District Bank
 |
|
| Industry | Banking |
|---|---|
| Fate | Acquisition by National Provincial Bank (1962) |
| Successor | National Westminster Bank |
| Founded | 1829 |
| Defunct | 1970 |
| Headquarters | 55 King Street, Manchester 2 |
| Parent | National Provincial Bank |
| Subsidiaries | County Bank Limited |
The Manchester and Liverpool District Bank was formed in 1829 and it became one of the leading provincial joint stock banks; its name was shortened to District Bank in 1924. The Bank was acquired by the National Provincial Bank in 1962 but kept its identity until the latter’s merger with Westminster Bank.
Joseph Macardy was an Irishman who became the senior partner of a firm of Manchester stockbrokers and in 1828 he became involved in the establishment of a new joint stock bank in the city. However, when his proposal to open branches in all the neighbouring towns was rejected, he immediately issued a prospectus for a new bank, specifically to have branches, and to be called either the District Banking Company or the Union Banking Company. In the event, the Bank duly opened in 1829 under the name Manchester and Liverpool District Banking; its success was such that by 1877 Grindon described it as “first and foremost among provincial joint-stock banks”.
The Bank actually opened first in in 1829 but this was through the acquisition of the local bank, Christy Lloyd. Christy and Company were “celebrated” London hatters and it was the founder’s son, William Miller-Christy, who supported a local hatter, John Worsley, to set up a bank in . Christy Lloyd opened in 1824 “and the hatters of Stockport thereafter received such financial advantage over hatters in other areas, that in due time Stockport became world famous for that product”.
In 1830, a year after acquiring Christy, the Bank opened its Manchester office. As promised, branches were opened in a number of local towns, not forgetting the important branch in Liverpool, thereby justifying the Bank’s lengthy title; by 1833 there were 17 branches. Acquisitions reinforced the branch openings, the first being in 1844 - the Nantwich and Cheshire Bank, founded five years earlier. This was followed in 1863 by the more substantial purchase of Lloyd Entwistle of Manchester. Lloyd Entwistle had descended from the firm of John Jones “bankers and tea dealers”, already established in the 1770s. In 1848, Jones Lloyd as it then was, separated its London and Manchester businesses. New partners were brought into the Manchester office (the Entwistle being Lloyds’ son-in-law).
The Manchester and Liverpool District Banking Company assumed limited liability in 1880 by which time there were 54 branches stretching across to Yorkshire and down to Staffordshire. An all-important London office was opened five years later. A major expansion of the Bank’s coverage took place in 1907 with the acquisition of the Lancaster Bank, which had 57 branches in the north of Lancashire compared to the 118 of the Liverpool and Manchester.
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