Wexford Bank Redmond's 1770-1829

[DOC]

Redmond’s Wexford Bank is reputed to have been established as early as 1770 and operated as a private bank until 1829 when it became an agency of the Bank of Ireland. A notable feature is that the bank lasted for almost 50 years surviving the 1820 Crisis. Few notes survive and there is limited information about the partnerships of the bank over its relatively long period of existence.

A printing plate for 30 shillings has survived and ‘pulls’ or modern reproductions of the 30 shillings notes have been produced. An example is attached which lists the following partners: John Edward Redmond, Richard Devereux and John Brennan. The plate most likely dates from the 1820’s.

[Mac]

Here is an example of banknote paper from Redmond's bank, ex Gaertner's current auction, Lot 253.

[DOC]

That is a nice find and a letter included in this lot provides some interesting additional information about Redmond’s Bank.

[Mac]

Very useful to see documents like this turn up, especially for a bank like Redmond's where there is a lack of notes available for study.
The watermark detail on the blank note paper is also interesting.

[DOC]

The Redmonds were an old Anglo-Norman family who were dispossessed of their lands in the 1650’s. They restored their fortunes through involvement in commercial and political activity to become one of the most influential families in Wexford.

I found this family tree issued by the Wexford Library Services which may be useful in identifying partners of the Wexford Bank. John Edward Redmond (1806-1865) took over as lead partner upon the death of his father, John Redmond (1770-1822). The original founder of the bank is unclear but presumably it was John Redmond’s father Edward Redmond.

Walter Redmond (1768-1822), the brother of John Redmond is reputed to have been involved in the bank also. Patrick Walter Redmond (1803-1869) is reported to have been a partner with John Edward Redmond at the time it became an agency of the Bank of Ireland in 1829.

[DOC]

Thomas Redmond of Wexford also registered a bank in 1799 with business partner Matthew Widdup. The bank is also mentioned in a list of registered bankers for the year 1804. This bank is separate to that of John Redmond & Co. and listed as such in the 1804 list of registered banks.

It is unclear if John Redmond was related to Thomas Redmond although the family tree for the latter suggests that they were not closely related. No notes have been seen to date from Thomas Redmond & Co.

[Mac]

They may have been cousins perhaps?

[DOC]

They may have been cousins perhaps?

A good question and one that might be answered by the local historian with access to more detailed records.

John Redmond & Co. is reputed to have opened a branch of his bank in Enniscorthy. Paper Money of Ireland (PMI) provides an illustration of a ‘silver note’ for One Shilling Seven Pence Half-Penny issued in Enniscorthy by Richard Redmond & Co in 1804. This suggests that Richard Redmond & Co. is a sister bank rather than another branch of John Redmond & Co.

[callahiljo]

The Wexford Bank pull whose image appears earlier in this thread was on offer at the Dublin Coin Fair this last weekend. I took a close look at it and I could see the paper had a partial watermark on it, the letters ... BROOK being visible curving on to the note at the lower centre, just where the partners names are printed. My feeling from the look and feel of the paper is that the pulls may not be as "modern" as we suggest in PMI. That information came from Bob Blake many years ago but I have no further evidence as to when the pulls might actually have been produced, nor am I sure who made them or where the plate is. I was told a small group of the pulls (maybe three?) appeared on the market a few years ago but this is the only one I have actually seen.

Can anyone add to the story?

[DOC]

The author of a newspaper article in 1912, recalls seeing the plates used for the original printing of Redmond Bank notes. However, there is no mention that these plates were used to print pulls. I wonder if the information regarding modern ‘pulls’ came from an article in Irish Numismatics?

[Mac]

I am not aware of any articles on Redmond's bank among the Private Bank articles in Irish Numismatics. There could have been a snippet on it somewhere in the magazines though.
An excuse to read through all the issues again!