PLYMOUTH |
The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
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NATIONAL PROVINCIAL BANK A Mr Thomas Joplin was the originator of the National Provincial Bank of England, although in 1828 he had wanted it to go under the grandiose title of the Royal Bank. The revised title was adopted in 1833 and a deed of settlement in that name was signed on Monday September 23rd in that year. The Bank's policy was to open branches outside the 65-mile limit around London so that it was able to issue its own bank notes. However, its head office was in London. The first branch was opened on January 1st 1834 at Gloucester and was followed by ones at Brecon, Walsall, Birmingham, Wotton-under-Edge, Boston and Wisbech. Many of its branches were established by acquisition of smaller private banks and that was how the National Provincial arrived in Plymouth -- by acquiring Messrs Husband and Company's Devonport General Bank in 1839. In 1866 the National Provincial Bank was obliged to give up issuing its own bank notes. It acquired limited liability in 1880 as the National Provincial Bank of England Ltd. On Thursday April 16th 1903 the Bank moved into premises within the brand new Prudential Building at the junction of Bedford Street, Frankfort Street and George Street. Read description ..... Merger in 1918 with the 230+ branches of the Union of London and Smiths Bank Ltd brought a new title -- National Provincial and Union Bank of England Ltd. The Union Bank had taken over the Borough Arms Coffee Tavern premises at 35 Bedford Street, Plymouth, sometime around 1900. In 1924 the Bank's name was shortened to just the National Provincial Bank Ltd. It acquired the District Bank Ltd in 1962, although it continued to trade separately. A merchant banking arm, the County Bank Ltd, was formed in 1965. A merger with the Westminster Bank Ltd was announced in 1968 but it did not take effect until January 1st 1970, when the National Westminster Bank came into existence.
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