Banking in The United Kingdom - 19th Century

19th Century

On 23 October 1826 a new joint stock bank, Lancaster Banking Company, was formed. However earlier that year the Bristol Old bank had converted from a private to a joint stock bank, making it the first joint stock bank This was quickly followed by other institutions such as the Manchester & Liverpool District Banking Company and the National Provincial Bank. The National Provincial was the first bank to be considered a truly national bank with twenty branches across England and Wales.

In 1844 the government introduced the Bank Charter Act to regulate the issuing of bank notes. Two banking collapses, one in 1866 and another in 1878 caused significant reputation damage but in consequence record keeping and accounting improved. The resulting new organisations became huge bureaucracies with a board of directors, general manager, secretary and an army of accounting clerks.

In 1896 twenty smaller private banks formed a new joint-stock bank. The leading partners of the new bank, which was named Barclay and Company, were already connected by a web of family, business and religious relationships. The company became known as the Quaker Bank, because this was the family tradition of the founding families. This bank eventually became Barclays PLC.