Records of Shropshire Banking Company relating to the establishment and operation of the firm and to its amalgamation with Lloyds, including:
Foundation
This joint-stock bank was established in 1836 through the amalgamation of four Shropshire private banks: Horden & Hill (est. 1791) of Newport; Reynolds, Charlton & Co. (est. 1805) of Wellington; Darby & Co. (est. 1810) of Coalbrookdale; Biddle, Mountford, Pidcock & Cope (est. 1824) of Shifnal. The head office was established at Shifnal; the other offices were within eight miles but provided important diversity of mineral and agricultural interests. The first director was William Henry Cope, who also joined the Lloyds Board on amalgamation.
Expansion
The bank was closely connected with the local iron and coal industries and its fortunes varied with their performance. It was gravely weakened by internal troubles and suffered from one of the biggest frauds by employees in the early 1850s. It managed to quickly recover from losses, which had absorbed more than twice the capital. The secret of this resilience lay in the prompt action of the directors who were quick to put large sums into the bank and to bring the accounting under proper control.
Takeover
The bank was relatively prosperous when acquired by Lloyds in 1874.
Access is by appointment only, and at the discretion of the Archivist. Please e-mail archives@lloydsbanking.com for further information.
Item level catalogue available - please e-mail archives@lloydsbanking.com for further details.
