Irish Private Banks - Early Financial Instruments

[DOC]

This posting string relates to financial instuments, including banknotes, of the early Irish bankers operating prior to 1800. Few items survive and it is hoped that new material will come to light to provide more information about the early Irish banks.

Modern banking in Ireland originated in the late 17th century with the formation of private banks by merchants and goldsmiths, principly in Dublin but also in Cork. These banks implemented many of the innovations of the London goldsmith-bankers, issuing notes payable to the bearer on demand and allowing depositors to direct payments against their deposits.

Here is an example of a drawn or ‘pray pay’ note for £28 1s 4d, drawn in Dublin in 1713 in favour of James Swift upon the London goldsmith-banker Francis Child at 3 days sight. The signature of the person who drafted the note is unclear. This is one of the earliest known surviving financial instruments with an Ireland association.

[callahiljo]

Doc, do you know where this item is now to be found? I used the scan in both editions of PMI having obtained it from Bob Blake, Unfortunately he is no longer around to tell me where he got it from. Maybe the original item is in the National Museum but in fact I have only ever seen the scan.

[DOC]

Doc, do you know where this item is now to be found? I used the scan in both editions of PMI having obtained it from Bob Blake, Unfortunately he is no longer around to tell me where he got it from. Maybe the original item is in the National Museum but in fact I have only ever seen the scan.

Callahiljo, I do not know where this item currently resides. It was sold at DNW in 2009, so it is most likely in the possession of a collector. It would be very interesting to see the endorsements on the back as the item may have passed through some hands in Dublin before presentation in London. Hopefully, one of the Forum members can provide some additional information !

[DOC]

Here is another example of a ‘pray pay’ note similar in format to the 1713 example posted previously. This example for £34 11s 11d was drawn by Ross Mahon of Castlegar, Galway, in 1746 upon the Dublin bankers, Thomas Dillon & Co., in favour of Theodore Glover or order at thirty one days sight. The bill was received by Thomas Dillon & Co. on July 7th and annotated as such.

[DOC]

Here is another example of a drawn note in similar format to the ‘Pray Pay’ notes posted previously. The note for £11 14s, dated 11th July 1748, is drawn by William Armstrong (Mealife, Co. Tipperary) upon the Dublin banker, James Dexter, in favour of Richard Purcell and payable at twenty one days after sight. The note is signed on behalf of James Dexter by Thomas Fletcher on 28th July 1748.

The endorsements on the back are interesting and indicate that Richard Purcell endorsed the note and transferred it to a John Osborne who eventually received payment on 30th August 1748. Financial instruments of this type circulated as money during the 18th century and facilitated the transfer of considerable sums of money in business transactions.

[DOC]

The drawn notes eventually evolved into the modern day cheque. Here is an example of an early check in a similar format to the earlier drawn notes. This one is drawn by William Morris on behalf of the Duke of Leinster instructing the Dublin bankers David La Touche & Sons to pay £50 to the bearer.

[DOC]

The accolade for the first banknotes goes to China where banknotes were printed on deer hide leather about 118 BC. However, the phenomenon was short lived and had little enduring impact outside China. The modern banknote can trace its origin to the activities of the London Goldsmith bankers in the 17th century who issued receipts to individuals or bearer for valuables such as gold and silver deposited with them for safekeeping. These receipts began to circulate as a form of currency leading to the development of the modern banknote.

The banknotes issued by the goldsmith-bankers were generally completely handwritten for variable amounts. The earliest surviving examples are those issued by the London-based goldsmith banker, Field Whorwood in 1654. An example of an entirely handwritten banknote issued in 1697 by the Bank of England for £22, is attached.

Few bankers operated in Ireland prior to 1700 but it is possible that Richard Hoare (Dublin), Joseph Demar (Dublin) or Edward Hoare (Cork) could have issued banknotes of this type, entirely in hand written form. Perhaps an Irish note of this type could one day come to light !

[Mac]

It would certainly be a nice find to come across a note issued by Hoare's bank!

[DOC]

Stockholms Banco, the future Bank of Sweden, was the first European bank to introduce printed banknotes during the period 1661-1668. Other issuing authorities introduced printed or partly printed banknotes in the late 1600’s and early 1700’s. This was most likely driven by a desire to prevent counterfeiting and add more credibility to their note issues.

The earliest known notes of the Irish Private Banks were partly printed and of non-fixed denomination. Here is an unissued example from the Cork Bank of William Williams Hewitt & Co. from about 1776. An unissued note of the London private banking house of Messrs. Child & Co., from ca. 1786, is included for comparison and is of similar format. The notes of the latter provide useful insights into the early Irish note issues as there is a reasonable number of surviving issued examples and the Irish notes were very much aligned with the format used by the early London bankers.

[DOC]

The partly printed notes of the early private bankers were versatile financial instruments and could be issued in different ways as follows.

• Payable to a named individual on demand
• Payable to a named individual or to bearer on demand
• Payable to a named individual or order on demand (assignable to another individual)
• Payable to bearer on demand
• Payable on demand after a specific period of time

Here is an example of a note issued by the London banking house of Francis Child & Co., payable solely to an individual, Sir Brownlow Sherard, for £422 11s. Irish private banks issued notes of this type although no survivors have emerged to date. The will of Edward Cusack of Rathgarr, Dublin, who died in 1779, makes reference to a ‘banknote of Latouche and Sons payable to myself only for £1,000 sterling’.

[DOC]

Here is an example of a note issued by the London banking house of Francis Child & Co., payable to an individual, Mr. John Agutter, or bearer for £40. This was probably the most popular format used by private bankers during the 18th century.

Irish private banks also issued notes payable to an individual or bearer. Paper Money of Ireland, 2nd Edition, by Jonathan Callaway, provides an illustration of the earliest known surviving Irish banknote, a £20 note issued by Samuel Burton & Co. of Dublin, dated 21st February 1732. This note is payable to a Mr. James Ferall or bearer. An example of a later 1 guinea note of fixed denomination issued by the Belfast Bank of John Ewing in 1794 is also shown. This note is payable to John Caldwell or bearer.

[DOC]

Here is an example of a note issued by the London banking house of Francis Child & Co., payable to an individual, John Anstis Esq, or order, for £20. This note would have been transferable to another individual by endorsement.

Irish private banks also issued notes payable to an individual or order though few examples survive. Here is an example of a fixed denomination for 5 Guineas issued by John Finlay & Co., Dublin, in 1798 and payable to James Aird Esq (?) or order. The promissory statement has been further modified to payable on demand after seven days.

[DOC]

The partly printed notes of the early private bankers could also be issued directly to bearer similar in form to the modern banknote. However, this form appears to have been less frequently used prior to 1800 given the higher risks should a banknote be lost or stolen.

Here is one of the earliest surviving examples of an Irish note issued solely to bearer, a 5 Guineas note from 1789 of the Waterford private bank, Hayden & Rivers.

[Mac]

An interesting note, and a rarity.
A pity about the heavy stamps on it.

[DOC]

The partly printed notes of the early private bankers could also be issued as payable to the bearer after a specified time period. This form is known as a sight note. Here are two examples, one issued by Sir Francis Child & Co. of London, the other by Thomas Dillon & Co. of Dublin.

The promissory statement of the Francis Child & Co. note has been altered from payable to ‘Francis Powel or bearer on demand’ to payable to ‘Francis Powel or order ten days after date’.

The £10 note issued by Thomas Dillon & Co. in 1753 is payable to ‘Hyacinth Daly Esq. or bearer after 21 days on demand’. This is the earliest known example of an Irish banknote in private hands.

[DOC]

Bank Post Bills were another type of financial instrument that became popular in Ireland in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s. They were designed to permit safer transmission of money through the postal system by imposing a time delay before payment. The first examples were issued by The Bank of England in 1728 and The Bank of Ireland appears to have been the first Irish bank to introduce them shortly after its foundation in 1783.

Post bills are defined as sola bills of exchange and typically had the following style of promissory statement ‘At seven days sight, I promise to pay this sola bill of exchange to (a named person) or order’. These instruments became popular and circulated alongside banknotes as currency.

The earliest recorded examples issued by an Irish bank are those of Bank of Ireland from 1785. The earliest surviving example of an Irish Bank Post Bill is one issued by Beresford & Co., Dublin, for £10, dated 1st December 1794.