The first Bank of South Australia was founded by the South Australian Company in 1837 and became defunct in 1892. It was essentially a British venture, closely supervised by British directors, but utilizing the knowledge and advice of local managers in South Australia.

History

It was created in 1837 by British investors. From 1840, it was associated with or a subsidiary of the South Australian Banking Company. From 1868, there was only one body, the Bank of South Australia. At the time of the gold rush, and the South Australia Colony was beset with, apart from the shortage of workers, a financial crisis due to the sudden increase in the availability of gold and the lack of sufficient currency to pay for it. The manager,

George Tinline George Tinline (28 October 1815 – 4 February 1895) was a nineteenth-century South Australian banker and politician. Tinline made his fortune when the Bank of South Australia created 25,000 guinea coins solving a currency crisis caused by a gol ...

, created an

assay office Assay offices are institutions set up to Metallurgical assay, assay (test the purity of) precious metals. This is often done to protect consumers from buying fake items. Upon successful completion of an assay (i.e. if the metallurgical content is fo ...

and mint, and the conversion of some of the diggers' gold to bullion which could be used as a form of currency. A Bullion Act was passed and some 25,000 £1 coins were minted, but were not recognised as legal currency by the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...

. Tinline was awarded a purse of 2,000 guineas (£2,200; several millions of dollars in today's money), and an elaborate silver salver (now in the

Art Gallery of South Australia The Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA), established as the National Gallery of South Australia in 1881, is located in Adelaide. It is the most significant visual arts museum in the Australian state of South Australia. It has a collection of ...

). Tinline was sacked by the bank in 1859 after severe losses caused by a customer defaulting.Christine Hirst, 'Tinline, George (1815–1895)', ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/tinline-george-4725/text7839, published in hardcopy 1976, accessed online 31 August 2014.

Foundation

Officers: * David McLaren, manager *

Edward Stephens Edward Stephens may refer to: *Edward Stephens (MP for Dover) (c. 1552–?), English politician *Edward Stephens (MP for Tewkesbury and Gloucestershire) (1597–c. 1670), English lawyer and politician *Edward Stephens (Royal Navy Lieutenant), see L ...

, cashier and acting manager Board of Directors: * George Fife Angas *

Raikes Currie Raikes Currie (15 April 1801 – 16 October 1881) was Member of Parliament (MP) for Northampton from 1837 to 1857. He was a partner of the bank Curries & Co, along with his father, Isaac Currie, in Cornhill, City of London, and had several int ...

, M.P. * Charles Hindley, M.P. *Henry Kingscote *

John Pirie Sir John Pirie, 1st Baronet (1781 – 26 February 1851), was a British shipbroker and Lord Mayor of London. He was the largest shipbroker in London.

*Christopher Rawson * John Rundle, M.P. *Thomas Smith * James Ruddell-Todd *

Henry Waymouth Henry Waymouth (21 January 1775– 23 January 1848), also spelt Weymouth, was a Baptist activist and campaigner, and a founder of the South Australian Company. Waymouth was born in Exeter, the son of Henry (d.1803) and Sarah Waymouth (née Brya ...

Managers

(later occasionally titled "Colonial Manager" – South Australian Company title or to distinguish from branch managers?) *David McLaren 1837 *Edward Stephens – officially from 1841 (but in practice from a much earlier date) to c. 1856 *John Coleman Dixon (acting manager, then manager of South Australian Banking Company / Bank of South Australia from 1855 to 1865) *William Selby Douglas (previously manager Gawler branch) 1864 to 1869 *

Thomas Drury Smeaton Thomas Drury Smeaton (c. 1831 – 18 February 1908) trained in England as an engineer, emigrated to the British colony of South Australia, where he was known as a banker and amateur scientist. History Thomas Smeaton was born in London "within so ...

(previously manager Robe branch) occasionally between 1870 and 1884 *William G. Cuthbertson to 1878? *John Currie 1879 to 1884 *Vipont Howgate 1884 to 1886 *Anderson (acting pro tem) *John White Meldrum (died 12 January 1898) 1887 to 1891 *J. L. Ogilvie (1891 to 1892) In 1892, under pressure of falling share values, and following collapse of banks in Victoria, the Bank of South Australia was taken over by the

Union Bank of Australia The Union Bank of Australia was an Australian bank in operation from 1837 to 1951. It was established in London in October 1837 with a subscribed capital of £500,000. The foundation of the bank had followed a visit to England by Van Diemen's Land ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:South Australia, Bank of Defunct banks of Australia History of Adelaide Banks established in 1837 1837 establishments in Australia Banks disestablished in 1892 1892 disestablishments in Australia