Stuckey's Banking Co Ltd

This joint stock bank, the second to be formed in the country, was created in 1826 by the amalgamation of three Stuckey family banks – Stuckey, Lean, Hart & Maningford of Bristol, S & G Stuckey & Co of Langport and Stuckeys & Woodlands of Bridgwater – along with the private Bristol bank of Ricketts, Thorne & Courtney. The banks continued to trade under their separate names until 1828 when all became part of Stuckey's Banking Co.

The early policy of the bank was to expand throughout Somerset and Bristol by acquisition of private banks and by branch and agency openings. Initially based in Langport, it became a major West Country bank under the leadership of Vincent Stuckey. The private banks absorbed were Payne & Co and Sparks & Co, both of Crewkerne, in 1829; Waldron, Walters & Co of Frome and Trowbridge in 1833; Henry Whitmash & William Lambert White of Yeovil and Wincanton in 1835; Reeves & Co of Glastonbury and Shepton Mallet in 1835; Tufnell, Falkner & Co of Bath in 1841; U, G & H Messiter of Wincanton in 1844; J & HB Batten of Yeovil in 1849; H, HJ & D Badcock of Taunton in 1873; Kinglake & Co of Taunton in 1838; and Dunsford & Co of Tiverton in 1883. The latter acquisition marked the beginning of expansion outside Somerset. In about 1831 a London firm, named Stuckey, Reynolds & Co, was opened. Walter Bagehot, later to be a distinguished political economist, was secretary of the bank from the 1850s.

In 1874 the first published balance sheet showed a paid-up capital of £278,000 and a balance sheet total of £4.29m. In 1892 limited liability was acquired and in 1908 the head office was moved to Taunton. In 1909 the bank amalgamated with Parr's Bank. It then had 47 branches and 24 sub-branches, and a paid-up capital of £408,000.

Branches: In 1909 34 branches and 35 sub-branches were operating.

Published histories

• CH Cave, History of Banking in Bristol from 1750 to 1899 (Bristol: privately published 1899)
• TE Gregory, The Westminster Bank through a Century (London: privately published by Westminster Bank, 1936)
• PT Saunders, Stuckey’s Bank (Taunton: Barnicott & Pearce,1928)

Summary of our archive holdings

Our archival records of Stuckeys Banking Co Ltd have the reference code STU.

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

Partnership/corporate records

• personal papers c.1770-1880
• directors' meeting minute books 1827-1909
• letter: Kinglake & Co c.1838, Jones, Loyd & Co 1864
• merger agreement, Tufnell, Falkner & Co 1841
• committee meeting minute books 1842-1906
• general meeting minute books 1858-1909
• share certificate 1876
• deed of settlement 1892
• register of directors 1900-9
• amalgamation agreement and papers 1909
• list of proprietors n.d.

Financial records

• half-yearly report 1835
• balance sheets 1848-1909
• promissory note 1850

Customer records

• debit note 1827
• notice of interest and discount rates 1855
• deposit receipts 1864, 1882-1904
• forms of charge c.1884-1900
• cheques and cheque forms 1826-1917
• customer ledger 1772-1806

Head office branch records

• branch instructions 1902

Staff records

• pension regulations n.d.

Property records

• branch premises papers 1891-1904
• branch photographs c.1891-1916
• architectural drawing for new premises at Bridgwater 1904
• architectural drawing showing proposed alterations to the premises at Langport 1875
• correspondence and receipts concerning the Langport bank house 1903-9
• premises register 1906-10

Note issue records

• banknotes 1879-1909

Branch records

• various branches 1874-1909

Summary of archive holdings elsewhere

• Somerset Archives and Local Studies: papers re building of bank 1823; accounts of assets and liabilities c.1830-40 (Ref: DD/FS Bx3; DD/DP Bxs 91-92)