Rialls Bank, Clonmell 1802-1820

[ThePloughman]

William Riall, Charles Riall, Arthur Riall. Final partnership (1802-1820).
This bank appears to have been one of the most successful of the Irish private banks, a family business spanning several generations which was operating for about 100 years. The bank failed in 1820.

Here are two notes from the final partnership of the Clonmell Bank, illustrating two different expressions of the same denomination, namely One Pound Ten shillings (1810) and Thirty Shillings (1818 not sure of the final digit here).

[ThePloughman]

Here's a 2 Guinea note from the bank.

[DOC]

Here is an unissued 6 shillings ‘Silver Note’ from the bank of William Riall & Co. Clonmel. The year is given as 17__ so the note probably dates from the late 1700’s most likely 1799. The old spelling of Clonmel as ‘Clonmell’ is noteworthy.

[DOC]

Here is a Half Guinea note issued by William Riall & Co., Clonmel, in 1805. This is a rare denomination seldom issued by any of the Irish Private Banks.

[DOC]

Here is a £1 note issued by William Riall & Co. in 1819. An interesting feature is the presence of the letters ‘WC&AR’ in the panel below the coat of arms. This refers to the initials of the partners William, Charles & Arthur Riall.

[DOC]

Here is an example of a 1 Guinea note issued by William Riall & Co, Clonmel Bank, in 1808.

[Mac]

The spelling of Clonmel alternates between 'Clonmell' and 'Clonmel' on the above notes, showing a bit of inconsistency!

[DOC]

Here is a 25 shillings note issued by William Riall & Co. and again with the unusual spelling of Clonmel. The year of issue appears to be 1818.

[DOC]

Here is a forged example of a Riall’s Bank 3 Guinea Post Bill dated 24th March 1804. Although a forgery, it is probably a faithful copy of a genuine post bill and as such provides an insight into the designs of notes where genuine examples are not known. The forged signature of Arthur Riall is not a bad effort as can be seen by comparison with a genuine example of his signature.

[Mac]

It is quite a good forgery. The forged signature is a careful copy of the original.

[DOC]

Here is an example of a £5 note issued by William Riall & Co. in 1808. This is the highest denomination that I have seen for this bank although Paper Money of Ireland reports a 5 Guinea note.

[Mac]

Here is a picture of a 5 Guinea note issued by William Riall & Co. in 1804.

[Mac]

Watson and Company, an unissued note for 6 Guineas.

[DOC]

The William Riall & Co. 5 Guineas note is a nice find. The contrast with the Watson & Co. 6 guineas is interesting as it shows that these banks employed different spellings for Clonmel in the bank title. I wonder if this was by accident or design?

[Mac]

The half Guinea note a few posts above is a Riall's note with Clonmel spelt using one l...

[DOC]

The half Guinea note a few posts above is a Riall's note with Clonmel spelt using one l...

Yes, the Half Guinea note does not fit the pattern, but my suggestion was more directed to examples where ‘Bank’ is included in the title. Now that you mention the Half Guinea note, the format is most unusual. It is written in a cheque type format: To Messrs. William Riall & Bros.

[Mac]

The design of the Half Guinea note also doesn't fit that of the other notes of the bank that we have seen, and no listing of the partners' names—so it is not a note!

[DOC]

The design of the Half Guinea note also doesn't fit that of the other notes of the bank that we have seen, and no listing of the partners' names—so it is not a note!

Despite the cheque-like appearance, I think we can consider it to be a note.

Gilbart provides some interesting insights in his book ‘The History of Banking in Ireland’. He mentions that some of the silver notes were drawn in the form of cheques written by a clerk of the bank to the bank partners. I would speculate that this was an attempt to circumvent an 1804 law which prohibited the issue of notes for sums less than £1 and it is interesting to see that the date on this Half Guinea note is 1805.

[Mac]

The banks were quite ingenious at circumventing legislation in those days.