The personal investment service

General enquiries: 020 7739 8200  /  Become a client: 020 7149 6437  /  Media site

In 1829, Richard Stanley's salary was set at a 'princely' £500

In 1829, Richard Stanley's salary was set at a 'princely' £500

The Early Years

From the outset the Stanleys were the 'working' partners. William Stanley retired almost at once, in 1795, to be succeeded by his son Richard. Successive partnership deeds show Richard contributing part of his share of capital by working in the bank.

The early years were testing times. A series of economic crises forced the closure of one bank after another. Walkers, Eyre and Stanley Bank was, according to contemporary reports, managed with the utmost prudence. As business expanded the bank moved, in 1809, to Church Street, next to Cutlers' Hall. This was the site of Roebuck's Bank, Sheffield's first bank, which had recently failed and there, on this very site, the bank has remained ever since.

By 1812, we find Richard Stanley as the 'Chief Acting Partner', a position he occupied until his death in 1835. The bank was renamed Walkers and Stanley Bank in 1829 when Vincent Eyre's son retired. In that year the bank's capital was increased to the then huge sum of £100,000 and Richard Stanley's salary was set at a princely £500, together with free accommodation in the bank.

The costs of the Napoleonic Wars were devastating, and economic conditions continued to worsen. In 1825-26 the Bank of England itself very nearly went bankrupt. The banking system, based entirely on partnerships, was unable to cope, and the crisis led directly to the Joint Stock Banking Act. Walkers and Stanley Bank duly decided to convert itself from a partnership. And so, on 1st July 1836, the bank was transformed into 'The Sheffield and Rotherham Bank' in the vast sum, then, of £600,000.

1801 - The Stock Exchange lays the foundation stone of its new building

1815 - Battle of Waterloo