larger banks and sought a merger.[9]

1914-18 The North Eastern Banking Company was, east of the Pennines, the equivalent of Bank of Liverpool to the west. North Eastern was a later creation, the prospectus for the joint stock bank being issued in 1872. The two principal offices were in Newcastle upon Tyne and Middlesbrough; the leading shareholder Sir Andrew Noble; managing director Benjamin Noble; and Glyn's Bank supplied the company secretary. Branch opening was immediately accelerated by the purchase of the Alnwick and County Bank in 1875 taking the total number of branches to 24. The second and last bank to be acquired by the North Eastern was Dale, Young and Company in 1892. Dale and Company had been founded by John Brodrick Dale, already an experienced banker, in 1858 and he remained senior partner until his Bank's acquisition. Succession issues at the North Eastern led to its management approaching the Bank of Liverpool with a view to merging. The choices for both banks were either to join up with a London bank or to merge, creating a bank strong enough to move into London in its own right. In 1914 the two banks agreed the merger (although, in practice, it was a takeover by Liverpool) and formed the largest English bank with its head office outside London; the North Eastern, headquartered in Newcastle, brought with it 72 branches and 27 sub-branches. Although the merger was agreed in 1914, the onset of war meant it was not effected until 1918.[4][10]

History

Formation

Early history

External links

References

Expansion in Liverpool

Creation of a regional bank

Move to London

Bank of Liverpool and Martins

Martins Bank