National Provincial Bank - History - National Provincial Bank of England

National Provincial Bank of England

The National Provincial Bank was organised as a joint-stock company by Thomas Joplin in 1833. At the time, the Bank of England had exclusive statutory power to issue banknotes within a 65-mile (105 km) radius of London. Although the bank's administrative offices were in London, it decided to open its branches outside the 65 mile radius so that the bank could issue its own notes. From the beginning National Provincial lived up to its name, serving provincial customers throughout England. The bank was without a national competitor for about 60 years. By 1836 it had over 20 branches across England and Wales.

The first branch of the bank was opened on 1 January 1834 in Gloucester. Like the District Bank, the company planned to establish new branches and acquire smaller banks, and by 1835 it had opened 20 new offices. The bank's expansion continued throughout the 19th century with new branch openings and by taking over smaller local banking companies:

By the mid-1860s, National Provincial had acquired more than a dozen small banks and had established 122 branches and sub-branches throughout England and Wales. It finally opened a London banking office in 1866, recognising that a presence in the world's financial capital was worth the sacrifice of its note-issuing privilege. In 1866 the bank opened a lavish head office at 15 Bishopsgate in the City of London, designed by John Gibson. Expansion continued, and now that the National Provincial Bank of England was established in the capital it began to take over a number of London-based banking companies, as well as further acquisitions in the English provinces, namely:

1911 saw the formation of Lloyds Bank (France) when Lloyds Bank acquired Armstrong and Co., based in Paris and Le Havre. From 1917 it was run jointly as Lloyds and National Provincial Bank. In 1955, Lloyds Bank bought full ownership and it became Lloyds Bank (Foreign) and later Lloyds Bank Europe.