The Clonmel Bank Watson’s Bank was located on Johnston Street, in Clonmel and was founded by Solomon Watson in 1800, along with two of his brothers (John Watson and William Watson) as partners. The Watson’s were a well known Quaker family in Clonmel and their bank went through 3 partnership changes before ceasing operation in…
Introduction: James Swift registered his bank in Dublin in 1721 but he was operating in Dublin beforehand, probably as a Goldsmith notory or banker of some description – as can be seen by this ‘sight note’ from Sir Francis Child (a London Goldsmith and banker). Sight note, 14 May 1713, ‘At three days sight pay…
Gibbons & Williams Bank: Gibbons & Williams was one of the last private banks to be founded in Ireland. Founded in 1833, it spectacularly collapsed in 1835 when the senior partner, Hutchins Thomas Williams, was found to have been embezzling client funds. James Gibbons had parted company with him in 1834 and wasn’t involved in…
Introduction: Medieval history is often taught as a power struggle between nobles fighting for control of their inherited lands via a series of military campaigns, often ending in a decisive battle that has been portrayed within a 19th century ‘nationalist’ mindset. My own education, from what I can remember of primary school and the old…
Banking is a risky business. The recent financial crisis of 2007/08 is still fresh in the minds of the Irish public but there is almost three centuries of banking failures in Ireland – some were unfortunate, while others were fraudulent. And like nowadays, some got away with their crimes, while others went bankrupt and some…
Introduction A currency board is an institutional arrangement for managing a currency with a fixed parity. The currency board is much more constrained than a central bank, insofar as these constraints help ensure that the fixed parity is maintained. The board’s main activity is to issue a local (slave) currency at a fixed rate of…
1834-36: Major Banking Expansion In Ireland The short-lived Agricultural & Commercial Bank of Ireland was founded in 1834, suspended payments in 1836 and struggled on until 1840. It was the first Joint-Stock Bank in Ireland to fail but it was not its failure (in itself) that made headlines but the manner of its failure. When…
ffrench’s Bank was probably, the most famous of the provincial private banks in Ireland and due to the frequency that they turn up at auction, they are amongst the most collectible of early Irish banknotes. The bank was founded in late 1803 by Sir Thomas ffrench and William Keary. The correct form for the surname is “double f” in lower case, i.e. ffrench. Sir…
The Old Currency Exchange is a specialist dealer and valuer of Irish & GB coins, tokens and banknotes 