Banking papers

Papers relating to banking, comprising:
1. A legal opinion concerning the Bank of England monopoly and the exclusion of Scottish banks, with particular reference to the act of 1833 (3 & 4 Will.IV c.98), [1874]. A partially erased endorsement in pencil appears to read 'Mr.Backhouse - Please table this corrected copy... J.S.'
2. Printed circular with manuscript additions from John Dun of Warrington to Edmund Backhouse, 25 Nov 1875. The circular contains tables of the assets and liabilities of the banks of the United Kingdom, with an explanation of the methods used in obtaining the results. The writer hopes for information from Backhouse.
3. Manuscript lists of failed private banks, with names of their owners; Joint Stock Banks that had closed; and private banks, with names of their owners, that had 'ceased to issue through amalgamation or otherwise'. Each entry has a figure beside it, possibly showing assets at time of closure. Each leaf is initialled 'E.B.' (Edmund Backhouse).
4. 'Speeches made in the debate on the renewal of the Bank of England Charter, 1833', reprinted from Hansard, 3rd series, vol.20, pp.469, 496-7, 499.

Edmund Backhouse (1824-1906) came from a family of prominent Quaker bankers. He was MP for Durham from 1868-1880, and married Juliet Fox, daughter of Charles Fox, in 1848.

Access to the items in the collection is unrestricted for the purpose of private study and personal research within the controlled environment and restrictions of the Library's Palaeography Room. Access to archive collections may be restricted under the Freedom of Information Act. Please contact the University Archivist for details.

Transferred from the Goldsmiths' Library in 1969.

Collection level description.

Compiled by Sarah Aitchison as part of the RSLp AIm25 Project.

Family papers of the Backhouse family are held at Durham University Library.

Copies may be made, subject to the condition of the original. Copying must be undertaken by the Palaeography Room staff, who will need a minimum of 24 hours to process requests.

A note by Herbert Somerton Foxwell on the covering sheet states that the manuscripts were from the Edmund Backhouse Collection, 1907.