We recently undertook detailed research to investigate known and potential connections in our history to the transatlantic trade in enslaved people. Our focus was approximately 1,600 senior leaders across more than 100 predecessor banks in the UK, from the 1700s until 1880.
We examined sources in our UK archive collections to build the list of senior leaders. We cross-referenced the name of each leader against two external databases – the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, and UCL’s Legacies of British Slavery– with the support of an external expert in computer vision processing and machine learning. We manually reviewed all potential matches and commissioned genealogical research and in-depth historical investigation where we identified possible links.
This process enhanced our understanding of Leyland & Bullins and Moss & Co, and identified links to leaders associated with three other predecessor banks. Details of these links are provided in the summaries below.*
* A ‘direct link’ refers to the personal involvement of an individual in activities related to the transatlantic trade in enslaved people, such as investing in voyages, owning enslaved people, or receiving compensation after abolition.
City Bank was founded in London in 1855. It was acquired by Midland Bank (now HSBC UK) in 1898. Midland was acquired by HSBC Holdings plc in 1992.
The bank’s founders – a circle of prominent London businessmen – advertised a share issue to cover the initial capital of GPB300,000. This was significantly over-subscribed, and an office was secured on a corner of Threadneedle Street in the heart of the City of London. The doors opened for business in August. After a steady start, the bank began to develop a branch network with offices located in Old Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road and Ludgate Hill. It also built up an important foreign business, acting as London correspondent for 40 overseas banks and providing bill finance for international trade. Deposits stood at GBP5 million by 1887.
The bank turned down an amalgamation offer from London and Midland Bank in the early 1890s. However, it struggled to compete with larger banks over the next few years despite extending the branch network out to towns such as Croydon and Bromley. Midland Bank approached the directors again in 1898 with an offer of GBP2.5 million, which was accepted. Midland was renamed as London City and Midland Bank and transferred head office operations to City’s prestigious offices at No. 5 Threadneedle Street.
Recent research has found a link between City Bank director, Peter Bell, and the transatlantic trade in enslaved people.
Peter Bell was a partner in Scott, Bell and Co, East India agents and general merchants. He is cited in three claims for post-abolition compensation relating to the ownership of enslaved people. Two of these claims resulted in funds being awarded to Bell and his business partner John Scott. He went on to become a founding director of the new City Bank in London in 1856. He was one of more than 30 directors between 1856-1880 and remained a director of City Bank until 1865. City Bank was acquired by Midland Bank in 1898.
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In 1804 Samuel Galton and Samuel Tertius Galton, together with partner Joseph Gibbins, founded a private bank with its credit based primarily on the fortune and reputation that the Galtons had built up through their established gun making business.
In August 1806, the initial partnership reformed as Galtons and Co. In 1812 they were joined by partner Paul James and the firm was then restyled Galton and James.
In 1825 a general panic in the money market put a severe strain on Galton and James. The experience prompted Samuel Tertius Galton to gradually close the bank. In 1829, Paul James left to become a manager in the Birmingham Banking Company, and Galton and James was dissolved in 1831, with the Galtons retiring into private life. The Birmingham Banking Company was acquired by Midland Bank in 1914.
Recent research has deepened our knowledge of the historical links of some predecessor banks to the transatlantic trade in enslaved people. We have not been able to confirm whether Galton and James was a predecessor of Midland Bank. There appear to be no references to an acquisition by Birmingham Banking Company, and it is unclear whether Mr James moved any business with him. However, we disclose the potential connection in the interests of transparency.
The Galton family had links with the trade in enslaved people via the firm of Samuel Galton and Son, which sold guns to merchants involved in the triangular slave trade in London, Bristol and Liverpool and was also part owner in the ship Africa’s voyage from Bristol in 1774-75. The family did have links with the abolition movement, but these associations are overshadowed by the family firm’s profit from the trade in enslaved people
Leyland and Bullins was established in Liverpool in 1807. It was acquired by the North and South Wales Bank in 1901, which was subsequently purchased by Midland Bank (now HSBC UK) in 1908. Midland was acquired by HSBC Holdings plc in 1992.
The private banking firm was established by Thomas Leyland and his nephew Richard Bullin. Leyland moved to Liverpool as a young man and developed a profitable merchant business trading in a variety of commodities. In 1798 he was elected Mayor of Liverpool for the first of three times.
Recent research has deepened our knowledge of the historical links of some predecessor banks to the transatlantic trade in enslaved people. As a merchant and ship-owner Thomas Leyland helped finance 72 transatlantic slaving voyages. His involvement in the trade contributed directly to his own substantial personal wealth, part of which was invested in the setting up of Leyland and Bullins. Leyland become a partner in the local bank of Clarkes and Roscoe in 1802. This experience led him to start his own private partnership with Richard Bullin, who had also invested in 11 slave voyages.
Their bank opened for business in York Street in 1807. Richard’s brother, Christopher, joined the partnership in 1815 and the bank moved to King Street the following year. There was a much later move to Castle Street in 1895, with King Street retained as a branch, operating alongside another office in Bold Street.
The business continued under the guidance of the Bullin brothers after Leyland’s death in 1827. Christopher Bullin retired from the partnership in 1847, but other family members stepped up over the years. The private bank remained independent during decades of stiff competition from joint stock banks backed by strong shareholder bases. At the turn of the century the North and South Wales Bank was looking to extend its operations in Liverpool and made an offer. It was accepted by the partners in 1901. One partner, John Naylor, went on to join the North and South Wales board.
Further reading: A Hundred Years of Joint Stock Banking by J. E. Wadsworth and W. F. Crick (Hodder & Stoughton, 1936).
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The London Joint Stock Bank was founded in London in 1836. It was acquired by Midland Bank (now HSBC UK) in 1918. Midland was acquired by HSBC Holdings plc in 1992.
The new bank was active in the London money market and provided banking services to the city’s growing metropolitan districts. The prospectus set out to raise a starting capital of GBP300,000 and business began at No. 29 Coleman Street in November 1836. The board appointed an experienced banker, George Pollard, as the first manager. The following year operations moved to a new home in Princes Street. Deposits reached GBP2.5 million by 1844 and the bank joined the London Clearing House a decade later. The branch network in London steadily grew through acquisitions, including the business of Wright and Co (1840), Albion Bank (1871) and Imperial Bank (1893). The London bank also carved out foreign business such as correspondent banking and loan issuing.
In 1909 it acquired York City and County Bank to place it within the top 10 of English and Welsh banks. The network now included 250 branches and deposits stood at GBP34 million. It soon caught the eye of London City and Midland Bank – one of its rivals. Negotiations in 1913 did not work out, but talks resumed in 1918 and a deal was concluded in July. This hugely significant merger saw the newly named London Joint City and Midland Bank become the largest bank in the world with deposits of nearly GBP300 million.
Recent research has found a link between a London Joint Stock Bank director, Thomas Phillpotts, and the transatlantic trade in enslaved people.
Thomas Phillpotts was a West India merchant and owner of a plantation and enslaved people in Jamaica. Following the abolition of slavery in 1833, he was associated with 19 compensation claims involving 772 enslaved people. Phillpotts was a partner or director of several English firms after, and possibly prior to, his return from Jamaica. From 1836-1840, he acted as a director of the London Joint Stock Bank and was one of more than 60 directors between 1836 and 1880.
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Moss and Co (later North Western Bank)
Moss and Co was established in Liverpool in 1807, later becoming the North Western Bank. It was acquired by Midland Bank (now HSBC UK) in 1901. Midland was acquired by HSBC Holdings plc in 1992.
The private banking firm was opened as Moss, Dales and Rogers at 4 Exchange Buildings in Liverpool. Business reflected the city’s commercial focus with corn, tobacco and cotton merchants among the early customers. John Moss was only in his mid-twenties when he started the new bank. He had been born in Liverpool and joined his father’s merchant firm as a young man.
Recent research has deepened our knowledge of the historical links of some predecessor banks to the transatlantic trade in enslaved people. The Moss family’s wealth was already partly derived from transatlantic slave-trading and John Moss continued to profit from slavery whilst running the bank. In 1820, for example, he co-inherited 1,000 enslaved people in the Bahamas from his uncle and received compensation for slave ownership at abolition. He went on to play a major role in the emerging railway sector and was the first chairman of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.
Other partners of the bank had links to the transatlantic trade in enslaved people. Roger Newton Dale was part-owner in two slave voyages that departed from Liverpool in 1799. Henry Moss, half-brother of John, co-inherited a plantation and enslaved people from his uncle. Thomas Edwards-Moss, son of John, inherited much of his father’s estate, including half of the Anna Regina plantation in Guyana. Moss and Co included Liverpool slave traders and plantation owners amongst its clients.
In 1811, the bank moved to purpose-built premises in Dale Street, and after a number of partnership changes it became known simply as Moss and Co in 1826. Following a run of successful decades, profits dipped in the wake of the 1860s cotton famine and additional capital was required. The partnership converted into a shareholder-owned joint stock bank in 1864 and took on the new name of North Western Bank. The 1880s saw the start of a branch network developing in and around Liverpool. In 1897 the firm was acquired by London and Midland Bank at a cost of GBP580,000.
Read more about Moss and Co (later North Western Bank)