The Western Australian Bank was a bank operating in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

from 1841 to 1927. It was formed amidst the aftermath of the sale of the first Bank of Western Australia (1837-1841), which had sold out to the

Bank of Australasia The Bank of Australasia was an Australian bank in operation from 1835 to 1951. Headquartered in London, the bank was incorporated by Royal Charter in March 1834. It had initially been planned to additionally include first South Africa and then ...

, as prominent colonists dissatisfied with the sale of the local bank to an English institution immediately responded by establishing a new rival banking operation. It was ultimately established on 26 June 1841 with a subscribed capital of £2,000. Its prospectus referred to the earlier bank as having "resolved (by a majority of six votes only) to commit an act of unnecessary and gratuitous suicide." It engaged in a period of fierce competition with the Bank of Western Australia, which saw the earlier bank close entirely in 1845. It began operating regional branches from the 1850s, beginning with

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

(1855), and was the first bank to open on the Western Australian goldfields when it opened at Coolgardie in 1894. It was one of the few Australian banks to not close its doors during the 1893 banking crisis. The bank's first premises were located in an adapted house on the corner of Pier Street and St George's Terrace,

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

(later the location of St Andrew's Church). It moved to new premises further west along St George's Terrace in 1846 and in 1886 built a permanent headquarters on the corner of William Street and St George's Terrace, being based there until the bank's closure. The Western Australian Bank was purchased by the

Bank of New South Wales The Bank of New South Wales (BNSW), also known commonly as The Wales, was the first bank in Australia, being established in Sydney in 1817 and situated on Broadway, New South Wales, Broadway. During the 19th century, the bank opened branches ...

in March 1927 for £2,012,500. This was the first merger or absorption by that establishment. It had a network of eighty branches across Western Australia at the time of the amalgamation.

Historic buildings

A number of former bank branches are now heritage-listed: * Western Australian Bank Building, Albany * Western Australian Bank Building, Bunbury * Western Australian Bank Building, Cue *

Westpac Bank Building, Fremantle The former Westpac Building, also known as the Challenge Bank Building and the Western Australian Bank Building, is a heritage listed building located at 22 High Street on the corner with Mouat Street in the Fremantle West End Heritage area ...

(former Western Australian Bank) * Western Australian Bank Building, Kalgoorlie * Western Australian Bank Building, Midland * Western Australian Bank Building, Northam * Western Australian Bank Building, Toodyay

References

{{Reflist, 30em Defunct banks of Australia 1837 establishments in Australia 1927 disestablishments in Australia Economic history of Western Australia Banks disestablished in 1927