Gurneys, Birkbeck, Barclay and Buxton, Norwich
This important country bank was founded in Norwich at 1775 by John and Henry Gurney. The Quaker Gurney family were prominent merchants in the woollen and worsted trade and had developed banking from their original business. Within the first two years both the founders had died and the business was carried on by Bartlett Gurney, who took his two cousins, Richard and Joseph Gurney (of Gurneys and Bland situated on Magdalen Street), as his new partners. The bank was generally successful and survived the worst of the financial storms of 1793 and 1866. The crisis in 1866 (otherwise known as 'Black Friday,' 11 May 1866), led to the failure of the leading London bill broking firm of Overend, Gurney and Co which had formerly been connected with the Norwich Bank.
Material available at Group Archives:
- partnership agreements partners' ledgers 1787 onwards
- balance books 1784-1791
- customer account ledgers 1763-1785 (some gaps), 1863-1877
- customer authorities 1813-1860
- securities papers 1772 onwards
- balance sheets and audit papers 1860 onwards
- papers regarding Overend, Gurney & Co
- press cuttings and scrap book mid-1800s
- bank notes and registers
- examples of pass books, bills of exchange and cheques
- amalgamation papers
Further information about this collection is available at the Archives Hub (link opens in new window)