Gurney's bank was a family-run bank founded by members of the Gurney family in 1770 and headquartered in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It merged into Barclays Bank in 1896.

History

The bank was founded in 1770 by John and Henry Gurney, sons of John Gurney (1688–1741), who passed the business to Henry's son, Bartlett Gurney, in 1777. The bank was founded in what is now known as ''Bank Plain'' (formerly Redwell Street). The

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

Gurneys were renowned for their honesty, reliability, and fair dealings — so people entrusted them their money for safe keeping. About 1777,

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

Poole, a wine merchant, sold Bartlett Gurney premises near to the red well, and Gurney installed safes for bullion. A junior clerk slept on the trapdoor to the vaults to safeguard the valuables. The bank issued its own notes. A bull mastiff (complete with brass collar) stood on guard inside the doors at the Bank Plain premises, and there was always a

blunderbuss The blunderbuss is a 17th- to mid-19th-century firearm with a short, large caliber Gun barrel, barrel. It is commonly flared at the muzzle (firearms), muzzle to help aid in the loading of Lead shot, shot and other projectiles of relevant quantity ...

at the ready. Bartlett Gurney died in 1802, without a male heir, in Norwich. He was succeeded in control of the bank by his cousins, including John Gurney, whose children included the banker Samuel Gurney. On his father's death in 1809, Samuel Gurney assumed the control of the Norwich bank. About the same time, he also took over the control of the London billbroking business of Richardson, Overend & Company, in which he was already a partner. The title of the firm was subsequently changed to

Overend, Gurney and Company Overend, Gurney and Company was a London wholesale banking, wholesale discount bank, known as "the bankers' bank", which collapsed in 1866 owing about £11 million, equivalent to £ million in . The collapse of the institution triggered a bankin ...

, and for forty years it was the greatest discounting house in the world. Samuel Gurney died in 1856. In 1865, the business of Overend, Gurney & Company, which had come under less competent control, went public as a

joint stock company A joint-stock company (JSC) is a business entity in which shares of the company's capital stock, stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their share (finance), shares (certifi ...

, but in 1866 the firm suspended payment with liabilities amounting to £11,000,000 Sterling. The failure of that bank ruined a number of the Gurneys, as well as numerous investors. The Norwich bank, however, escaped significant damage to its business and reputation from the collapse of the cousins' business. ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' stated, shortly after the suspension: "It is understood that the suspension of Overend, Gurney & Co will not in the slightest degree compromise Gurney's Bank of Norwich. That establishment recently passed into the hands of new partners, whose resources are beyond all question". The Gurney family was known for its wealth; in

Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) and to the works they jointly created. The two men collaborated on fourteen com ...

's 1875

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Trial by Jury A jury trial, or trial by jury, is a legal proceeding in which a jury makes a decision or findings of fact. It is distinguished from a bench trial, in which a judge or panel of judges makes all decisions. Jury trials are increasingly used ...

'', a character describes his accumulation of wealth until he "became as rich as the Gurneys". In 1896, Gurney's Bank merged with Backhouse's Bank of Darlington and Barclays Bank of London and several other provincial banks, controlled by Quaker families, to form what is now Barclays Bank.

References

External links

Archives of Gurney's & Company, Norwich, 1775-1896
at archives hub {{Barclays Defunct banks of the United Kingdom 1770 establishments in England Banks established in 1770 Companies based in Norwich History of Norfolk Banks disestablished in 1896 History of Norwich 1896 disestablishments in England Gurney family British companies disestablished in 1896

History

See also

References

Further reading

External links