National Bank of Liverpool

National Bank of Liverpool (1863-83) was a past constituent of NatWest.

National Bank of Liverpool was established in Liverpool in 1863 as a limited liability company with a nominal capital of £1m divided into 10,000 shares of £100 each, largely subscribed by shareholders resident in Ireland. It was projected under the auspices of former directors of The National Bank Ltd, anticipating mutual benefit from financing trade between Ireland and Liverpool. It never really acquired such business on any scale, although by late 1863 deposits totalled £480,000 and the company’s capital was increased to £3m in 1864. However, the bank's growth was checked by the financial panic of 1866 and losses in subsequent years and in 1870 paid-up capital was only £449,000. In 1871 it acquired the Liverpool and Birkenhead branches of Alliance Bank Ltd and opened branches in Bootle and Waterloo. The bank was acquired by Parr’s Banking Co Ltd in 1883.

Published histories

• TE Gregory, The Westminster Bank through a Century (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1936)

Summary of our archive holdings

Our archival records of National Bank of Liverpool Ltd have the reference codes NB and NBL.

For help understanding words used here, check our glossary of banking record types (PDF 68 KB).

• minutes of promoters' meetings 1863-6
• articles of association 1863-9
• daily committee minutes 1864-5
• cheques 1868
• annual report 1870

Summary of archive holdings elsewhere

• Bank of England Archive: Freshfields papers re prosecutions concerning forged and other imitation banknotes, incl reference to bill paper for National Bank of Liverpool in 1868 (Ref: F2/58)