Stamford, Spalding and Boston Banking Co

The Stamford, Spalding and Boston Banking Co Ltd was one of the early English joint stock banks, founded in 1832, partly as a response to losses and a withdrawal of banking services by other banks in the areas of Stamford, Spalding and Oundle. Oundle Commercial Bank, founded in 1815 by Messrs Smith and Ridsdale, also had a market day agency at Stamford. During 1831, however, this firm had hinted to the public their intention to discontinue business, but Mr Ridsdale, one of the managing partners, suggested establishing a joint stock bank in conjunction with another retiring bank, Bugg and Co. Thus in 1832, the Stamford and Spalding Bank was established from the business of these two private banks, with branches at Stamford, Spalding and Oundle.

The main business of the bank was in the agricultural Fenland. This meant that when the great farming depression began in the 1870s, the company sought to gain business in manufacturing towns. In 1834, a branch was opened in Boston and the workload meant it became necessary to divide the general board into three local boards: Stamford, Spalding and Boston. In 1836, the new name of the Stamford, Spalding and Boston Banking Co reflected this change. The bank made several further acquisitions: Clarke and Philips at Leicester, Uppingham and Oakham, and Goddard and Inkersole at Market Harborough, both of which failed in 1843; Simpson and White (1849); Yorks and Co of Oundle and Peterborough (1861); Nottingham Joint Stock Bank at Grantham (1880); and in 1891 Eaton, Cayley and Co. of Stamford. By 1898, the firm had 22 branches and 16 agencies, with a presence in several large towns across Lincolnshire and adjoining counties, and this was their position when Barclay and Co Ltd acquired them in 1911.

Material available at Group Archives:

• deed of settlement
• board minutes 1831-1834
• annual reports and accounts
• bank notes and registers
• staff correspondence
• branch records
• manuscript history of the Bank circa 1900